It is important to take risks, says Katrina

She also believes in destiny and urges everyone to follow their dreams

Five years into Bollywood, Britain-born actress Katrina Kaif is proud that she could prove wrong all those people who wrote her off during her initial days in the industry. She is one of the few actresses who can boast of giving six hits in a row."When I started, people were not only writing me off for my strong British accent, there were many others who tried to prevent me from making it till here," Katrina told IANS in an interview in New Delhi."They didn't do so in an aggressive or excessive manner, but they used to say things like 'I don't know...' and 'I'm not sure...' that would suggest a not-so-positive approach towards me. But I proved myself ultimately."I always try and push myself to exceed expectations. I use this ideology in a positive way," she explained.Katrina was emphatic when she spoke of her belief in destiny."The great thing about life is that you never know what can happen and there's no limitation to it. Someone can tell you that you can never be this and never be that. It's not true. Anyone can be what he wants to be and destiny plays a major part in it. God has of course been very kind to me."I believe that everyone should try and live their dreams, follow them and they might just come true someday," Katrina said.From her disastrous debut with "Boom" in 2003 to five hits in a row in 2007, the 24-year-old has not only worked hard on her acting skills, she has also shown a marked improvement in her Hindi dialogue delivery.Commenting on her improved accent, Katrina - born of a Kashmiri father and a British mother - said: "Interacting with various people on and off the sets and doing some eight Hindi movies, dealing with Hindi scripts, practising dialogue delivery ... I think that in itself has taught me and helped me improve my accent."Katrina is in the news nowadays for having delivered one box office dud "Yuvvraaj" after delivering six back-to-back hits including "Namastey London", "Apne", "Partner', "Welcome", "Race" and "Singh Is Kinng".After so many hits, she was tagged as a lucky mascot for producers by trade pundits, but the actress is not pleased with the "lucky" label."'Lucky mascot' doesn't make any sense. It is such an illogical statement. A successful film is a combination of a good director, good music, intelligent script, good timing, destiny, everybody's efforts and audience's reaction. There isn't a reason or an explanation that you can tag a person as lucky," she remarked.In her career, Katrina has predominantly dabbled in comedies, but she has lately "felt the need to progress a bit" and try her hand at different things."If you see Akshay Kumar, he was an action hero and then he went to comedy and found out his real calling. It took him to new heights of superstardom. I think it is important to take risks and figure out what really suits you."Every actor has a strength like Aamir does romance and Akshay does comedy, but I don't know my strength yet."If I get a contrast role in one film like where one get-up has me play a simple, shy and homely girl, the other has me as a brass and loud girl, I would definitely do that," she said in an excited tone.As of now, Katrina has a number of films in her kitty.She is doing two films with Ranbir Kapoor including "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani" by Rajkumar Santoshi. She is also working with Prakash Jha on his multi-starrer "Rajniti".These apart, she has one comedy film in hand and a two-film deal each with UTV and TV 18 respectively.

Kareena returns

After the super flop 'Tashan', Bebo is back with her second film of the year

”Golmaal Returns” is Kareena Kapoor’s second film of 2008, after the super flop “Tashan”. The actress is now actively promoting the multi-starrer comedy movie, which is releasing on October 29.We spoke to Kareena about her recent films and her much talked about body.Excerpts from the interview...You were last seen in Tashan and much was said about your look and style, especially your body. Any comments?See, everyone in the world was talking about my look and appreciating it. Not only did they like the styling of the film they also liked my performance in the movie. My look and style has now become a trend.A lot of people say size zero or being thin is not healthy. Being slim cannot be misconstrued as being unhealthy or thin. The media is calling me thin. I am not on any diet at all. I love to eat. Earlier I did starve a day or so to get the right look for a photo shoot like I did with ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’. But it’s never been more than that. I have my limits.You were recently ‘heard’ in Roadside Romeo. How was it dubbing for movie?It was an interesting experience dubbing for the movie. I believe that this is the first time any mainstream heroine is dubbing for a film of this nature in India. It happens a lot abroad, but it doesn't happen in India. There have been other actresses who have dubbed for animation films earlier in India, but they haven't been lead heroines. There are some more heroines I have heard who are dubbing now, but my film will be the first one to release. What kind of preparations did you do before dubbing for the film?I watched a few Hollywood animation movies as that was the only reference that I could get. I take a lot of pains in dubbing because as a kid I have seen my sister dub for her films and seen the kind of pains taken by her. Now with no live character on screen and a cartoon to dub for, animation and dubbing seem to be undergoing a sea of change. It was very exciting also to be dubbing along with Saif.You will now be 'seen' in Golmaal Returns, in which you play the role of a TV buff. Are you really one?I am not much of a TV watcher. I just watch a bit of movies or entertainment news sometimes. Serials are something that I watch seldom.In ‘Golmaal Returns’ I play the role of a girl called Ekta – like the real name of the boss of Balaji Telefilms – who loves to watch TV serials especially those that are made by Balaji. She is forever watching TV serials like ‘Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Th’i, ‘Kasautii Zindagi Ki’ or ‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii’. My character is a suspicious person who loves to deck herself in sindoor, mangalsutra and bindis. She suspects her husband of having some kind of a relationship outside the marriage. But she is a modern girl, not a sari-clad bahu. You dropped out of a film opposite Ajay called Chori Chori, but later did Omkara with him. Golmaal Returns is your second film with Ajay.We gelled well in Omkara and looked good together too. Moreover Ajay is a gentleman. Our interaction and chemistry is pretty good. We understand each other well and have a good rapport as well. What made you do this film?I saw ‘Golmaal’ and loved the film. And that is one reason why I did this film. Rohit seemed to be a fabulous director of comedy and he proved it right. In fact, in ‘Golmaal’ I liked Tusshar's performance a lot.You are working with Tusshar too after a long time.Tusshar and I did films like ‘Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai’ and then ‘Jeena Sirrf Merre Liye’. He is a very nice guy. Very sweet. He is like my brother in this film though we have been paired opposite each other in the earlier movies

