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As singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan turns 58 on March 3, I couldn’t help recall the item song ‘Kajra Re’ composed by Shankar Mahadevan and sung by Alisha Chinai and Shankar.

‘Kajra Re’ created the kind of cinematic history that songs like ‘Pyar kiya to darna kya’ (Mughal-e-Azam), ‘Bindiya chamkegi’ (Do Raaste) and ‘Jhuma gira re’ (Mere Saaya) had done prior to ‘Kajra Re’; no item song has created the same impact ever since.

I am happy and proud to say I was a witness to the shooting of the ‘Kajra Re’ song. It was Abhishek Bachchan’s birthday in 2005, and I was in Mumbai. So I dropped in at the set with a cake. Abhishek and his father were both shooting and they suggested I join them on the set where a ‘very special song’ was being shot with a ‘very special guest star’. They didn’t tell me who the guest was,...

Saanand Verma, who was last seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s film ‘Babli Bouncer’, remembers working in the movie. Saanand played Sardar’s character in the film. He said: “I have played the character of Jaggi Paji. My character is an important one because the entire story of ‘Babli Bouncer’ revolves around the pub.”

“Jaggi Paji is the one who brings out the idea of female bouncers to tackle the behaviour of female customers who get out of control sometimes. There is an emotional relationship between a boss and her subordinate. Jaggi Paji is also someone who promotes and motivates Babli a lot.”

He also added: “Playing a Sardar is difficult for a person who doesn’t wear a pagdi(turban) as it’s quite tight on the head. During the shoots, I used to get headaches because sometimes we used to shoot for 20 hours. But as an actor, it was...

Actress Tamannaah Bhatia learnt many things while working for her upcoming film ‘Babli Bouncer’. The actress said that she learned how to ride a motorbike and also how to beatbox.

‘Babli Bouncer’ tells the story of Babli who hails from a small town.

A Madhur Bhandarkar directorial, the film showcases how Babli is trying to make it big as a bouncer in Delhi.

Tamannaah’s character as Babli is bold and brave. She rides a bullet, lifts heavy weights and can do anything a man can.

Speaking about how she prepared for her character, the actress shared: “I learnt riding a bullet, before this, I had ridden a scooty. So, I think the most difficult part is to ride a bullet because it is a very heavy bike, so it took me a bit to get comfortable with that. I also learnt beatboxing, I never knew beatboxing was not beating...

Actress Tamannaah Bhatia is set to star in the upcoming comic-drama ‘Babli Bouncer’, the motion poster was unveiled on Sunday. The comedy-drama draws its strength from an unusual storyline and the actress is thrilled to bring the film to the audience where she has played the most varied character of her career.

The comedy-drama follows the story of the titular young female bouncer as it portrays various layers of the profession usually taken up by men.

Expressing her excitement on the poster release, the actress commented: “I’m absolutely thrilled to give the audience such an unusual character play. The film’s shoot has been a hilarious experience and ‘Babli Bouncer’ is a character I have never played before.”

She added: “I was really excited to see the first look of the film. Now that Madhur Sir has announced that he is releasing it, I really can’t wait to...

2013 saw legends, established celebrities, and newcomers alike try their hands (and hips!) at item numbers. As usual, the BollySpice team enjoyed watching all our favorite actors and actresses shake a leg on the big screen but a select few stood out the most.

5. Sonakshi Sinha – “Thank God It’s Friday” (Himmatwala), “Party All Night” (Boss)

Sure, “Thank God It’s Friday” was probably one of the most annoying songs of the year, but we have to hand it to Sonakshi for finally making an effort to shed that Desi damsel image with some impressive club hits this year. Sonakshi handled “Thank God It’s Friday” all on her own and her appearance in “Party All Night” (a true club-dance number featuring Honey Singh) was a treat. Here’s to seeing more sides of Sonakshi in 2014!

4. John Abraham – “Laila” (Shootout at Wadala)

Yes, we realize that Sunny Leone was technically the...

S. Hussain Zaidi is a Mumbai based investigative crime journalist, who has worked for some of India’s leading newspapers. One of his previous best selling books was Black Friday, which Anurag Kashyap successfully transformed onto screen. His most recent book is Dongri to Dubai: Six decades of the Mumbai Mafia and from this book has Shootout at Wadala been created. Sanjay Gupta says without it he could not have made this film, Anil Kapoor called it by far the best book on the Mumbai mafia and John Abraham hailed Zaidi as a master storyteller. If you have not had a chance to read the book, take it from us, it is an absolutely amazing book and having read the book recently, our expectations are sky high for the film. Further, Sanjay Gupta is back after a long hiatus and John Abraham attempts the role of gangster for the first time.

