In Priyadarshan’s latest film, Akshay Kumar playing a miserable indentured chauffeur, whines about the state of his ragged uniform. He speaks of how the belt is held up by a pyjama drawstring, how the button is hanging on for dear life, and how there’s really nothing holding it together.
He may well have been speaking of the film itself, a loud, overlong collection of slapstick subplots that would have nothing in common but for one man.

Priyadarshan, refusing as always to call himself a director — ‘filmed by,’ proclaim his credits — attempts to stitch together this ragtag quilt in his usual style, ending up with a stupidly elaborate monstrosity.
All manner of morons — philanderers, dognappers, murderers, hookers, marriagable daughters and dumb-waiters — congregate in a plush Singapore hotel, and chaos ensues. Big surprise.

There is much slamming of doors and misunderstandings involving rooms, and all is what you’d expect until we get to the climactic washout, which involves an undoubtedly impressive, albeit unnecessary, hotel flood.
Yet the film has been a damp squib right from the get go. The flaccid first half never quite recovers, and while the second half musters up a few genuine moments of mirth — mostly because Manoj Joshi’s face turns positively scarlet in anger — it’s too cruelly long to really help things. Also one suspects those rare second-half laughs occur simply because one is mindnumbed into submission.

Akshay takes the safe route and spends most of the film locked in a cupboard; Paresh Rawal  might have been funny had he delivered one single line without screaming; Katrina Kaif is reduced to crawling on the floor so Rajpal Yadav can trip over her; Shakti Kapoor plays *cough* a letch; Johnny Lever isn’t altogether awful and Asrani gets a couple of laughs.
The only relatively pleasant surprises are Neha Dhupia  looking startlingly yummy and the usually punctilious Vikram Gokhale being kicked, insulted and leapt upon — the last bit by the aforementioned Ms Dhupia, just in case you were wondering.

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has been struck by jaundice at a wrong time Katrina has been forced indoors missing the promotional events of her upcoming movie De Dana Dan. She was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai and has been advised complete bed rest for a while. Katrina had been feeling weak for quite a while but she couldn’t go for treatment due to hectic work schedule.

Akshay Kumar for whom Katrina serves as a lucky charm has wished her a speedy recovery. He said that the entire De Dana Dan team was missing her during the promotional events and wanted her to quickly recover and be back in action. This will be their fifth movie in a lead role after Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye, Namastey London, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng. The Priyadarshan directed De Dana Dan also stars Paresh Rawal, Suniel Shetty and Neha Dhupia.

Akshay Kumar is tired of replying to queries about his so-called rivalry with “Blue” co-star Sanjay Dutt. Setting the record straight, he says this is a figment of someone’s imagination and they don’t have any problems whatsoever with each other.

`“Please, in this forum, let me state this for perhaps the last time ever – ‘There are no problems between Sanjay Dutt and me,” Akshay told IANS.

Since the shooting of “Blue” commenced around a year ago, there was talk of tension between the two stars.

`“Yeh sab bekaar ki baatein hain (all this is ridiculous talk). People can imagine something and start writing about anything that comes to their mind. We live in times when such unnecessary gossip makes headlines.

`“In fact, I went for ‘Mata Ki Chowki’ (prayer function) at his place. Would I have done that had there been any problems `between us?” asked the actor who is currently shooting for “Houseful”.

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who has performed innumerable death-defying stunts in his nearly two decade old films career, says his upcoming underwater thriller “Blue” is his “most dangerous” film ever.

“This experience has pushed just about everyone involved to their absolute limits – from the producer’s bank balance, to the director’s maximum efforts for his first baby, which just happens to be the most dangerous movie I’ve ever been a part of,” Akshay posted on his blog akshay.bigadda.com.

“Blue”, which is about an underwater treasure hunt, has been directed by debutant Anthony D’Souza. Releasing Friday, it also features Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif along with Australian pop princess Kylie Minogue in a cameo.

