Photo: Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean

Topping the list of the World’s 50 sexiest male movie stars is, unsurprisingly, Johnny Depp, followed by Robert Pattinson at No 2.

Photo: Robert Pattinson

Frankly, I cannot for the life of me understand the so-called sex appeal of this dopey-eyed boy but then I belong to a different generation, the one that wants to pick him up by the scruff of his neck and throw him in a bath or check him into rehab.

Number three, four and five on the list are Robert Downey Jr., Brad Pitt and Christian Bale.

Sixth on the list is Hugh Jackman, followed by George Clooney, Alan Rickman, James McAvoy, and Gerard Butler.

Photo: Gerard Butler

Of these I would definitely nudge George Clooney and Gerard Butler to number 5 or so.

As for the sexiest female movie stars, the numero uno sexiest star is again, unsuprisingly, Megan Fox.

Photo: Megan Fox

Number two in Angelina Jolie and three is Emma Watson (huh?)

The number four to ten top 50 sexiest female movie stars ever are:

Photo: Scarlett Johansson

4. Scarlett Johansson (I would put her at 2 or 3, as would most XY chromosomes)

5. Zoe Saldana
6. Natalie Portman
7. Kristen Stewart
8. Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
9. Helena Bonham Carter

Aries: Priyanka Chopra as Anjali

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Aries character in What's Your Rashee?

Taurus: Priyanka Chopra as Vishakha

Photo:Priyanka Chopra's Taurus character in What's Your Rashee?

Gemini: Priyanka Chopra as Kajal in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Gemini character in What's Your Rashee?

Cancer: Priyanka Chopra as Hansa in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Cancer character What's Your Rashee?

Leo: Priyanka Chopra as Mallika in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Leo character in What's Your Rashee?

Virgo: Priyanka Chopra as Pooja

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Virgo character in What's Your Rashee?

Libra: Priyanka Chopra as Rajni in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Libra character in What's Your Rashee?

Scorpio: Priyanka Chopra as Nandini in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Scorpio character in What's Your Rashee?

Sagittarius: Priyanka Chopra as Bhavna

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Sagittarius in What's Your Rashee?

Capricorn: Priyanka Chopra as Jhankhana

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Capricorn character in What's Your Rashee?

Aquarius: Priyanka Chopra as Sanjana in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Aquarius character in What's Your Rashee?

Pisces: Priyanka Chopra as Chandrika in What’s Your Rashee?

Photo: Priyanka Chopra's Pisces character in What's Your Rashee?

Who do you think is going to be Hurman Baweja’s perfect love? I would put my money on Aquarius girl, Sanjana. Sundar hai, susheel hai, padhi likhi hai, khate peete ghar se hai and so on. Modern enough to be flaunted, yet traditional enough to please pa and ma. What do you think?

What’s Your Raashee? is a romantic comedy based on a Gujarati novel Kimball Ravenswood by Shri Madhu Rye. The movie is about a young Gujarati man (Hurman Baweja) looking for his perfect love.

And he has only 10 days to do so else his family will be ruined.

The movie has been directed by Ashutosh and produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Ashutosh Gowariker Productions.

The screenplay of What’s Your Rashee? has been written by Naushil Mehta & Ashutosh Gowariker, and dialogues have been penned by Naushil Mehta, and lyrics by Javed Akhtar.

Cate Blanchett as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator

In March 2009, Variety had reported that Joe Wright (Atonement, The Soloist) will direct Indian Summer.

Indian Summer will be written by William Nicholson (Gladiator). The producers of Indian Summer are Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan with Hilary Bevan Jones.

The movie is based on the book “Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire” by Alex von Tunzelmann.

Indian Summer will portray the summer of 1947 when India won Independence and the British were evicted.

It was in 1947 that Lord Mountbatten, the last governor general of India, came to India, accompanied by his wife Lady Edwina Mountbatten, to hand over power to Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister.

