Urvashi-Manoj heading for split

Actress Urvashi, a famous South Indian actress who played some most unforgettable characters in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada during the 1980s and 1990s, fell in love with popular actor Manoj K. Jayan and they were married in 2000. But now, the actress, sister of actresses Kalaranjini and Kalpana, has filed for divorce at the Family Court, Chennai.
Last week, Urvashi visited the Family Court in the High Court premises to file for divorce from Jayan. In her petition, Urvashi has stated that she has been ‘mentally and physically tortured’ by her husband. The case has been posted to 18th August.
Urvashi has been living separately since October 11, 2007 and she is settled in Chennai. Manoj is now in Kochi. Right now, Manoj and his parents have custody of his daughter. Some sources say that the relationship between the two actors (who already had differences in opinion) worsened when Urvashi began to concentrate seriously on her career again.

Source : Galatta Times

Bombay dreams for Asin

With the release of Dasavatharam, will its heroine Asin, Tamil cinema’s ‘numero uno’ heroine of 2007 (with Pokkiri and Vel) bid goodbye to Kollywood? Early this year, Asin moved lock, stock and barrel from her Chennai apartment to a spanking new flat in Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai. At that time it was made clear to her Tamil producers that she was moving to Mumbai to complete Ghajini with Aamir Khan. However, last week the pretty actress signed a Hindi film titled London Dreams opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, to be directed by Vipul Shah. The grapevine is also abuzz that Bollywood’s hottest director Priyadarshan has signed her up to be the heroine in a film with Akshay Kumar, to start in November. In fact, the July issue of an international fashion magazine has Asin on its cover as one of the heroines to look out for in Bollywood. So is the queen of Kollywood abdicating her throne? It looks like that, as the actress has not signed any Tamil film after Dasavatharam though the actress keeps saying that she is “open to doing more films in Tamil if the right script comes along.” Kollywood producers, who have repeatedly knocked at her doors offering her plum roles opposite superstars, have now forgotten her and crowned her arch rival Nayanthara as the new number one. Industry pundits predict that Asin will probably be the next big South Indian actress to make it big in Bollywood.

People already know I’m hot: Eesha

From Times of India
Other actresses are following suit but one actress who’s not following the herd is Eesha Koppikhar. In fact, the actress is most excited about playing a completely ethnic Indian girl, dressed in salwars, miles away from short skirts in Barjatya’s Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi! “I’ve proved my glam image in my earlier films. People already know I’m hot!” she says with a laugh when asked why she’s not cashing in on her sexy image. For Eesha, playing the role of Chandni, her character in the film has come as a boon. “My house is near the Barjatya’s office and every time I would cross it, I used to pray to God ‘ hey bhagwan mujhe ek film inke saath dila do’ . I’m a devotee of Sitladevi and would pray everyday to get me a hardcore romantic film like a Veer Zaara,” she says. The Gods must have been appeased as she was offered Ek Vihaah ... around her birthday last year. “I think it’s a gift from my kuldevi,” she says with a smile. Romantic films apart, it’s comedy that Eesha wants to make a mark in. “Akshay Kumar and Govinda rule the roost when it comes to comedy but there’s a death of heroines who’s forte is comedy in Hindi films,” she explains. One of the biggest hits of 2005, Kyaa Kool Hain Hum had seen Eesha in a comic avataar and she had been appreciated for the same. “The audience has a lot of expectations from me after this film and I want to prove myself in comedy roles now,” she adds. Surprisingly, the only comedy film she has this year is Manoj Tiwari’s Hello Darling where she plays a Haryanvi girl called Satwati Chautala along with Gul Panag and Celina Jaitely. “I have six releases lines up this year including Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, Har Pall, Hello, Right Ya Wrong, Shabri and Hello Darling . After Salaam-E-Ishq , there’s been a gap of more than a year and everything I’ve been working on since last year will bear fruit this year. I believe you do your best and God will do the rest. When the time is right, everything falls in place. I’m sure with God’s blessings I’ll rock this year!”

Tabu in Gowtham Menon's film Silandhi

From Rediff Entertainment:

Unlike his earlier films, Gowtham Menon's new Tamil film Silandhi (Spider) will be a mature love story that is also a thriller, according to the director. Naturally, it will have mature actors. Sarath Kumar is the hero. It was earlier decided that Shobhana would star opposite him, but she has now opted out.
"No, there were no hard feelings, and we parted as friends. There was some date problem," Menon explained. The face that next came to his mind was Tabu's . When he narrated the one-line story (which he wants to keep secret), she immediately agreed. Tabu will join the crew and start shooting from March 27, the director says.
Earlier, Tabu had acted in Rajeev Menon's Kandu Kondein Kanu Kondein and Kathal Desam in Tamil.

Dasavatharam (Ten Reincarnations): Jaya Prada, the evergreen Indian Actress charms once again

From PR inside news

Dasavathaaram (Ten Reincarnations), a Tamil feature film dubbed in various Indian languages starring Kamal Haasan, the versatile Indian Actor in ten different roles makes history in its way.Jeya Prada, the evergreen Indian actress charms once again her fans globally.
Jaya Prada first acted with Kamal Haasan in 1979 film "Ninaithale Inikkum", a Tamil feature film directed by India's one of the finest film directors K. Balachander. The film follows lead actor Kamal Hassan who plays a singer and his band on a tour to Singapore. Over there Kamal meets his love interest (played by Jaya Pradha), only to find

that she is terminally ill. The film ends on a tragic note with the Jeya Prada's demise. The songs of the film were very popular, and are still remembered by the Tamil and many Indian audience for decades and some even shed tears when they hear the songs remembering the tragic end of Jaya Prada.

'It's natural to want to become an actress after living in Mumbai'

From Rediff :
Mumbai based Freida Pinto is one of the few Indian models to start her film career with a Hollywood film.
The find of well-known Hollywood director Danny Boyle (of Trainspotting and The Beach fame), Freida will be seen in Boyle's new film, Slumdog Millionaire, which also stars Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor and Mahesh Manjrekar.
Freida chats with Nithya Ramani about her big break.
When did you realise that acting is what you wanted to do?
I think it's natural to want to become an actress after living in the city of stars and watching films all your life. After graduating from St Xavier's College, Mumbai, I modelled for two years.
After six months of giving auditions for films, I got a call to audition for Slumdog Millionaire. I thought this would be just another audition. But to my surprise, I was short-listed and finally selected.

Big B voted Asia's sexiest vegetarian

From DPA

Legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has been voted Asia's sexiest vegetarian male in a survey conducted by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Hong Kong's singer-actress Faye Wong was voted Asia's sexiest vegetarian female in the poll conducted among members of PETA Wednesday.
Runners-up in the competition included Taiwanese drama star Barbie Xu, Hong Kong actress Maggie Q and Cantopop singer and actress Stephy Tang. Outside Asia, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, pop star Leona Lewis and camp British TV host Russell Brand were among the celebrities who polled most votes as sexiest vegetarians. PETA Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker said: "Going vegetarian is the best thing you can do for animals, the earth and your health. Plus there's no easier way to stay slim and sexy - and Faye and Amitabh are living proof."