Vickey Lalwani

Model-turned-actor John Abraham does not want to play second fiddle to other heroes. He says, "I have given the thumbs down to a lot of films simply because they are not sole hero projects. I would also refrain from doing the regular Bollywood stuff. I crave for unusual projects like Jism."

At the moment, he has two films with the Bhatts. In Vikram Bhatt's Aitbaar he teams him up with Bipasha Basu, in Mukesh Bhatt's Saaya, he plays a doctor specialising in the paranormal. John is also committed to Sanjay Gupta's Musafir Hoon Yaaron, where he plays a nomad.

Anu opts out of Salman starrer

Music director Anu Maliik has opted out of Cinevista's Salman Khan starrer, being directed by Puneet Isaar, after recording one song.

Confirms Anu, "I couldn't help it since I was stuck with Gurinder Chadha's project, which is very demanding in terms of time. It was difficult for me to focus or concentrate. I can't cheat anybody and do injustice to my creativity. The producers were kind enough to relieve me."

No extravaganza, says Ghai

Subhash Ghai will not host a party for the music launch of Mukta Arts' Ek Aur Ek Gyarah. Instead, the stars of the film -- Sanjay Dutt and Govinda -- along with Ghai and director David Dhawan will distribute stationery and the music album to municipal school students.

This will happen at the Marathi Municipal School in Bandra, northwest Mumbai, on February 14. The film is slated for release on April 11.

Ekta does volte face

Ekta Kapoor has decided against casting her brother Tusshar Kapoor in Balaji Telefilms' next project. The film will be directed by Santaram Verma and feature two heroes.

After his acting debut in Maine Dil Tujhko Diya, Sohail Khan will play  the main lead while the other hero is yet to be decided. The two heroines of Kucch To Hai -- Esha Deol and Natassha -- play the female leads.

Boom! in the US film market

The Confederation of Indian Industry is taking a delegation of young filmmakers to the prestigious American Film Market in Los Angeles to showcase the new age cinema emerging in India.

Among the selected films are Deepak Tijori's Oops! and Kaizad Gustad's Boom! The delegation includes Ashutosh Gowariker and UTV's Ronnie Screwvala among others.

Oops! is due for release on April 25, Boom is expected to release in May.