Photo: Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire cover

There have always been rumors about the alleged love affair between Lady Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru. It is likely that Indian Summer will explore the relationship between the two as well.

While the Mountbatten family denied the allegations of the romance, later Lady Mountbatten’s daughter, Lady Pamela Hicks, did confirm the relationship in her book – India Remembered – that she co-wrote with her daughter, India Hicks.

She has written in the book that the alleged love affair between Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Edwina Mountbatten started in 1947, during a trip to Mashobra, a hill station in Himachal Pradesh, in India.

She also clarified that the two did not have a physical relationship.

Indian Summer will go on the floors in 2010.

Academy-award winning actress Cate Blanchett will be next seen in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (it was earlier titled Nottingham) starring Russell Crowe.

Hugh Grant who was last seen in the rom com Music & Lyrics will be next seen in Did You Hear About the Morgans?, which will released later in 2009.

Pirate Latitudes book cover

Steven Spielberg and David Koepp have earlier worked together on Michael Crighton’s Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

Pirate Latitudes will be published posthumously by Harper Collins on November 24, 2009.

Set in 1665 in Jamaica, the book revolves around Captain Edward Hunter who, along with a band of ruffians, plans to raid the impregnable Spanish galleon El Trinidad, said to be filled with Spanish Gold.

The second movie, I am Number 4 is an adaption by Al Gough and Miles Millar (Spider-Man2, Shanghai Noon) of the bestselling novel A Million Pieces.

Reports say that Michael Bay (Transformers), who is also the producer, is in talks to direct the flick.

I Am Number 4 is about nine aliens who run away from their planet after its destruction and disguise themselves as teenagers on Earth.

Number 4 realizes that he is still being hunted by the enemy species that destroyed his planet.

Dreamworks’ third film, Harvey, will be directed by Steven Spielberg after he wraps up The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Harvey is based on Mary Chase’s play of the same name, that won her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1944.

Harvey is about eccentric Elwood P. Dowd who drives his family round the bend with his stories about his imaginary friend, Harvey, a 6′ 3.5”-inch rabbit.

Steven Spielberg is currently working on 3-D movie Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn that will be released in 2011. The 3-D Tintin movie is planned as a trilogy with Steven Spielberg, directing the first one, and Peter Jackson directing the second.

The movie will use performance capture technology to combine animation with real-life characters. Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish.

The movie will star Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, Daniel Craig as Red Rackham, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thomson.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a 3-D movie using performance capture technology that combines animation with real characters.

The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader ship photo via aintitcool.com

The much-anticipated third instalment of the Narnia series, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie stars Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson (voice of Aslan), Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Will Poulter.

The movie will be released on December 10, 2010.

Produced by Mark Johnson, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader is directed by Michael Apted and penned by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely. Steven Knight, Michael Petroni and Richard LaGravanese.

The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader photo

In The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lucy and her brother Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace. They go on a voyage with Prince Caspian across the sea in the royal ship The Dawn Treader.

During the voyage to the Aslan’s country they have many adventures with dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors.

The last Narnia movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian had disappointed Narnia fans.

Dawn Treader ship photo from The Chronicles of Narnia 3

Earlier, Coming soon had quoted Mark Johnson as saying that the third Narnia movie would be similar to Ray Harryhausen’s 1958 film The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.

“This one is different from the others, it’s in that ['The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad'] league and they go from island to island having adventures. I’m very excited about it,” he was quoted as saying.

The Chronicles of Narnia: the Voyage of the Dawn Treader is being filmed in Queensland, Australia.

Lizzie Miller nude photo in Glamour magazine

The nude photo features Lizzie Miller in a candid pose with no attempt to hide her paunch and other not-so-firm bits.

It’s a different matter that the 3″ x 3″ picture, that was run with an article on women’s body confidence, was tucked in somewhere in the 200-odd pages of the magazine.

Glamour magazine’s decision to carry Lizzie Miller’s nude photo may have been tentative one, but it would never have expected the overwhelming response it received for the photo.

