Akshay Kumar Can't Stop Grinning About His Students

The sporty side of Akshay Kumar is never too far from the surface. Even as the Khiladi Kumar struggles to get land allotted for a martial arts school in Mumbai, the participants of last year's Akshay Kumar Karate Tournament have just returned from an international karate championship with bronze and gold medals.

And Akshay, always the sporty star, can't stop grinning about his students' triumph.

Said Akshay, "What an absolute pleasure and honour it is. Not only have the winners of my annual Karate Tournament participated in the 12th Milo Malaysian World Championship, they have come home to India proudly carrying 2 Gold Medals and 3 Bronze... incredible achievement! This is what this is all about. Giving children and adults the opportunity to represent their sport and their country."

In all, 23 karate students between the age of 3 and 38 attended the 12th Milo World Karate Championship in Malaysia. They've returned with 3 bronze and 2 gold medals.

Says Akshay, "I am very proud of all the Indian contestants. They've made their coaches, families, country and me very proud. And they've brought hope and inspiration to many karate lovers across India. See you at my next tournament. "

Akshay now intends to carry his passion for martial arts to the next level by opening martial arts schools across the country.

Courtesy: Bollywood Hungama

Sonakshi Sinha Starring Opposite Akshay Kumar

‘Dabangg’ hottie Sonakshi Sinha is all set to play Mandakini in ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2’.

While the names of Katrina, Kareena and Deepika already doing rounds, it was revealed lately that Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter Sonakshi has bagged the plum project, starring opposite Akshay Kumar.

Talking to a daily, a source said, “Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria are taking their time to choose the leading lady for ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2’.

They want the girl to be perfect. Initially, they wanted a leading lady to essay the role of Mandakini. But now, they are considering Sonakshi Sinha.”

“Akshay and Sonakshi are already doing Shirish Kunder’s ‘Joker’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Rowdy Rathod’ to be directed by Prabhudeva together.

Ekta and Milan will obviously keep that in mind while making their choice,” said the source speaking about Akshay and Sonakshi’s on-screen compatibility.

However, apart from Akshay, the female is yet to be finalised for another hero in the film. “They are still looking for the parallel hero in the film.

Once the second actor is finalised, Ekta and Milan will take a call on who will play the leading lady,” added the source.

Akshay Kumars 2 Crore Fund For Karate Tournament

This October 19, the Akshay Kumar Karate Tournament will be organised for desi kids for the third year in a row in Mumbai. And actor Akshay Kumar has decided to fund the event on his own this time, shelling out approximately R 2 crore, significantly more than what he’s previously invested in the event.

Mehul Vora, tournament director and martial arts trainer to several Bollywood celebrities, says, "Akshay has agreed to sponsor the tournament this year on his own, and the expenditure is close to R 2 crore. He did this even for the first tournament that we had three years ago. The following year, we managed to get some kind of sponsorship, alongside his financial and emotional assistance, which is not the case this year." The reason the event is held every year between October and November is that the period coincides with school Diwali vacations.

"We want more kids to take up karate because not only is it a good way to exercise and keep the body fit, but it also comes in handy as a self-defence mechanism," reasons Mehul, who’s expecting over 5,000 participants for the tournament’s various competitions this year.

"The tournament is our way of reaching out to parents, so they let their kids train in karate. I’ve seen a rise in the numbers, but I’m sure we can do better." Considering that Akshay is the brand ambassador for Canada Tourism, does the duo plan to organise a competition for NRI kids too? "We can do something of that sort in India itself. But it’s too early for us to take the tournament abroad," Mehul says.

"As of now, we’re happy that a bunch of kids who’ve participated here have also represented the country internationally." Registration for the tournament is expected to start between August and September this year. Mehul, who’s also associated with Star Movies’ karate film festival, Kung Fu Fighting, met Akshay through an assignment a decade ago.

He was choreographing a couple of karate sequences for a TV capsule featuring the action hero. They hit it off and now Mehul also trains the actor’s nine-year-old son Aarav, who is currently at home, nursing an injury he sustained while training. The star’s son has a Green Belt, technically halfway through to getting the Black Belt his father has.

