Diya Mirza is real hot stuff in Acid Factory

In Bollywood, where the fame and fortune change constantly, there are very few who can actually live upto their name. Dia Mirza is definitely one of them. After having scorched many films with her powerful performances, she is all set to blaze the screen once again with her forthcoming flick Acid Factory. Dia will be seen in a glam-chic avatar in the film.

The credit goes to Nikhil Mehra, of the famous Nikhil-Shantanu duo who, at the behest of a brief given by Sanjay Gupta, has given Dia a very structured, sexy and an action-oriented look. Of all her outfits in the film, we strongly feel that the highlight should be her flaming red dress, which is simply a stunner.

On his own admission, Nikhil says that Dia looks hotter than ever before in Acid Factory. And a little peek on the red outfit 'reveals' that it has a slit showing off her legs and a gun holster high up on her thigh, straight out of Sin City.

Telugu comedian Mallikarjuna Rao dead

Telugu film comedian and character actor Mallikarjun Rao died Tuesday.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

The actor was suffering from leukemia and was admitted to a private hospital Sunday.

Hailing from Visakhapatnam district's Ankapalli town, Rao acted in 375 films over the last 25 years. He was popularly known as "Battala Satyam" for his role in Ladies Tailor. He bagged Nandi award for best supporting actor for Tammudu.

Rao was also serving as general secretary of the Movie Artists Association (MAA).

His body was kept at MAA office here where eminent personalities from the Telugu film industry paid him rich tributes. The body was later taken to Ankapalli, where the last rites are likely to be performed Wednesday.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu also condoled the actor's death.

Diya enjoys being 'one of the boys' in Acid Factory

Actress Diya Mirza, known for her prim and proper image in films, is currently enjoying being bad in Suparn Verma's Acid Factory.

Diya is the only woman in the entire script and plays a girl locked up in a factory with four men with apparently no way out. She is being made to do the most impossible stunts, but the actress doesn't mind.

"What I enjoy is being one of the boys. I'm doing everything that the boys are being made to do. And that includes all the stunts," Diya told IANS.

"After playing dainty, utterly feminine roles I'm enjoying being put on a harness, dangling from ropes, jumping from heights, kicking and punching. In spite of my dainty image, I've always been a tomboy," she added.

What Diya enjoys even more is being mean.

"My character is bad through and through. No apologies. No justification. She just enjoys being bad. I like bringing that dark side of me out on screen because that's the way I can tap into it in real life.

"I like the surprise element in my role in Acid Factory. I remember seeing a film with Julia Roberts where she was a school teacher by day and quite naughty in the night," said Diya, who entered Bollywood with romantic film Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein opposite Madhavan.

Other than Acid Factory, Diya is also doing Shoojit Sircar's Shoebite. And she's just finished shooting with Amitabh Bachchan.

"Though we were co-stars in Shootout At Lokhandwala, we didn't have any scenes together. In Shoebite most of my vital scenes are with Mr Bachchan. And believe me, it was like going to acting school. He taught me one thing I'll never forget - 'To be a good actor you've to be a good listener'. I'm going to follow that mantra," said Diya.

She admits being an introvert and says it was little difficult to play an aggressive role.

"It was hard for me to come out and play the aggressive bad girl in Acid Factory or be part of the goofy comedy in Kunal Vijaykar's Fruit & Nut. I'm basically quiet and shy. I like to read and write."

Diya admits there's no man in her life.

"Oh, the amount of men I'm linked with! Where's the time? Sometimes when I see my friends with their soul mates, I do wish I had someone to cuddle. But then I quickly move on to something else."

Ajay, Kajol to do 'train song'

Bollywood couple Ajay Devgan and Kajol are all set to make a cameo in a song in Anil Devgan's next film Haal-E-Dil.

"Myself and Kajol are shooting for Anil's upcoming film. It is just a guest appearance or cameo in a song, which we call a train song. It is quite nice and very fresh," Ajay wrote in his last blog entry.

Anil, who is Ajay's brother, has also directed the latter in Raju Chacha and Blackmail.

"Anil has worked really hard and the look of the film has also shaped up really nice. Hope Anil gets appreciated with Haal-E-Dil," Ajay said.

The song in the film, starring newcomers Amita Pathak, Adhyayan Suman and Nakuul Mehta, is titled Oye Hoye.

'Ajay and I haven't fallen out'

Belying rumours of a fallout with Ajay Devgan, director Rajkumar Santoshi says he is all set to make another film with his favourite actor.

Santoshi and Ajay collaborated on projects like Halla Bol, Khakee, Lajja and Legend of Bhagat Singh and none of them was well received at the box office.

"We haven't fallen out just because a couple of our films together haven't clicked. That's not how we work. We're just about to zero in on the subject," said Santoshi.

"It is a contemporary film, not the two period films on emperor Ashok and the Ramayan that we were planning to do together. Those are on hold right now. For now Ajay and I are getting ready for another film, though I'll definitely make Ramayan and Ashok with him."

Before launching the project with Ajay, Santoshi is trying to finish Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani with Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.

"I'm finally starting Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. It's my first love story. Though people seem to think it's an intense love story, it is not. It has lots of light and humorous moments. I haven't worked with Ranbir and Katrina before. So, I'm really looking forward to that."

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is to be shot in Mumbai, then Goa and finally Italy.

"A lot of elements in Ranbir's character will remind people of his grandfather Raj Kapoor. I've worked with Ranbir's father in Damini. When I saw the boy in Saawariya, I wanted to work with him immediately.

"Katrina and I were supposed to do a film that had Shahid Kapur in it. That didn't work out. This is a totally different subject."

Ask the director about Ranbir's reported remuneration of Rs 70 million and he shrugs. "That's between Ranbir and the producers Tips."

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani also stars Upen Patel.

"It's a pivotal role. Upen expressed a desire to work with me. We met up. When I narrated the subject, he fell in love with it. I'm working with an entirely new team, including music composer Pritam Chakraborty."

Ajay Devgan: Family Ka Superhero

Actor Ajay Devgan is back in town from Bangkok, where he was shooting for Golmaal Returns. Apparently, a song was left to be shot there. And Ajay made this business trip quite pleasurable by taking along wife and daughter.

However, Devgan is back in good old Mumbai, and after a couple of days break has resumed shooting for Kumar Mangat's Toonpur Ka Superhero.

He and Kads seem to be enjoying shooting with the kids... Wonder if l'il Nysa also makes it to the sets sometimes to mingle with her ilk.

Shilpa joins the Bachchans

Winning the Big Brother 2007 reality show in England escalated Shilpa Shetty's status as an international celebrity and also brought her back with a bang into the limelight in Bollywood.

Being one of the most popular Indian faces in England has led to Shilpa being signed by the Wizcraft International to join the Bachchan family in U.K. as part of the B-Town stars team in the on going unforgettable world tour.

This world tour has been a hot item in the news circles since the first list of actors who will be adding glamour to the world tour led by Amitabh Bachchan came out in the media.

Some top stars later on decided to opt out of the tour and new ones came in. The media reports on the enter and exit of the stars at a time even laid down doubts whether the tour will be able to stand up to the expectations.

Now as the names of the stars participating have been fixed, the preparations are going strong.

Shilpa Shetty will be joining the other stars such as Akshay Kumar and Madhuri Dixit in selected venues.

The other Bollywood stars who will be seen shaking their legs are Preity Zinta and Ritesh Deshmukh.

The main attraction and the most awaited performance of the tour is the coming together of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for the hit song "Kajra Re" from the hit film 'Bunty Aur Bubly'.