The movie is being touted as the most expensive ever in the film with industry insiders claiming that producer producer Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd has splurged Rs.80 crore on its making.

Akshay Kumar maintains that women are stronger than men when it comes to mental strength and says he chose Twinkle as his life partner because she has the courage to “kick” people in the “butt”.

“I didn’t fall in love with my wife because she could dance around a tree. I fell for her strength as an independent woman. She kicked butt at school and she could do it now if she wanted. She is fearless to the outside world and I think it’s a great perception for women,” Akshay told IANS from Italy where he is currently shooting for Sajid Khan’s “Housefull”.

Akshay is making a comeback on the small screen as the host of level two of the serial “Khatron Ke Khiladi” and reveals there were a number of instances during its shooting when he was simply dismayed with the way male participants performed stunts.

Akshay has done loads of action films and made audiences laugh in rib-tickling comedies, but He now says he’s bored and wants some romance…on screen of course!

“I want to do more romance. I’ve actually gotten bored of comedy and action. Yes, I just want to do some romantic films. And that’s what my next thing is going to be,” Akshay told Myleen Klass in an interview for CNN’s “The Screening Room Xtra” programme.

While his fans enjoyed actioners like “Khiladi”, “Mohra” and “Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi”, Akshay also drew audiences for laugh riots “Hera Pheri”, “Mujhse Shaadi Karogi”, “Welcome” and “Sing Is Kinng” among others.

“…I’ve done quite a lot of comedy now and I don’t know…sometimes an actor is very sensitive about what he’s doing and where he wants to go ahead and do. I know comedy has worked a lot and it has worked brilliantly for me.

Akshay Kumar’s son Aarav is quite excited about his dad’s upcoming flick Blue, where Akki plays a champion swimmer who is always underwater hunting for treasure.

A source says, “Akshay knows Aarav will be kicked by the idea of his dad playing a champion swimmer and that too named Aarav after his son. In Aarav’s eyes, Akshay is the true hero. To watch his dad play a man of dubious morals and grey aspirations would be a new experience for Aarav.”

Director of Blue, Anthony talking about Akki’s screen name in Blue says, “It’s true, Akshay plays a man who thinks getting what he wants is more important than how you get there. I wrote the character for Akshay. He was to be called Akshay Malhotra. But then when I saw that Akshay had tattooed his son’s name on his back I decided to change the character’s name to Aarav.”

Akshay Kumar’s last negative role was in Khiladi 420.But that was a double role with one of the twins turning evil. Besides Aarav wasn’t born when it was released.

Imtiaz Ali’s next film would be for the production house Shree Ashtavinayak (who lately ran out of ‘Luck’).

Says Imtiaz, “I was supposed to make a film with Ashtavinayak featuring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Though it was a story written by me I didn’t quite like it myself. So I dropped the idea. I’ve no idea what I’ll be making for them. But I’m committed to do film for them next. Though we haven’t discussed my price or anything.”

Imtiaz has also been signed by Sajid Nadiadwala to direct a film.
Nowadays Imtiaz Ali spends the maximum time with people of a rather dubious social standing. His best friends at the moment are black-market ticket-sellers at movie theatres. They’re the ones who are keeping him constantly informed about the boxoffice progression of Love Aaj Kal.
In fact they are so familiar with Imtiaz’s movements they track him down wherever he is to give him an update on his film’s collections.

Says Imtiaz, “These black marketers are fearless and they mean business. They won’t tell me anything but the absolute truth about the ticket sales. They are the best and most reliable source of information on how my film is doing.
The trade analysts have their own take, and the buzz within the industry tells me nothing about how the film is actually doing.Because everyone has his own axe to grind So I’ve found this method of monitoring my collections.”

Imtiaz knows all the black-marketers by their names. He know where they live and they are free to visit him any time. The entire time since his film’s release Imtiaz has been hobnobbing with his friends in the black zone.
On Monday he was spotted outside Mumbai’s Chandan theatre at noon, inquiring anxiously about the shows for Monday.

