Sanjeeda, Aamir to get married Tomorrow

Popular television actors Aamir Ali and Sanjeeda Sheikh, who have been dating for the past six years, will exchange wedding vows in a nikaah ceremony here Friday.

The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. at the Khar Gymkhana.

According to sources, "Sanjeeda will wear a bottle green-coloured 'Pakeezah' style suit with silver embellishments", while "Aamir will wear a typical sherwani" for the D-day.

Besides actors from the small screen industry, Bollywood celebrities are also expected to attend the ceremony.

The couple hosted a grand mehndi and sangeet ceremony for friends and family Wednesday night. Among those attending were Mithun Chakraborty, Hussain Kuwajerwala, Arshad Warsi, Arjan Bajwa, Pooja Bedi, Shama Sikander, Aamna Shariff, Mouni Roy, Shilpa Saklani and Sayantani Ghosh.

While Sanjeeda was seen in TV shows like "Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa" and "Kayamath", Aamir currently features in "FIR".

The couple participated together in dance reality show "Nach Baliye 3".

Nigaar the new villainess on prime time

After sharing screen space with her sister Gauhar Khan in "The Khan Sisters", actress Nigaar Z. Khan is set to enter fiction show "Sapno Ke Bhanwar Mein" in a negative role.

Nigaar's glamorous character will be called Rangoli. She is shown as one who has travelled the world, has a superiority complex, is rude and picks on people and their ways.

"I simply love my character Rangoli in the show. It's very interesting as my character will bring great conflict in the show," Nigaar said in a press statement.

The actress, who has earlier featured in "Mitwa - Phool Kamal Ke", will play the wife of Brij Bhushan, who falls in love with the protagonist Pooja.

"I will enter just when Pooja and Brij confess their love for each other. I am very jubilant about 'Sapno Ke Bhanwar Mein'," she added.

The show, which airs on Life OK, narrates the story of an ambitious small town girl Pooja, and how she gets embroiled in the dirty game of politics.

Mohnish Bahl to quit 'Kuch Toh Log...'

The hectic schedule of daily soaps seems to have taken a toll on Mohnish Bahl and the actor has decided to quit "Kuch Toh Log Kahenge" just months after it went on air.

"It is true that Mohnish Bahl is leaving 'Kuch Toh Log Kehenge' 'KTLK' - due to health reasons," tweeted Sneha Rajani, senior executive vice president and business head, Sony channel.

"His doctors have advised him to rest and...to not work the kind of hours and days a daily soap requires. We, therefore, mutually agreed to part ways rather then let his health suffer," she added.

The show, which went on air in October last year, is an Indian adaptation of popular Pakistani TV series "Dhoop Kinare", which starred Rahat Kazmi and Marina Khan. It was a rage in both India and Pakistan during the 1980s. 

The Indian version of the show stars Mohnish as Dr Ashutosh, while Kritika Kamra plays his love interest, Dr. Nidhi. According to a source, Mohnish's exit has been set around an accident sequence, which is said to be already shot. 

Television actor Anuj Saxena, who rose to fame as Abhay Kapoor with Ekta Kapoor's "Kkusum", is most likely to replace him in the show.

Taylor Swift dumped by boyfriend?

Pop star Taylor Swift has reportedly been dumped by her so-called boyfriend Eddie Redmayne.

The 22-year-old is believed to have embarked on a secret relationship with the "My Week With Marilyn" actor after meeting him at the auditions for film adaptation of "Les Miserables" last year.

However, the British-born Redmayne, 30, is not ready to continue a long-distance relationship with Swift, who is based in Nashville, US.

"Taylor loved this image of a British boyfriend. Eddie's not interested in a long-distance relationship. The elements were against them. It's a shame," femalefirst.co.uk quoted a source as saying.

Shakira receives French honour, first for a Colombian

Singer Shakira has become the first Colombian to be honoured with France's Chevalier De L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal.

The 34-year-old received the award from the French Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterrand in Cannes Saturday.

