Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Cold war, Right: Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone: Vying for top spot.
Great actors, great rivalsYou have heard of beauty queens who can’t stand each other and superstars with egos so bloated that they will not be in the same room together. But what you really don’t understand is the mystifying enmity between two fine actors, probably among the best in Bollywood. Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are so good as character artistes that movie scripts are sometimes centered around them. Both of them are not, well, gifted with looks but despite that they have even been heroes in movies. Irrfan began much earlier with the crowning role being Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool. He actually became the first port of call when there was a powerful character to be played. But with the coming of Nawazuddin, that changed. In fact, soon after Nawazuddin broke into the limelight he was immediately compared to Irrfan. In interviews he would be constantly asked whether he acknowledged this similarity and his response would be that while he thought Irrfan was a great actor, clubbing them together was a disservice to his own acting. All in all, both of them didn’t want to be a foil for the other or be talked about in the same breath. From there to a rather obvious aversion was but a step away. Apparently, now they can’t stand the sight of each other. Irrfan currently gets a lot of offers to act in Hollywood flicks. It is obvious that it won’t be long before filmmakers of the West also recognise Nawazuddin. And then what is a cold war might just escalate into full fledged rivalry. Their rivalry is a pity because both of them struggled through really difficult times to get recognition.Not just a star wifeKiran Rao has to be one of the most sorted out star wives. That’s actually not even an appropriate label for her; she’s shown that she is more than just Aamir Khan’s better half. Kiran has directed a movie and produced other award winning films. The latest feather in her cap is a movie called Ship of Theseus. It is being presented by her and already is one of the most raved about Indian movies in the festival circuit. It is now going to hit the screens in India but what is interesting is how she has pulled a leaf from her husband’s book to promote the film. She is now all over the newspapers and magazines. She takes questions on everything from motherhood to surrogacy to Aamir to filmmaking. She has turned herself into a walking advertisement; a marketing strategy that Aamir uses. What sets Kiran apart is the conviction for a project when she puts her name to it. She does not go for big budget fares, instead it is the niche intelligent movies which get her backing.Numbers shufflingMirror mirror in the wall, who is the number one of them all? When it comes to actresses, apparently that title is leaning towards Deepika Padukone. The days when Aishwarya Rai ruled the roost has long gone and her motherhood has only made obvious what everyone knew — that the crown was not hers any longer by a far stretch. Then it was said that Kareena Kapoor was the new number one of Bollywood. It was not that far back that she swung a profit sharing deal for Heroine, something only male actors did. But the movie bombed so badly that she must not have made anything from it. And after her marriage, as age inches up, the lustre of the leader is slowly fading. Katrina Kaif is the other contender and she does have an equally long list of hits as Deepika. But with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani turning out to be a blockbuster, Deepika’s stars might be just a little bit higher on the firmament. And next month Deepika is once again going to be seen on screen in Chennai Express with Shah Rukh Khan. It is directed by Rohit Shetty, who is a serial blockbuster maker. If this movie clicks as expected, then Deepika will certainly be one more step over Katrina.And then there was one more The story of Salman Khan’s past girlfriends can take a book or two by itself. From the time he was linked to starlets like Sangeeta Bijlani and Somy Ali in the beginning of his career to the ethereal beauties like Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif, the man has run the entire gamut of beauty. And almost all the break ups have been cordial. Even with 20-year-old exes like Sangeeta and Somy he maintains a really close friendship. The only exception is Aishwarya. That parting was so bitter that even now they don’t acknowledge each other. There have now been some persistent rumours that Salman has got himself one more girlfriend. Lulla Vantur is said to be a Romanian actress who he met on a tour abroad some years ago. Since then they kept meeting on and off and the relationship developed to the point that it has taken on serious overtones. Recently there were reports that she had been staying in his house along with his parents. This is not very unusual with Salman. All his girlfriends become part of the household and some, like Katrina, continue being a frequent guest even after the break up. From photos it is apparent that Lulla is a stunner. Some say that they don’t even pretend to hide when they are together and can be regularly spotted in a restaurant near Salman’s residence. The natural question is will Lulla manage to do what a bevy of Indian beauties have not — get the man to marry. His father Salim, once when asked whether Salman would marry Katrina, had bluntly said that it would probably not happen precisely because they had been together for such a long time. If it had to happen it would have happened earlier. And he was proven correct. We will just have to give the new girlfriend some time before knowing whether Salman will buck his own history.Send your feedback to bollywood.eye@gmail.com