Astonishment- that is what one feels after watching the epic, Jodhaa Akbar. There has truly never been a film like this in recent memory. It is grand, rich, beautiful, and gargantuan. The film is an epic in every sense of the word.

 The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has asked producers to boycott artistes who are not members of different associations affiliated to it. Several bigwigs in Bollywood do not have labour union cards, unlike Hollywood, where no one is allowed to work in movies without a union card

Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor reportedly exchanged vows in the presence of a maulvi at a quiet ceremony at Saif's new house in Bandra, away from the glare of the media, at 12:30 PM Wednesday, February 6.

^{It looks like Farhan Akhtar is taking his role as an actor very seriously. After playing the lead in "The Fakir Of Venice", he will also} be seen in his sister's directorial debut "Luck By Chance" opposite Tabu.

Diya Mirza's performance in "Shootout At Lokhandwala" as a deglamourised, no-nonsense news reporter fetched her rave reviews. To further improve her acting skills, the actress pursued a course in cinema in New York.

 Smitten by the glitz and glamour of tinsel town, a large number of Indian youngsters these days are taking up modelling as a career - but only as a stepping stone to the film industry.

Indian film star Dev Anand drew a good response from Swedes and the Indian community when he arrived here to attend a five-day Indian film festival organised by the Sweden India Film Association (SIFA).

Rani Mukerji, who is currently shooting with Pradeep Sarkar for "Laaga Chunri Mein Daag", which is about a woman who stumbles into prostitution for her family's sake, feels like she's doing a Bengali film.

Of late Preity Zinta has been gravitating towards neo-realistic cinema. After working with Rituparno Ghosh and Jahnu Barua in "The Last Lear" and "Har Pal", Preity has teamed up with Deepa Mehta who has worked with method actresses like Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das.

 New York-based Indian filmmaker Mira Nair likely to push Tabu's name for an Oscar nomination this year. The talented actress played the central role in her film "The Namesake

Purists who were appalled by the idea of Paro and Chandramukhi coming together in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas" are in for a further jolt in Sudhir's Mishra's new version of the classic

His last two films may have been trashed for being poor imitations of "Sholay" and "What Lies Beneath", but Ram Gopal Varma confesses rather defiantly that he copies - "from everywhere"!

Film: "Laaga Chunari Mein Daag"; Music Director: Shantanu Moitra; Singers; Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, K.K., Sonu Nigam, Babul Supriyo, Swanand Kirkire, Pranab Biswas, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Mita Vashisht, Rekha Bharadwaj; Rating

 Composer Aadesh Shrivastava says he had a ball performing with Shakira and rapper Wyclef Jean at the Four Seasons club in Toronto. He's also excited about his upcoming album with the rapper

 Not too many cineastes would recall Juhi Chawla's presence in a Rakesh Roshan film. But nudge your memory, and you'll recall her in the director's ill-fasted "Karobaar" where she played Rishi Kapoor's wife who's tempted to spend a night with business tycoon Anil Kapoor

 Bollywood has of late become extremely pet friendly. From Urmila Matondkar to Sushmita Sen to Rani Mukerji - they all dote on their pets.

 Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Comics is teaming up with Hollywood's New Regency Productions to produce a thriller mined from Indian mythology with filming likely to start as early as 2008 in India.

Contrary to reports suggesting that Rani Mukerji is quitting movies after "Laga Chunri Mein Daag", the actress has already started working in Kunal Kohli's next production

 Govinda, who is once again teaming with Salman Khan in the sequel to "Partner", says he is doing the movie for the sake of his fans who want to see him with his "Partner" co-star again

 Leading Bollywood production and distribution house UTV Motion Pictures Plc (UTVM) is all set to foray into the south Indian film space with a slate of deals in the Telegu film industry, India's second largest movie market after Hindi films

 So far Indian actors, whether it was Shabana Azmi in "The Revenge Of The Pink Panther" or Kabir Bedi in "Octopussy", had to be content playing secondary parts in Hollywood films. But things have changed now and Hollywood no more thinks of Bollywood as third world entertainment.

Konkona Sen Sharma and stage fright don't go together. But when the actress heard that she had to dance with the nimble-footed Madhuri Dixit in "Aaja Nachle", she nearly ran away.
"It was scary," laughed Konkona

 From indolent Nawabs chewing betel nuts to regular denizens going about their day-to-day life even as they surmount subtle signs of marginalisation and alienation, the caricature of Indian Muslims on Indian celluloid has undergone many changes

Film: "Victoria No. 203"; Cast: Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Sonia Mehra, Kamal Sadanah, Javed Jaffrey, Tora Khasgir, Rajesh Khera; Director: Anant Mahadevan; Rating: **

"Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma's much-talked about remake of the blockbuster Hindi film "Sholay", has come under fire from Maoists in Nepal, who say the film has obscene scenes that would pollute society.