"Akshay is a 6th-degree Black Belt. His son will have to first get a Black Belt, which is tough enough, and then work his way towards achieving the 10th degree," explains Mehul.

"I’m not trying to boast, but Aarav has his father’s genes. He’s as focused and hardworking as Akshay. He always comes having practiced, is very particular about attendance and lives up to his father’s name."

Akshay Kumar Saw A Special Screening Of Ko

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar saw a special screening of KV Anand directed Ko in Mumbai and fell in love with the film.

He immediately took a decision to buy the remake rights of the film. The buzz is that Akshay liked the way Anand chronicled the life and times of a press photographer and made it a commercially viable film.

After watching teh film, Akshay called up KV Anand and congratulated him for making such a good film. Akshay is negotiating with RS Infotainment the producers of Ko, to produce it under his Hari Om Movies.

He wants Anthony D’Souza, the director of the Hindi film Blue (2009) to remake it. Anthony popularly known as Tony is a good friend of Akshay and was in search of a good story for a remake.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali And Akshay Kumar Have Come Together

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Akshay Kumar have come together for the first time for a film titled `Rowdy Rathore`.

It will be an `action` film to be produced by Bhansali and co-produced by designer Shabinaa Khan.

According to Bhansali, action genre for him is a totally alien concept. "At this juncture as a filmmaker, I want to move out of the comfort zone and do things that are new and untried," the `Guzaarish` director said.

Starring Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha, the film is being directed by Prabhu Deva of `Wanted` fame.

Bhansali (48) said his latest project will break the stereotypical boundaries of the action genre.

The film will see Kumar get back into the action space. The `Khiladi` star will undergo rigorous physical training in preparation for the film that will have top notch action and choreography, he added.

PTI

Chitrangada Singh Is Very Inspired By Akshay Kumar

‘Desi Boyz’ is Chitrangada Singh`s first big movie and she is excited to share screen-space with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar.

A source states, "The actress is very excited and enthusiastic about the forthcoming schedule of the film. Chitrangada is very inspired by Khiladi Kumar`s action image and she is hoping for some great adventure action with Akshay during the schedule of the film".

The film also stars John Abraham, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.

Following the footsteps of papa David Dhawan, Rohit Dhawan is making his directorial debut with ‘Desi Boyz’, which may release at the year end.

IANS

Director Sajid Khan Gears Up To Kick-Start Housefull 2

It promises to be a ’housefull’ of surprises. As director Sajid Khan gears up to kick-start Housefull 2, he will employ a completely new technique - 3D pre-visualisation. And Khan feels the "technique is needed due to multiple action sequences."

For the uninitiated, storyboards are usually designed in the form of illustrations to pre-visualise a scene. "But since Housefull 2 will have four action sequences, I am going to use 3D pre-visualisation. It’ll help a lot," he says.

According to Khan, the storyboards will be designed in the form of illustrations. "Then, it’ll be converted into animated 3D visual. And the actors will be able to watch the sequences three months before they actually shot on location," he says.

In fact, the Housefull 2 makers are putting in ’special action’ sequences. "People are surprised to hear that my film will have action scenes. Not many know that I love action but my action won’t be about blood and gore. It’ll be cool and stylised," Khan says. Interestingly, Dhoom star John Abraham will be seen with a bike again in an action sequence while he shares screen space with Akshay Kumar in another scene.

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala feels that this method will help match Hollywood standards. "If you want to even come close to the standards set by Hollywood action films, you need to be totally prepared. And this technique is surely the best," he says.

The Housefull 2 cast is loaded with names like Akshay, John, Asin, Jacqueline Fernandez, Riteish Deshmukh and Rahul Khanna but Khan insists he "will cast two-three other actresses." He adds: "I’ll also need a huge female star for a guest appearance."

By Hindustan Times

Akshay Kumar's 17 Crore Cameo For New Movie

With a R 17 crore cameo by Akshay Kumar, does anyone realise that the film would have gone over budget? We wouldn’t even be able to recover the investments!" retorts Jacky Bhagnani when asked about the action star’s much-talked about cameo in FALTU.

