Akshay plans holiday in Goa for Twinkle's birthday

                                                                         A family holiday is the only thing on Akshay Kumar's mind after the release of "Tees Maar Khan". So the Bollywood star is off to Goa to celebrate his wife Twinkle's 36th birthday Wednesday as well as ring in the New Year with a bang.

"I am going to Goa with my family for nine days and I will just enjoy myself. We will be celebrating Tina's (Twinkle) birthday there first and then party on New Year's Eve," Akshay told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

The action star, whose cookery game show "MasterChef India" on Star Plus came to a grand end last week, says he makes sure he chalks out adequate family time every year to take Twinkle and their eight-year-old son Aarav.

"You need to strike the right balance between work and family. I manage it very carefully. My family understands the nature of my work and never bothers me when I am working. So when I am on a holiday, I never give them a chance to complain and I just have fun," he said.

He also makes sure to pamper his wife once every year.

"I like to take breaks between my projects and once every year, I take a slightly long break. At that time, I just keep a globe in front of my wife and I ask her to choose whichever destination she wants to go for a holiday, and that's where we head! She allows me complete freedom, so I can do at least this much for her," said the dutiful husband.

It was an average year for Akshay with films like "Housefull", "Khatta Meetha", "Action Replayy" and "Tees Maar Khan", apart from his presence on the small screen as the host and judge of "MasterChef India". He says the TV show was a "great learning experience" as it was not just a chance for him to get a step closer to the masses, but also a chance for him to pick up new cookery tips.

"I met so many people through this show and learnt so much. For the first time I heard of cooking fish in curd and mustard...I picked up many such new combinations and ingredients.

"I could relate to their emotions because I also come from the same background. I could understand their feeling of staying away from home for a long time and could understand their needs in their quest for success...," said the 43-year-old, who lead a simple life in Chandni Chowk in New Delhi before he became a chef in Bangkok and then finally movedg to filmdom with "Saugandh" in 1991.

The actor, best known for his action stunts in Bollywood, says he is ready to be back with a second season of the show.

"I hope so that the channel would like to do a second season of 'Masterchef India'. I don't know yet, but Star Plus and I share quite a good rapport and hopefully we will return with the second season. I am all for it," he said.

After the holiday, Akshay is looking forward to the release of "Patiala House", the official trailer of which has been released with "Tees Maar Khan". Following that, he will begin shooting for Anees Bazmee's "Thank You".

I had a superb time directing Dharamji: Hema Malini

                                                               Directing your husband and daughter could have its tricky moments and so it was for Hema Malini too. But it was enormously enjoyable and everything eventually fell into place, says the Bollywood diva and director whose forthcoming "Tell Me Oh Khuda" stars husband Dharmendra and daughter Esha Deol.

"Directing Dharamji was superb. In the beginning, however, he did not listen to me. He used to ask me 'What is this, what is that'. Then I used to tell him that I want it like this, so just do it. So he realised I knew the job and then left it entirely to me. He didn't interfere at all after that," Hema, who has wielded the megaphone after 18 years for the movie, told IANS in an interview.

The crackling chemistry between the couple was in evidence in blockbusters like "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Sholay", "Razia Sultan" and "Pratigya".

Hema, 62, who earlier directed the Shah Rukh Khan-Divya Bharti-starrer "Dil Aashna Hai" in 1992, is making "Tell Me Oh Khuda" for her daughter Esha.

"I'm very excited about my film. It's a very interesting story of a girl's passionate quest to know her origins. The film might get delayed a little bit because of the whole process of change in directors. But I'm trying to release it latest by March," said the actress, looking graceful as ever in a green silk sari.

She has roped in Arjan Bajwa, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor for the film. It was earlier being directed by Mayur Puri but Hema decided to take the reins in her own hands.

The film is in the post-production stage and work is expected to get over by Jan 10.

How was it directing Esha?

"We have a different relationship on the sets, but still we are mother and daughter and so that does come across. After every scene she used to ask me if it was okay or not. It was really a pleasure directing her and the whole process was very sweet," said Hema.

That's not all what is keeping the multi-faceted actress occupied. She is also producing a TV show for Colors called "Maati Ki Banno", which hit the small screens Monday.

This is her first television show in eight years. In the past, she has produced shows like "Nupur", "Women of India" and "Aap Ki Saheli" as well as the Marathi shows "Songti" and "Umberta".

Discussing her long absence from the small screen, the actress, who was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, said: "Nothing great came across. Also, I got busy with parliament. I had to spend time there. My term got over last September and next month this happened."

The show follows the journey of an orphan girl from Mauritius married into a family in Bihar and details her struggles with her new life overshadowed by secrets that haunt her husband's family.

So is it difficult to manage direction, production, dance shows and the family?

The multi-tasker says she manages it all. "You need to take out time for everything. If you want to, you can manage things and that's what I do. I'm very happy with whatever I have done in the past and whatever I am doing now. But, yes, there are times when I feel like going away to some place for some time, doing just nothing.