"I am so humbled to receive this honour in a country like France that has shared an important cultural legacy with the rest of the world," Shakira posted on her official site.

The medal recognises significant contributions to the arts and literature and other recipients of the awards are T.S. Eliot, George Clooney and Clint Eastwood.

Lata Mnageshkar, Vani Jayaram cold war in "Blue Moutain"

Director Suman Ganguli is all set to shoot Gracy Singh-starrer "Blue Mountain", which is reportedly inspired by singer Vani Jayaram who once alleged that none other than Lata Mangeshkar had nipped her Bollywood career in the bud.

When asked about the subject of the film, the director said: "I do not wish to raise unnecessary controversy but if viewers see some reflections of some popular singer's life in the movie, they wouldn't be too far off the mark."

Ganguli was in the Taj city to finalise locations for the shooting of "Blue Mountain". 

Vani, a national award winning singer, who has reportedly sung more than 8,000 songs in 14 different languages including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi, gave hits in Hindi too, including "Bole Re Papihara" in "Guddi".

In the film, Gracy will play the struggling singer, while Ranvir Shorey will be seen in the male lead. 

"For Gracy Singh, essaying the challenging role could prove to be another milestone. 'Lagaan' and 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S' brought her into the limelight. In 'Blue Mountain', she would be seen in a fresh light," Ganguli said. 

Rajesh Jain, co-producer of the film, said: "What better place to shoot romantic sequences than the city of Taj Mahal."

The shooting will begin Jan 16 in Shimla.

Britney Spears planning traditional wedding ?

Singer Britney Spears, who announced her engagement to her former manager Jason Trawick earlier this month, is reportedly planning a "traditional Southern-style" wedding.

"She wants a traditional southern-style wedding with comfort food, surrounded by her family, her two sons and all of her childhood friends, as opposed to a Hollywood wedding," contactmusic.com quoted Spears as saying.

Britney has sons Sean Preston, six, and Jayden James, five, with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Male egos making 'Bigg Boss' house dreadful: Shonali Nagrani

Model-turned-host Shonali Nagrani, who was voted out of the "Bigg Boss 5", says clash of male egos has worsened the atmosphere inside the house.

"Amar (Upadhyay) and Sky (Akashdeep Saigal) are playing dirty games inside the house and I really don't want either of them to win," Shonali told IANS on phone after coming out of the "Bigg Boss" house.

"Ever since male contestants entered the show, the whole environment of the show turned negative because there were clashes of male egoes all the time," she added.

The Colors show started off with 13 female contestants and Shakti Kapoor as the only male inmate. However, Amar Upadhyay, Siddharth Bhardwaj and Akashdeep Saigal entered the reality show hosted by Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.

Shonali, who alleged Amar made advances at her, feels the actor is rude and selfish.

"He is a family man and I won't like to talk about that issue now. I feel I should have talked to him about it then, but as a girl I really didn't have the guts to go upto him and talk about it. But he is playing a dirty game and I don't have a respect for him. He is a very rude and a selfish man," rued Shonali.

"I don't like people who play mind games. He is very calculative. He only thinks from his mind and not from his heart. In his mind games, he has hurt a lot of people. He is completely opposite of what Mihir was on screen," she added.

As for Siddharth, she said: "He is a really good boy. He's a young blood. All the other contestants are 10-15 years older than him. Sometimes he looses direction because of the age, but he is indeed handling everything very nicely inside the house." 

Shonali wants Juhi Parmar to win the show.

"I really want a woman to win the show and I wish Juhi emerges as the winner as she is a very positive and honest person and fights for truth. She might have been shown as an aggressive person in other reality show, but every human being has negatives and positives. I have a lot of respect for her," she said.

However, Shonali admits her eviction has disappointed her.

"I have mixed feelings. At one point I am happy that I would be able to celebrate my birthday with my family, but at the same time I am disappointed as I wanted to stay inside the house for a longer time," she said.

