Although Katrina Kaif and Salman’s Khan’s relationship in is trouble, Katrina is doing her best to make the relationship work again. There were speculations in the media that Katrina didn’t want to go to Salman’s farmhouse at Panvel for Salman’s birthday on December 27 this year. However, Katrina changed her mind at the last minute and reached Salman’s farmhouse on December 26, just a few minutes before midnight.

In fact, Katrina cut shot her shoot for Vipul Shah’s Singh is Kinng so that she does not miss the party. As per schedule, Katrina was supposed to be in Punjab on December 27 shooting for Singh is Kinng, but she made sure that the shoot was postponed so that she could be with Sallu.

On Katrina’s request, Vipul stopped his schedule midway on December 26 and the entire unit returned to Mumbai.

Our source from Singh is Kinng’s unit says, “Katrina told Vipul and Anees that she wanted to spend time with her family and bring in the New Year at home. But the real reason was that she wanted to be with Salman for his birthday party.”

A top actor from the industry, who attended the party, confirmed that Katrina was very much a part of the celebration in Salman’s farmhouse.

Our source says, “Recently, Salman and Katrina’s relationship is in trouble. Things are definitely not the same. There was a time when the two had decided to call off the relationship but as they go back a long way, the two have had long conversations and tried to sort out their differences. And what better time than Salman’s birthday to try and let bygones be bygones?”

When quizzed about it, Vipul and Katrina gave contradictory statements. While Katrina maintained that that the schedule had actually got over on December 26, Vipul said that they changed their plans and that the original plan was to continue shooting in Punjab and not to return to Mumbai midway.

Katrina says, “I did not come to Mumbai especially for Salman’s birthday. Singh is Kinng’s schedule got over on December 26.”

However, Vipul says, “Before Punjab, we shot for about three-and-half months at Goldcoast in Australia. We then started shooting at Punjab and were supposed to be there till January 15. But everybody wanted to be in Mumbai for the New Year. We have taken a break for five days. We will resume shooting on January 3.”

GHAJINI
DIRECTOR: A R Murugadoss
CAST: Aamir Khan, Asin and Jiah Khan
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: A business man (Aamir Khan) and his model-cum-activist girlfriend (Asin) who believe in doing whatever they can to support the marginalised. Asin exposes a flesh-trade racket and earns the wrath of a dreaded gang. Asin is gunned down and Sanjay suffers a short-term memory loss. Later, he goes behind the killers, takes pictures, tattoos their names, addresses, phone numbers on his own body to remember them. A Hindi remake of A R Murugadoss’s Tamil film, Ghajini, this action-thriller releases in second half of 2008. Aamir Khan will shave his head for this

YUVRAAJ
DIRECTOR: Subhash Ghai
CAST: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Zayed Khan, Boman Irani and Katrina Kaif
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Here’s another musical extravaganza from Subhash Ghai’s stable. The story is about three billionaire brothers who embark on a quest for happiness. Salman Khan, in his characteristic manner, woos Katrina Kaif, who plays an ace musician. The film is set to release during Diwali

JODHAA AKBAR
DIRECTOR: Ashutosh Gowarikar
PRODUCER: Ashutosh Gowarikar CAST: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Jodhaa Akbar is the untold love story of the greatest Mughal emperor who ruled Hindustan (now India), Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, and a fiery young Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Set in the sixteenth century, this epic romance begins as a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions for political gain. The Hindu King Bharmal of Amer, gives his daughter’s hand to Emperor Akbar. When Akbar accepts the marriage proposal, not only does he strengthen his relations with the Rajputs but also embarks on a new journey of true love

DRONA
DIRECTOR: Goldie Behl
CAST: Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Abhishek Bachchan plays a superhero in this closely-guarded film, which has been shot extensively in Prague and Rajasthan. Abhishek, sports long hair, has performed daring stunts in the film. The film also stars Priyanka Chopra who plays Abhishek’s bodyguard. She especially learnt a Sikh form of martial art, the Gatka, from four Sikh men for the role. Sources indicate that Amitabh is going all-out to ensure that his son beats out Hrithik Roshan as a superhero

U ME AUR HUM
DIRECTOR: Ajay Devgan
CAST: Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Divya Dutta, Isha Sharvani, Karan Khanna, Sumeet Raghvan
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: A fun-filled romantic comedy that unfolds on a cruise liner. Ajay Devgan and Kajol team together after Raju Chacha which released in 2000

SARKAR RAJ
DIRECTOR: Ram Gopal Varma
CAST: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: This sequel to Sarkar will see Abhishek Bachchan stepping into the shoes of his father Subhash Nagde, a modern-day Robin Hood. Likewise he starts operating a parallel government and his traditional wife (Aishwarya) is his biggest strength. Sarkar Raj will be Ash’s first film opposite Abhishek after their wedding