"However, that's just a momentary thing because we are creative people and we can't sit without doing anything for long," added Hema, whose younger daughter Ahana has evinced interest in becoming a director.

Saat Khoon Maaf track inspired from Russian melody?

                                                             Whether it’s his music or his films, Vishal Bhardwaj is known for his trademark originality. Even when he adapts from a known source, he gives credit to the the original, which inspires his work.

Earlier, he has credited his intensely dramatic Maqbool (2003) and Omkara (2006) to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello respectively. So it came as a surprise to know that a song from his forthcoming movie 7 Khoon Maaf, Darling... has strains of a Russian tune, Kalinka...

We contacted the composer-filmmaker, but he didn’t reply to our text messages. However, a source associated with Bhardwaj confirmed that Darling... is inspired from the Russian Red Army choir. He further explained, “It’s also one of the most notable folk songs of Russia and fits perfectly for the portions in which Priyanka Chopra’s Susanna marries a Russian character, Vronsky, essayed by Aleksandr Dyachenko.”

Our informer adds that the way the song is used in the promo of the film, makes it sound inspired. But it actually is an adaptation. Vishal even got four singers from Russia to record it. He says, “Due credit has been given to the original Russian song in the movie and album.”

Bhardwaj, who has given credit for 7 Khoon Maaf to Ruskin Bond’s Susanna’s Seven Husbands, previously credited a Kenyan guy, Cajetan Boy, for the story idea of Kaminey (2009). He had picked up the idea from the writer while conducting a workshop with Mira Nair in Uganda. “But since Cajetan Boy couldn’t develop the story, Vishal bought it from him for $4,000 and gave him due credit in the movie,” concludes our source.

Bollywood's slip-of-the-tongue moments!

                                Here are some slip-of-the-tongue comments our dear celebs made in 2010.

Abhishek Bachchan He claimed that he jumped off the cliff for a stunt in Mani Ratnam’s film, Raavan. “I told Mani that if the local boys could do it, so could I, only if there was a professional diver to train me. The only thought in my mind was ‘Oh, my god, I am going to die,” he said. Later, M Balram, a national-level swimmer, said, “I had done the stunt.”

Preity Zinta
The actor mixed up Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan with Rajput leader Prithviraj Chauhan. Zinta tweeted, “Prithviraj Chauhan is r new CM; he’s the namesake of a fearless Rajput King! We hope he can b an inspiring leader & do justice 2 his name (sic)!” Actor Amitabh Bachchan corrected her. “Preity, its Chavan not Chauhan.” Preity’s mistake got the blogosphere and news channels abuzz about her ignorance.

Sonam Kapoor
Columnist Shobhaa De criticised the actor’s film, I Hate Luv Storys, and said that filmmaker Punit Malhotra should be spanked. Punit in turn tweeted, “Shobhaa De is an old fossil who is going through menopause and getting no action.” Actor Sonam Kapoor replied to the comment and a controversy erupted that died down with an apology from Sonam to De.

Prahlad Kakkar
He took a dig at actor Abhishek Bachchan when he said, “Abhishek has 17 flops in a row and is still going strong. He should be in Guinness Book of Records.” In a reply, Abhi said Kakkar should be a comedian.

Priyanka Chopra
She got flak when she returned from a shooting schedule in Srinagar and commented, “I enjoyed Kashmir but I am happy to be back to civilisation.” Following the uproar, she had to clarify.

Ajay Devgn
He got into a foot-in-mouth situation when he addressed railway Minister Mamta Banerjee as the information and broadcasting minister at an event.

Anil Kapoor
The actor said Abhay Deol needs “serious help in every way because he is doing all the wrong things”. Deol called Anil a “waste of time” and said he needs help “to not get affected by him.”

Deepika Padukone
She advised former lover Ranbir Kapoor “to endorse a brand of condoms”. It created buzz and Ranbir replied, “This is good. We should spread AIDS awareness.”

Salman Khan
He landed himself in a soup when he gave an interview to a channel in Pakistan saying that the Mumbai terror attacks got attention because the “elites were targeted”. Political parties jumped on his case, and he had to issue an apology by saying, “I apologise if I may have hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

John Abraham
He claimed that he had done Aashayein for free because it was based on a social issue. “I felt that the nature of the film was such that it should be made, that is why I didn’t take any money for it,” he said. However, Shailendra Singh of PPT, the film’s distributor said, “John and Nagesh got their full payment.”

Deepika-Mallya Jr holiday together!

                                                               Seems like love is in the air and Deepika Padukone and her 'good friend' Siddharth Mallya are basking in it! Dips and Mallya Jr were spotted at Mumbai International Airport and were headed to England together, Mid-Day reported.

While they decided to celebrate Christmas in India, it is believed that the two jet-set to London to bring in the new year.

The actress was spotted in her casual jeans and furry boots while Siddharth was seen in a leather jacket and a muffler.

Seeing Deepika's non winter attire and the fact that London is freezing at this time, one can't help but wonder if Siddharth is going to provide Dips-Sidall the warmth!