A Home Away from Home

A Home Away from Home • Going Slow on Speed Remake • The Papaya Seekers

Imran Khan and his missus Avantika have been in and out of three homes since their marriage in January earlier this year. The couple moved out of the actor’s family home in Pali Hill shortly after the shaadi, when renovation work began at the bungalow. They bunked at Avantika’s mum’s house on Perry Cross Road in Bandra, but discovered that sharing a flat with both their mums (Avantika’s mum graciously invited Imran’s mother, too, to stay with them till the bungalow was ready) was cramping their style. So now, the newly-weds have rented an apartment on Hill Road. This will be their home till the Pali Hill residence is functioning again.

To make up for the fact that he was busy working until days before the wedding, Imran is apparently spending all the time he has available now with Avantika. Despite the runaway success of Delhi Belly recently, the actor hasn’t signed a single new film in months. It’s true! After the release of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan on 9 September, Imran goes back to shoot Short-term Shaadi whenever busy-bee Kareena Kapoor has dates again. But meanwhile, he’s reportedly biding his time reading (and rejecting) new scripts, and indulging his wife with holidays.

Ajay Devgn, who’s just coming off a blockbuster hit in Singham, doesn’t want his lucky streak to end. The actor has reportedly urged the producers of his new film, Tezz, to shift its release from 11 November, since he doesn’t want it to clash with the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rockstar, which opens on the same date. Devgn is convinced that a clash between big films ends up hurting the business of both, and hence is happy to postpone his release by a few weeks.

Besides, Devgn has cordial relations with Ranbir, with whom he acted in Raajneeti last year, and is also close to the producers of Rockstar, Ashtavinayak Productions, with whom he’s worked on the Golmaal series.

Devgn’s film Tezz—inspired by the Keanu Reeves-actioner Speed—is reportedly the story of a man who must deactivate a bomb that has been outfitted into a speeding Eurostar train travelling from Paris to London. The film, directed by Priyadarshan, also stars Anil Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Sameera Reddy.

The shenanigans of this sexy B-list heroine, best known for her hourglass figure and her hit item numbers, are well known in Bollywood, where gossip travels faster than lightning. Production staffers who worked on a super-hit romantic comedy a few years ago are full of stories about this actress, who created quite a stir when she was hired to shoot a sizzling item song for the film in Miami. The actress’ bags were reportedly misplaced by the airline when she touched down in the beach city, and she promptly insisted that production give her shopping expenses so she could buy herself some new clothes. She reportedly purchased thousands of dollars worth of designer togs at the expense of the producers, and didn’t offer to repay them when her bags were finally located by the airline and delivered to her.

The production assistants, who handed a mobile phone with a local US connection to each of the stars during their stay in Miami, snooped around these handsets after they’d been returned at the end of the shoot. On this particular actress’ phone, they discovered a string of undeleted text messages she had sent to and received from her boyfriend at the time, a married Londoner. From reading the SMSes she’d sent him, they discovered she’d been demanding an expensive ring from the suitor, who had been stalling his commitment. Her messages, they insist, alternated between pleading and threatening.

But their favourite story of the actress and this outdoor shooting schedule is one involving her diva mother, who’d accompanied her to Miami.

The mother reportedly threw a fit when she found only apples and oranges stocked in the fruit tray in her hotel suite, and demanded that her favourite fruit— papayas—be made available to her.

Junior production staff cursed her under their breath when they were sent off to find papayas in Miami in the middle of summer.

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Rajeev Masand

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