Bhatt paired with Ranbir Kapoor

Soni Razdan s daughter Alia is making her debut with Karan Johar s Student of the Year is an old one. What few people know is the fact that Alia had first been offered a film by Abhinav Kashyap but Karan Johar’s flick first went on floors.be paired opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Alia may be quite young compared to Ranbir but her fresh and innocent looks match Ranbir’s persona just perfectly.

Ranbir will be seen in an entirely new avatar in the film. His character is that of an uncouth youth from Bihar who turns a tapori in Mumbai.Alia has already started the shoot for ‘Student of the Year’ in Singapore and if things work out fine, she could be seen alongside Ranbir Kapoor.

I’m performing with Jermaine in Toronto – Sonu Niigaam

 

Versatile Indian singer Sonu Niigaam says he will perform with Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine during the forthcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend in Toronto, as a tribute to the late King of Pop on the eve of his second death anniversary.

The duo will perform Sonu’s composition, which has been chosen as a tribute song for Michael, who died June 25, 2009, by his family.

“Yes, I am performing with him (Jermaine), the MJ tribute song that is getting released by Universal America next week. It is called ‘This Is It’. I wrote and composed the song and he sang it for me in Los Angeles. It is the first ever tribute song in the world post MJ’s sad demise that is endorsed by a member of Michael Jackson’s family,” Sonu told IANS.

Their performance will be a part of the IIFA Rocks, a music and fashion event which will sponsored by Grey Goose on the second day of the three-day Bollywood extravaganza in Toronto, starting June 23.

“We were fortunate to have met with Michael Jackson in 1996 when we brought him to India for his concert. With IIFA in Toronto, we will be commemorating Michael Jackson’s second death anniversary with a performance by his brother Jermaine Jackson on the IIFA Rocks stage. He will be joined by Sonu Niigaam,” Sabbas Joseph, one of the founder directors of Wizcraft International Entertainment, told IANS.

Sonu is a huge Michael Jackson fan, and he has admitted in the past that his style of singing the hit number “Ye dil deewana” was majorly influenced by the international pop superstar.

Jermaine, MJ’s elder brother, had last visited India in October 2009 for 10 days to record an album with composer-singer Adnan Sami.

Bollywood returns to Darjeeling

Within days of the West Bengal government reaching an agreement with Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), Bollywood returned to the picturesque Darjeeling hills Wednesday for a film shoot after an eight-year gap.

The shooting of Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer “Barfee’ was held at Ghum station of Darjeeling. The film is being directed by Anurag Basu.

The film is a romantic murder mystery and will be shot at various locations in Darjeeling in two segments.

The first segment will be till the end of June, while shooting for the second segment will start from the last week of August and continue till mid-September.

The few shots featuring Ranbir were taken Wednesday. Priyanka is scheduled to join the shooting June 25.

The last film to be shot in Darjeeling was Shah Rukh Khan’s “Main Hoon Naa” in 2003.

Many nationally and internationally acclaimed films have been shot in Darjeeling, including Satyajit Ray’s “Kanchenjunga”, Saif Ali Khan’s “Parineeta” and Anjan Dutta’s “Chalo Lets Go”.

But shooting for both Hindi and Bengali movies stopped after Bimal Gurung-led GJM organised a violent movement for the creation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced June 7 that the issue of a separate Gorkhaland has been resolved and an agreement signed. However, the GJM said it has not gone back on its demand and called the agreement the “foundation of a separate state”.

Mohit Suri's father passes away

Director of Murder 2, Mohit Suri, is all set with his film release but fate played a cruel hand when the maverick director lost his father, Daksh, yesterday morning, to multiple organ failure.

Mohit, who has strong affiliation with the Bhatt camp, was supported by uncles Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt. Emraan Hashmi, who is Mohit's cousin and has also starred in his films, even cancelled his shoot to be by the director's side. Mohit and his family will return to Mumbai on Friday.

We offer our condolences to Mohit Suri and his family.