John Abraham will star in Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet

Now, reports say that John Abraham too will come onboard. But, the funny thing is that long back John Abraham had announced that he is part of Bombay Velvet along with Naseeruddin Shah and Kay Kay Menon. We had carried the report in March 2009.

Old hat, this.

In fact, I would take the news that Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan are part of Bombay Velvet with a huge pinch of salt, until the news in confirmed by Anurag Kashyap, Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan themselves.

Though, long back Anurag Kashyap has said in an interview that he wanted Aamir Khan to be part of Bombay Velvet.

Bombay Velvet is set in the 1960s and revolves around the crime scene in Mumbai then. Anurag Kashyap was quoted as saying that Bombay Velvet will be like the LA Confidential of India.

LA Confidential is a fantastic flick. It would be interesting to see if Kashyap can pull off a thriller on the same level.

Bombay Velvet, reportedly, will have three segments, with John Abraham, Aamir Khan, and Shahrukh, featured in each of them.

Anurag Kashap had said in an interview that he brought two writers on board, for Bombay Velvet, who criticised him most for No Smoking.

If Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan are indeed part of Bombay Velvet, then they probably have cameo roles in the movie.

It’s not clear what Danny Boyle’s role is in this production, but some reports say that Boyle will present the movie to further its chances in the international market.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has bought the film rights for Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, Live Mint has reported.Suketu Mehta’s book, a painstakingly honest glimpse of Mumbai, was a huge global success.

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found is a fascinating book, especially for Bombayphiles, those who love Mumbai warts and all.

Danny Boyle often refers to Maximum City, when he talks about Mumbai.

Recently he had said in an interview with screenindia.com, “It gives you a wonderful perspective on the city and that was sort of our bible on the film because its got everything in it.”

The travelogue – if you can call it that considering how rich and involved it is – paints a sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, and sometimes buouyant picture of Mumbai.

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found explores Mumbai’s underbelly – the underworld- the effect of the 1992 Hindu-Muslim riots on the Hindu-Muslim gangs, and of course Bollywood.

Suketu Mehta also co-wrote the script for Mission Kashmir with Vidhu Vinod Chopra, and traces the whole process right from when joined the scripting team and trying to put together the cast.

He writes about Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan who were supposed to be on onboard, and how they backed out.

His account got him into trouble with Bollywood producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, though, after the book came out.

Suketu Mehta was born in Kolkata and lived in Mumbai for nine years. He left Mumbai when he was 14 years old, and spent twenty-one years in New York’s East Village, Paris, London, after which he returned to Mumbai, to the city he says he belongs to.

The journalist and author is the winner of the O. Henry Prize and the Whiting Writers Award.

Currently, working as an Associate Professor of Journalism at New York University, Mehta has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Indian Express, Harper’s, Man’s World, Granta, Conde Nast Traveler, and so on.

Suketu Mehta’s next project is a nonfiction book about immigrants in present-day New York, for which he was the recipient of the 2007 Guggenheim fellowship. 

Suketu Mehta won the Kiriyama Prize and the Hutch Crossword Award, for Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

Meanwhile, Danny Boyle came to India and met the families of Slumdog Millionaire’s child stars, Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed, my 27, 2009.

He promised them new homes, after their shanty homes were pulled down by the municipal workers.

Danny Boyle photo

Reports say that Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the Bond franchise at EON Productions, has asked Danny Boyle to direct the 23rd Bond film.

There is no information as yet if Danny Boyle is in negotations to helm the prestigious Bond film or not.

If  Boyle accepts the offer, then he will join the league of Bond directors like:

1. Terence Young (From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Thunderball)
2. Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun)
3. Lewis Gilbert (You Only Live Twice, Moonraker),
4. John Glen (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to Kill, The Living Daylights, License to Kill)
5. Martin Campbell (Golden Eye, Casino Royale)
6. Roger Spottiswoode (Tommorow Never Dies)
7. Michael Apted (The World is not Enough)
8. Lee Tamahori (Die Another Day)
9. Marc Foster (Quantum of Solace).

In the past, 43-year-old Danny Boyle has expressed his reluctance to be part of big budget flicks. He even turned down a chance to direct the fourth film in the Alien franchise.

Throughout his career so far, Danny Boyle has chosen to direct films with strong content, like Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and Slumdog Millionaire.

He also has a penchant for adapting novels to the big screen as seen in movies like Trainspotting, which is based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, The Beach, and Slumdog Millionaire.

Danny Boyle is set to direct Ponte Tower, a thriller set in the skyscraper in Johannesburg, South Africa. After apartheid, in the 1990s, the skyscraper became home to many gangs and drug lords.

Boyle will also direct a movie, Solomon Grundy, which is about a baby who goes through a full lifetime in six days. Soloman Grundy is a nursery rhyme of the 19th century, which captures the whole life of Solomon Grundy in six days.

Danny Boyle won the 2009 Oscar award and the 2009 Golden Globe award for Best Director, for Slumdog Millionaire. He also won the 2009 Bafta award for Best Director for Slumdog Millionaire.