SRK fan Ayesha won't wash hands

For starters, Ayesha Takia wants everyone to know she’s right here signing films and is not planning to disappear into the woodwork post-marriage. She says, “Hey people, I just wanna make it clear that I will be doing lots more films! I love films and will continue to do them.”

The Shah Rukh Khan fan was at “an award function dedicated to make up and hair”, where she bumped into the star. She posts online, “At this same function I shook Shah Rukh Khan’s hand to say hi and I dont think I ever wanna wash my hand again!”

The actress, who loves plays girl-next-door on celluloid, insists she feels like one in real life too. “Yup, actually I just feel like any other girl who has dreams and aspirations,” says Ayesha , “I contemplate and am on the fence about a lot of things!” She asks, “I’ve just realized that I’m a normal, confused young person of 2009... by normal I mean real and someone who is sometimes confused and doesn’t decide in an instant!” Keep the thinking cap on, Ayesha, and keep us posted!

Bollywood movie Ramayanam-Mani Ratnam movie

Bipasha Basu to play Mandodari, wife of Ravana, played by Abhishek Bachchan in Mani Ratnam’s

When Mani Ratnam started shooting for his Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan starrer Raavana, everyone had been wondering if Abhishek’s real-life wife Aishwarya
plays his wife in the film too. Soon news that Abhishek plays Raavana while Aishwarya plays Sita and Vikram plays her husband Rama in the film came to light. Mani had been looking for an actress who would be perfectly suited to play Ravana’s wife, Mandodari. The suspense is now over. Bipasha Basu has been signed on to play Mandodari, who was Ravana’s favourite wife.

A source from the industry says, “Bipasha immediately said yes to the role. She had agreed to do it a month ago but Mani Ratnam had given her strict instructions to not talk about it.”

“Bipasha’s costumes are ready. She is very happy with her look in the film. She is looking forward to joining the unit of Raavana,” adds our source.

Bipasha starts shooting for Raavana from mid-September. Confirming the same, a close friend of Bipasha says, “Bipasha not only has an item number in the film but also a full-fledged role, which can be termed as a special appearance. Right now, she is shooting for Priyadarashan’s film with Akshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgan. She will be shooting for 20 days for Raavana in which she has a 40-minute role.”

Earlier, Sushmita Sen was offered the role but she had turned it down for reasons best known to her. Buzz is, she didn’t want to do a film which stars her arch-rival Aishwarya.


hot pics of Bipasha Basu in mani rathnam movie



Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai and mani ratnam new movie

Ashes all that matters for our fans: Collingwood

Paul Collingwood insisted England faced an uphill battle in convincing their supporters that one-day cricket was important following this season's Ashes success.

"It seems to me that the public of England are just interested in the Ashes and everything else doesn't matter too much," 33-year-old Collingwood said here on Monday.

England gave birth to modern professional limited overs cricket back in the 1960s and pioneered Twenty20, the sport's shortest top-flight format.

Even so one-day matches have tended to be tolerated as a financial necessity by many within the English game, be they administrators, players, spectators and the media, with priority given to Test cricket, still the 'real thing'.

England are currently 2-0 down in their seven match one-day international (ODI) series against Australia ahead of Wednesday's Rose Bowl day/nighter.

But, with home fans still rejoicing in the team's 2-1 Test series win over Australia, wrapped up last month at the Oval, it seems many England supporters couldn't care less about a series widely regarded as an Ashes afterthought.

"To us, as players, this is an important stepping stone, we want to continue improving our one-day cricket," said Collingwood.

Mahinder Singh Dhoni world's top earning cricketer

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has topped the list of world's 10 top earning cricketers compiled by Forbes, which also features
Dhoni and Sachin
four other players from the sub-continent - Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

Raking in $10 million, Dhoni is at the top of the chart followed by Tendulkar at the second spot with earnings worth $8 million in the list of 'The World's Top-Earning Cricketers'.

While Singh and Dravid are at the third and fourth spot, respectively, Ganguly and Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting share the sixth place.

"Paycheck figures include club and national team salaries and commercial endorsement income over the last 12 months," Forbes said.

According to the magazine, Singh earned $5.5 million while Dravid and Ganguly raked in $5 million and $3.5 million, respectively. Ponting also earned $3.5 million.

"With its deep-pocketed owners and global appeal, nine of the 10 highest-paid cricket players call the Indian Premier League (IPL) home, the publication added.

At the fifth spot is England's Andrew Flintoff with earnings of $4 million followed by Australia's Brett Lee and English cricketer Kevin Pietersen - both at eighth place - and Australian Michael Clarke is ranked tenth.

While Lee and Pietersen raked in $3 million each, Clarke earned $2.5 million.

"Take Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who plays for the Chennai Super Kings and tops our list as cricket's first $10 million-a-year man (that's $5,426 for each run scored).

"His $8 million in endorsements, from the likes of Reebok, General Electric and Pepsi, is 45 per cent more than any other player.

"Among all Indian athletes and entertainers, Dhoni's 17 corporate sponsors is second to only Bollywood star and co- owner of the Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan," Forbes said.

About Tendulkar, the magazine said the holder of numerous offensive records, is considered among the greatest batsman in cricket history.

"... he's one of five IPL players who have been bestowed 'icon' status, meaning he automatically receives a paycheck 15 per cent larger than his highest paid teammate.

"Tendulkar's $ 1.1 million salary from the Mumbai Indians helped push his total earnings to $8 million over the last 12 months," it added.