Glamour magazine editor Cindi Leive was quoted as saying on TODAY Monday, “Immediately, within hours of the magazine coming out, we had people telling us they were e-mailing it to friends, and that it was the first time they felt good about their own bodies, looking at this picture.”

Lizzie Miller has been modeling for the past seven years. She is 5 ft 11″tall and has a size that varies between 12 to 14.

Miller, said on TODAY Monday, that she was not sure about the nude photo that exposed her belly roll. “I’m just like every other girl who has insecurities,” she said.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘OK, not the most flattering picture’” she added.

Lizzie Miller’s nude photo has once again opened the debate about body image and the psychological harm that photos of rake-thin models does to the average woman.

Lizzie was quoted as saying, “I’ve been that girl, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me. And when I didn’t find it I would start to think there’s something wrong with the way I looked. When J. Lo and Beyonce came out and were making curves sexy, I started to accept myself more. Its funny, but just seeing them look and feel sexy enabled me to do the same.”

Varma has barely put behind the debacle called Ram Gopal Ki Aag, a remake of the classic drama Sholay – which he himself has called a comedy, self-deprecatingly, considering how terrible it was – is now courting the next one.

Amitabh Bachchan plays Harshvardhan Malik, Head, India 24/7 in Rann

Rann’s Jana Gana Mana track lyrics go like this,

Jann gann mana rann hai
Is rann mein zakhmi hua hai
Bharat ka bhaagya vidhaata…

No more. We are a pretty sensitive people here in India. So while big media can happily go around reproducing the entire lyrics of the Rann song, some people love to get us into trouble. Can’t touch a Times of India, so let’s kick this blogger’s butt, eh? Sorry guys.

Ram Gopal Varma said at the unveiling of the first look of Rann, “I have not tinkered with the national anthem. Tinkering would be if I would have shown it in bad light. I haven’t done anything of this sort.”

Riteish Deshmukh plays an investigative journalist in Rann

He said that the Rann title track talks about the disputes in the country, and had no intentions to ridicule anything.

The last time I checked tinkering was just fiddling with existing stuff, and had nothing to do with intentions, honorable or otherwise.

Since the national anthem is part of the Indian constitution, and Varma knows very well knows it, this just might be a ploy for a little bit of publicity.

Gul Panag as Purab Shashtri's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's Rann

I am not sure about the exact legalities, but as far as I know, one cannot the changes the lyrics of the national anthem without prior permission of the government, even for the purpose of entertainment. And even if it were not illegal to do it, it would be a flagrant flouting of tradition.

And even if it wasn’t the national anthem, it is the original work of a poet. It doesn’t matter if it is Rabindrath Tagore or an unknown poet, you cannot tweak the work without permission, even if the poet is dead as a doornail.

So either way, Varma will have go to court, and I am sure he has no wish to do that.

Besides, the lyrics are so bad, I wonder if he even planned to use it in the movie.

Also, the official website of Rann, states the fact associated with the Indian National Anthem. And one such statement, which it passes as a fact, is in fact just a supposition. The line states “It was sung to welcome King George V on his visit to India.”

Now, the national anthem has been the subject of a great deal of speculation, whether it was written by Rabindra Nath Tagore to welcome the Emperor or an ode to God. If one has read any of Rabindra Nath Tagore’s work, and I have read all, there would be no doubt that Tagore would never write a paean to King George.

To pass off a speculation as a fact, is pretty irresponsible on Varma’s part.

Meanwhile, before the censor board came out with its views on the national anthem controversy, Amitabh Bachchan who plays a lead role in Rann, was quoted as saying that he had full faith in the producers of Rann, that they would taken the requisite legal permission to change the lyrics of the national anthem.

Rann revolves around the nexus between Indian media and centres of power, and how it is driven purely by business rather than any moral compulsion to report the truth.

Rann stars Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal, Riteish Deshmukh, Manisha Koirala, Gul Panag, Rajat Kapoor, Neetu Chandra, Mohnish Behl, Suchitra Krishnamurty, and Purab Kohli.

