Salmaan’s Majnu Act
THE Baniyan Khan seemed to have lost his shirt when his lady love refused to pay heed to the Taal he kept banging on her front door recently. According to eye witnesses, Salmaan Khan arrived at Aishwarya Rai’s Brook Hill Towers, Lokhandwala complex, flat late on last Thursday night and rang for her. When she did not open the door, Salmaan started banging the door with his bare hands.

Actress No.1
By Lakshmi Menon
IF she had anything left to prove after the astounding success of her comedies with David Dhawan and dramas with Yash Chopra and Dharmesh Darshan, then Karisma Kapoor has done it with Fiza. Two months after the euphoria over co-star Hrithik Roshan has died down, it is her performance that people still talk about.

• STAR TRACK

THE Baniyan Khan seemed to have lost his shirt when his lady love refused to pay heed to the Taal he kept banging on her front door recently. According to eye witnesses, Salmaan Khan arrived at Aishwarya Rai’s Brook Hill Towers, Lokhandwala complex, flat late on last Thursday night and rang for her. When she did not open the door, Salmaan started banging the door with his bare hands. The green-eyed beauty still did not respond and it appeared to have incensed the Bare Khan so much that he vented all his fury at the hapless door for a couple of hours. The drunken banging was punctuated with entreaties, love messages and plain abuses.

Residents of the complex told scribes that Pumped Up Khan even managed to cut himself during his Herculean bid to get past the door. A little blood was also spilt to heighten the effect of his ardour for her and underline Salmaan’s favourite phrase for Ash: Hum dil de chuke sanam, tere ho chuke hai hum.

Though no official complaint was filed with the police, residents of the complex claimed that Boy Khan passed out at Ash’s doorstep sometime during the night. He was evacuated from the spot by two of his cronies soon after 6 am when Ash opened the door to let the milkman in and Salmaan had his darshan of Angel Face.

Heart-on-the-sleeve Khan has had two prolonged and traumatic (for the girls) affairs in the past. In between them, he managed brief dalliances with over a dozen other actresses. Sangita Bijlani threw him out because of his atrocious behaviour. The next girl, Somy Ali, had insults, soft drinks and liquor heaped on her head but tolerated him for several years. She too walked out when all her efforts at civilising him failed.

Salmaan fell for Miss World Rai when they were shooting for Sanjay Bhansaali’s film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The romance reportedly did not go down well with Ash’s parents who thought that Plunderer Khan would do a Sangita-Somy encore on their daughter. However, Salmaan’s friends insist that Ash has a very soft corner for him and point to their being together at private and public functions. Ash’s shifting home from her parent’s flat to her own is also said to be indicative of her closeness to him.

Then why did she not open the door for him that night? "Aishwarya is a heavy sleeper. Probably, she did not hear the banging on her front door," explained a source close to her. Whatever the reason, watch this space for more news on Salmaan-Ash real life romance-thriller. — Glitzy

Actress No.1
By Lakshmi Menon

IF she had anything left to prove after the astounding success of her comedies with David Dhawan and dramas with Yash Chopra and Dharmesh Darshan, then Karisma Kapoor has done it with Fiza. Two months after the euphoria over co-star Hrithik Roshan has died down, it is her performance that people still talk about.

The film has indeed changed her image in the public eye. "The greatest compliment I have received for Fiza is that everyone is seeing this as my best performance in life," says the 25-year-old who won her first national award in acting for Dil To Pagal Hai, two years ago.

"They are saying that I’ve actually felt every minute of this movie and they had cried with me," she explains. "I think it’s very difficult to do two things as an actress — to make people laugh and cry. I’ve made them laugh in David Dhawan’s films and I’ve made them cry in Raja Hindustani and Fiza."

This transition from "frivolous, scatter-brained roles" to playing "more intense and mature characters" has come after seven years of trial and error through films like Hero No 1, Gopi Kishen, Raja Babu, Coolie No 1 and Hum Saath Saath Hain.

She broke convention by being the first Kapoor woman to venture into cinema and make it on her own steam.

In the process, like any other newcomer, she made some mistakes at the initial stages of her career. But rather than regret it, she takes it all as a "learning experience" and is today in a position to be her own judge rather than depend upon the opinion of others.

The confidence shows: "At one time I had said I was far too young to play a Mother India when Mani Ratnam offered me some such role in a film. People were scandalised when they heard I had turned down Mani. But today, I will accept the challenge. I think I have grown up and can take up such bold films."

At the same time, she is not one to get into long-winded spiels on internalising her characters and the technicalities of method acting. "I don’t even know if I have a personal definition for acting and what, if at all, I look for in a role," she laughs.

Such matter-of-fact statements, often bordering on self-depreciation and above all, an abiding sense of professional commitment have made Karisma a darling of producers. She has never been critical about her colleagues and keeps to her work without getting entangled in petty scraps or filmi romances.

"I guess I grew up too fast," she says with a shrug. "I entered the industry at the age of 18 and had to fend for myself since then. But that really was no problem because I grew up in a filmi environment at home." — M.F

STAR TRACK

Among the latest crop of wannabe stars at Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan has arguably been the most successful. His first movie Kaho Na Pyar Hai was the biggest hit of the year and established the fact that Hrithik was someone to look out for. Subsequently, Fiza and Mission Kashmir confirmed his credentials as an actor. Let’s check out some facts on the current heartthrob of the nation.

Name: Hrithik Roshan

Birthday: January 10

Age: 23

Place of birth: Mumbai

Height: 6’2"

Weight:180lbs

Address: Mayur, Tilak Road, Santa Cruz (W), Mumbai 400 054

Fan club: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/hrithikroshanfanclub

e-mail: Hrithik@hrithik.zzn.com

What he drives: He is not allowed to drive. If he were allowed to, he would be driving an Opel

Games he likes to play: Trivial Pursuit and Balderdash, both board games. Loved ludo and snakes & ladders as a kid.

Colognes: Issey Miyake is what he wears.

Pet name: Duggu

Grooming tip: Doesn’t really groom himself. Runs a comb through his hair and is ready to go!

Diet and exercise regime: Avoids fatty food. Exercises daily for an hour. Eats six meals a day, as he gets very hungry after exercising.

And this is what Hrithik has to say about himself.

What were you like in school?

"I was a shy kid, a nice boy. Every teacher’s pet. I never did anything wrong... I didn’t have fun. At college (Sydenham), I was just the reverse! I hardly attended class. But I did better in college than I did in school!"

Your worst quality?

"My memory. I forget things very easily."

Your fantasy woman?

"Gabriela Anwar. I had a huge crush on her for ever so long. And Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

What would you like people to know about you?

"That I have a very short temper and also, that I am a bad dancer. I take a long time to learn certain steps and then I have to work on them a lot."