"My father (Vashu Bhagnani) is a hard-core film trade person and understands the business very well. I even heard that Salman Khan is doing a cameo. But none of this is true. Apart from my leading lady and me, Riteish Deshmukh and Arshad Warsi are the only ones playing pivotal characters. There are no cameos!" FALTU is Jacky’s second film, which like his debut Kal Kissne Dekha, has been produced by his father.

Two years ago, his debut bombed at the box office. It was expected to release in March, but was pushed by three to four months following the multiplex strike across the country. "Not too many people saw it. I’m more recalled for my stage performances. It’s sad because if the film had been released as per schedule, it would have worked. It lost the buzz by the time it opened for public viewing. So, in some ways, FALTU is my debut," says Bhagnani. The actor’s father has released the music of the film on digital media instead of the usual CDs and DVDs.

When asked if that would be detrimental to the sales, he says that just the opposite may happen. "Today, no one hesitates to spend R 10. They can spend that much and download a song of their choice from the website of the film. Even the biggest selling music albums don’t make enough money because there is a limited number of CDs that get sold from the racks. Here, every song will sell individually," he explains.

Since Bhagnani’s second film arrives more than two years after his debut, isn’t he apprehensive about its box office reception? "I am," he says. "But I’m also nervous and excited because this film should give my career the opening it deserved two years ago."

Rishi Kapoor Sharing His Acting Skills With Anushka Sharma

She has worked with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan but still actress Anushka Sharma got nervous when she had to shoot with veteran actor Rishi Kapoor for her forthcoming film "Patiala House"."When she was to shoot her first scene with Mr. Kapoor, she was found trembling," a source said."Patiala House" features Rishi Kapoor (Bauji) as an authoritarian head of a big Punjabi family, of whom the entire household is afraid.

Finally, Rishi broke the ice by speaking to Anushka and sharing his acting skills. He shared many of his experiences with her, which made the young actress comfortable."Rishi Kapoor is without a doubt a veteran actor and Anushka though being new is a great performer and ’Patiala House’ opens screens space for both in an interesting way," said Bhusan Kumar of T-Series, who is producing the film.

Directed by Nikhil Adwani, "Patiala House" shows how a second-generation Sikh Guttu (Akshay Kumar) and his siblings in London held back their dreams, in love and respect for their authoritarian father (Rishi) until Guttu meets Simran (Anushka) who gives him the strength to stand up once again to fulfil his dream. This cross-generation drama is about second chances."Patiala House" is slated to release Feb 11.

Actor Akshay Kumar Slapped A Security Guard

In a bizarre incident, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar switched on his action mode and slapped a security guard, who reportedly pinched his son Aarav’s derrière. According to a leading daily, a security guard (Bhandari) from a Juhu building was tightly slapped by Akshay, and finally kicked out of his six-year old job on the actor’s behest.

Apparently, while Akshay and his wife Twinkle are resolute on the fact that the guard pinched Aarav’s buttocks, the guard claims to have saved Aarav’s life. Buzz has it that the 35-year old security guard was quickly dismissed from his job while his security agency maintains that he was simply doing his duty and preventing Aarav from entering a meter room.

According to a dweller of The Grand Eastern Shores, Akshay and Aarav were visiting a family friend in the afternoon. While Akshay was busy conversing with some residents, Aarav wandered into meter room. Meanwhile, Bhandari spotted the eight-year-old kid walking down into the meter room and pulled him out just in time before he could touch any live wire.However, a few minutes later, Akshay was found roughing up the security guard.

When enquired, Akshay said, “My son screamed when the incident happened. Let my wife elaborate.” “My son did not go into the meter room. That was simply Bhandari’s version. My son was climbing the stairs with his friend when Bhandari came behind them and pinched his buttocks.

My son quickly brought it to my notice. At this point of time his friend said that Bhandari had done this to him too. Another child from their group also had a similar experience. Our son has been brave enough to talk about this to us. He has been a hero,” added Twinkle.

However, the matter did not end there as the very next day Akshay’s secretary contacted the secretary of the society and pushed him to sack the security guard. According to Commander Sitaram, GM at Hindustan Security Forces, the firm which had appointed the security guard, “Akshay’s secretary said Bhandari had allegedly misbehaved with his son.

