In this male-oriented industry where male stars get almost thrice the amount which their female co-stars get, getting 40 million for a project by any heroine is news, Friends. But this is what has just happened. Beating in Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai becomes the highest paid Bollywood actress who will have her pockets filled with 40 millions for Shankar’s ‘Robot’.

“Yes, it’s close to Rs.40 million. And she’s very amused when she reads that she is the highest-paid actress in Bollywood. With three hits in a row, ‘Guru’, ‘Dhoom 2’ and ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, Ash’s equity as a Rai and a Bachchan have gone through the roof,” says a source close to Bahcchan family.

If you are gaping at the amount Ash is supposed to get, have a look at this. Rajnikanth gets a 150 million plus 50 percent of his film’s profits even when his films are not commercially viable beyond his Tamil territory! Does the amount still seem whopping?

Ponds Femina Miss India Earth, Niharika Singh, can’t wait enough for shooting of her debut venture ‘A Love Iiisshtory’ opposite Himesh Reshammiya. Her role is also quite challenging and she is preparing with all vigour for her part. “I’m attending Barry John’s classes every evening to prepare myself before the shooting starts in April. But this period between being signed and facing the camera is excruciating. I don’t know how other debutantes cope with the waiting period. I’m going nuts,” says this excited 25 year old gal.

The film has Niharika playing the role of an affluent millionaire and business tycoon who has enough money to buy her own private jets in all her favorite colours. However, this no-nonsense heiress refuses to indulge and have fun in her life. It all changes when a street smart guy, played by Himesh, enters her life.

Talking about the role Niharika says, “I don’t know how it happened. I never tried for the role, never approached anyone. I never even thought I was eligible. One fine day I got a call from the director asking me to see him. I think Himesh and John must have seen my ads.”

If the long list was not enough, the next celeb to join the band wagon of actor-turned-producer is hot hot Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. She is all set to produce a yet untitled big budget action-comedy film under her production house S2 Global Productions.

The film will have two heroines with obviously Shilpa playing the one. Search is on for the second role. According to her publicist, Bhagwagar, Shilpa has now become choosy about her roles and takes up only those which give her complete creative satisfaction.

Shilpa’s forthcoming movies include Sunny Deol and Neeraj Pathak’s ‘The Man’, and an international venture titled ‘Hanuman’ with filmmaker Uru Patel. ’The Man’ has Shilpa portraying the role of a simple, dedicated girl who rises to instant global stardom - very similar to her real life experience. In ‘Hanuman’, she would be portraying Goddess Sita.

Our only concern are the tattoos on Shilpa’s body. So, what do we see next? A tattooed Sita?

In this world of competition, where marketing makes all the difference, Yash Raj camps has a unique way to hold it’s own. Yes, talking about the year ‘March-ing’ ahead, Yash Raj Films has unveiled its calendar exhibiting some hottest Bollywood celebs in most imaginative poses. The calendar showcases stars like Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Rani Mukherji, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Anil Kapoor who are all going to hit the screens in the coming days with some of the most awaited Yash Raj Films like ‘Tashan’, ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’, Kunal Kohli’s next, ‘Roadside Romeo’ and Aditya Chopra’s ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ this year. Where the first part of the calendar was mostly focused on the stars from ‘Tashan’, the second part emcompasses much wider range. Have a look at the smouldering pics from the YRF calendar Part II.

Bollywood and Cricket can’t seem to get enough of each other, it seems. With the formation of IPL teams, we are getting more and more of Crickettainment these days. Preity Zinta has roped in Daler Mehendi for the music video of her Mohali team. Also, the word doing rounds is that she plans to rope in the Deol family for the shoot of the video. Her video has a Punjabi feel in it.

On the other hand, King Khan has roped in long time buddy Rani Mukherjee and Bong bombshell Bipasha Basu to shake it for the music video of his IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders. Bappi Lahiri is holding on the musical strings of the video.

Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore team is not far behind. Bollywood actresses Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone are set to dance in the music video for this team.

Thursday night, March 20, Abbas-Mustan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Ritesh Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy, Mahendra Singh Dhoni,Neil Mukesh, David Dhawan and Tusshar Kapoor and Gul Panag adorned the Premiere of ‘Race’. But the person who managed to steal the show among all these glittering celebrities was Aamir Khan who took everyone with his closely cropped look.

Aamir was supposed to go bald for the new look of his film ‘Ghajini’, but he finally opted for shaved-off thinner white lines criss-crossing his head like scars.

“This is the look originally, yes. This is what the look was and this is what the director wanted so this is what I have done and there are these ’scars’ on my head and at the back also in two three places - since the character has got injured in the head,” explained Aamir to the reporters.

Wife Kiran, who was with Aamir too seems to be happy with his new look. “I think he looks hot,” she said simply.

This 19th March, PVR Juhu saw the exclusive preview screening of Harry Baweja’s much awaited ‘Love Story 2050’. The first look of the film along with the trailer was unveiled to the audience by Adlabs. Priyanka Chopra and Harry showcased the trailer of this sci-fi flick which has Harman Baweja and of course, Priyanka as the main lead. Also starring are Boman Irani, Archana Pooran Singh, Dilip Tahil and Shishir Saxena.

The film is set for it’s grand theatrical release on 21st March 2008. The music of the film is composed by Anu Malik with Lyrics by Javed Akhtar.

With this flick, Harman Baweja is making his debut on the silver screen. When asked if it was justified for Harman to get such a difficult role as his debut, the director swiftly replied, “In fact I think all the more this would be his perfect launch because the concept of the film is very strong. I think otherwise, because it’s more challenging, more difficult, more hardworking, which would yield results. I think choosing a difficult path is much more challenging and it pays off well.”

Neetu Chandra has taken a unique step in her career in the sense that she has signed an agreement with 7Seas Technologies Limited, an independent game Development Company based out of Hyderabad, for a 3D mobile game in which she will be playing the lead character.

“The game titled on her name Neetu (The Alien Killer), is based on a unique game story and revolves around the lead character killing different aliens,” Mr. Maruti Sanker .L, Managing Director of 7Seas Technologies, said. “3D mobile game development is the toughest challenge for the game developers as they have to offer same quality as PC or console but with a much reduced file size.”

Sanker feels that since Neetu is already popular, her charisma would give a glamour quotient to their 3D mobile game.

Neetu Chandra is a trained marshal arts expert and a Kathak dancer. She also holds a black belt in Taek-Won-Do, a Korean martial art form. She has already made her presence felt with movies like ‘Garam Masala’ and ‘Traffic Signal’. Her next ‘One Two Three’ is set to hit the screens shortly.

“I am very excited to be a part of this game, as I love sports and playing games,” says an all beaming Neetu.

As it is Aditya Chopra and Shahrukh Khan coming together after a gap of 8 long years for ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ is enough to arouse interest and to add icing to the cake is the fact that SRK’s heroine is none other than the sweet and perfectly poised Sonam Kapoor.

The film will have SRK play a 40 plus man who falls in love with a sweet 16 Punjabi girl. Aditya wanted a perfect Punjabi Kudi for the role, fluent in Punjabi as well as tall, fair and of course one who could exude the charm of a 16 year old girl. He auditioned many before zeroing in on Sonam. On the other hand, SRK happened instantly with he being the first choice for Aditya and the former giving his nod before even reading the script.

Must say, Sonam has had good luck charms on her side in this world of glamour industry. She started with SLB in ‘Saawariya’, then Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Dilli 6’ opposite Abhishek happened and if this works out perfectly, the next feather to her cap will be Aditya Chopra’s ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ opposite King Khan. What more could a newcomer ask for?