THE LAST LEAR
DIRECTOR: Rituparno Ghosh
CAST: Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Preity Zinta, Shefali Shah
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: A 65-year-old reclusive Shakespearean stage actor, Harry’s (Amitabh) life changes when he meets new-age film director Siddharth (Arjun). Friendship blossoms between the two eccentric yet creative minds. Harry, who is a complete outsider to the world of commercial cinema, soon grabs a magnificent role in Siddharth’s next film. While filming he befriends his co-actor Shabnam (Preity), who is coping with her messy personal life. He teaches her more than merely the nuances of acting. As the film rolls, Harry gets into the skin of his character - the Joker. So much so that he loses his memory

BHOOTNATH
DIRECTOR: Vivek Sharma
CAST: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Bhootnath’s story is that of a young boy’s encounter with a ghost. Bachchan plays the friendly ghost, while SRK plays the boy’s father. Reportedly, the ongoing cold feud between Amitabh and Shah Rukh has hampered the progress of the film. Although Shah Rukh initially only had a special appearance, his role has been extended. This has supposedly irked Amitabh who wants his role re-worked

SINGH IS KINNG
DIRECTOR: Vipul Shah
CAST: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sudhanshu Pandey, Sonu Sood and Neha Dhupia.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Shot in Gold Coast, Australia this comic caper traces the journey of a small town Sikh boy who goes on to become a menacing gangster. The film has been in the news for Akshay’s diamond-studded turban, which costs a whopping Rs 65 lakh

WANTED
DIRECTOR: Prabhu Deva
CAST: Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Inspired by Telugu super hit, Pokiri, the plot revolves around Radhe (Salman), who is an undercover cop operating as a henchman. He meets his ladylove (Ayesha Takia), but the day she decides to reciprocate her love for him, Radhe is attacked by a rival gang. However, Radhe escapes unhurt and manages to kill them. After learning about the slaughter, Ayesha starts distancing herself

ALADDIN
DIRECTOR: Sujoy Ghosh
CAST: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Ritiesh Deshmukh and Miss Sri Lanka, Jacqueline Fernandez
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Sujoy Ghosh’s Aladdin, is a modern-day Bollywood version of The Arabian Nights. Ritiesh plays the title role; Sanjay is Ring Master while Amitabh plays a mischievous genie. The film boasts of high-end, visual effects

GOLMAAL RETURNS
DIRECTOR: Rohit Shetty
CAST: Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade, Tusshar Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora, Celina Jaitley and Anjana Sukhani WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Golmaal Returns is the sequel to the rib-tickler Golmaal. The plot has been kept under wraps so far. The lowdown: Kareena plays a housewife, who is addicted to saas-bahu serials

TASHAN
DIRECTOR: Vijay Krishna Acharya CAST: Kareena Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Tashan is going to be one grand affair. Although Kareena has played a number of glamourous roles, she has never really bared on screen. But this time the buzz is Kareena will wear a bikini in the film. Tashan will also feature Saif Ali Khan’s eight-year-old son, Ebrahim, who plays his son in the film as well

AASHAYEIN
DIRECTOR: Nagesh Kukunoor
CAST: John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: John plays a habitual gambler in the film. As he wants to overcome the vice, a friend suggests that he go to the Velankani Church in Pondicherry for a rehabilitation course. The story charts John’s transformation as he encounters different people at the rehab centre

MISSION ISTANBUL
DIRECTOR: Vivek Sharma
CAST: Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, Suniel Shetty and Tusshar Kapoor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT: Vikas Sagar (Zayed Khan), an ambitious and popular journalist, who would go to any limits for a scoop, is asked by Owais Husain (Suniel Shetty), a senior producer at the controversial Istanbul-based news channel, Al Johara, to fly to Istanbul for a three-month long orientation programme. Their offer couldn’t have come at a better time for Vikas, who’s undergoing a painful divorce with wife Anjali. As part of his orientation, Vikas gets hands-on experience in Al Johara’s newsroom. He finds himself creating news as he steals the secrets locked away in Al Johara’s 13th floor. He is a man on the run, who is wanted by Turkish cops, terrorists, and the CIA. He joins a bloody mission against international terrorism

DILLI 6
DIRECTOR: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
CAST: Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT:
The film is loosely-based on film-maker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s childhood spent at Chandni Chowk in Delhi. It also takes a scathing look at the ‘Monkey Man’ hysteria that rocked Delhi in 2001

After six months of living in denial, Shilpa Shetty and UK-based NRI entrepreneur Raj Kundra have come out in the open with their relationship. “I’m not denying it’s him (Raj) but I hope when this comes out, it doesn’t frighten him off,” Shilpa said on the New Year’s eve. And, no, this isn’t her resolution to come clean on all controversies this year, but as Shilpa’s publicist Dale Bhagwagar said, “Things have changed. The relationship has blossomed and matured with time. They were friends before. Now they’re a couple.”