We were told that he had pinched his buttocks. Our investigations have confirmed that Bhandari did not hit or hurt the actor’s son. He pulled the child away from the danger zone and was just doing his duty.”

Yet, what went against Bhandari was the fact that he touched the boy in an attempt to save him, thereby violating the security company’s code of conduct. “Our men have strict instructions not to touch any child or woman, no matter what the circumstances are,” said Sitaram.When contacted, a bitter Bhandari said “Main bhelpuri ka dhanda karta hoon. Aur iske baad mujhe kabhi phone mat karna.”

Farah Khan And Katrina Kaif Posed Akshay Kumar's Camera

What happened when the Tees Maar Khan Akshay Kumar, Farah Khan and Sheila came to Dilli recently? Post the formal meetings, promotional activities and some idhar-udhar ki baatein, Akshay thought of trying his hand at photography.

So, the Khiladi borrowed the camera from us, saying, "Lao main click karta hoon." Of course, we were surprised, but he insisted, "Arre, mujhe click karna aata hai."

The actor then began to click Farah Khan and (ahem ahem) Katrina too, who posed under the sun for him. While he had loads of fun with his new found passion, we managed another camera to capture this never-seen-before action scene by the actor.

What a multi-talented personality – from chef to actor to err... celeb photog, eh? We wonder what’s next on the wish list when you come to the city again, Akki?

Tees Maar Khan To Go On A Global Promotional Journey

Catch them if you can! Team ‘Tees Maar Khan’ is packing its bag to go on a global promotional journey.

UTV is pulling out all the stops to promote Farah Khan’s highly awaited film ‘Tees Maar Khan’. Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif along with the director will be embarking whirlwind 4 city tour overseas next week to promote their film.

The team will travel through Dubai, London, New York and Toronto before returning to India for the final leg of promotions.

‘Tees Maar Khan’ is already hogging immense attention – one, because of its title, second, its lead pair and third the foremost for its ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’.

Going by Farah formula, one can expect some masti ka dhamaka in the movie and sparks flying at box office.

As a Christmas treat, ‘Tees Maar Khan’ is hitting the screens coming 24th December.

Akshay Kumar's Son Won Three Medals In Karate Tournament

Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar’s son Aarav seems to be walking in his father’s footsteps already! The eight-year-old bagged three medals at a Karate tournament Monday.

"I’m the proudest dad in India today! My son just won three medals in his annual Karate tournament, " Akshay, a black-belt in martial arts, posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Aarav won a gold medal for his kicks, and a silver medal each for his squats and combat fighting.

Though Akshay’s genes could well be the reason behind Aarav’s accomplishment, the actor credits his wife Twinkle Khanna for their son’s success.

"I must say that Aarav’s gold medal is all thanks to my wife. She gave him extra training everyday at home for the last one month and he thanked her with an outstanding gold medal in return.

He may have my genes but he definitely has his mother’s fighting spirit, " wrote Akshay.

Akshay and Twinkle tied the knot in 2001, and Akshay is still quite vocal about his love for her.

"Tina (Twinkle’s real name) I love you and I’m so proud of our son, " he tweeted.

One wonders if later Aarav will take the Bollywood route to fulfil his love for action, just as his father did with films like "Khiladi" and "Mohra".

A New Round Of Success For Action Kumar

He’s been gaining ground again as the promos of ’Tees Maar Khan’ have found favour majorly. As per insiders, Farah Khan’s flick will usher in a new round of success for Action Kumar.

The actor, meanwhile, continues to be the affable and considerate soul that he always was famed for being.

A recent case in point serves to illustrate this further.

Reportedly, when Akki was filming for ’Desi Boyz’ in Mumbai, a young girl holding a photo of his would keep hanging around the sets.

She’d wait for hours in the sweltering sun, requesting the guards to allow her to meet her matinee idol and insisting that she wouldn’t budge unless she’d met AK.

Taking pity on her, one of them did go across and conveyed the message to Akki. No sooner did he learn of this, he had the young girl brought to him and spent over an hour chatting her up. Notch one more fan for life, AK…