Deepika Padukone is the daughter of Prakash Padukone, the top badminton player in India. Deepika Padukone was also a state-level badminton player back in her school days. If she had tried harder, she might have taken the top slot in the sports but she turned to modeling instead.

Deepika Padukone started modeling at the age of eighteen and eventually reigned over ramps. It was Farah Khan, who first approached her and the rest is history. Still, Deepika Padukone feels that modeling has been a major preparation ground for her. It has given her the necessary confidence to face the camera. If she had directly got into acting, things could have been different for her. She thinks that modeling and acting are two different professions.

Modeling is a respected profession in India. After Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen came into movies, modeling has become a major platform to get into the film industry. Interestingly, Deepika Padukone did not even thought of becoming an actress in the beginning. For her, it was a natural transition.

Today, Deepika Padukone has got name and fame in the entertainment world but she has remained an avid sports fan all the time. Deepika believes that India has a great culture of sports. In a recent press conference, Deepika Padukone said that if she gets a good script, then, she would definitely do a movie on sports.

Bollywood and gymnastics, can you vision the two together? I guess not, but that just happened in the recently finished Beijing Olympics. In the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition, the Israeli team performed with a Bollywood track. The gymnasts Katarina Pisetsky, Veronika Vitenberg, Rahel Vigdozchik, Maria Savenkov and Olena Dvornichenko performed in their final round with the ‘Dhoom tana’ track from Om Shanti Om.The team performed three-hoops and two-clubs routine with the music.

Gymnastics is not so popular in India but the Beijing Olympics of 2008 is also memorable for India because the country took its first individual gold.  Abhinav Bindra of Chandigarh took the first individual gold in 10 m air rifle shooting. In addition, Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar and boxer Vijender Kumar took two bronze medals.

'Dhoom Tana' was picturised on Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone. The movie Om Shanti Om, was released in the Diwali weekend and became one of the all time highest grossing movies of Bollywood. It also turned model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone into a star overnight.

Related article:

MSN

Shah Rukh Khan's Billo Barber has been postponed again and now the movie is scheduled to release in February 2009. First, the movie was slated to release during Diwali. Then it was postponed to November 7 and now February. Directed by famous director, Priyadarshan, Billo Barber, is the remake of Katha Parayumpol, a hit Malayalam movie of 2007.

One of the major reasons behind this postponement is the failure to complete the shooting of the movie. According to news reports, shooting of some songs could not be completed because of Shah Rukh Khan. To shoot the movie, the unit went to Pollachi in Coimbatore district. Since it was monsoon season, there was heavy rain and the unit had to shoot in the middle of rain because Shah Rukh Khan and Priyadarshan wanted to wrap up the shooting at any cost. The post production work of the movie is still remaining.

However, there was rumor that movie was postponed due to Kuselan's poor business. Kuselan starring Rajinikanth, the South Indian superstar, did not do well which baffled Shah Rukh Khan. After seeing Kuselan's failure, Priyadarshan and Shah Rukh Khan decided to reshoot some scenes. In addition, they made sure that Billo Barber does not cross the two and half hour time scale. Kuselan was a three hour long movie which was another reason behind its failure. More over, another movie of Shah Rukh Khan, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, directed by Shah Rukh Khan's long time friend, Aditya Chopra, is slated to release on December 12, 2008. Shah Rukh Khan does not want to release two movies at the same time.

An official of the Red Chillies Entertainment, the production company of Shah Rukh Khan that is producing Billo Barber said:

The film is not complete yet, there are two more songs remaining to be canned and a big marketing drive is being planned. With all this remaining how can the film release in just over a month’s time from now? We are looking forward to early 2009 release.

Anyway, it looks like Shah Rukh Khan's fans will have to wait a little bit long to see their favorite hero's next big project.

Useful Links:

http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16787&Itemid=70&limit=1&limitstart=1

http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/08/sep/16-songs-delay-billoobarber-to-feb-2009-090805.asp

http://www.realbollywood.com/news/2008/09/billoo-barber-release.html

http://news.sawf.org/Bollywood/53184.aspx

In his upcoming movie, Abhishek Bachchan played the character of Drona, an unconventional super hero. Like Krrish, Drona does not hide his face behind the mask and does not wear long black coat.

The costumes of Drona were designed by famous desigers- Anaita Shroff Adajania and Gaurav Gupta. Anaita Shroff Adajania designed dress for Saif Ali in Being Cyrus. She also designed dresses for Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2. In Drona, Anaita Shroff experimented with the actors' looks and various fabrics. Anaita Shroff Adajaina said:

“The idea for Abhishek’s costume in the film came from the Indian groom who wears a sherwani, an achkan and a churidar. We have kept a very vintage look for him that also gives a slightly 3-D impression of the superhero with an earthy appeal to it,….He sports a linen coat with metal embroidery to give the look of his armour, a long crushed stole to symbolise power, a bracelet and a jewel on his forehead as a headgear."

The headgear of Abhishek Bachchan was inspired from Rajasthani women. They wear similar headbands. Abhishek Bachchan actually used the head band to stop his long hair falling on his face. Abhishek Bachchan studied in boarding school and he is always used to short hair. He had to grow long hair for playing the super hero and it was quite problematic for the actor.

Priyanka Chopra played the role of a female warrior who is actually Abhishek Bachchan's bodyguard. Priyanka mainly wears angarakaha.

Anaita said:

“Priyanka’s costume in the film constitutes an angarakha, slightly cut into a tiny waistcoat, with a brocade coat. She also wears boots with red heels to show the feminine side. As the film progresses, the colours of her costume keep changing, keeping the fieriness of her character in mind.”

Priyanka Chopra wears tight black pants. Her dresses were made of chiffon, georgette and leather to capture her softness and energy. She also wears armbands and rings.

Related article:

sify.com