Petrol price havoc and Ash's Cannes outing

This week came the rudest shock for the common man in India. On Thursday government hiked petrol price to Rs 7.50 litre. The hardest hit is the salaried class which will now have to bear the additional cost on fuel even as they continue to fight a daily battle against inflation.

Clearly, the government has more on its plate then it could possibly hope to digest even though it is evident that the timing of the hike was chosen very carefully – no elections till December.

India is angry and outraged! People across the country are livid over the hike in petrol prices and have slammed the Manmohan Singh-led government.

Protests have already begun in many parts of the country even as the BJP announced a 'Bharat Bandh' on May 31 to press for a roll back.

The first trailer of Cocktail was released three days ago and it has got rave reviews already! The audiences have immensely liked the trailer and have labeled the film as much-anticipated.

 Even the song used in the trailer -- Angrezi Beat and Tum Hi Ho Bandhu Sakhaa Tum Hi -- have clicked with the music buffs.

Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone's deadly combination rocks and new comer Diana Penty looks cute. Cocktail has something for everyone and its release on July 13th is much-awaited.

The first trailer of Abhishek Bachchan's upcoming film 'Bol Bachchan' was released on May 25. 'Bol Bachchan' also stars Ajay Devgn, Asin and Prachi Desai. The film has been directed by Rohit Shetty with music by Himesh Reshammiya.

Kalki Koechlin is currently busy juggling between promotions of her upcoming film Shanghai and shooting for Vishal Bharadwaj's Dayaan. In Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai, Kalki plays a passionate social activist and believes that it is one of the toughest role she has portrayed so far.

The director almost brought her to tears while shooting for the film, she tells Sonil Dedhia. In this interview, she talks about her experience of working on Shanghai, her much hyped kissing scene with costar Prosenjit and how she selects her films.

Kareena Kapoor is showing her bold side, smoking and drinking and not even trying to hide it.

But the gorgeous leading lady hasn't picked up the vices for real – it's just something she does for the reel.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has released a still from his upcoming movie 'Heroine' on a social networking site where Kareena is seen puffing and holding a drink.

Amitabh will be seen sharing the screen space with Hollywood stars Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio in the film.

Amitabh plays Meyer Wolfsheim in the film.

 He lately posted on his blog, "I play Meyer Wolfsheim for about a few seconds... yaa...by the time you look down on your popcorn to pick another morsel, I'd be gone from the film... he he... kinda short service."

It's his debut international project in an acting career of four decades.

All eyes were on her as she made her way for the first media call in a hotel at Cannes.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan didn't disappoint fans and detractors as she arrived wearing an Angelo Katsapis maxi dress.

The general consensus seemed to be that the actress has nailed the look with some strategic styling.

 Ash will reportedly walk the red carpet with fellow L'Oreal brand ambassador Sonam Kapoor later at the festival.