The stork comes visiting B-town

New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS) Some are busy changing nappies, others are preparing to welcome their first child: motherhood is the buzzword in tinseltown! While Aishwarya Rai and Lara Dutta are in the family way, Konkona Sen Sharma, Mandira Bedi and Preeti Jhangiani are relishing playing hands-on moms to their newborns.

aishwarya

The much-awaited news of Aishwarya's pregnancy was broken to the fans and film fraternity by her father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, in June. The Bachchan household was overjoyed with the news - with papa-to-be Abhishek thanking everyone for their 'love, support and blessings'.

In a recent interview, Abhishek said: 'I want a daughter who will look like Aishwarya'.

Meanwhile, work has taken a backseat for Aishwarya, who was been replaced by Kareena Kapoor in Madhur Bhandarkar's ambitious project 'Heroine'.

Lara, who married tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi in February, is the latest to confirm her pregnancy.

'We are excited about the baby,' tweeted Lara, who had tied the knot in a church wedding in Goa amid close family and friends.

mandira

In the meantime, it's celebrity mothers like actress-turned-TV host Mandira, Preeti and Konkona, who are making the most of the joys of motherhood.

Married to filmmaker Raj Kaushal, Mandira had a son on July 17, after 12 years of marriage. They are proud parents of a baby boy, whom they have named Vir.

The excited father had taken to Twitter to share his joy. He posted: 'Ladies and gentlemen..the czar of our lives Mr Vir Kaushal has arrived,' while Mandira wrote: 'And here starts an exciting new chapter of my life! '

Preeti and her husband, Parveen Dabbas, who are gearing up for the release of their debut production and direction venture 'Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande', respectively, also joined the list of new celebrity parents with the birth of their son in April.

konkona

Another celebrity couple sharing parental responsibilities these days are Konkona and Ranvir Shorey. Within six months of their marriage, Konkona gave birth to baby boy Haroon in March. They were in a relationship for over three years, and solemnised their wedding in a low-key, private ceremony.

The stork also visited other Bollywood celebrities in the first half of this year!

Actor Manoj Bajpayee's wife, Neha (real name Shabana Raza) had a daughter in February. They named her Ava Nayla. It was the 'most memorable day' for Manoj, who will soon be seen in Prakash Jha's 'Aarakshan'.

'It is the most memorable day for me and my wife. First time, I am getting the happiness of fatherhood and also the feeling of responsibility. First time, I am getting emotional about how life will turn,' the actor had posted on his blog.

Actor-filmmaker Sohail Khan became father for the second time with wife Seema giving birth to a second son June 16. Their older son Nirvaan is 10 years old.

Sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar also became mother of son Zubin Shankar Wright in February. She is married to British director Joe Wright.

Already Bollywood has had a string of yummy mummies like Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Sonali Bendre, Kajol, Twinkle Khanna and 'Munni' girl Malaika Arora Khan. Hope the new bandwagon of mothers in tinseltown keep the trend going!

(Priyanka Sharma can be contacted at priyanka.s@ians.in)

Movies Based on True Stories

With each passing day, Bollywood seems to be slowly turning its attention towards real life incidents to draw inspiration for a good script.

The toast of the year seems to be nothing but cinema inspired from true incidents and real life characters with the latest film being 'Anjuna Beach', which is reportedly based on the life and death of British teen Scarlett Keeling.

Listed below are some of this year's movies which boast of the 'real' connection.

Not a Love Story

'Not a Love Story' is a tale of the gruesome killing of television executive Neeraj Grover by aspiring TV actress Maria Susairaj and her naval officer fiancée, Emile Jerome Mathew. In May 2008, Emile Jerome Mathew, brutally murdered 25 year old Neeraj Grover, while Susairaj aided her fiancée in chopping the body and getting rid of evidence by burning the pieces in a forest. The movie has Ram Gopal Verma at the helm and he soughts to present the case exactly as it happened, with Mahie Gill, Deepak Dhobriyal and Ajay Gehi cast as Susairaj, Mathew and Grover respectively .

The Dirty Picture

Vidya Balan is set to star in another movie based on a real life character, after her portrayal of Sabrina Lall in 'No One Killed Jessica' . The film, titled 'Dirty Picture' is based on the life of Southern sex siren Silk Smitha. The movie traces the journey of Silk Smitha, portrayed by Vidya Balan, from a plain village girl to one of the most popular soft porn actress in the south during the 80s and early 90s.

