They squabble like kids. Watch Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta, who star in Apoorva Lakhia's Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost, and you hope the banter will translate into great onscreen chemistry.

"She is a classical dancer and action is her forte," jests Bachchan on the sets of a television show. "I take about 40-50 retakes and she does it right only in two!" he smiles.

Lara says, tongue-in cheek, "I am a dancer but he is a better singer!" She adds, "He made me nervous. I would work on a scene and he would make me forget it all."

To which Bachchan replies defensively, "I did not!"

For the rest, watch Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost which releases next month.

Just for kicks!

Model-turned-actor John Abraham has been training along with professional fighter Ziauddin Khatib for the Muay Thai Kickboxing Invitation Kickboxing Tournament to be held in Thailand in October-November.

John, who tries to spend as much time practising despite his erratic shooting schedules, says, "I started kickboxing in 1995. I had seen movies like Bloodsport and Kickboxing and I wanted to learn the art, even though a lot of people warned me it could disfigure my face."

Abraham says the sport is not about how one can hit the opponent but how much beating he can take. "I enjoy it. It also helps during fight scenes in a film. Now I know exactly what the fight director wants me to do."

John is now in the US, where he is shooting for a month.

Cleo Issacs waves goodbye to Bollywood

After dropping out from White Feathers' Plan (Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Suri, Dino Morea, Bikram Saluja, Rohit Roy, Sameera Reddy) and Padam Kumar's Supari, Cleo Issacs is back to concentrating on her modelling and advertisement career!

The model from London says, "Jimmy Shergill and I were taken for a ride by director Irfan Khan and producer Salim Khan, so I have decided to give acting a break and concentrate on modelling. I have been doing a lot of print campaigns -- they should be out soon. I have been getting Bollywood offers but now I am going through them with a fine-tooth comb. I'd rather be safe than sorry with what I choose now."

Arjun has designs on Bollywood

Designer Arjun Khanna is dabbling in Bollywood on the side. The Mumbai-based designer is working on clothes for five film projects, including Harry Baweja's Qayamat and the Ajay Devgan-Abhishek Bachchan starrer Zameen. He has also designed Devgan's wardrobe for Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot and will soon clothe Bachchan, Aftab Shivdasani and Gracy Singh for their upcoming films.

Khanna seems to have enjoyed his brush with Bollywood so far: "These were good projects where I managed to read the script of each film and discussed each character in detail before I clothed these stars. It was quite a creative process."

Besides Khanna, other couturiers who have begun designing for films recently recently include Delhi-based Anshu Arora Sen, who is designing the clothes for the English film Othello and Aki Narula, who is designing the clothes and the look for Sameer Karnik's Kyun Ho Gaya Na Pyaar.

Debuting in style

She has already won a best debut award for her Telugu film Chala Bagundi in 2000.

But Shweta Konnur, who has acted with southern stars Ajith, Karthik and Mammootty, is looking forward to making her Hindi debut in Ram Gopal Varma's Darna Mana Hai and Percept Movies' thriller Cu@9.

"I have always wanted to act since college. What I like about the two Hindi movies I am doing is that they are both very different. In Darna Mana Hai, I play a narrator, while in Cu@9, I am innocent, docile but very sensuous."

When the script of Cu@9, to be directed by Marlon Rodriquez, was narrated to the actress, she jumped at the offer. "This is the kind of film I wanted to debut in. It has a lot of bold scenes because it is the story of betrayal and love. It is a thriller too. I had to spend a lot of time convincing my parents to let me do the film."