Special appearance

Ayesha Jhulka and Ajay Devgan will be making a special appearance in Loha. It's only a dance item, but Ayesha is confident that it'll be special. "In most of my films I don't have too much to do anyway so what's wrong in doing this one song? At least with Ajay around I'll be noticed. If the song is a chart-topper, it will give a boost to my career," she says with refreshing candour. And Ayesha isn't off tangent in her optimism. Remember, even Raveena admitted that `ShaherKi Ladki did more for her than all her previous hits?

Pooja's new role

It isn't just Shah Rukh Khan who's all set to play the role of a lifetime. That of father, dear father. Yes, the stork is expected to visit Gauri, soon.

Pooja Bedi is also in the same boat. Formerly known as Pooja Body, she's quite happy being Farhan Ibrahim's wife and a soon-to-be mother.

Heart-breaking isn't it, to think of the former siren as matronly? But the good news is that Pooja swears to knock off those extra kilos and get back into shape as soon as the baby happens.

Angry young man

Arvind Swamy was in the city recently and had scribes swarming all over him for an `exclusive'. Always the perfect gentleman, Arvind invited them over to his set for a tete-e-tete. But the smile vanished as soon as a journo from a popular film mag posed her first query: "Is your wife having an affair with a well-known producer in the South?" Next question: "Is it true you have a rollicking time with all your heroines?" That did it. Arvind blew his top and insisted that the scoop-hungry scribe leave his set immediately. He was so angry he wasn't even ready to field the queries of other journalists even if they were related only to his professional life. Can't blame the guy. He's just became a proud papa of a baby girl and he simply adores his wife Gayatri. Such allegations must have been most upsetting.

Family way

Udit Narayan, one of the top singers of Bollywood, never expected his son Aditya to turn out to be a musical prodigy with his maiden song `Chhota Bacha Janke Humko Na Samjhana Re'. Though Ghoonghat did not become a hit, Aditya's number `Naya Naya Style Apan Ka Hotel Hai Mobile' became a hit. So, whenUdit celebrated Adit's birthday, on Wednesday at Hotel Royal Garden, with pomp, industrywallahs were not surprised. And, as if two in the family were not enough, Udit's wife Deepa is also throwing her hat into the musical frey. Her album, Jhume De Thumke, in Bhojpuri, with her husband, has already been aired on Sony. Another album, Curfew Laga, a Hindi pop attempt is in the pipeline. Ratna Cassettes, a new music company is also going to release two more albums -- Bequarari with Hindi ghazals and Prem Ka Ras, a semi-classical foray. She has also cut an album in Oriya, Nepali as well as Rajasthani. Deepa says she has received many offers to sing in films but prefers to go it alone. "I don't want to be known as the singing wife of Udit Narayan."

A-chooo!

At a recent shoot of Veeru Devgan's Hindustan Ki Kasam, Sushmita Sen was having to tough time getting a sneeze right. Take after retake followed. Finally, watching her struggle, the Big B advised her quietly, "Go out there and look at the heaven above for a long while. I can guarantee you that you'll sneeze till your lovely nose turns red." Well, at least that's not asking for the sun, the stars and the moon.

Patriotic faux pas

Being a patriotic Hindustani isn't always easy. Amitabh Bachchan will agree. While on the sets of Devgan's Hindustan..., the Big B stumbled over a long dialogue which ended with him speaking about the amar jawan jyoti. Now the last three words were what knocked the Bachchan for a six. Finally, after several retakes, Farida Jalal told him with a naughty twinkle, "Who asked you to go on such a long break? If after five years you can't get such simple words right you should forget about acting and stay at home."

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.