Vivek Oberoi to star in Ram Gopal Varma's Rakta Charitra movie

Vivek Oberoi will play Paritala Ravi in the movie.

It’s after a long time that Ram Gopal Varma is making an interesting movie after the Contracts and the Darlings, with only an occasional Sarkar thrown in to keep the faith.

Now that he has got over his desire to make typical mainstream movies, he is, thankfully, back to making what he is good at.

Ramu can effortlessly portray gritty realities of power, its misuse, and the violence it begets, like he did in Company, by far one of his best films.

Vivek Oberoi to play Paritala Ravi in Rakta Charitra

More than that he can bring out the vulnerabilities of his characters, their motivations, and quirks in exquisite detail.

With Paritala Ravi’s character and tumultous life, he has a lot to work with. And, for once his casting his bang-on. Thank the lord, we have been spared the Prashant Rajs and the Gautam Guptas.

Vivek Oberoi has always turned in great performances but has not received his due.

He was brilliant in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara, but he was hardly recognized for his role – neither was Ajay Devgan who did a fine job – because Saif Ali Khan had yellow teeth and a limp.

Not to say that Saif did not act well, but he certainly wasn’t exceptional.

Ram Gopal Varma has said in interviews that he was fascinated with Paritala Ravi’s life, a peace-loving man who got caught into in the brutal political conflict in Andhra Pradesh.

Ram Gopal Varma's Rakta Charitra is based on TDP MLA Paritala Ravi's life

“Rakta Charitra’ is the story of a man’s phenomenal rise to power and a story of the most intense blood curdling conflict ever heard of between two individuals. Moreover, the story is also the ultimate statement on the often heard disastrous consequences of a fatal mixture of caste, crime, family feuds and politics,” Varma was quoted as saying.

Ramu will make Rakta Charitra in two parts, Rakta Charitra I and Rakta Charitra II, because he feels that one part will not do the movie justice, given its dramatic content.
The two movies will be released in a gap of three months.

Paritala Ravi was an accused in numerous murder cases, who survived many murder attempts, and was finally assasinated in 2005.

Ravi’s father and brother were murdered by local factionists. He became a rebel, and fled to the jungles, plotting revenge for his family’s death.

In 1994, Paritala Ravi was elected as an MLA, and became part of NT RamaRao’s cabinet as Minister for Labor.

He was killed in broad daylight after attending a party meeting. After his death, TDP workers took to the street and burnt nearly 600 buses.

Congress leader Suryanarayana Reddy, known as Maddela Cheruvu Suri, was allegedly behind the brutal murder. In 2008, Suri was in jail, and was said to be behind the murder of Seenu, also in jail, the man accused of murdering Ravi at Suri’s behest.

Seenu  was set to turn approver in the Paritala Ravi murder case.

Suri, had earlier tried to murder Ravi, in November 1997. Ravi escaped but 28 people died in the blast.

Paritala Ravi himself was accused of murdering many Congress leaders.

Ramu has said that he has met the families of Paritala Ravi and Suri, and various people connected with the two.

Ramu has also met Suri in jail to piece together the story.

It will be interesting to see who Ramu will cast as Suri. As long as it in not Prashant Raj or Abhishek Bachchan, I would be happy enough with whoever he pulls out of the hat.

Ram Gopal Varma’s next, Agyaat, is in post-production, and will be released in July 2009.

Wedding photo of Suzanne and Hrithik Roshan

The report, which is most likely to be just one big fat, juicy rumor, says that Suzanne Roshan walked out on Hrithik Roshan and moved back into her parent’s house, with her two kids.

Reports say that one of the most devoted couples in the Hindi film industry has broken up because of Hrithik Roshan’s alleged affair with Barbara Mori.

The rumors of the Hrithik Roshan-Barbara Mori affair have been doing the rounds ever since the two have been shooting for Kites, Hrithik’s next movie. Kites, directed by Anurag Basu (Life in a Metro, Murder), will be released in two languages, Hindi and English.