No One Killed Jessica

'No One Killed Jessica' is a dramatized version of India's most sensational murder case- the Jessica Lall murder case. Vidya Balan portrayed the role of Jessica's sister Sabrina Lall while rani Mukherji's character was reportedly inspired by journalist Barkha Dutt, who played a crucial role in bringing Jessica's murderers to justice. The director, Raj Kumar Gupta, showed amazing technique in his blend of hard facts and fiction.

Inked Bollywood Stars

The latest buzz doing the rounds in the media is about the tattoo that Shah Rukh Khan sports in his upcoming movie Don2.

The ‘D’ tattoo that will be seen on his arm, in the film, has been registered for copyright protection against his name. With the great deal of interest surrounding Shah Rukh’s tattoo in ‘Don 2’, we take a look at the B-town stars that have got permanently inked.

Sanjay Dutt

The actor has not one but multiple tattoos on his body. In fact, Sanjay Dutt has a tattoo fetish keeps getting new tattoos every once in a while. Presently the actor has been sporting a bald look for the ‘Agneepath’ remake and with the numerous tattoos that he has, he looks even more ferocious.

Arjun Rampal

Arjun Rampal shows what an ideal father he is by sporting two tattoos with the names of his two daughters Mahikaa and Myra on his arms.

Katrina Kaif’s Bollywood Journey

From being an outsider in the country, who didn’t know a word of Hindi to becoming the top actress of Bollywood, Katrina Kaif has sure come a long way.

Her first film was a disaster but Katrina never shied away from it and, instead, chose to rebuild her career in the Hindi film industry. She charted her way to box-office success meticulously and is, today, the most adored actress in the country.

On the eve of her 27th birthday, we take a look at her journey in Bollywood.

Born to British-Indian parents, Katrina started her career with modeling in London and also walked the ramp during the London Fashion Week. During her modeling career, she crossed paths with Kaizad Gustad, who went on to cast her in the box-office dud ‘Boom’. The film which introduced Katrina Kaif to the industry also starred veteran Amitabh Bachchan, Gulshan Grover alongside top models Padmalakshmi and Madhu Sapre.

Undeterred by the pathetic debut that she had, Katrina moved baggage to Mumbai and joined the league of successful Indian models. After sticking around the city as a model for quite a while, Katrina landed a role in Ram Gopal Verma’s film ‘Sarkar’ which brought her to people’s notice.

Her first out-and-out commercial film was ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ which also starred her then boyfriend, Salman Khan. It is widely known that Katrina got a second chance in Bollywood only because of the influence of Salman Khan in the industry.

A new dawn began in Katrina’s career after her performance in ‘Namastey London’. Her portrayal of a British-Indian girl caught in a cultural crisis drew in a lot of praise and pushed her to a higher level in the industry.

Katrina went on to act in ‘Partner’, which was the unofficial remake of Will Smith starrer ‘Hitch’, ‘Welcome’ and ‘Race’ which made filmmakers to see her as a worthy of being cast in commercial films.

There was no looking back after the resounding box-office success of ‘Singh Is King’ and the great critical reception bagged by ‘New York’. Katrina Kaif became the new hot property of Bollywood and also a major crowd-puller in movies. Katrina finally proved that she had her feet soundly planted in the industry and did not need any Godfather or a ‘filmy family’ to succeed.

She acted opposite Ranbir Kapoor in the films ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani’ and ‘Rajneeti’ (her most successful film so far) after which followed the rumors surrounding her budding relationship with him.

News of her split with beau Salman Khan followed immediately, to which both, very subtly, agreed. Today both of them share a cordial relationship and are even acting together in Kabir Khan’s directorial ‘Ek Tha Tiger’.

Her item number ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ was a major chartbuster in 2010 and even beat the hugely popular ‘Munni Badnaam’ in terms of popularity.

She was selected to be the Indian face of the iconic doll, Barbie. What is considered to be a huge honor by everyone and Katrina Kaif herself, it was a testimony of Katrina’s huge popularity in the country.

Katrina had come under the IT scanner and a raid was conducted in her house, but the officials failed to find anything specific. (MensXP.com)

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