Ajay Devgn is sick of colour white

Ajay Devgn grumbled his way through the shoot because he was told to be dressed in white throughout the film

Ajay Devgn turned into the great grumbler throughout the shooting of Ekta Kapoor's Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai because he was forced to wear white clothes.

Trademark feature
It's a known fact that Ajay loves colour and he griped on and on about sticking to one colour. Reveals Ekta, "In a biopic, the central character should have one distinctive trademark feature that stands out so we thought, 'why not let Ajay wear white?'

We had made 40 different sets of clothes for him in various colours but couldn't use them. We had to scrap them all." Also, as reported, his character is inspired by an underworld don of the '70s who only wore white. It is believed that he even lived in an all-white house.

Dressing up
Milan says, "We did research on what people wore at that time and discovered that white was a predominant colour in the '70s while the fabric most sought after, was double ghoda bosky.

In Kachche Dhaage, Ajay wore a white pathani suit at his father's funeral and looked good in it. In Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, it was his own idea to wear pathani suits."

Luthria adds that Ajay would get bored of wearing white every day and keep cribbing. "He was sick of white at the end of the shoot. He would grumble that there was nothing different and why couldn't he simply wear the same outfit over and over again! He was completely pakaoed with the colour."

Colour schemed!
In OUATIM, AJ plays '70s gangster Sultan. The character is based on a gangster during the '70s who loved the colour white. Sultan hates black as he's worked his way up as a coalie (hauling coals) in the docks. Since he dealt in work that wasn't 'white', he hated anything to do with the colour black.

The colour also expresses the leashed power and aggression in Ajay. Ekta believes that white would have instant recall. People remember and reconnect with Sultan's power when they see him in a single colour throughout. He is calm and organised. He claws his way from the bottom to take over the city.

SRK toys with the idea of becoming Desi Iron Man

...of launching a line of khilone featuring his film's characters Ahead of the release of his sci-fi film RA.One, Shah Rukh Khan will launch a line of toys for kids aged 8-15 years. The toys will be based on the likeness of SRK's and Arjun Rampal's characters. Taking it forward A source reveals that King Khan wants to create a huge franchise around the film after its release. Director Anubhav Sinha and SRK have had meetings with a couple of toy manufacturing brands to take the idea forward. Kiddie inputs Since the film caters to kids, the actor has also consulted Aryan and Suhana to give him ideas for the toys. "Aryan is a big superhero fan and he contributed his ideas on the film as well. Shah Rukh plans to go all out for the marketing of RA.One, making it a brand along the lines of Iron Man. There is also talk of a sequel if the film manages to score at the box-office." In the past, Rakesh Roshan also brought out toys based on characters from Krrish when the film was a huge hit.

Birthday gift for Maanayata? Dutt's taken care of

Sanju ensures Maana has a happy b'day, gets friends to spend time with his wife and even leaves behind a birthday gift

Sanjay Dutt won't be in town today as wife Maanayata (who is expecting twins) turns 32. The doting husband may be in South Africa but left her a surprise gift and also had their family friends spend time with her on her janamdin. Not one to be outdone, Maana is also planning to fly down to Oman to surprise her man on his 51st b'day -- provided her gynaecologist gives her permission to travel.

Says a source close to Dutt and Maanayata, "When Sanju left for South Africa in the first week of July he had given his business manager Dharam Oberoi a beautifully wrapped parcel and told him to give it to Maana on her birthday. It appeared to be a jewellery box and looked like a diamond set (Maana loves diamonds).

Last night, Dharam, his daughter Neha, her friend Mimi, Apoorva Lakhia, Sohail Maklai and Bunty Walia went to the Dutt residence in Bandra and gave Maana a surprise party. They brought a huge chocolate cake along and took her out to dinner. Sanju didn't want Maana to be alone on her birthday."

Dutt is currently doing a recce for his first production Rascals (directed by David Dhawan) in South Africa, Morocco and Oman. "Maana is in her fifth month of pregnancy and South Africa is almost 10 hours away. Maana won't be able to fly down there.

But she's determined that on Sanju's birthday (July 29), she will fly down to celebrate it with him in Oman, which is only two hours away. That, too, if her doctor gives her permission to travel. Sanju and Maana are in touch every day and miss each other terribly."

The buzz is that Dutt might just drop in for a surprise visit today. "When Sanju was canvassing for the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, he flew in for a night by jet and sang Khuda Jaane (the Bachna Ae Haseeno track) to Maana as he was missing her a lot. Last year, he gifted her a limited edition Corum watch on her birthday."

Khans keeping up with the Kumars

Bitchy actress called to talk about the oft-occurring coincidences in the lives of the Khans and the Kumars.

A month after Twinkle Khanna appeared in an ad, there's now news about Gauri doing an ad for a product SRK endorses.

Also, after news reports of Akshay Kumar cycling around in London, we hear that King Khan is doing the same.

Isn't this sweet? The actors were making digs at each other until last year. And now have so much in common. They don't follow each other on Twitter but they don't seem to have a problem doing that in everyday life.