Barbara Mori: International model and actress

Hrithik and the rest of the Roshan family are saying that there is no question of a split. They say that Suzanne Roshan has moved out of the house because a floor of the house is being renovated.

Hrithik Roshan’s sister, Sunaina Roshan, has been quoted as saying that Hrithik and Suzanne have no problems. She said that Suzanne had to move to her parent’s place because the ceiling of their house was being treated for termites.

Hrithik Roshan, who returned from South Africa, on April 6, 2009, is said to have gone straight to meet Suzanne and the kids, at her parent’s place, which truth to tell is very normal behavior. If you have been away for a bit, why wouldn’t you want to meet your wife and kids right away?

When reporters caught up with Hrithik, he said that he was at that very moment picnicking with Suzanne Roshan and the kids.

Hrithik and Suzanne Roshan, are said to have one of the most stable and loving relationships in the industry. It has always been obvious that they are very much in love with each other, so, I for one, will take the rumor with a big pinch of salt.

Kites, which will be released on October 16, 2009, has been produced by Rakesh Roshan, Hrithik Roshan’s father.

Hrithik is said to play a Salsa teacher in the movie who falls in love with a Spanish girl, he can’t communicate with, because he speaks no Spanish and she speaks nothing but Spanish.

Kangana Ranaut plays a Salsa student hopelessly in love with Hrithik.

These include Kabir Khan’s New York, Nagesh Kukunoor’s Aashayein, Hook Ya Crook, Abbas Tyrewala’s 1-800-Love, and Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet.

John Abraham and Katrina Kaif in the forthcoming New York

New York, starring John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif is the story of three friends, in the backdrop of international terrorism. The movie has been produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Kabir Khan, who had directed John earlier in Kabul Express.

Photo: John Abraham with Sonal Sehgal in Aashayein

In Aashayein, John Abraham stars with Farida Jalal, Girish Karnad, Shreyas Talpade, and Sonal Sehgal. The movie is about a compulsive gambler (John) who finds out he has only 90 days to live. He elects to move to a sanatorium where his whole outlook on life changes profoundly.

Abbas Tyrewala’s 1-800-Love is a romantic comedy, which stars John Abraham with Abbas Tyrewala’s wife Pakhi. John will also co-produce 1-800-Love.

John Abraham with Genelia D'Souza in a Hook Ya Crook movie photo

Hook Ya Crook is directed by Rensil D’Silva, and is currently in production. The cast of the movie includes Amrita Rao, Kay Kay Menon, Genelia D’Souza, Shreyas Talpade, and, some uncomfirmed reports say, Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Some reports say that John will star in American Empire, directed by Andy Armstrong and written by Kevin D. Ward. Andy Armstrong, Tony Senzamici, and Kevin D. Ward are producing.

John Abraham will play a gangster in American Empire. He does look the part here, doesn't he?

John will play the pivotal role of Renni DeAngelis, a powerful gangster whose reaches far and wide.

The rest of the cast includes Genevieve Cortese, Ross Francis, Arjun Rampal, Megan Brown, and Jim Fitzpatrick.

Photo: John Abraham in No Smoking

John Abraham has also reunited with No Smoking director Anurag Kashyap. The two will come together for Anurag Kashyap’s next Bombay Velvet, which will also star Naseeruddin Shah and Kay Kay Menon.

The movie is set in the 1960s, with John playing a real life hero from the 1960s, Anurag has been quoted as saying.

John Abraham started out as a model. In 1999, he won the Gladrags contest and started appearing in ads.

He came into the movies with Jism, in 2003, in which he co-starred with girlfriend Bipasha Basu. Jism was followed by movies like Saaya, Aetbaar, Paap, Dhoom, Karam, Viruddh, Zinda, Taxi No 9211, and Garam Masala.

John Abraham was last seen in Dostana and in a cameo in the delightful Little Zizou.