" 'Bigg Boss' has been a great platform for her and calls it a career boost. I discovered a lot new things about myself. The entire experience has helped learn how to tackle situations.

Mona Singh returns to fiction show

Mona Singh is back to pavilion. Almost six years after featuring as Jassi in the hit show "Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin", the actress is returning to fiction shows with "Bas Itnii Si Baat", to be aired on Sony.

If one goes by the first look of the actress in the show, she seems to be playing a simple middle-class, sari-clad housewife and it is coming from Ekta Kapoor's stable.

The concept of the show has been kept under wraps so far, but it will go on air Jan 16, 2012.

Mona began her acting career as the bespectacled simple girl Jassi, and her real identity was revealed much later in the show, which also happened to be on Sony. Her glamourous avatar won her appreciation, and that set the ball rolling for her in showbiz.

Mona went on to participate in dance reality show "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa" in 2006, and ended up being the winner.

Her effervescence and charm gave her the chance to host the second and fourth seasons of the show, as well as anchor other shows like "Entertainment Ke Liye Kuchh Bhi Karega", "Shaadi Teen Crore Ki" and recently "Star Ya Rockstar". 

Mona was also seen in a role in "3 Idiots", alongside top actors like Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

But now, she is back to acting on the tube.

Selena Gomez taking a break from singing

Singer-actress Selena Gomez is planning to take a break from music career in a bid to concentrate on her acting career.

Gomez released her third album, "When the Sun Goes Down", mid this year and enjoyed success with her movie "Monte Carlo".

"I'm very happy and pleased with how well the record did and I'm so thankful that radio and everybody is still being so supportive," femalefirst.co.uk quoted her as saying.

"Next year I'll be starting to do more acting, I'll be doing two films in the beginning and then I'll probably go back to singing. I'll balance them," she said.

Sony Music acquires 'Agneepath' music rights

Sony Music Entertainment has acquired the rights to distribute the music of Karan Johar's much awaited film "Agneepath", starring Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra.

The album composed by musical duo Ajay-Atul boasts of six tracks encompassing a wide array of themes - from romance to qawwali and from dance to devotional. The soundtrack features singers like Sonu Niigaam, Roop Kumar Rathod and Shreya Ghoshal.

"We are proud to be associated with Dharma Productions' 'Agneepath'. The six new songs are not only original and refreshing but also soulful and unforgettable," Sanujeet Bhujabal, marketing director Sony Music India, said in a statement.

"This is our 11th venture with Dharma and it's always a matter of pride and a great experience to work with them. The soundtrack is varied and we expect a great response from music enthusiasts," he added.

Directed by Karan Malhotra, "Agneepath" is a remake of 1990 cult classic of the same name starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. 

After the hit song "Sheila ki jawaani", Katrina Kaif will be seen grooving to another dance number, "Chikni Chameli", in the new "Agneepath". 

The film also stars Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt and releases Jan 26.

Lady Gaga's death fear

Pop star Lady Gaga, set to release a song about the death of Princess Diana, fears she might end up dying the way Diana died.

A source close to the singer says that she sees herself as a "pop version" of Diana, who died at the age of 36 following a car accident in Paris in 1997, reports thesun.co.uk.

"Gaga has always been absolutely fixated on Diana and sees herself as a 21st-century incarnation of her. She knows, she is almost as recognisable as Diana and is hounded by photographers and fans on the same level. Gaga has had dreams about dying the same way as her and has genuine fears that her fame could literally kill her, either in a chase or at the hands of crazies," said the source.

The 25-year-old singer wrote the song on Diana's death after dubbing the Princess of Wales as a "martyr of fame".

Gaga has earlier revealed her obsession with the charity work and fashion sense of Diana.

In fact, the idea behind Gaga's 2009 hit "Paparazzi" also stemmed from the death of the royal, with the singer saying: "Diana was the most iconic martyr of fame. She died because of it."

Gaga played a piano version of her new song to a select few last month.

Nigaar not interested in desi boys!

