All Panting, Little Sex

All Panting, Little Sex • The Grapes of Ignored Wrath • A Regular Bollywood Flirt after All

Don’t get misled by the trailers of Murder 2; insiders say the sequel isn’t half as steamy as the original film that starred Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat. This one stars Hashmi opposite Jacqueline Fernandes, and while one song in particular does involve much heavy breathing and ripping each other’s shirts off, it seems the film on the whole is not so much a sex thriller as it is a serial killer movie.

Hashmi, who had promised his wife he was going to stay away from steamy scenes after the birth of his son, is reportedly concerned that the missus might flip her lid after watching this song. Yet, it’s unlikely she’ll be shuffling her feet uncomfortably throughout the film like she did while watching Murder before they were married.

Jacqueline, meanwhile, is said to have a glorified guest appearance in the film and reportedly appears at the start and the end of the film only. A source says the actress has been strictly instructed not to promote Murder 2 by her Housefull 2 director Sajid Khan, who has promised to present her as a ‘legitimate leading lady’ in his multi-starrer sequel that goes into production shortly. Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, the producers of Murder 2, have reportedly got wind of the situation, but hardly seem to care. They claim they’re confident the film will work if it has to, even without the support of their leading lady.  

Saif Ali Khan made sense recently on his return from the Cannes Film Festival, when he knocked Indian stars for making a big deal about being invited to walk the red carpet. Saif, who was at Cannes as the face of a liquor brand, insisted there is no glory in being invited or photographed because the brand you’re endorsing is a sponsor at the festival. The actor said the aim should be to get there on the merit of our movies.

Can’t argue with that.

But now it appears that Saif’s criticism of the Cannes opportunity may have something to do with his own sour experience at the festival. Sources say the actor turned up almost an hour late on the red carpet the evening he was meant to walk for Chivas Regal. Despite repeated requests from the public relations representative to pull into the Palais at the appointed hour, Saif didn’t show up until much later. Indeed star entries on the red carpet are timed specifically in order to gain maximum mileage from the world media, but with Saif arriving after the stars of Woody Allen’s opening night film, shutterbugs showed little interest in photographing him.

Apparently, the infuriated PR rep decided she had more important things to take care of rather than wait for Saif’s fashionably late entry. As a result, when the actor did arrive, there was nobody at hand to explain who he was to the international media who were by then focusing on the likes of Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson.

Dressed in a smart Tom Ford tux, the star got a cold shoulder from the press, while Minnisha Lamba, who was also at Cannes representing the same brand, is believed to have milked the opportunity for all its worth by sticking faithfully to the plan that had been chalked out for her by her publicist.

A recently single male star has got the industry talking about how he’s suddenly rediscovering his freedom. Just out of a long-term relationship with a popular actress, our hero is believed to be playing the field, and openly so.

There’s buzz that he shared warm vibes with a pretty model-turned-actress while shooting for a comedy in London recently. The actress is herself committed to a Bollywood outsider, but unit members say the two stars only had eyes for each other during the month-long outdoor shoot.

Closer home, it appears that the strapping stud may have broken one of Bollywood’s cardinal rules— don’t fraternise with the media. Always an incorrigible flirt with female reporters who interview him, his behaviour has been repeatedly dismissed as harmless. But now news is coming in that he may be dating a 20-something female reporter who took the bait.

Not so long ago he was seen as the epitome of commitment and loyalty in a business where relationships tend to be temporary and fickle. But it seems he might be cut from the same cloth as the rest of them after all!

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Rajeev Masand

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