He says he wanted to shoot it in a real prison.

"But there were too many practical problems. It'll be in the thriller format. I've been mulling the subject right from the time I made 'Chandni Bar'. Now I've completely revamped the film," Bhandarkar told IANS.

Bhandarkar liked Neil's work in "Johnny Gaddar" and thus chose him to play the lead.

"I saw his work in 'Johnny Gaddar' and I knew he was perfect. I don't think a prison story like 'Jail' has been done so far in Hindi. I always want to go into genres that are new for me and for the audience."

The film will be a two-hour taut thriller produced jointly by Bhandarkar and Percept Pictures.

"I'll now make all my films in collaboration with another company. Percept has been with me through my last few films barring 'Fashion', which I co-produce with UTV."

The acclaimed director says he was taken aback by the National Award for "Traffic Signal". Incidentally, he was caught in traffic in the pouring rain when news of award reached him.

"Since the National Awards are running a year late, I wasn't even aware that 'Traffic Signal' was up for consideration. I was stuck in the torrential rains when a news channel from Delhi called to inform me. I thought it was a joke. Later the phone started ringing.

"The film was very difficult to make. There were 60 characters. And half of them were non-actors, straight from the streets. And we did no workshops."

Though Bhandarkar has won National awards for both "Chandni Bar" and "Page 3", this is his first National award for best director. For the first time, two films of the same director were competing against each other.

"My 'Traffic Signal' and 'Corporate' were in the race together. Both are my babies and equally important. I felt very sad when 'Chandni Bar' and 'Page 3' didn't get enough popular awards. But I've no complaints.

"Without a godfather I've created a niche for myself. I've acquired a branding today. And I'm proud of my achievement."

"Fashion" budgeted at Rs.200 million is Bhandarkar's most glamorous and expensive film to date.

"'Traffic Signal' was made on a cost of Rs.40 million. 'Chandni Bar' was made for Rs.15 million. 'Fashion' is a big financial leap. Because of the kind of opulence that the film has, we needed a big star.

"Priyanka Chopra is a glamorous star and the film couldn't have been made without her."

For his past films, the director has been turned down by Karisma Kapoor ("Satta"), Kareena Kapoor ("Page 3") and Aishwarya Rai ("Corporate").

"It's taken me a long time to get here," Bhandarkar said.

The same day the Bengali and Hindi versions of Rituparno Ghosh's "Khela", featuring Manisha in the lead, are opening as well. Surprisingly, Manisha has not dubbed for either version of "Khela", not even in Hindi.

"She has been travelling extensively and we just couldn't wait any longer," Ghosh told IANS.

"Manisha is the most easygoing, obedient, disciplined and hassle-free actress I've worked with. Believe me, I've worked with the most temperamental Bengali actresses in the world. I had heard Manisha is difficult. Not true at all. She just surrendered to my vision.

"Ajay Devgan used to tell me Manisha is like a man on the sets. She gets ready for a shot in three minutes. I've worked with actresses who have failed to get ready even after three hours of makeup," Ghosh added.

Ghosh is, in fact, planning another film with Manisha.

"She's so lovely and I know exactly what I want to do with her in my next film. In 'Khela', she has a very interesting role as the neglected wife of a self-centred actor (played by Prosenjeet)."

"Khela" is Ritu's first film with a child at the centre of the story.

"It's about a film unit that wants a particular child for a role. When the parents refuse, the boy gets in touch with the film's hero and suggests they kidnap him because he wants to do the film. The hero (Prosenjeet) and the film's art director (Raima Sen) do just that."

"Khela" will be Ghosh's first Hindi-Bengali bilingual. But he has another one, "Sunglass", coming up very soon.

"That was like making two different films because the male lead in Hindi is R. Madhavan and in Bengali it is Tota Roy-Chowdhary."

The two hit it off like a house on fire while shooting for a special episode for Zee TV's reality show "Ek Se Badkar Ek", a release from the channel said.

Apparently, rain played spoilsport on the sets of the show hosted by Ravi.

In the meantime, the actress did not miss the opportunity to take some language lessons in host's mother tongue.

Priyanka was present on the show with co-star and beau Harman Baweja to promote their forthcoming sci-fi thriller "Love Story 2050" releasing Friday.

"I have to play the violin in 'The Man' and to make it look real, I am taking lessons. Trust me, it is very difficult to play the violin. I am having a tough time. My instructor tells me that it is the most difficult instrument to play and he is quite right," said Shilpa in a press statement.

Although Shilpa is finding her lessons tough, her instructor Sandeep, who is based in Goa, says he is impressed with her sincerity.

"Every evening after pack up, Shilpa takes two hour lessons to play the violin. She is shaping up to be a very dedicated student," he stated.

In "The Man", Shilpa is portraying a girl who rises to instant global stardom - very similar to her real life experience.

