E Niwas wants Mallika

Mallika Sherawat, who made waves with her 'hot' scenes in the promos of Govind Menon's Khwahish (opposite Himanshu Malik), has been approached to play Ritesh Deshmukh's love interest in Vijay Galani's Bardasht.

Directed by E Niwas, the film also stars Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta.

Kissing a role goodbye

Did you know that Namrata Shirodkar refused Neeraj Vora's Khiladi 420 opposite Akshay Kumar?

The actress reveals, "I was the first choice for that film. I was about to sign on the dotted line when I learnt that I would
need to do a kissing scene with Akshay Kumar. I cannot cross certain limits on screen, so I declined the offer."

The role eventually went to Mahima Chaudhry.

Gift of a village

Producer Vicky Nihalani, who built an entire village of 40 huts with kitchens, two wells, five cowsheds, and a temple for his film Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (starring Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta) in Kanoth, Jaisalmer, has gifted it (after the completion of shooting) to the district collector for the use of poor and needy locals.

After Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (starring Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan) and Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan (Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh), this is the third instance of an entire village being donated.

Daddy does it

Jaz Pandher, whose debut film Indian Babu was produced by his father Surjeet Pandher, will once again be seen in his father's production, Darshan Bagga's Killer - Ek Qatil.

The rest of the cast and credits are yet to be finalised. The film has seven villains and two heroines.