Shahrukh adds more silverware to his already bulging trophy cabinet

# Dashing Shahid Kapur has wasted no time pining over Kareena Kapoor.

He has been spotted on two hot dates. Amrita Rao joined him and his father, Pankaj, at a screening of Welcome in Mumbai, and on a visit to Bangalore he had dinner with tennis star Sania Mirza.

# Kareena, meanwhile, has moved on to Saif-er pastures, but things haven’t moved with her. She is furious that Imtiaz Ali, who gave her an award- winning role in Jab We Met, has cast Deepika Padukone opposite Saif in his next release, leaving the Chote Nawaab (young prince) with a dilemma: does he forgo an opportunity to work with two of the industry’s hot- test talents, Deepika and Imtiaz, and earn his beloved Bebo’s wrath or does he do what is best for his career? Saif also has a new part-time career playing rock tunes at Mumbai night spots. He plans to extend his jamming to Bangalore and Kolkata. Those who’ve heard him say he plays a mean guitar.

# Deepika Padukone has struck gold. Her endorsements now come at a whopping R3- million each, three times as much as she pocketed before Om Shanti Om, and her act- ing fee has doubled to R2-million a film.

Ranbir Kapoor, who debuted at the same time, is in a similar earnings bracket, but his Saawariya co-star, Sonam Kapoor, hasn’t cracked it yet.

However, their earnings are paltry compared with the megabucks being banked by the likes of SRK, Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar, who will receive R25-million for his next movie.

# It’s that kind of pay day that makes Akki the top taxpayer among the stars. His latest tax bill was a whopping R52-million, thanks mainly to back-to-back hits Namastey London, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Wel- come. This year promises to be another bumper one with titles like Tashan, Chandni Chowk to China, Kambakth Ishq, Singh is King and Eight by Ten in the pipeline.

# The latest wax model on display at Madame Tussaud’s is that of Salman Khan. Sallu is so thrilled by the likeness that he has donated his lucky bracelet, a gift from his dad, Salim. He has even worn it in his films.

# Three people won the right to dance with Shahrukh Khan at a concert in Mumbai last week hosted by cellphone giants Airtel. They included a nine-year-old named Viddhi, who couldn’t believe his luck. A young girl from New Delhi, Richa, swooned: “I have to pinch myself to wake me up.”

SRK joined Priyanka Chopra, Dino Morea, Dia Mirza and Rakhi Sawant in a show put together by the Morani brothers.

# The Rukhster has more awards for his bulging trophy cabinet. At last week’s Screen Awards, he scooped best actor for Chak De India, which was also named best film, while his combination with Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om was named the best pairing.

Kareena Kapoor took best actress for Jab We Met, but the biggest cheer was reserved for little Darsheel Safary, the Taare Zameen Par superkid, who received a richly deserved jurors’ award for best performance.

# Hard-bitten politician LK Advani broke into tears at a private screening of Taare Zameen Par. Gritty filmmaker Madhur Ban- dharkar also confessed that he “wept like a baby”.

Two filmmakers from opposite ends of the spectrum, comedy guru David Dhawan and Rang de Basanti director Raykesh Mehra, have heaped praise on the movie.

# The Fanaa team is back! Aamir Khan has replaced Shahrukh in Rajkumar Hirani’s film Idiots about the IT industry, with Kajol as his co-star. SRK held long discus- sions with Hirani before a fallout with producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra forced him to pull out. Hirani then discussed the role with Saif Ali Khan and John Abraham before mustering the courage to approach Aamir, who, to his amazement, agreed.

# Paandiyan, an actor from the 1980s, died a week ago. He made his debut opposite Revathy (also in her debut) in Bharathiraja’s Mann Vaasanai in 1983 and scooped the best male newcomer award.

He is best remembered for his role as Paandiarajan’s brother in Aan Paavam, which marked Paandiarajan’s debut as a director, and for his performance in Vaazhkai, in which he co-starred with Sivaji Ganesan.

# Ajithkumar’s Billa is breaking new ground for its lead star and Tamil cinema. It was re- leased in neighbouring Kerala two weeks after its worldwide release and still enjoyed an extraordinary opening, dwarfing the box-office showings of Malayalam films, including Mohanlal’s Christmas release, Flash.

The clearance for Billa to be released in Kerala was the culmination of a landmark agreement between the Tamil Film Producers’ Council and Kerala cinema owners.

In future, Tamil films will be released in Kerala on the same day as elsewhere, and the restriction on the number of screens imposed on Billa, Azhagiya Thamizh Magan and Sivaji will no longer apply.

The first movie to be released under the new agreement is Bheema, starring Vikram and Trisha.

# Since its launch 16 months ago, Bheema was plagued with delays. First there was the issue of casting, which took months to sort out. Late last year, AM Rathnam, the film’s producer, found himself in financial trouble and some of his creditors took the matter to court.

The problems were eventually resolved, with Vikram volunteering to reduce his acting fee by R2-million and director Lingu- samy accepting R600000 less to ease Rathnam’s financial burden.

Bheema had an impressive technical team that included ace editor Anthony and music director Harris Jayaraj.

# Shreya and Ajithkumar have buried the hatchet, clearing the way for her to re- join the cast of his next film. Recently, Ajith demanded that she be replaced.

It has been rumoured that Shreya’s close friend Trisha asked her to telephone Ajith to congratulate him on becoming a father. Shreya followed the advice. Soon after receiving the call, Ajith called the movie’s director, Raju Sundharam, and told him it would not be necessary to find another lead actress.

# Tamil films are now being viewed as a lucrative investment by non-Tamils. Mirchi Movies, the film division of the Times Media Group, have announced that they are enter- ing Tamil film production. They have joined forces with another north Indian company, Moser Baer, to co-produce films with Pra- kash Raj’s Duet Films.

Their first film will be Velli Thirai, in which Prithviraj, Prakash Raj and Gopika will play the lead roles. Mirchi Movies have also signed Milind Rao, a former assistant of Manirathnam, to direct two Tamil films.

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