Now let's see if the happy foursome will appear together on a magazine cover."

Why Shah Rukh will and won't host the Bigg Boss 3

There are equally strong rumours from both sides saying Shah Rukh Khan will and won't host the latest season of Bigg Boss. We give you both sides of the story

Will he, won't he? The speculation continues whether Shah Rukh Khan will host the next season of Bigg Boss. While sources in the channel insist that they are still in talks with King Khan, sources close to the actor insist that he has already turned down the show. Here's presenting the buzz from both the two sides.

He will and here's why
Amitabh Bachchan, the original host of Kaun Banega Crorepati, returns to the show after ten years, replacing SRK.

So it's natural for the channel to want Shah Rukh to "replace" AB as Bigg Boss host, now that it is clear that Big B isn't doing it anymore. It is a "swapping" that is bound to hit the headlines and create buzz for both shows. While KBC will be air on Sony, Bigg Boss will be shown on Colors.

Says a TV producer, "It will be interesting to see the Big B and Shah Rukh clashing over TRPs as hosts of two different reality TV shows. A channel source adds, "Currently negotiations are on with SRK and Colors. Of late, SRK has become good friends with Colors' Head of Programming, Ashvini Yardi, so he might just do it.

Khan is being wooed with mega bucks to host the reality show. And he can really push Don 2 for a few months, if he wants. In any case, if he doesn't want to push back the film, he can travel from wherever he is, to shoot it.

Here's why he won't
Insiders in the Khan camp swear the actor is just too busy to accept a tv show, "Shah Rukh is currently busy with his home production RA.One, after which he begins filming for the Don sequel so he won't be able to do it do."

Also, though it helps the show, he doesn't want to become a part of the SRK vs Big B clash. A source from Cineyug (who manage Shah Rukh's shows and events) says, "Shah Rukh is not doing Bigg Boss as his dates are not available."

Sonam Kapoor offered a Hollywood film with Ben Stiller

The gauche, overweight youngster who started her Bollywood career as director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's assistant is the graceful star well on her way to success. Only three films old, Sonam Kapoor is already itching to get back to direction.

"My first love is acting and I will be acting till the day I die. I love my job. But, yes, the field of direction is always open for me. I think I shall direct in a couple of years. I am literally itching to direct, " Sonam told.

"I need a little more time to figure out what I want to direct and take care of the script and such logistics. But, honestly, I would like to give myself at least 10 years before I go behind the camera once again, " said the actress over the phone from Scotland, where she is currently shooting for "Mausam".

It was Bhansali who thought of casting Sonam as the female lead in "Saawariya" while she was working with him as assistant director for "Black".

The actress has been trying to do something different in each of her films -- her debut film "Saawariya" was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story "White Nights", "Delhi-6" was about the life in the walled city and her recent release "I Hate Luv Storys" is a modern day love story. She is now waiting for the release of her home production "Aisha" next month.

She is having a rollicking time in Scotland, with the cast and crew of "Mausam", and is looking forward to coming back to India to promote "Aisha".

"I am experiencing four seasons in a day here in Edinburgh...the 'mausam' (weather) is so unpredictable here...but I am loving it. I am coming back home on 27th of July to promote 'Aisha'. It's going to be fun, " she said.

Sonam plays the principal character in "Aisha" - a young, free-spirited, stylish and spoilt high society girl obsessed with match-making. Based on Jane Austen's classic novel "Emma", the film is about Aisha's life and her friends.

What makes the film special for Sonam is that it has been produced by her younger sister Rhea and has the backing of her father.

"Aisha", releasing Aug 6, also features actors like Abhay Deol, Cyrus Sahukar, Arunoday Singh, Ira Dubey and debutante Amrita Puri.

Sonam has been zipping across the world to fulfil her work commitments.

From promoting "I Hate Luv Storys" here and going back to the sets of Anees Bazmee's romantic comedy "Thank You" opposite Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Kapoor's "Mausam", she has been constantly on the move.

But she doesn't find it tiring.

"I don't want a break. Working is a holiday for me. I have a lot of work lined up till December, then maybe I take two weeks off. But I really don't believe in the concept of taking a month off, " said Sonam.

In fact, it is her packed work schedule that is making her indecisive about two international projects that have been offered to her. One is a Ben Stiller movie, while the other is a co-production between her father Anil Kapoor and Italian actress Sophia Loren's son Edoardo Ponti.

"Yes, I have been offered these two films. I have read both the scripts - one is a comedy, the Ben Stiller one. I have liked both of them, but I can't give any of them a thought till I work out my dates. My schedules are jam-packed. I don't know when they want to shoot - so accordingly, if my dates are free, I'm all for them, " said Sonam.

So even if she maybe Hollywood bound, what's the kind of work she is looking forward to in Bollywood?

"I have been quite appreciated for what I have done. I want to do work that makes me happy and I am quite an impulsive decision-maker. I don't mind smaller but offbeat films, and not so much mainstream stuff. By mainstream, I mean ones with big budgets and no story, " she said.