“They told me they had bought tickets to sell in ‘black’ rates for Monday evening and night and they had bought out the tickets for all the shows on Raksha Bandhan so I’m happy.”
Imtiaz intends to celebrate with his friends from the black zone once the film is a certifiable hit.
“I’m not going by anyone’s verdict except theirs ” says Imtiaz resolutely. “You can call it a bit of chor bazaari in my life.”
Imtiaz is upset by the guarded critical response to Deepika Padukone’s performance in Love Aaj Kal. “I think she really really got the point. She understood the character and its aspirations and she took her on internally. The best compliment for Deeepika came from Saif. After seeing the film he said Deepika gave a better performance than him.”

When he entered the industry, he knew two things – Punches and Kicking! Acting followed and though it took a few films for the industry (as well as himself) to realize his acting potential, it was Akshay’s expertise in martial arts that kept the show running for him. The young man who flew from Chandni Chowk to Bangkok and landed in Mumbai, his initial films like Mr. Bond, Ashaant, Paandav, Kaayda Kanoon and many more ran in theaters solely on his action power!
Now close to 20 years after establishing himself in the industry, Akshay Kumar is all set to be living his dream. He is now sponsoring a Karate Championship for the youngsters so that they can enhance their talent, represent the country and then move on to showcase their skills and abilities at an International level.
The championship has rightly been termed as ‘Akshay Kumar 1st Invitational Open National Karate Championship’. The event is expected to see participation from as many as 2000 athletes who would be traveling to Mumbai from across the country. The Championships would be held from 22nd-25th October 2009 at Andheri Sports Complex Mumbai.
Says an official connected to the championship, "Akshay has always been passionate about Karate and is especially considerate about the fact that there is so much talent in the country that needs to be nurtured. He was particularly moved by the plight of some really talented athletes who could reach the highest level if given an opportunity but haven’t been able to do so because of lack of funds. With this championship, he wishes to create a platform where young and budding talent from all over India would get together and get into a world class fighting event. This event will also promote Karate and Martial Arts to the remotest corners of the country."
The entire championship is a brain child of Shihan Mehul Vora, a martial arts practitioner for over 27 years and International teacher for 15 years. Incidentally, Akshay’s son Aarav gets trained on martial arts at Vora’s class.
"I still remember Akshay coming to my Karate Class to watch Aarav train. Whenever he would see a child in need. he would ask me if he/she child would need a sponsorship", says Vora, "When I would tell him that there were so many out there who couldn’t afford going to a Karate tournament due to lack of funds, he would always encourage me to think around how this situation could be bettered and he would extend any help that I would ask."
This is when Vora decided to bring up the topic of the championship. "I shared the idea of championship with him and he was immediately on board", Vora gets nostalgic here, "The idea of Akshay Kumar Invitational Open National Karate Championship was born there and then. The students who would be coming for this championship won’t have to worry about the cost implications since Akshay would be bearing it all."
While bouts would be held from age groups as young as 6 years in all weight categories for men as well as women, it is also expected that some of the biggest names in Indian Karate would be taking part in this championship. Also, there would be a team of world class referees, judges and coaches along with international grandmasters and observers from Japan, Holland and Italy joining in.

We hear Bollywood actors talking about recession and what can be done to underplay its effects but then there is an actor who’s actually doing something about it. Yeah, you read that right, Bollywood’s Khiladi Akshay Kumar has reportedly reduced his fee from Rs 50 crore to 20 crore.

According to reports, Akshay, who is known to be very particular about the money he takes home, has gone ahead and done something really unexpected by slashing down his price. What’s all the more surprising is the fact that Akshay took the step after the overwhelming response to his latest film ‘Kambakkht Ishq’, which generated more than Rs 100 crore at the Box Office.
It is believed that the major reason for this price reduction is that the actor now wants a part of the profits of every film he undertakes.
With the new mechanism in place, Akshay, these days, is insisting on knowing the cost of the film at the time of signing it so that he can calculate the profit beforehand. Now that’s called some business acumen!