Preparations are in full swing for the marriage of director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant at the end of March. Once the couple return from Paris, where they are working on the musical Padmavati for the French opera house Theatre du Chatelet.

Bhansali and Vaibhavi have collaborated for several films, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Saawariya. Yet it was only recently that the two have been romantically linked.

The closeness between the two became more evident to the public eye at the premiere of Saawariya when Vaibhavi walked in with Bhansali’s mother Leela and sister Bela Saigal.

Although there has been no official announcement yet from either family on the upcoming nuptials, we’re sure to hear something soon.

STAR OF THE YEAR - MALE
Akshay Kumar (Heyy Babyy/Namastey London)

STAR OF THE YEAR – FEMALE
Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)

EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS FOR BEST ACTOR
Shahid Kapoor (Jab We Met)

BEST FILM AWARD
Jab We Met

THE DREAM DIRECTOR AWARD
Farah Khan (Om Shanti Om)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR
Vivek Oberoi (Shootout At Lokhandwala)

ACTOR PAR EXCELLENCE
Dharmendra

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Irrfaan Khan (The Namesake)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tisca Chopra (Taare Zameen Par)

BEST ACTOR IN A NEGATIVE ROLE – MALE
Arjun Rampal (Om Shanti Om)

SUPERSTAR OF TOMMOROW - MALE
Ranbir Kapoor (Saawariya)

SUPERSTAR OF TOMMOROW - FEMALE
Sonam Kapoor (Saawariya)

HOTTEST FILM PRODUCER
Anil Kapoor (Gandhi My Father)

HOTTEST YOUNG FILM MAKER
Shimit Amin (Chak De India)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE – MALE
Shreyas Talpade (Om Shanti Om)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE – FEMALE
Kangana Ranaut (Life… In a Metro)

THE NEW MENACE
Shilpa Shukla – (Chak De India)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE BY LYRICIST
Sandeep Nath – Saawariya (’Yoon Shabnami Pehle Nahi Thi Chandni’)

NEW MUSICAL SENSATION – FEMALE
Anoushka Manchanda – Cash (Aye Chori)

NEW MUSICAL SENSATION – MALE
Krishna & Salim Merchant – Chak De India (Maula Mere)

STANDOUT PERFORMANCE BY A MUSIC DIRECTOR
Monty Sharma (Saawariya)

After seeing Saawariya, Rakhi Sawant was touched by the way Sanjay Leela Bhansali paid tribute to her through Rani Mukherjee. It seems SLB invited Rakhi on the sets of the film, while shooting. Charmed by her interesting body language and manner of speaking English, he decided to incorporate into these into the film. Anyone who has seen Saawariya can certainly pick out these nuances in Rani’s character Gulab.

“He made me feel very special. When I watched him shoot with Rani I became an even bigger fan of Sanjayji. Even a walk-on part in his film is invaluable,” says the blushing actress.

What: Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor celebrate Children’s Day
Where: BIG FM Studio, Mumbai
When: November 14, 2007

On Children’s Day both Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor visited BIG FM studio in Mumbai to spend some quality time with underprivileged kids and to promote their recently released movie Saawariya.

Sha-K and Bebo will be back on screen together once again but not in a new film. It seems that the multiplexes have done their marketing research and decided that the romantic comedy hit Jab We Met (released on October 26) is more of a money making crowd puller than the recently released (just a few days ago) darker romantic film Saawariya.

In view of this, the multiplex cinemas are seriously thinking of removing Saawariya from their screens and replacing it with Jab We Met, so that the cash boxes start making noise once again.

Looks like the stunning performances and all the promotional work Sha-K did in the entire month of October has really paid off for everyone involved in the project. We’re sure that Imtiaz Ali and the rest of the cast are still on cloud nine.

Isn’t that what Karan Johar showed us in K3G? Well … It seems that some in the industry have started taking that adage to heart and putting it into practice.

The icy atmosphere that has kept the Kapoor family apart for quite some time now, is beginning to thaw out. It seems that it was all originally caused over two weddings; the lack of invitation of Neetu Singh (the Indian Ginger Rogers), and her children Ranbir and Riddhima to Bebo’s sister Karisma’s wedding and the subsequent no show by Kareena, her mom Babita and Karisma and husband Sanjay to Ranbir’s sister Riddhima’s wedding.

At the request of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kareena Kapoor, with her lover Saif Ali Khan at her side, attended the premiere of Saawariya to see her cousin Ranbir in his debut film and lend her support.

Heads certainly spun around and jaws dropped as Bebo walked in and hugged her aunt. Singh wasn’t as surprised and even replied, when asked, “Yes, things have settled down between us now. We are okay.”

Things are also looking brighter for Babita and Randhir, as they have resolved their differences and she is returning home.

All’s well that end’s well, as they say.

What: Saawariya premiere
Where: IMAX theatre, Wadala, Mumbai
When: November 7, 2007

Saawariya - Jab Se Tere Naina promo

Saawariya - Salman Khan First Look

Saawariya - Masha Allah promo