The Canadian-Indian actress Sunny Leone, who made her Bollywood debut last week in the thriller Jism 2, says that for her next project, she would like to work with Salman Khan. "Whoever wants to work with me, I want to work with them. But Salman Khan is top of my list," the 31-year-old star said while promoting Jism 2 in a Mumbai theatre on Sunday. Although her film has been panned by critics, it has delivered an impressive box-office performance. "I wanted to see how the audience is reacting so I went here today. Thank you to all who came and bought tickets." Leone rose to fame after appearing in the Indian reality TV series Bigg Boss last year. Asked whether she would ever consider a return to the show, she replied: "I would never go back. It is insane. But what it did for me is it opened the doors." * IANS
New film in controversy over Dubai jibe
The filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has spoken about the controversy surrounding the trailer of his forthcoming film Heroine, which features the lead star Kareena Kapoor. She plays a Bollywood actress whose career is on the decline, uttering the lines: "If a heroine buys a car, it's gifted to her by a businessman. If she goes to LA, she's getting plastic surgery done. And, god forbid, if she goes to Dubai, you people make a rate card for her." Bhandarkar told reporters in a press conference on Monday: "We have censored it. The trailer we're showing in the UAE has already been censored and I'll sit down with the producer and see what needs to be done. When Kareena says it in the film, she has this point of view that such is people's perception. There are some people who have raised objections. But we did not mean to demean anyone. Dubai is my personal favourite city." Heroine is scheduled for release in India on September 21. * IANS
Raaz 3 number accused of copying Arab song
The forthcoming horror thriller Raaz 3, directed by Vikram Bhatt and starring Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta, is already the subject of criticism and controversy even before its scheduled September release in cinemas. The film's theme song Deewana Kar Raha Hai, sung by Javed Ali and composed by Jeet Gannguli and Rashid Khanwas, was released last week and was immediately criticised by fans for sounding similar to the popular Egyptian song Ana Law Azeto, which was released in 2009 by the singer Mohamed Hamaki. "The so-called inspiration from an Arabic track is very obvious," wrote the Hindustan Times. "It is not only 'inspired' from an Arabic number but it is also utterly boring." The film's producers could not be reached for comment. * IANS
