Mumbai: As the New Year ushers in, besides the very famous Kingfisher’s swimsuit calendar, the only other calendar that people really look forward to is the star studded one by ace Bollywood photographer Dabboo Ratnani.

Ratnani launched his calendar on 5 January, at Olive, Bandra. Known for coming up with innovative ideas every year, he wanted to do something totally different this year since it’s the 10th Anniversary calendar. Speaking to the media, Ratnani says, “This is my 10th Anniversary calendar so I wanted to do something completely different. For the first time I got 48 actors to feature in it and even though it did take a lot of effort in getting everyone’s dates, it was not very difficult since I started to work on it as early as August and planned my concept well in advance.”

Unlike every year he did not have a particular theme for this year’s calendar. He says “This year I thought of having different images instead of a particular theme, I did not want to bind myself to a theme, I just let myself loose. I wanted no restrictions and with a theme you get restricted. I have used a lot of variations and lots of funky props like fast cars, trucks, bikes or a piano. I’ve tried to make every shot different. In one of the shots I’ve even used the Indian army outfit, in other words I’ve completely tried to push myself to make this a landmark calendar.”

The calendar this year is a lot larger; it’s a bigger desk calendar mainly to accommodate all the 48 stars. The stars featured in the calendar are: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Rani Mukherji, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Priety Zinta, Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shahid Kapur, Sushmita Sen, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham, Dino Morea, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Amrita Rao, Neil…

Nitin Mukesh, Esha Deol, Vidya Balan, Harman Baweja, Fardeen Khan, Imran Hashmi, Mallika Sherawat, Urmila Matondkar, Lara Dutta, Ameesha Patel, Kunal Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan, Ayesha Takia, Amrita Arora, Kangana, Ranaut Abhay Deol, Konkana Sen Sharma and Riya Sen.

Ratnani adds, “Since most of them were traveling for shoots they could not make it for the launch though they all called to congratulate me. But am glad a few of them were able to attend the launch.”

Hosts: Manisha Ratnani and Dabboo Ratnani
Guest list (in no particular order) : Amrita Rao, Kangna Ranaut, Sophie Chaudhary, Urvashi Sharma, Vidya Balan, Ameesha Patel, Urmila Matondkar, Shahid Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Farhan Azmi, Raveena Tandon, Tusshar Kapoor,  Dino Morea, Lara Dutta, Madhur Bhandarkar, Renu, DJ Aqeel, Farha Khan Ali, Riya Sen

It was the launch of Puma’s new Ocean Racing Collection, and the people that attended were treated to some serious eye candy as the hot Dino Morea strolled into the scene! The model and winner of the Zee Cine Award Dynamic Duo, was the highlight of the event held at Mumbai’s ultra swanky hotspot, Vie Lounge. Dino Morea checked out Puma gear alongside the crowed, as cat walkers rocked the apparel. At the end of the show Dino Morea showed his support for the brand by joining the models on stage as he sported a Puma hat! Model and television host, Nina Emanuel was one of the cat walkers that set the ramp on fire. Puma being a participant in Volvo’s Ocean Race 2008-2009, a nine-month yacht race across four continents, released the new collection to coincide with the race. The new collection featured everything from bright red colors, reminiscent of ocean rescue teams to crisp whites with hints of red.

Download posters of Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factory – an all out action flick – starring Fardeen Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Dino Morea, Dia Mirza, Aftab Shivdasani, Irfaan Khan, Danny Denzongpa.

A bash to celebrate the enormous success of Singh Is Kinng was held at a five-star hotel in Mumbai on Monday evening……the do was attended by the producer, director and cast of the film including worldwide distributors, Studio 18.

Also in attendance were guests like Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Prakash Jha, Mukesh Bhatt, Kunal Kohli, Aadesh Shrivastava and others.

A champagne toast was raised by Vipul Shah and Akshay Kumar to another kinng, Abhinav Bindra, who brought India honour by clinching a Gold Medal for Rifle Shooting at the Beijing Olympics.

Credit for Pictures: Viral Bhayani

What: Gold’s Gym 2008 Calendar launch
Where: Gold’s Gym, Bandra, Mumbai
When: January 17, 2008

What: Airtel Bindass India Concert
Where: MMRDA Grounds, Bandra, Mumbai
When: January 13, 2008

Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Dia Mirza, Rakhi Sawant, Dino Morea, Mouli Dave, Neeti Mohan, and Kunal Ganjawala performed at the Airtel Bindass India Concert hosted by Sajid Khan.

UTV’s youth TV channel Bindass picked five people through a contest and gave them an opportunity to ‘dance with King Khan.’ The winners were given gifts which included a certificate, a copy of SRK’s biography ‘Shahrukh Khan: Still Reading Khan’ and a large sized poster of SRK which he signed himself.

Telecast of the event is scheduled on Republic Day, January 26.

What: Dino Morea unveils Gladrags Bikini Calendar 2008
Where: Hard Rock cafe, Lower Parel, Mumbai
When: January 11, 2008
Celebrities Present at the Event: Dino Morea, Maureen Wadia, Hyder Ali and Gladrags models

UTV’s Bindass is gearing up for the two hour live Airtel Bindass India concert at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai on January 13, 2008 and what a concert it should prove to be.

The plethora of Bollywood celebrities who will be gracing the stage with their performances are as follows: Priyanka Chopra, Mauli Dave, Kunal Ganjawala, Ganesh Hegde, Boman Irani, Dia Mirza, Dino Morea, Nitin and Rakhi Sawant along with Bollywood’s Baadshah Shahrukh Khan.

The concert will also have performances by Bindaas comical Hass Ley India duo Mantra and Anirudh. The telecast of the concert is scheduled for January 26th.