Presenting the facts!

Presenting the facts!

Producer Boney Kapoor is a little peeved and justifiably so. He says his latest film, Pukar isn't doing as poorly as people say it is. "True the film didn't take a bumper initial, but that's because most of the youth were completely taken in by Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai," he explains. With the tax-free status, however, things have begun looking up, he adds. Explaining that the entire youth market has embraced Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, while the large Muslim masses have politely shown their slant towards Pakistan by staying away from Pukar, Boney says the film has found a huge audience among the thinking audiences. "In our ninth week, the movie is running at ten cinema halls in the city. If that isn't a good record, then what is?" he asks. Discussing pure figures, the filmmaker says that in Mumbai alone, where the film was sold for Rs 2 crore, it has crossed the Rs 2.75 crore mark. "And we're doing well in Delhi too," he says, adding that the film has fetched an overflow in suchterritories as Nizam, Andhra, Mysore and Tamil Nadu. He admits that Bengal is a slow recovery centre, but also makes it a point to mention that positive word-of-mouth towards the movie has pushed it immensely.

After her sizzling Dilbar number in Sirf Tum, Sushmita Sen has once again been roped in to lend glamour to a seemingly grim movie. This time round, the sensational Ms Sen will be seen gyrating to a foot-tapping number for Khalid Mohammed's Fiza which stars Hrithik Roshan and Karisma Kapoor in main roles. Those who've caught a peek at the dance insist that Sushmita's once again managed to do wonders, and they predict this number will rule the countdown shows for a long time to come. As for the rest of the film -- a terrorist saga -- we'll just wait and watch!

The dash for Ash

With television promos of Mansoor Khan's Westside Story-inspired musical, Josh having hit the channels already, one can't help but notice that Aishwarya Rai is truly looking sexy. While in the past, words like "gorgeous, smashing, beautiful" and "ravishing" have been heaped on her in abundance, nobody's really called her sensuous or sexy. Paired opposite Chandrachur Singh, with Shah Rukh Khan playing her pyaara bhai, wonder what's going to happen some months later when Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein releases. In that one, Ash is romantically paired opposite Shah Rukh. Guess they'll just cross that bridge when they reach it!

Reel vs real life

With former boyfriend Akshay Kumar chasing Twinkle Khanna now, we hear svelte Shilpa Shetty has decided to focus on her work for a change. She's apparently giving her best shot for Dharmesh Darshan's Dhadkan, which insiders say will do wonders for her career. But we can't help wondering how it must feel reporting to work day after day, running around trees with who used to be your former sweetheart. Ladies and gentlemen, let's not forget that Shilpa's co-star in Dhadkan is none other that Akshay himself!