"Her character has an interesting side to it - she is a violin expert just like pop sensation Vanessa Mae. Her violin playing portions in the film have been styled just like a Vanessa Mae video. Since Shilpa wanted to lend authenticity to her character, she decided to learn to play the violin," a source close to the actress stated.

The actress was last seen in "Life... In a Metro".

Both films are launching new faces. While "Jaane Tu..." is the launch vehicle of Aamir Khan's nephew Imran, "Love Story 2050" is the debut film of producer-director Harry Baweja's son Harman.

"'Jaane Tu...' is seeing a lot of advance booking because of PVR multiplex's strategic planning. They planned it long back and they themselves are the co-producers and distributors of the film," Joginder Mahajan, a Delhi-based film distributor, told IANS.

In terms of budget, producers Adlabs and Baweja have invested about Rs.500 million in "Love Story 2050". "Jaane Tu...", written-directed by Abbas Tyrewala, is comparatively a low budget film. Co-produced by Aamir, his cousin Mansoor and PVR cinemas, the total cost of the film is Rs.300 million.

The response for "Jaane Tu..." is very good and the bookings began five days before the film released, said an executive of PVR cinemas.

Pradipto Roy of Jam Cinemas, another multiplex, echoed this, saying: "'Jaane Tu...' has won the youngsters' hearts as its advance bookings are much more than 'Love Story 2050'. It should also fare better as the music is already a big hit, courtesy A.R. Rahman.

"Secondly, I feel that it is not an experiment like 'Love Story 2050'. Except 'Krrish', sci-fi experiments have mostly failed."

Surendra, another distributor, expressed confidence in "Jaane Tu..." saying: "With Aamir Khan promoting and producing it, there are high hopes for the film. 'Love Story 2050' is a sci-fi movie and I have my doubts about it."

Harman's mother Pammi Baweja, who is the co-producer of "Love Story 2050", herself has apprehensions about the movie.

She said: "I won't say that we have a lot of expectations from the film, but we just want people to appreciate it and like Harman's performance in the film."

Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh is looking forward to both films.

"Both are fresh and novel. Both should do well. There's always space for a good film in the market," Adarsh said.

Former Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor was also upbeat.

"I am going to see both of them. It is great to see new talent in the industry and I am sure both would do well," she said.

Aditya Chopra, who practically produced the movie for Kunal Kohli Productions, has sought to make a scapegoat of Kohli, saying that the latter, as a director, should own up the responsibility for the new movie's box-office failure.

According to trade reports, the collections of this Saif Ali Khan-Rani Mukerji starrer have already started hovering between 30 percent and 40 percent across the country since the movie was released last Friday.

The overseas collection figure is not yet available.

Bollywood trade circles are confused at the repeated duds being ditched out by YRF, a banner which, until recently, was known for producing successful movies.

People in the trade are asking about the yardstick YRF applies to judge a film project before deciding to go ahead with it?

The question is being asked in oblique reference to the reported showdown that erupted Monday between Chopra and Kohli over the failure of "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic", soon after the reports of initial collection figures started coming in.

In a meeting, while Chopra blamed Kohli for coming out with a lacklustre movie despite YRF's logistical support, Kohli sought to shirk creative responsibility for the movie's failure by seeking alibi in YRF's "poor business judgement".

In the midst of this dismal scenario, at least one organisation is quietly counting its blessings that it did not burn its fingers in the movie.

Though UTV is now keeping mum over it, a Bollywood trade magazine reported last week that UTV had offered Rs.620 million to YRF for world distribution rights of "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic".

The offer was reportedly rejected outright by YRF because it has its own worldwide distribution network and it could not have gone against its policy of not to sell the distribution rights of its movies to others.

In any case, YRF's vice president, production, Aashish Singh has denied that UTV had made any such an offer. On its part, UTV, too, has refused to comment on it.

But during his alleged showdown with Chopra, Kohli reportedly referred to the UTV offer indirectly, albeit as a last resort to defend himself. He is quoted as having said that, had the offer been accepted, both YRF and his production firm would at least have been able to make some "table profits".

"I am obsessed with her and was very sad to know that she got married," said the 21-year-old, adding "If I would have been a boy, I would have definitely married her."

"I envy Abhishek because he has married Aishwarya. I would have said the same thing if she would have married anyone else," Shweta, who debuts with "Mission Istanbul", told IANS.

Shweta says she did not have to struggle much to get the role in director Apoorva Lakhia's macho film "Mission Istanbul" that deals with global terrorism.

"My Nivea ad worked for me. Suniel Shetty (who is producing the film) saw me in the ad and called me for audition. I went through the normal audition process and after a few days I came to know through an SMS that I was selected for the role."

Shweta teams up with Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, Suneil and others in the film and says her role is different from others.

"Normally, in a Hindi film a girl is not seen to perform stunts and action, but I have done all that for the film. Besides, I have a bit of romance and a song is also picturised on me. So I got to do everything in the film," said Shweta who plays Lisa Lobo in the action thriller that was shot in Istanbul.