Mischa Barton enjoys Indian experience

Hollywood actress is shooting in Hyderabad

Actress Mischa Barton (pictured left) is embracing Eastern culture as she films a new movie in India - and has even learnt to play the sitar.The O.C. star will appear alongside Martin Sheen in forthcoming movie “Bhopal: Prayer for Rain”, based upon a real-life industrial disaster.And she is ingratiating herself with locals during filming - by experiencing new religions and enjoying traditional fare.Barton writes on her website, "I've been having an amazing spiritual exploration visiting Hindu temples and learning about Buddhism, both beautiful religions. Hyderabad where we're filming is a real inspiration in the fact that Christians, Muslims and Hindus all get along so harmoniously."I must admit I used to make fun of people who were all into yoga and chai tea thinking it was another ridiculous health fad. But now I'm that person! First of all Masala Chai tea, the traditional way with milk and sugar is delicious, and this is coming from a Brit who only likes my breakfast tea!"But the actress is most pleased that she is picking up a new musical instrument.She adds, "I must say my goal coming here was to learn to play the sitar and it's coming along real slow as apparently it's not that easy to procure a great sitar teacher here, I guess it's not late 60's with Ravi Shankar and George Harrison roaming around unfortunately!!!!"WENN

Best Dressed

The last week of the year saw the stars donning the best of 2008’s trends

Ekta is well guarded this New Year’s Eve

She’s in Goa with pals from TV industry

When Shobha Kapoor came to know there was a red alert in Goa, she sent six security guards to be with daughter Ekta Kapoor. The Balaji head honcho will ring in the New Year with her close friends Prachi Desai, Suvarna Jha, Priti Gupta, Shabbir Ahluwalia and Akashdeep Sehgal in Goa. Being a caring mother, Shobha was obviously worried as post 26/11 Goa has not been considered very safe.

Kim Kardashian is most googled celeb of 2008

Celebutante Kim Kardashian has emerged as the most googled celebrity of year 2008.The sexy bombshell has knocked off princess of pop Britney Spears from the top slot of the most searched celebrities on the Internet. Lindsay Lohan trailed close to Kim and took the second spot. Lindsay wasn’t in news in 2008 so much for her acting that her personal life and an alleged affair with girl pal DJ Samantha Ronson.Heath Ledger, who died earlier this year, is the only male celebrity in the top ten.

Other celebs in the top ten include Britney Spears, Arianna Huffington, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Tila Tequila, Megan Fox and Miley Cyrus. However, none managed to match the curiosity created by Kim Kardashian. Kim was involved in a home-made, leaked sex-tape scandal; posed in various postures and degrees of undress for several magazines; starred in a reality show; and became most searched because of her year-end calendar that seems to have become a rage among her admirers.

Aishwarya Rai own production

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s harmonious relationship with her in-laws will not make for a saas-bahu soap opera with TRP’s hitting the roof simply because there ain’t any drama or strife in the Bachchan fold. Aishwarya’s equation with the family is as good as it gets. She’s just the ideal daughter-in-law they had in mind for their son Abhishek. If that’s not all, she’s in the process of announcing her film production company, called Aishwarya Productions soon. And the Bachchans support her move all the way, husband Abhishek included.
Earlier in the year, Amitabh purchased a 10-bigha plot of land from various farmers in Daulatpur village in the Barabanki district of UP to build a higher secondary school. But it came as a surprise to most that Bachchan Sr had decided to christen the school, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Girls’ Intermediate College after his glamorous daughter-in-law. This was after he had decided earlier on to name the school after his renowned poet father, the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Aishwarya certainly is a family favourite and why shouldn’t she be.