Ballz Bollywood! Hot news and gossip of your favorite Bollywood celebrities!

Saif Ali Khan: To never smoke again, be extremely regular with my workouts, make more time for those I love, to stay focussed on my work and to make sure I enjoy what I do.

Sonam Kapoor: The death of my Nanaji at the end of the year made me realise how urgently I need to spend time with my family. And since my Nanaji would always joke about my lack of a boyfriend, maybe I need to get one of those into my life. Where can I order one?

Preity Zinta: 2007 was professionally stressful. I did some of my most complex characters and at the end of the year, I really needed a break. Now, in 2008, I will do some fun roles. I want to let my hair down.

Bipasha Basu: In 2008 I want to be fitter and healthier. I also want some more interesting work to come my way. And I want to travel a lot more in my free time.

Urmila Matondkar: Why make New Year resolutions? I learn from my mistakes throughout the year.

Malaika Arora: Oh, I make New Year resolutions religiously every year and break them throughout the year; 2008 will be no exception.

Riteish Deshmukh: I want to become more energy-conscious and save on electricity wherever I can.

Koena Mitra : I don’t like to restrict myself to resolutions. So in 2008 I want to be even more spontaneous. I want to follow my heart wherever it takes me. I want to make mistakes, so I can learn from them, I want life to be full of surprises, unpredictable and adventurous.

Amrita Arora: I know being bad is good. But I want to be a better person in 2008. I want to kick my habitual impatience and work much harder than I did in 2007.

Clad in an electric blue ghaghra choli with gold work, diamonds and red stones, Bipasha Basu pocketed over $200 000 for her performance at the JW Marriott in Mumbai on New Year’s Eve. During the big show, the Bollywood lustress donned three outfits designed by Rocky S while guests sipped on a special cocktail named after her.

Tanushree Dutta & Koena Mitra were paid thousands of dollars to help count down to the new year. Former Miss World Yukta *remember her* Mookhey also dropped by to help the festive twosome celebrate.

Other performers to set tongues wagging were Neha Dhupa (in Ahmedabad) and hot mama Malaika Arora’s hip-gyrating performance in the country’s capital, New Delhi. 

Nine-year-old Darsheel Safary won our hearts with his heartwarming performance and disarming bucktoothed smile in Taare Zameen Par. Now, with award buzz already surrounding his cinematic debut, the little charmer sat down for an interview with the Times of India:

On whether he has a girlfriend: “I don’t talk about my personal life. I don’t have any girlfriends and even if I did, I would not have liked to talk about them.”

On being a party animal: “When we were shooting, we would party till late in the night. But not with the bad things that people have. We only had cold drinks at our party.”
On how he loves to shake his booty:  “I have been learning dance from Shiamak Davar and have even won many prizes.”

On seeing himself on the big screen: “I like it. It feels very nice. To tell you frankly, I don’t like to see myself cry. That’s the reason I don’t like any rona-dhona films.”

On his tricks on set: I would do the weirdest things with glycerin. I used to apply a portion in my eyes and then eat the rest! It’s really tasty because it is full of sugar.”

On his favourite actor:  “I love Hrithik Roshan. He’s the best actor, the best dancer and he has the best body in the world.”

On future plans: “I would love to play Harry Potter and have Aamir as Dumbledore. But my bunny teeth won’t work.”
 

It’s been almost a month and Shahid Kapoor and Sania Mirza are apparently still going at it.

They were first spotted at Bangalore’s Windsor Sheraton and things apparently progressed from there.

After his opening gig at the Star Gold’s Idea Sabsey Favorite Kaun 2008 awards, the duo headed to a surburban five-star hotel for some more privacy.

“Shahid and Sania very much looked like a couple. They were completely engrossed in each other, and were oblivious of what was happening around them,” an onlooker told Mumbai Mirror.

“Yes, Shahid did spend time with Sania on Sunday. They have been bonding very well with each other,” confirmed a source close to the actor. 

Hmm, “Shahid & Sania” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Finally a movie that isn’t a Hollywood rip-off! Having just watched Taare Zameen Par, Ballz is putting away the tissues for a moment to give you the low-down on a film that lives up to its expectations and even exceeds them!

Aamir Khan’s masterpiece is a story of eight year old Ishaan Awasthi (brilliantly portrayed by Darsheel Safary), a child suffering from Dyslexia (a learning disorder). The movie traces his struggle to fit in with other children his age.

His incapability of grasping his studies leads his teachers to believe he’s nothing but a bull-headed little brat with an attitude to be punished. His parents played by Tisca Chopra and Vipin Sharma don’t make life any easier for him when they send him packing to a boarding school to be harassed some more and sink into an almost catatonic state, before he’s eventually saved by a substitute art teacher, Ram (Aamir Khan).

Darsheel Safary‘s performance is simply mind-blowing. He awoke so many emotions in us, from anger towards his surrounding to sympathy towards him while we fought this lump in our throat that had been there for the longest time. All this based solely on Ishaan’s expressions and body language!

Without giving too much away, TZP has its gripping moments. We would be lying if we said that the movie does not lag a bit here and there. But we’re willing to ignore that considering the fact that this is Aamir’s directorial debut with rather nobel intentions.

Long story short, If you’ve had it with Bollywood’s buckets of glycerine tears and miles of jangling bangles and jiggling bellies, click on the video below for a breath of fresh air!