Tamil star Trisha forays into Bollywood teams up with Akshay Kumar

Tamil star Trisha forays into Bollywood, teams up with Akshay

Chennai, June 12 (IANS) Director Priyadarshan has signed Tamil star Trisha to play the female lead in his forthcoming Hindi film starring Akshay Kumar.

"I suggested Trisha's name as Akshay wanted a fresh face for his 'Khatta Meetha'. He saw a few of her films, met her, was impressed and she is in," Priyadarshan told IANS.

Trisha says she is happy that her mentor is giving her a break in Hindi films.

"My lucky director Priyadarshan, who introduced me in Tamil movies, is giving me a break in Hindi films too. After my good debut in 'Lesa, Lesa', I was reticent about my career because of a nagging feeling I would be a misfit in cinema. Now with a firm foot in the south, things have worked out for Bollywood as well," Trisha told IANS.

Scheduled to go on floors in October, the movie will be a lighthearted comedy with six songs by Pritam Chakraborty.

Born Trisha Krishnan in 1983, the model-turned-actress has starred in 28 Tamil and Telugu films since her debut in 1999. She is the second southern star in recent times to enter Bollywood after Asin Thottumkal's successful entry with hit film "Ghajini" opposite Aamir Khan.

Akshay Kumar Saif Ali Khan go double role way cross time zones too

Akshay, Saif go double-role way, cross time zones too
By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, June 11 (IANS) What is common between Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan? The two are playing double roles, their characters belong to two different time zones in their forthcoming films, and the two have to spend hours preparing for their double makeover.

For Vipul Shah's "Action Replay", Akshay spends at least an hour every morning getting into a 1970s' sporty look without the help of prosthetics.

"It's the toughest role I've played. The preparation takes a lot of time. I've Paul Pattison - who did Mel Gibson's look in 'Braveheart' - doing my look. But the effort is worth it. When I look in the mirror after Paul is done, I can't recognise myself," Akshay told IANS.

If Akshay promises to look unrecognisable in "Action Replay", Saif's look in his production venture "Love Aaj Kal" shocked his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor.

"She couldn't recognise me at first when she saw me as a Sardarji," said Saif.

Imtiaz Ali is wielding the megaphone for Saif's production debut.

So far we've known only the fact that Saif gets into a Sardarji's get-up in the course of the narration in "Love Aaj Kal". But it's not known that the Sikh character is separate from the protagonist.

"The Sardar comes in a story within the story. Yes, I've a double role. The two characters belong to two different time zones," said Saif.

"I grew the beard fully. It had to be faked only for one day's patchwork. I give the full credit for the Sardar's look to Dolly Ahluwalia. She had earlier done a great job dressing me up as Langda Tyagi in 'Omkara'. She styled my Sardar's look in 'Love Aaj Kal," he added.

Saif hasn't done too many disguises.

"But after 'Omkara' I transform physically in 'Love Aaj Kal'. Otherwise I'm not too much into physical makeovers."