Grapevine: Vidya's 'car'ma calling, Katrina gets lucky

New Delhi: After making sure Saif Ali Khan learnt the typical Uttar Pradesh dialect for Omkara, filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj forced actress Vidya Balan to overcome her road phobia for a driving scene in his next movie Ishqiya.

"Vidya has an acute road phobia. She was petrified at the thought of driving earlier, but not any more," said a source close to the film.

"Driving a car was something completely alien to her. But Vishal saw to it that she mastered the art and now is pretty comfortable manoeuvring her car on the road," the source added.

The filmmaker is known to be particular about making his actors learn the required skills in reality rather than making them pretend on screen.

PAGE_BREAK

'Hema Malini's Vijayaraje Scindia look decided in 48 hours'

It took fashion designer Neeta Lulla just 48 hours of hard work to decide the right look for Bollywood 'dream girl' Hema Malini's forthcoming venture Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi in which she plays erstwhile Gwalior queen Vijayaraje Scindia.

"Actually we both had time constraints so I had to work round-the-clock to give Hemaji the look of the Rajmata. I did my own research and Hemaji also gave me a reference book, which helped me a lot," said Lulla.

Lulla is the one who gave Aishwarya Rai the ethereal look in Ashutosh Gowarikar's period drama Jodhaa Akbar.

She was also behind Hema Malini's refreshing look in Ravi Chopra's Baghban.

"I tried to give her a different look in Baghban and people loved the way she looked in the film. Hope people will like it this time too," the designer added.

Being directed by Gulbahar Singh, Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi went on floors recently and is being produced by the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Smriti Trust.

PAGE_BREAK

Katrina dominates Yuvvraaj posters

Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif seems to be the shining star of the hoardings of Subhash Ghai's forthcoming film Yuvvraaj, with the male actors - Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Zayed Khan - taking a backseat.

"Katrina is considered to be a lucky mascot for her directors and Subhash is confident that Katrina will bring luck for him too," a source close to the project said.

The filmmaker apparently chose to give Katrina such a prominent spot to let her know that she has earned her rightful place in the film.

"Katrina has done a fabulous job in Yuvvraaj and Subhash has witnessed the dedication with which Katrina has worked in the film. Hence the solo hoarding," the source added.