Paa, on the cover of a magazine

Seems like Amitabh Bachchan's gangly dance in his just released movie Paa is fast catching on.

The actor and his son Abhishek, who also stars in the movie, made the cover of Hi Blitz magazine, which they unveiled on Monday in Mumbai.

Directed by R Balki, the film relates the story of a 13-year-old boy played by Amitabh, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder progeria that causes a person to age faster than normal.

Image: Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar

I would prefer a son like Abhishek: Vidya

Mumbai, Nov 15 (IANS) Vidya Balan, who plays Amitabh Bachchan's mother in 'Paa', was so impressed by Abhishek's caring behaviour towards his father during the shooting that she confesses she would like to have a son like Abhishek in real life.

'I would prefer a son like Abhishek. I have seen him with his father on the sets... he was so nice to his father that I was touched,' Vidya told reporters here Saturday.


Director R. Balakrishnan's 'Paa' is an emotional story of a father-son relationship and Amitabh will be seen as Abhishek's 13-year-old son Auro who is suffering from a rare disease progeria, that accelerates ageing. The film releases Dec 4.


'The film is all about Auro and all through the film there is a certain sensibility about Auro, but no sympathy is shown towards the 13-year-old progeric child in the film,' said Vidya.


When the director approached her for the role, she wasn't sure about playing the mother of a progeric child. 'Initially, I wondered how to do the role as I didn't have that motherly instinct. But while working on the film I realised what motherhood is,' said Vidya.


She says playing Amitabh's mother wasn't difficult at all. 'I was a bit concerned initially but it was smooth sail once we started working together.'


Asked if it wasn't a risk to play a mother so early in her career, she said: 'I didn't see any risk, rather it was a lifetime opportunity to get to work in such a wonderful film.'

Bipasha chucked out of Abhi-Ash starrer ‘Raavan’

Mumbai: Bollywood’s Bengali beauty Bipasha Basu is quite upset about losing out on the opportunity to play an important role in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’. Bips was to play Abhishek Bachchan’s wife Mandodari in the film, which also stars Aishwarya Rai, but the latest news suggests that the actress is not doing the film anymore.

When asked about the reason for her role being scrapped, Bips responded, “I am sad... but it’s better than having my role chopped or totally edited... when lot of effort had gone to work out the role for this guest character.”

Although the real reason behind Bipasha’s ouster is unknown yet, an insider alleged that her character in the film was proving to be a bit too strong and was kind of disrupting the length of the film. Grapevine has it that Bips has been moved out of the project as she might be proving to be a threat to other actresses in the film like Ash and Priya Mani.

However, it has been clarified by Mani Ratnam’s spokesperson that the filmmaker did want to work with Bipasha but, at the same time, didn’t want to do injustice to the actress’ role.

Now let’s see if Bips will be replaced or Mandodori’s role will be completely scrapped the movie

Uncertainty Plagues Mani's 'Raavan'

There seems to be a cloud of uncertainty which is plaguing Mani Ratnam's 'Raavan'. The director had been shooting recently in the jungles of Kerala, where a freak accident compelled the unit to disband the shooting and flee to Ooty. This is hardly one of the many reasons why the film's shooting had to be delayed.

Last week's accident was a freak one, where one of the elephants being used for the shoot went on a rampage. The scary incident left the unit and cast members with no other option but to flee from the spot. The fate of the schedule hangs in balance. The delays in the shooting have certainly been taking its toll on the director, who has recently recovered from a heart ailment and has been in hospital for a while. Earlier, the film's shooting was delayed as Amitabh Bachchan was seriously ill and Abhishek and Aishwariya Rai Bachchan were by his side until he recovered. Then, Mani himself fell ill and was hospitalised. To top it, according to reports, the director is not very happy with certain sequences and is reshooting many scenes. Understandably, the film's budget is shooting up dramatically. This fact must be a constant source of stress for Mani, who is shooting the Hindi and Tamil versions simultaneously. Ash and Abhishek are going out of the way to accommodate the director as they both have a lot of respect and affection for him. But it is not a hidden fact that Ash has to begin shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Guzaarish' opposite Hrithik Roshan. Besides that, she has a film opposite Ranjnikanth to complete, along with Vipul Shah's next opposite Akshay Kumar. In the pipeline is a film opposite Abhishek in Abhinay Deo's next. It is just getting that much more difficult for the director to balance things out and complete his movie without losing his sanity.

'Raavana' is very special for Abhishek

All through the year 2009, there have been speculations around Mani Ratnam's Raavana. While there have been talks about the film getting delayed, off late there were also murmurs around Abhishek Bachchan delaying the film further.

"That's far from true though", says a source attached to the film, "Yes, there have been delays due to some reasons or other but why would Abhishek cause any trouble to his own film? He is giving his all to the film and is least responsible for any delay whatsoever."

Though Mani Ratnam was unavailable for comment, it is a known fact that due to the film maker's health reasons, Raavana had to be put on hold for some time. However, now as he back and kicking, the film's shooting has also resumed.

"In any case, for Abhishek Raavana is special for number of reasons", adds the source, "He acknowledges the fact that two films that have got him most critical acclaim in his decade long career are Yuva and Guru. The sense of respect for him as an actor came to him after these two films. Mani Ratnam is an integral part of his film repertoire and he is pushing himself harder for Raavana."

This indeed is true, courtesy the physical challenges that Abhishek has faced for the film. While in Yuva he was asked to put on weight, in case of Raavana he has been instructed to get a slimmer look. "He is enjoying it all though", the source comments.

Well, there is another 'obvious' reason why Abhishek is enjoying shooting for Raavana. He is accompanied by wife Aishwarya Rai in the film. Call it coincidental but Mani factor has played a big role in their association.

Laughs the source, "While in Guru they were dating each other, they are a married couple today and very much in love. This is a special film for Mani, Abhi as well as Ash and they are giving it all to make it an event in spite of all the delays."

Also starring Govinda and Nikhil Dwivedi in key roles, Raavana is supposed to be a modern take on 'Ramayana' with Abhishek in the role of 'Ravana'. However, some sources have negated any similarities. With music by A. R. Rahman, the film could well see an early 2010 release.