Bips & Bhatts kiss and make up

Bipasha Basu who rose to fame with two Bhatt films--Jism and Raaz--had reportedly enraged the directors after she turned down the lead role in Mukesh Bhatt's last film Murder 2.

Citing date issues, the Bong bombshell had also backed out from performing an item number. However, it looks like all that is forgiven and forgotten.

On Thursday, Bipasha signed for the lead role in Raaz 3. The film will be directed by Raaz director Vikram Bhatt and will be made in 4D.

Mukesh Bhatt said, "It is a homecoming for both Bipasha and Vikram. Yes, we did have issues earlier but, in a family, there are always different point of views that arise till the members realise that amendments need to be made."

"This is where they started and this film brought recognition to both Vikram and Bipasha," he added.

When Mukesh was asked who made the first move, he said, "Being in the same business, we keep bumping into each other. Bipasha expressed a desire to work with us again and she loved the Raaz 3 script. It is a very challenging and powerful role for her."

Vikram, who will be directing the said, "Bipasha is a very important part of the team that created Raaz as a brand.I am happy to be working with her again and hope to create the same magic with the already heady pair of Emi (Emraan Hashmi) and Jackie (Jacqueline Fernandes)."

Confirming that she has signed on the dotted line, Bips said, "I have a long and fruitful relationship with Vishesh films. I am very fond of both Maheshji and Mukeshji.They have given me two of my best films of which, Raaz, my second movie, was a golden jubilee hit. It was only a matter of time before we worked together."

Talking about the film, she said, "My role in Raaz 3 seems to be a very challenging one and the director is not only very good at his craft, but has also been a friend for a long time. The thought of working with my own people gives me a high. It is a terrific combination," she added.

Master of Sequels.. & Social Networking...

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has taken to social networking site Twitter to hunt for a title for his new film, tentatively titled Jannat 2.

"I am looking for an attractive title for my new film staring Kunal Khemu & Amrita Puri. HELP!" Mahesh wrote on Twitter.

Bhatt had previously decided to call the film Jannat 2 but he is now looking for something different.

"Listening to you folks has made me decide not to call my new film Jannat 2. Thank you! Acknowledging others makes them happier & u wiser," Bhatt posted.

Bhatt had earlier used Twitter and Facebook to finalise the main poster for Murder 2, which released last week.

Prachi to don a bikini for the Bhatts

The Bhatts want Prachi Desai to shed her inhibitions in their film Informer with Emraan Hashmi.

They have told her to go bare-dare and get the sexy tag, as they have done with their earlier heroines, Mallika Sherawat, Kangna Ranuat and Jacqueline Fernandes.

Let's see how far Prachi will go with the skin fest; considering that her close bond with mentor Ekta Kapoor has gone kaput, the girl might as well go for a major image makeover.

Besides erotica, Murder 2 has a surprise element

While ‘Murder 2’ might boast of the beautiful Jacqueline Fernandez playing the female lead, the film also has another hot and sexy lady Sulagna Panigrahi, who will be portraying the character of the vamp in the film.

It’s reported that the Bhatt camp were keen to keep the news of the second leading lady under wraps and made sure that she was never part of the promotional campaign, as they wanted to keep it as a suspense for the audiences.

However, now with the reports of the second sexy siren in 'Murder 2' making the rounds, the film has already started garnering attention as planned by the makers of the film.

Sulagna's Hot photo gallery..

Delhi Belly rocks the box office

While Aamir Khan's 'Delhi Belly' has opened to magnanimous figures, 'Bbuddah' started slow but picked up over the weekend.

The box-office seems to be buzzing with activity. After last week's solo release Double Dhamaal which opened to good numbers, the two releases of this week – Delhi Belly and Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap are keeping the ticket windows crowded.

Thanks to the immense hype surrounding the movie, Delhi Belly collected a whopping Rs 26.4 crore over the opening weekend. The day wise break-up is Friday – Rs 7.15 crore, Saturday – Rs 8.50 crore and Sunday – Rs 10.75 crore with numbers getting better each day. The budget of Delhi Belly is Rs 24 crores (including production, print and publicity) which means the film has already recovered its investment. With the positive buzz surrounding the film, the collections in coming days should immensely add to the revenues. And we have not even counted the non-theatrical avenues.

Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap had a slow start on Friday but picked up over the weekend with major patronage from family audiences and Amitabh Bachchan fans. The opening weekend collection is around Rs 7.5 crores. Made in a controlled budget of approx Rs. 10 crores, the film has already recovered money through non-theatrical avenues. The satellite right has fetched the producers a whopping Rs 13.5 crores. So, overall Bbuddah... should be a profitable venture.

The coming week sees two very diverse genre releases. While Bhatts' Murder 2 caters to the adult audience with a staple dose of skin-show and sensationalism, UTV and Salman Khan's Chillar Party caters to the kids and young at heart. While Murder remains the most successful film from the Bhatt banner so far, it needs to be seen if the sequel can recreate the same magic at the box-office. Chillar Party promises to be one of those small-budget films which is big on story.

Jacqueline is bolder than Mallika and Bips?

There's tremendous buzz around Vishesh Films' Murder 2 starring Emraan Hashmi and Jacqueline Fernandez for obvious reasons.

The trade and the public who have now come to expect a staple erotic quotient from the Bhatt brothers (Mukesh and Mahesh) — Jism and Murder being the reference points — know that Murder 2 won't just push the envelope but tear it.

Mahesh Bhatt, the brain behind these films, admits that Jacqueline is bolder than Jism's Bipasha Basu and Murder's Mallika Sherawat (Murder). Says he, "We at Vishesh Films decided to make films with a high quotient of erotica to cater to the new consumer who is living a life radically different from the life I lived in my youth. "Bollywood cinema was slow to realise this but society had moved on. That is why when we made Jism and Murder and Raaz, the audience lapped it up. They had no problems with it. But the purists were outraged.

"For the first time in Indian cinema, Bipasha uttered the words, "the body doesn't know love, it only knows lust." Then we had Mallika in Murder who sleeps with another man and returns to her marriage only because her affair isn't working out. She has an intensely fulfilling sexual extra-marital relationship and feels no guilt. This is the post modern Indian woman.
"The India in which we were groomed, was shackled to certain beliefs. In the cinema made by our predecessors — Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla — we were invariably shown that good people fell in love while bad people had sex.

"For me, the eye-opener came when I saw Jism in Delhi and found 70 per cent of the audience comprised of rich women. It was not just being viewed by sex-hungry frontbenchers but also by an evolved upmarket audience. "Raaz was simply the precursor. With Murder 2, women have gone one step further. Jacqueline is a different animal from Mallika and Bipasha. While they sinned with their eyes open but still yearned to conform towards the end; for Murder 2's Jackie, sex is even more casual. For her sex is like an expression. She does it as casually as she would inhale or exhale. That is what it is." The film releases worldwide on July 8.

Vote for Murder2 Posters..

Indian filmmakers are going online for various tactics like finalising the title of a movie or arranging for finance.

Producer Mahesh Bhatt is also using social networking sites to finalise the main poster for his forthcoming thriller " Murder 2".Directed by Anurag Basu, "Murder", starring Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi, was a big hit when released in 2004. For "Murder 2", Mohit Suri has wielded the megaphone and Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandes has replaced Mallika in the film that hits the theatres July 8.

"We've five posters, but every film has one main poster besides other publicity posters. There was a disagreement between me and Mohit Suri on the main poster of the film. We thought the best way out is to show all the posters to the people of the country and let them select one," said Bhatt.

Surfers can view the posters on facebook and vote for their favourite one.

"Mohit and I'll blindly go ahead with the people's opinion," said Bhatt, adding: "At the end of the day, posters are for the people, so let them tell us which the best poster of the lot is. In fact, now we are eager to know which one people will select."

Bhatt had earlier uploaded the "Murder 2" trailer on his Twitter page and had tweeted: "This promo has created a rift within our group. We have extreme views. Please watch this and send me your feedback."

Pantyless Yana to sizzle in "Murder 2"

Yana Gupta is all set to sizzle in an item song in Mahesh Bhatt's Murder 2. There was a lot of speculation about who will do an item number in Murder 2 as initially, Bhatt had approached Bipasha Basu who refused the offer.

Later, Mallika Sherawat, who was the female lead in the original, was offered this number but that didn't work out either. Finally, Yana has been chosen by the Bhatt camp to do this sizzling item number.

Post her stint in Jhallak Dilkhlaa Jaa, Yana is said to be flooded with offers. Apart from Murder 2, she will also do a special number in Chalo Dilli. It is a remixed version of the old popular song Laila Main Laila.