Gurinder wanted Karisma, Kareena

Did you know Gurinder Chadha's original choice for the two sisters in Bride And Prejudice, a take off on the Jane Austen novel Pride And Prejudice, was not Aishwarya Rai and Namrata Shirodkar?

Chaddha had approached the Kapoor sisters, Karisma and Kareena. But they turned her down.

Shah Rukh Khan was then approached for the male lead, but refused as well. Now, the film stars Vivek Oberoi and The Ring star Martin Henderson.

The going's not good for Ghai

Amitabh Bachchan and Subhash Ghai, who were to team up for Ghai's new film, Homeland, don't seem to be seeing eye-to-eye.

Bachchan has reportedly excused himself from the project, as he is said to have found it difficult to accommodate the film with his other commitments.

Bachchan and Ghai had first decided to come together for an untitled project in 1982. It was shelved when the former met with a serious accident on the sets of Coolie (Rati Agnihotri, Rishi Kapoor, Suresh Oberoi, Puneet Issar).

In 1987, Ghai announced Devaa with Bachchan. Six months later, the two developed creative differences.

Ghai roped in Akshaye Khanna to play the lead in Homeland, instead of his first choice Shah Rukh Khan who was reportedly busy. He was also unable to finalise the heroine of his choice Preity Zinta, who backed out of the project.

Apparently, the producer-director has now decided to shelve the film.

Like father, like daughter

Kamal Haasan and Sarika's daughter Shruti will reportedly soon make a splash in Bollywood. Mansoor Khan's (Josh, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander) nephew -- son of his sister, Nikhat -- will be her costar.

Sarika spends a lot of time with Nikhat when she is in Mumbai. Shruti is said to be a replica of her mother.

Trouble brewing for Ramu's Ek?

Ram Gopal Varma's dream project Ek -- Only One (Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Suniel Shetty) seems to be suffering teething problems.

The film, being financed by Bharat Shah, is tipped as the costliest Indian film, surpassing the Rs 500 million Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai).

Apparently, Shah has expressed a desire to work with the production unit of Ek in a creative capacity. This has supposedly not gone down well with Varma, who is known for his fierce individualism. 

Anil honoured

Anil Kapoor was recently invited to conclude the Bite The Mango Film Festival in Bradford, UK.

Bite The Mango celebrates world cinema and features films from 16 countries, including India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Vietnam, as well as retrospectives of leading talents.

Amitabh Bachchan earlier visited the festival in 1999. 

Kapoor spoke to Bollywood expert Dr Rachel Dwyer about his career at the Pictureville Cinema, National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.

A retrospective of his films was also screened.