"Lisa Lobo is very interesting character in the film. She plays cross with Zayed and Nikitin Dheer. Zayed is playing a positive role and Nikitin is the bad guy. I am in between the two because of a mission," said Shweta who is all praises for the director.

"Apoorva is the best guy in town. He helped me to understand the character so well. He used to always tell me that I should always have the character of Lara Croft in mind and behave like her. In every scene, he would tell me to think how Lara would behave in such a situation," said Shweta.

She says her favourite Hollywood actress is Angelina Jolie, who played the athletic character of Lara Croft in "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life".

Shweta had not taken any formal training in martial arts. She was trained on the sets by the action directors Javed-Aejaz. She hopes once the film releases, people start recognising her for her performance.

"Right now, people do not recognise me much, only a few say this is the Nivea girl. But, once 'Mission Istanbul' releases, I hope that people recognise me better," said Shweta who always aspired to be an actor.

"Oh yes, much sooner. In fact, people may be hearing an announcement from us very soon. If I had my way, I'd marry her today right here in London where she's joined me," Saif told IANS over phone.

"Yes, I'm ready to make it legal any time. In any case, aren't we supposed to have gone through a secret Muslim marriage?" he says sarcastically about certain media reports.

Saif was married to Amrita Singh and after 13 years of marriage and two children, the couple separated in 2004. After he divorced Amrita, he dated Italian model Rosa Catalano, but broke up with her in 2007.

The romance between Saif and Kareena took off on the sets of "Tashan". And Saif has never sounded so fiercely committed.

"If I'm sounding that way, it's because that's how I feel. With due respects to all the other relationships in life, after my marriage to Amrita and my two kids, this is the most important relationship I've had."

Saif can barely contain his anxiety and eagerness to do the right thing.

"Of course, I'm anxious. You must understand this is the most important part of my life... so much so that at times I find even my career taking a backseat to my relationship. I've to guard against that. I must quickly learn to separate the professional from the personal."

Saif admits it would take his children Sarah and Ibrahim a while to get used to the changes in their dad's life.

"I'm not going to pretend that my children, Kareena and I have become one big family. They're intelligent kids with a mind of their own. Sarah is in fact 13 and a lady herself. It would be quite a while before they are fully comfortable with the change in my life.

"They haven't spent that much time with Kareena to know her as well as I do. But the good thing is everyone close to me realises that this relationship is for keeps, that I've never been more serious. Now it's entirely up to me and Kareena to take the relationship to the next level."

Saif is upset with reports that he has lately been crowding his ladylove with his attentions.

"Of course, I want to be with her as much as I can. My regret is we can't be together more often. We are uncannily similar people and I've only now begun to understand why I need to be with her constantly. She complements me, as I hope I complement her. So of course, I try to be where she is."

He dislikes people intruding into his personal life and says: "I understand people want to put our relationship under a microscope. They want to know about our relationship. But there's only so much that they can know or perceive. What Kareena and I feel for each other, only the two of us know."

Aamir is appearing with his nephew Imran Khan on Sony TV's "Dus Ka Dum", which is being hosted by Salman. The episode will be telecast Friday.

Aamir is featuring on the show to promote his nephew's debut film "Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na" that he has produced.

Both Aamir and Salman will make a grand entry on bicycles singing the popular number "Do mastaane chale zindagi banane" from their film "Andaz Apna Apna". Also, they will share the memories of their comic capers with the audience.

Known as a perfectionist, Aamir requested Salman for a rehearsal before the episode was canned.

"Yes, I am working on my looks. It is important to change over time and one should not stick to one thing (or a look) for very long," Govinda told IANS.

"I don't eat!" he quipped on being asked what makes him so fit. "I eat less for taste and more to stay fit. Basically, I eat for fitness."

Though he is 44, Govinda's flexibility still matches new-age actors when it comes to dancing.

"People dance for various reasons - emotion, health, curing diseases. I dance for entertainment," Govinda, who was here to shoot for David Dhawan's "Do Knot Disturb", told IANS.

The movie also stars Sushmita Sen and Ritiesh Deshmukh.

"The film is a 'mirch masala' family drama," Govinda said, but refused to divulge details about the storyline.

For "Do Knot Disturb", Govinda has teamed up with producer Vashu Bhagnani and director David Dhawan in a bid to revive the magic of their earlier entertainers like "Coolie No.1", "Bade Miyan Chote Miyan" and "Hero No.1".

Govinda will also be seen in "Money Hai To Honey Hai" and in Ravi Chopra's "Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai". And Interestingly, he is part of Jagmohan Mundra's English project titled "Excuse Me, Please" too.

His daughter Narmada is now set to foray into Bollywood and the actor considers her his student. But Govinda believes it is more important to teach her honesty towards work than acting skills.