The prequel to the smash hit, Shootout At Lokhandwala, is based on Hussain S. Zaidi’s bestslling investigative book – Dongri to Dubai. Adapting a non-fiction book into a film requires special skills because of the need to sieve all the facts presented in the book into the film’s narrative and all this while, keeping the film entertaining! This is exactly the reason I was intrigued to watch this film and to see what Sanjay Gupta had done with the subject material.

Story: The story is centered around the first Hindu gangster of Mumbai, Manya Surve (John Abraham) and his meteoric rice and his subsequent fall. Tusshar ‘the-producer’s-brother’ Kapoor is Manya’s confidante in this journey. Siddhant Kapoor (Shakti Kapoor’s son) makes his debut playing a member of Manya’s gang and is called Gyanchod! Every gang has an enemy gang. The opponents here are Zubair (Manoj Bajpai...

Sanjay Gupta’s Shootout at Wadala hits theaters on May 3rd. A prequel to his Shootout at Lokhandwala, Saw tells the true story of a war between the notorious and charismatic gangster Manya Surve (John Abraham), the dreaded gangster Dilawar (Sonu Sood), and Inspector Afaaque Baagraan (Anil Kapoor). The crime-drama also features performances by Manoj Bajpayee, Tusshar Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Mahesh Manjrekar and Kangana Ranaut. The director brought in an eclectic mix of composers to create the music and the sound of the film including Anu Malik, Anand Raaj Anand, Meet Bros Anjjan, and Mustafa Zahid, as well as remixes by Gourov Das Gupta & Roshan Balu and Mayur Sahani. Let’s take a look and see if you want to have a listen.

Aala Re Aala, composed by Anu Malik, begins with a strong dance beat with the addition of a brassy wail of a trumpet it sets the scene...

Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Shootout At Wadala’ continues to rule the musical chartbuster. First, hot and spicy Sunny Leone raised he temperature with her oomph factor and danced to the song ‘Laila’ with John Abraham and Tusshar Kapoor, secondly Priyanka Chopra has made guys fall weak at her knees with her first item song, ‘Babli Badmaash’ and now the third item song of the movie starring Sophie Chaudhary is creating ripples. In the song, she seduces John Abraham. John who is playing gangster, Manya Surve shakes his legs with Sophie. Sophie in a sexy attire danced at the bar. John with his group also starts dancing to ‘Manya ala re’ ...

Its the first time that Priyanka Chopra has done a full fledged item song, but it seems the viewers have taken a better liking to Sunny Leone's item song. The two songs that we are talking about are 'Laila' and 'Babli Badmaash'. Both are from the same movie, Shootout at Wadala. Priyanka Chopra has danced on the tunes on 'Babli Badmaash' whereas Sunny Leone is seen getting groovy to 'Laila'. On YouTube, Sunny's song has surpassed Priyanka Chopra's song. However Sunny Leone's song came in trouble with the censor board. The source adds, “The Censor Board felt that it had to be changed to make it more appropriate for the TV audience. The mak...

Sony Music Entertainment, a global music giant, announced a 3 film music deal with Balaji Motion Pictures. The three films are Ek Thi Dayaan, Shootout At Wadala and Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi. Like all Balaji films, these three are no exception when it comes to the pedigree of music.

An entertaining supernatural thriller with an electrifying jolt at the end, Ek Thi Daayan marks the first ever association of two creative powerhouses – Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj. Ek Thi Daayan carries the Vishal Bhardwaj stamp of music, with lyrics by Gulzar. The first track, ‘Yaaram’ , rendered by Clinton Cerejo and Sunidhi Chauhan, is already topping the charts. Ek Thi Daayan stars Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Konkona Sensharma and Huma Qureshi, and releases worldwide on April 18.

The soundtrack of Shootout at Wadala promises to be the most elaborate album of the year in true Sanjay Gupta style – six tracks and four remixes.

The publicity of the keenly awaited Shootout At Wadala is at its peak, as the film makes it to the news almost every day for something or the other.

Following the massive launch of Priyanka Chopra’s dance track ‘Babli Badmaash’ and the announcement about the sensational Sunny Leone playing a walk-on part in a song sequence (‘Laila’) there were reports to suggest that Kangana Ranaut was miffed at being kept out of the film’s publicity.

There is news that Kangana was to be a part of the signature ‘Aala Re Aala’ track but couldn’t do it. Sophie Choudry now features opposite John Abraham in the soon-to-release song.

Clarifies Sanjay Gupta, “Kangana is my film’s heroine and there is no reason for her to be upset. She has a full-fledged role in the film. When Katrina did Chikni Chameli it didn’t mean that Priyanka was upset.