Raj is responsible for the launch of Shilpa’s perfume. He is also the force behind her musical stage shows. Raj, who finances and produces movies, had presented the Jimmy Sheirgill-Kay Kay Menon starrer Strangers which released a few weeks ago. But like Shilpa, when the news of their relationship broke six months ago, Raj had denied it, stating they were “just friends”.

Raj’s former wife Kavita had accused Shilpa of breaking her marriage by having an affair with Raj. But the other version is that Shilpa came to know Raj four months after his wife had parted with him. Now the couple is seriously dating and getting to know each other better. Shilpa brought in the New Year with her family and Raj in Las Vegas.

After being noticed for her glamorous role as Kamini in Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don’, followed by the item number ‘It’s rocking’ (’Kya Love Story Hai’), Kareena Kapoor has refrained from using much greasepaint in Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Jab We Met’.

Imtiaz reasons, “The film is a travel story. It covers the journey of two strangers played by Shahid Kapur and Kareena. Have you ever seen people wearing heavy makeup whilst travelling? In fact, people don’t like applying any makeup, due to the hassles involved in travel. Hence, Kareena is sporting a non-glam look for most part of the film.”

What if her fans miss the glam quotient? “Kareena is one of the few heroines who looks good without makeup. I’ve got a good feedback from the promos, which is a positive sign,” answers Imtiaz adding, “Yes, there are few scenes in the film that require a hint of makeup. But neither the film nor its characters have a dolled-up treatment. ‘Jab We Met’ required a natural texture regarding the actors as well as the locations.”

Imtiaz, who has also written the film’s dialogues, script and the screenplay, says, “Even for Shahid, it is a makeover-from a boy, he graduates to a man in this film. Even off-screen he is level-headed and mature. I wanted to bring this side of his personality on screen.

Imtiaz further reveals, “Kareena and Shahid were excited about the fact that they were getting to do something different and were willing to experiment.”

On being questioned if he was disappointed about the alleged Shahid-Kareena split getting the film into limelight for the wrong reasons, Imtiaz says, “On a personal note I am not pleased to hear this since they both are my friends. But I don’t think that such stories affect a film’s box office running in a positive or negative manner.”

Known to prepare painstakingly for roles, Kareena doesn’t shy from doing what it takes to deliver her performances. Obviously, she’s going the whole hog to ensure that this plum role, too, falls in her lap. After Asoka, Kareena hasn’t had a chance to act opposite SRK. The buzz is that she really wants to act opposite SRK. Our source reveals, “Ever since Kareena heard that SRK was the leading man of Robot, she immediately made up her mind to do that film too. The actor visited SRK’s Bandra home, Mannat, and in the presence of Gauri Khan, said that she should be considered for the female lead in Shankar’s Robot.”

Kareena has always openly admitted that she is an ardent SRK fan. In fact, earlier, she went out of her way to accommodate Asoka in her schedule to be part of the SRK project. The source said, “She was last paired with SRK in Asoka. They were then seen in Karan Johar’s Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham but they weren’t opposite each other. Since then, she wanted to work with SRK. Shankar’s Robot, she felt, was a good opportunity to work with SRK once again.”

For those unfamiliar with Shankar’s Robot, the director had originally planned the film with Kamal Hassan in the lead. However, the role finally went to Shah Rukh. Although Shankar has chosen to remain secretive about the story of the film, but insiders have it that the film is a science fiction. “It is a futuristic and stylish movie,” our source says.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan continue to be an item. The duo was out and about in the suburbs on Saturday evening. After a long discussion, they walked in together (almost hand-in-hand) at the VIP lounge of a popular Chinese restaurant. Like most celebrity couples, they seemed to be extremely comfortable with each other, say onlookers.

A guest present at the restaurant says, “They were behaving like a couple. They were lost in some discussion and were completely oblivious about their surroundings and onlookers.”

Once at their table, the duo who was accompanied by friends Dino Morea and Amrita Arora, sat very close to each other.

Kareena and Saif also indulged in some serious PDA. Saif kept hugging her throughout the evening, and they left together. A restaurant staff informs, Kareena and Saif were spotted together at a suburban restaurant over the weekend. Saif kept hugging and complimenting her all evening “Kareena seemed to be distressed and Saif was consoling her. He was often complimenting and hugging her. Their friends also took care to give them the much-needed privacy.” Kareena and Saif, were dressed in casual tees and denims, and were engaged in a conversation with the occasional remark, ‘Yeah, you are right!’ meant for the rest seated with them at the table. Kareena and Saif got along well on the sets of Tashan and ever since they have spending a lot of time with each other. However, Kareena is maintaining a stoic silence over her relationship with Shahid Kapur who is currently filming in Toronto. A source close to Kareena says, “Kareena and Saif are extremely fond of each other and the duo are spending a lot of time with together. She has also been vocal about Saif’s good nature to a few of us.”