Sonam Kapoor who usually wear Indian ensembles, mostly churidaar kurtas, will be seen in beachwear for the first time. Although, if you are expecting stringy bikinis, and lots of cleavage, you are in for a disappointment. The photos that were taken on a beach in the Maldives are rather modest to say the least.

Sonam Kapoor Verve cover photo

The photos themselves take away from Sonam’s breezy naturalness. The sultry, pouty look is just not her and makes her look woebegone rather than sexy. In fact, one is tempted to ask, Why so serious?

Sonam Kapoor who is the daughter of actor Anil Kapoor, debut movie was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya in 2007. Her co-star in the movie was Ranbir Kapoor. Saawariya was completely overshadowed by Shahrukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om that released on the same weekend.

Sonam Kapoor Verve bikini photo

Sonam Kapoor was compared unfavourably with Deepika Padukone, then an established model, who made her debut at the same time with Om Shanti Om.

She was considered ungainly and gauche compared to Deepika Padukone. What everyone forgot was that Deepika was a model and any model worth her salt has to be graceful and stylish.

Sonam Kapoor photo from Verve photoshoot

While Deepika Padukone is extremely well put together, Sonam Kapoor is definitely lazy about her looks. But that is precisely what works for her; Sonam with her dazzling smile comes across as natural and bindaas, which is why a photoshoot like this does nothing for her.

Sonam Kapoor in Verve photogallery

Sonam Kapoor has very oldfashioned looks, pretty much like yesteryear heroines. A photoshoot that made use of her freespirit joie de vivre would have been infinitely better than forcing the typical sexy look on her. The look that makes Mallika Sherawat blindingly oomphy, Priyanka sultry, Deepika stylish, and Katrina hot, makes Sonam look like a school girl in her mama’s clothes.

Sonam Kapoor Verve photo

Sonam Kapoor’s Delhi-6 will be released on February 20, 2009.

Delhi-6 is directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and stars Sonam Kapoor with Abhishek Bachchan, Waheeda Rahman, Divya Dutta, Om Puri, and Atul Kulkarni.

Photo: Sonam Kapoor will star in Anil Kapoor's home production Emma

The character of Jane Austen’s Emma caught the fancy of Sonam Kapoor, and she asked her father Anil Kapoor to produce it. Emma will be directed by Rajshree Ojha, the director of Chaurahen (2007) and Yatna (2005). Needless to say, Sonam Kapoor will play Emma. God knows, she has the height for it.

The rest of the cast and crew of the movie have not been finalized.

In the meantime, Sonam Kapoor is happily promoting her forthcoming movie, Delhi-6. You can see her on every TV channel and magazines, the latest being the cover of Verve.

Abhay Deol, who has finally got a hit with DevD – despite fantastic performances in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Manorama Six Feet Under, Socha Na Tha, Ahista Ahista all of which tanked at the box office – is moving base to New York. According to reports, he is also signing up for a welding and metal work course at the Arts Students League of New York.

Photo: Abhay Deol

He has been quoted as saying, “Melting metal at 60,000 degrees fahrenheit is very therapeutic. It’s as cathartic as living out the anguish of DevD. I was planning to take this time off too explore new territories for some time. But in Mumbai I was caught up in the never-ending chain of doing movies and promoting them.”

Nice to see that this Deol boy, who has always been unafraid in his choice of movies, is not stereotypical when it comes to his life choices either. And, I am glad he is not one of those smug “thinking actors” who insist they are consumed by acting.

Apart from Emma, Abhay Deol also has a Dibankar Banerjee- director of Khosla Ka Ghosla, and writer-director of Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! – project in the pipeline.

Abhay Deol was last seen in DevD, a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s Devdas. DevD was written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, director of No Smoking and Black Friday. The movie also stars Mahi Gill who plays the role of Paro and Kalki Koechlin who plays Chandramukhi.

DevD has said to have raked in Rs 90 million in its opening weekend. As a longstanding fan of both Abhay Deol and Anurag Kashyap, I am for one, delighted with both DevD’s success and their vindication.

Pic: Sonam Kapoor with the dove, Masakali, in Delhi-6

While shooting Delhi-6, director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra auditioned hundreds of pigeons to find the one that could sit on Sonam Kapoor’s head in the Masakali song without flying off a hundred times. When Rakeysh Mehra couldn’t pin a single garden-variety pigeon down, he then proceeded to audition doves, at the suggestion of AR Rahman.

At Rakeysh Mehra’s request, 12 white doves were shortlisted. The chosen one was a white dove for Assam, for which Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra is said to have shelled out Rs 13000 a day. The dove, called Masakali, features in the chartbuster Masakali song, in Delhi-6, with Sonam Kapoor. And unlike Chicka, the pug, in the Vodafone ad, it does not have to work like a, well, dog. No running behind buses with a tie in the mouth, fetching stuff, following little boys and girls. A dove’s life is a lot better than a dog’s life, alright.

Photo: Abhishek Bachchan in Delhi-6 with Masakali perched on his shoulder

Masakali has also proved to be the star of  Delhi-6 so far. So much so, that actress Sonam Kapoor, whose name is Bittu in Delhi-6, is hailed by the name Masakali or Kabootari whereever she goes, much to her irritation, understandably.

Pic: Sonam Kapoor, Masakali, and Abhishek Bachchan in Delhi-6

Delhi-6 stars Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Waheeda Rahman, Om Puri, Atul Kulkarni, Rishi Kapoor, Tanvi Azmi, and Divya Dutta. Delhi-6 is about an American-born Indian, Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan), who brings his grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) to India, where they live in old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area, the place she loves best.

A still from Delhi-6

As he is drawn into the melee of colors, flavors, smells and quirky inter-relationships, that typifies the true character of Delhi, Roshan understands why his grandmother loves the city so much and in the process realizes his own identity. Spirited Bittu (Sonam Kapoor), on the other hand, can’t wait to escape from the conservative life she is forced to lead.

Delhi-6 is an intensely personal movie for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. In his director’s note he has said, “For me it’s much more than a movie. I have dipped the pen in the ink of my childhood memories, and setting them against today’s contemporary India, have tried to weave a story.”

Delhi-6 will be released on February 20, 2009. The movie was supposed to release on February 13, 2006. Some reports says that the release date of Delhi-6 was postponed because AR Rahman had yet to complete the background score for Delhi-6.

Delhi-6 has been directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, and co-written by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, and Kamlesh Pandey. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has previously written and directed Aks (2001) starring Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai, and Raveena Tandon.

He has also penned the script and directed the 2006 blockbuster hit Rang De Basanti starring Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Atul Kulkarni, and Kunal Kapoor.

Prasoon Joshi is the lyricist of Delhi-6 and has penned the famous Masakali song. He has written lyrics for movies like Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Fanaa, Black, Ghajini, and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic.

Kamlesh Pandey has to his credit the story of Rang De Basanti. He has written the dialogues and script of movies like Aks, Zinda, Yuvraaj, and Thakshak.