Nigaar Khan, who is currently being seen with her sister Gauahar Khan on UTV Bindass' reality show "Khan Sisters", has a unique fascination - the dusky girl has a soft spot for firangs!

Nigaar's ideal man should be a tall and a handsome foreigner, informs a source.

This fascination of hers is not hidden from her near and dear, who tease her equally about her firang fixation.

While shooting for the "Khan Sisters", the crew got to know about her choice from her family members. Nigaar will herself admit it too on the show soon!

Soumya shocked at news reports

Soumya Bollapragada was shocked to see her photos being wrongly used by leading newsdailies. Earlier today, Deccan Chronicle and Andhra Jyothy published an article about an aspiring Kannada actress Soumya and how she was stabbed by her lover. Instead of using her pictures, both these dailies published pictures of Soumya Bollapragada much to the dismay of the actress who was last seen in VN Aditya’s Mugguru.

Apparently, lots of friends in the industry called her up to find out if she was alright and she had to explain to almost everyone close to her that she’s doing fine. Later she tweeted about the incident and said, “Tweeple, I am totally safe and sound in my home in vizag. That news in today’s DC and Andhrajyothi about me getting stabbed is FALSE! I am taking action.”

Osthi (Songs) - Vaadi Vaadi Cute Pondatti - October 2011 Release

The Perfect Bahu gets an image make over

The actress thanks Ekta for giving her "Bade Achche Lagte Hain", in which her character is closer to her age. "I play a modern day woman who believes in love and late marriage. The show brings two people together, who have very different ideologies and shows how they fall in love after getting married," Sakshi told IANS in an interview.

"One thing that I want to share is that when we did generation leap in 'Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii' in 2006, Ekta had promised me a show which would be closer to my age and will help me change my image. She kept her promise and offered me this show soon after we ended 'Kahaani....'," said the 38-year-old.

Produced by Balaji Arts, the show, going on air Monday, revolves around a business tycoon, played by Ram Kapoor, in his late 40s and a working woman in her late 30s. Sakshi says just like her character in the show, she is believes in late marriages.

"I believe in late marriages - just like Priya, my character in the show who gets married in her 30's. I am very hopeful about such things, I have seen it. There is nothing in this show that has not happened in life."

So when is she planning to tie the knot

"I believe in destiny, whenever destiny throws me into it, I will," she said.

What kept you away from small screen for so long?

"I was offered the show two years back, but I was very sure that I wanted a break after working non-stop for eight years. So I took a conscious sabbatical. I didn't want to get into the same routine of daily soaps. I kept Ekta waiting for years, but she was determined that she would wait and would make the show with me and Ram only," she said.

During her growing up years, the actress wanted to be in the civil service and entered showbiz just to earn quick perks.

"I was born in Rajasthan and but because of my father's job, we would get posted in different cities. It is strange, but I always wanted to be in the civil service. And I also had a bent towards creative activities like drama, elocution but I never knew that one day I would become an actress," she said.

"It was during my graduation that I got few roles in Doordarshan shows, but that time I did it only for pocket money and that is when I realised that this is something more than that."

"At that time I did episodes of 'Bhanwar', then I did a show called 'Rajdhani' for Star Plus. By that time I had realised that people have started recognising me with my characters. I had never dreamt of this - my dreams are very small, but honestly the response has been overwhelming," she said.

During her TV sojourn Sakshi featured in string of shows such as "Dastoor" (1996), "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii" (2000), "Kutumb" (2001), "Devi"(2003), "Crime Patrol"(2010) and a cameo in "Balika Vadhu".

She also did films like "Saluun", "Coffee House" and "C Kkompany". Her next is with Sunny Deol in "Mohalla Assi".

"Ii is a very big opportunity for me. I play Savitri, who is Dharmnath Pandey's (Sunny) wife. Sunny plays a Sanskrit teacher. Backdrop is Benaras of 1980-1990, when the liberalisation phase was on. So the film brings forth the difficulties and how we deal with it," she said.