In last week's column, there were three things clearly mentioned regarding the fate of NAMASTEY LONDON at the box office. a) The film would open well on Friday (though not excellent which means 80% above) and then take a dip in the evening shows when India/Sri Lanka match commences b) Saturday and Sunday would touch 70% c) Overall the film would be a safe bet This has indeed turned out to be true on all 3 counts as NAMASTEY LONDON is saying 'namaste' …

Upen Patel seems quite pleased with the positive reviews he has received from critics for 'Namastey London', though he had a small role in the film. And now he seems pretty excited about his forthcoming film 'Shaka Laka Boom Boom' where he plays the lead role. Upen plays the role of an Indian Boy Raghav who has dreams to be a singer and goes to the US and becomes Reggie. He plays a very energetic character who is very lively, ambitious, aggressive …

Shilpa Shetty is not running the London Marathon. Confirming the news, her spokesperson and publicist Dale Bhagwagar said, "News about Shilpa Shetty running the London Marathon is false. She is not aware of it, neither has she ever spoken about it. The reports are completely untrue." It must be mentioned that reports were making rounds about how her celebrity status had made her a confirmed celebrity to be running the London Marathon for a cause. …

First weekend performance of latest release One thing that continued to puzzle me over the last few weeks was a lackluster promotion and hype building around HAT TRICK. After all it came from one of the biggest film making house of the country, UTV, had a director of the caliber of Milan Luthria at the helm, boasted of an A star cast and last but not the least had its theme built around the World Cup cricket. With so many factors going in favor …

Will Akshay Kumar get his best overseas opening ever with NAMASTEY LONDON? Industry is thinking aloud about this to be truly possible as his latest film gets a global release. Reasons are aplenty. First and foremost Akshay Kumar has really turned out to be an actor with a Midas touch with majority of his films turning out to be immensely successful at the box office due to his wide mass appeal. In fact even a film like HUMKO DEEWANA KAR GAYE that …

Hindi music industry has been going through a dull phase. None of the new releases have smashed the charts with old war horses like GURU, SALAAM E ISHQ, DHOOM 2 and ANWAR continuing to top the charts for months now. The only album to have arrived this year and done consistent business over the weeks has been NAMASTEY LONDON while HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD. and SHAKALAKA BOOM BOOM have been trying to create some ripples. Now all eyes are set on …

First weekend performance of latest release One thing that continued to puzzle me over the last few weeks was a lackluster promotion and hype building around HAT TRICK. After all it came from one of the biggest film making house of the country, UTV, had a director of the caliber of Milan Luthria at the helm, boasted of an A star cast and last but not the least had its theme built around the World Cup cricket. With so many factors going in favor …

In a radio interview to a London-based station last evening, Shabana Azmi praised the Executive Producer of Honeymoon Travels...., Zoya Akhtar over Farhan Akhtar! ! "I think Zoya has an incredible knack of managing actors. With six couples on the sets of Honeymoon Travels....., you can imagine what a task that was. I think that will put her in good stead when she embarks on her maiden directorial venture with Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor sometime …

You have loved him in his street-smart act till very recently for his hit film 'Bhagam Bhag'. Now get ready to adore him as the man, who has indeed matured over his decade and a half year old career, comes up with yet another performance with diverse shades in 'Namastey London'. Playing a 'Funjabi' guy from India, Akshay Kumar has played to the gallery in the film. In a crowd pleasing role where he is shown to be a loud mouth, innocent at heart …

Guess what's the latest war which is threatening to tremble Mumbai in the current times? The war between two leading music companies that have just released a soundtrack each by Himesh Reshammiya. While T-Series has released the score of RED around a fortnight back, EROS arrived with NAMASTEY LONDON just recently. The competition is indeed heating up since these are the first two albums by Himesh Reshammiya this year and in a battle of supremacy, …