Bollywood's Juciest Gossip in 2006

Will Aishwarya marry Abhishek?

Will they, won't they? The tantalising possibility that two of Bollywood's biggest stars, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, might get married has filmdom and millions of star gazers in a frenzy.

That most of it is at the level of speculation and all the dramatis personae are stonily silent is more grist to the mill that started working in real earnest when the two stars began work on J.P. Dutta's 'Umrao Jaan' about three months ago.

A few months ago Ajitabh Bachchan went to Bangalore on Feb 10 to meet the Rai's family astrologer Chandrashekhara Swamy, ostensibly to match their horoscopes. The story was splashed on all channels and in the newspapers, and there has been no let-up since. Ajitabh, who has been estranged from the family for some time but was seen by his brother's bedside when he fell ill in November, neither confirmed nor denied the rumours and only said: "That is up to destiny."

John leaves Bips for Mallika/Vidya?

Rumours have been flying fast and furious about the trouble between the golden couple Bipasha Basu and John Abraham. Now there's more to the buzz. It's been said that bombshell Mallika Sherawat is the reason behind the rift.

It was Mallika's proximity to John during their recent world tour that upset Bipasha, say sources.

After that rumour settled, it was Vidya Balan's turn to be linked with John, her co-star from 'Salaam-E-Ishq.' Vidya and John have an amazing on-screen chemistry and according to sources they also share a great off-screen camaraderie.

Unfortunately, Bipasha is not too happy about their close friendship!

Sushmita's 'project' with Gere

After all the hoo-ha over Sushmita Sen pairing up with Richard Gere in a film called 'The Expat,' it appears as if Sush won't be doing the film after all.

After the proud announcement it's now being said that Sush cannot fit Mr Gere into her schedule since her schedules have gone haywire due to her neck accident.

Sure, we believe you. With the number of films that Sush is doing right now, it would really be a pain in the neck to a do a Richard Gere film.

By the way, could we have a list of the films that would keep Ms Sen occupied in the coming months? After Tanuja Chandra's 'Zindaggi Rocks' she hasn't really signed any major films. So why would she say bye to a Richard Gere film?

Could this be another of those hoax Hollywood projects that our stars have got into the habit of announcing periodically?

Amitabh-SRK: All is not well

All is not well between Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The reason seems to be Abhishek's increasing popularity among both sexes.

It has been rumoured that Shah Rukh decided at the last moment that he didn't want to grace the IIFA Awards because Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador for the event.

However, Both SRK and Big B have vehemently denied the rumour.

Rani, Saif want separate hotels

The great friendship between Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherji is on the rocks.

Rani and Saif were busy shooting for Siddharth Raj Anand's 'Tara Rum Pum' in New York when they had a spat on the sets of the film. The incident took an ugly turn when both stars asked producer Yash Chopra for separate hotels so that they do not have to see much of each other outside the sets.

Rani and Priyanka at odds!

A few months ago it was rumoured that Rani went to Kuala Lumpur where the shooting for 'Don' was on, but she avoided Priyanka because she herself wanted a role in the film.

"I had not gone to meet Priyanka or anyone else but it was something very urgent. In fact, some of the scenes of 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' were to be shot and Shah Rukh was busy with his schedules for 'Don.' He had taken time out from his very hectic work plan," says Rani.

Priyanka, on the other hand, had something else to say. "I don't think that Rani avoided me because she wanted to do the same role in 'Don' which I am playing now. In fact, when she came on the sets, I was not even there. I didn't have any shoot so when I was not there how can she avoid me?" says the actress.

Well, who is avoiding and who is hiding is still not confirmed. But it definitely looks better for Priyanka to say that she was not there rather confirming that she was subtly snubbed by the Bong beauty.

Fardeen, Saif at war

Rumours have it that Fardeen Khan and Saif Ali Khan are not on good terms. The duo had last worked together in 'Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega' after which Saif had committed to do Feroz Khan's 'Qurbani' with Fardeen. Sources have it that though committed Saif backed out of the film last minute and that upset Fardeen no end.

In order to retaliate Fardeen backed out a Tips film that had Saif in the lead. Ramesh Taurani of Tips confirmed that Fardeen was no more a part of the project that starred Anil Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat and Saif Ali Khan.

Esha Deol slaps Amrita Rao!

Esha Deol seems to have developed quite a reputation for slapping people! First it was the youngster who misbehaved with her at the premiere of 'Dus' and now as reported by a leading daily, she slapped actress Amrita Rao who starred with her in 'Pyaare Mohan.' Apparently, Amrita abused Esha in front of her director and cameraman, which instigated Esha to slap her. She is not apologetic over the incident as she felt that Amrita deserved it. However, sources close to Amrita deny the incident. Amrita herself was not available for her comments.

An age-old controversy

Yet another controversy has surfaced regarding Bollywood sex-kitten Mallika Sherawat and this one concerns her age. The tabloids insist that Mallika cannot be 25 years old as claimed by her and her mother. Instead, she could well be 35 years old.

A private TV channel even aired Mallika's group photo taken in way back 1995 when she was working as an airhostess. Records show her age then to be 24 years old!

Rani to marry Adi?

Rani Mukerji and family might go blue in the face denying her link-up with Aditya Chopra, but the fact remains that a certain Chopra junior had been frequenting USA under the pretext of editing Yash Raj Films' next production, 'Tara Rum Pum' (starring Saif and Rani). Rumour has it that the visits are very hush-hush, with not even the unit being aware of them.

Says a source from New York, "A couple of weeks ago, Adi dropped in to meet Rani and they spent three days together at the Radisson Hotel in New York.

When the entire unit was shifting from New York to Connecticut, Rani delayed her move, as she wanted to spend time with Adi. It was very secretive and even the hotel management had been specifically warned not to speak about them."

Adi's wife, interior designer Payal Chopra, has apparently shifted out of the Chopra home in Juhu. The source adds, "Adi appears quite happy with Rani, but his parents, Yash and Pamela Chopra disapprove of the affair and are supporting their daughter-in-law completely. They will never allow Adi to marry Rani."

However, sources say that Rani and Adi will marry shortly. Aditya Chopra is just awaiting the divorce papers from his first wife.

Riya Sen, Koena Mitra and Tanushree Dutta caught in a fracas

Bengali beauties Riya Sen and Koena Mitra who were working together in Subhash Ghai's film 'Apna Sapna Money Money' apparently got into several cat fights on the sets of the film. Sources from the film unit claim that Koena suddenly started developing an inferiority complex and in a fit of jealousy started spreading rumours on the sets that Riya has had a face lift. It was also claimed that Riya also later made allegations that it was Koena herself who had had the face-lift.

Koena Mitra on her part denied spreading such nasty rumours. The next day Riya sent Koena an SMS saying that she thought Koena was spreading rumours about her having a face-lift, but later she found out that it was Tanushree Dutta who was responsible for the rumours.

However, Tanushree claims that Koena sent her Riya's message at 3 am in the morning, and is very upset with Riya's message and appalled as Riya has unknowingly put the blame onto her. She has also confirmed that Koena and she had already spoken about the issue at hand.

This certainly is one long Bong connection!