Aamir set to play villain in new Dhoom movie

Remember the talented actress Rukhsar who made her debut opposite Aditya Pancholi in Yaad Rakhegi Duniya? After receiving rave reviews, she was off the Bollywood scene following a bitter divorce.

However, Rukhsar has bounced back and recently tied the knot for the second time with filmmaker Faruk Kabir of Allah Ke Banday fame.

• AFTER playing his villain role in Dabangg, offers for more negative roles were flowing in for actor Sonu Sood. However, Sood has declined them on the insistence of Salman Khan until Dabangg 2 is completed. But Sood has landed an exciting role as Amitabh Bachchan's son in Boodha.

NOW this will go down as one of the biggest news stories of the year as Bollywood's perfectionist, Aamir Khan, has agreed to play the lead villain in Dhoom 3. After John Abraham in the original and Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2, Khan will keep Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra company. The delighted actor said "It is, indeed, a pleasure to be working with Yashji and Adi once again. Dhoom is a great franchise, most entertaining and full of fun. Every time I hear the theme tune, it brings a swing to my step. Vijay Krishna Acharya's script really won me over and I look forward to working with him."

• THE cast of the eagerly awaited Joker is growing. While Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha have been confirmed as the lead pair, Shreyas Talpade and Minissha Lamba have joined the cast. The movie is being made by Farah Khan's husband, Shirish Kunder, who made the debacle Jaaneman. Sinha has also landed the leading role in the sequel to Race.

IT WAS a case of the media versus the stars last week as the veracity of media reports were countered by those mentioned in them:

• Manirathinam has refused to confirm or deny reports that he has engaged in talks to sign Vijay, Vikram and Vishal to play the lead roles in his next film. Should this come to fruition, it will easily become Tamil cinema's biggest multi-starrer to date.

Cinematographer KV Anand has reacted strongly to two Tamil Nadu film magazines that printed what they claimed was the storyline for his next film with Surya, titled Maatran. Anand said he was still busy with post-production work on his current filmKo and had not even completed the script for Maatran. He did, however, say Surya will play five different characters but would not elaborate. Meanwhile, there has been great interest in Ko after the trailer was released three weeks ago. The film looks set to match or improve the pace of Ayan and the directorial style of Anand's first film as director, Kanaa Kanndain. Jeeva plays a journalist who stumbles onto a crime racket.

• Trisha reacted with amusement to a detailed report about her planned marriage to a business tycoon which appeared in an Andhra Pradesh weekly. Trisha said there was nobody in her life right now and she could not imagine why the publication would print a story without contacting her. She is currently shooting a Telugu film with Pavan Kalyaan and will soon commence work on Ajithkumar's Mangatha.

Nayanthara has reacted with anger, vowing legal action, after a Telugu journal printed what it termed an "exclusive interview" with the actress. The report claimed Prabhu Deva had asked her to give up acting after their marriage later this year but that she had decided to throw in the towel after her current project. Nayanthara said she had refrained from granting interviews as the media was "obsessed with her relationship with Prabhu". She added she had no plans to give up acting and was angry that a reputed journal could blatantly lie in that way. Her closing words were: "Just because I don't react to media stories does not mean I will take things lying down."

• HANSIKA Motwani has now become hot property even before the release of her first Tamil film, Yengeyum Kaadhal, in which she plays the female lead opposite Jayam Ravi. In her second film, Oru Kal oru Kannaadi, Red Giant Movies boss Udhayanidhi Stalin will play the lead in this romantic comedy. The film is directed by Rajesh, who was responsible for Siva Manusala Sakthi and Boss Yengira Bhaskaran.

THE long-awaited local movie Mama's Boy has finally hit the local circuit and has enjoyed phenomenal response from the public. This spirited comedy caper features a hit song by Ramesh Hassan and comes from the makers of Tied Up. Mama's Boy is a big step up in style, production values and scripting from its predecessor and it is no surprise that this film, directed by Ali Mohamed, has found such a huge following.