How Diana Got Her Groove Back

Okay, so she’s no Meryl Streep (who is!) but it’s still a mystery why Diana Penty couldn’t find one film offer worth taking up after making her debut in Cocktail opposite Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone. Film industry insiders say the pretty model just didn’t have her heart in the movies, and chose instead to pursue a career in advertising.

But that sabbatical now appears to be over. We’ll see her next in Happy Bhag Jayegi, a light-hearted comedy produced by Tanu Weds Manu’s Anand L Rai, in which she reportedly plays the title character, a feisty Punjabi girl—on the lines of Geet from Jab We Met, some say—with unconventional solutions to sticky situations.

Whoever’s advising her appears to be doing a good job. She’ll no longer be banking on one film at a time—according to those in the know, she’s already signed her next project, a sequel to 2010’s Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?, a comedy starring Paresh Rawal. The new film is tentatively titled Atithi in London, and Paresh Rawal will return to play the grating houseguest, with Supriya Pathak-Shah starring as his wife. Stepping in for Ajay Devgn and Konkona Sen Sharma, who starred in the earlier film, Diana and Pyaar Ka Punchnama‘s Kartik Aaryan will play the harried house owners.

Best Friends, Whenever

The tabloids are making a big noise about the absence of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani director Ayan Mukerji at Katrina Kaif’s birthday party earlier this week. It’s no secret that Ayan had become a close friend of the actress, particularly while she was dating his best friend Ranbir Kapoor. So not seeing him at the celebration has spawned stories that Katrina and Ayan are no longer friends.

Insiders, however, clarify that Ayan wasn’t at the party because he’s not in India. He’s currently in Los Angeles, busy in pre-production meetings with special effects studios for his new film, which stars Ranbir. If he was around, he’d more than likely have been at the party. It’s as simple as that, they say.

But there is in fact some truth to the rumours that friends have had to take sides. The break-up has divided their common friends, and Ayan stands firmly in Ranbir’s corner even if he does continue to remain cordial with his buddy’s ex.

Karan Johar, meanwhile, who’s currently directing Ranbir in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, and is co-producing Katrina’s Baar Baar Dekho, has said his equation with the actress stays exactly the same. He has explained that he likes to keep out of people’s private lives. He was at Katrina’s party along with the rest of the Baar Baar unit, including Sidharth Malhotra who co-stars in the project with Katrina.

Her other ex, Salman Khan, wished her on Facebook. ‘Thank you Sultan,’ she replied.

Could There Be a New Romance Brewing?

He’s popular, good-looking, and on the rise professionally. She’s beautiful and successful, despite her limited talent. The two young up-and-comers were cast together in an action movie that wrapped its first major schedule on foreign shores recently. And word has leaked from the set that sparks flew between the two.

Apparently, it was hard to figure out for sure at first, given that both actors are known to be particularly friendly with their respective co-stars, but unitwaalas subsequently confirmed that there was a lot more going on. The stars’ staff are inevitably the first people on set to find out these things. From secret visits to each other’s rooms at night, to cryptic phone conversations and messages, it all became crystal clear to their respective teams.

The reason their little fling has had to stay under wraps, and the reason no one will talk about it publicly, is that the male actor in question is supposedly in an on-off relationship with another co-actor. It’s complicated, but it is what it is. Meanwhile, there’s a chunk of work still left on that project, and the crew thinks it’s naïve to think that the fling won’t be rekindled at the next long overseas schedule.

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Rajeev Masand

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