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

Previously it was thought that Bollywood baadshah Shahrukh Khan would not be making an appearance at the Zine Cine Awards 2008. However, it is now learned that he actually will be there to perform.

Other actors from tinseltown will be Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif Vidya Balan, Shahid Kapur, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. This should prove to be an interesting mix.

Hosting the show will be Karan Johar and Lara Dutta along with Sajid Khan.

You will be able to purchase your tickets soon for this amazing event, which will be at the Excel Docklands Arena in the UK on Saturday, April 26th. Stay turned for more exciting details.

What: Premiere of Halla Bol
Where: Cinemax, Andheri, Mumbai
When: January 10, 2008
Celebrities Spotted at the Event: Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan, Rajkumar Santoshi, Darshan Jariwala, Vatsal Seth, Sukhwinder Singh,
Vikram Phadnis

Ashfaque (Ajay Devgan), the small town boy, aspiring to become a film star, joins a street theater group run by a reformed dacoit Siddhu (Pankaj Kapur) who uses theater to bring about mass awakening. Ashfaque works hard and gives it all he has to learn to become a creative actor.

His work pays off and he does get a break in a film. He also gets a new screen name – Sameer Khan. Luck favors him and soon he is Sameer Khan the superstar. At this point he is a versatile actor who can please any audience. But the superstar makes him forget his true self alienating him from people close to him, including his wife Sneha (Vidya Balan). His turnaround starts at a function where an incident makes him think between his conscience and his stardom.

The ensuing drama is about whether the conflict within him gives way to good sense, and whether he is able to discard his corrupted image and emerge as a true life hero.

Be at the theater on January 11, 2008 for the release of Halla Bol.

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Producer: Suresh Sharma and Abdol Samee Siddiqui
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan, Pankaj Kapoor, Sridevi, Boney Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Ruby Bhatia, Pahlaj Nihalani, Neeraj Vora, Tusshar Kapoor, Ranjit Kapoor, Sayali Bhagat
Music: Sukhwinder Singh, Vanraj Bhatia
Lyrics: Sameer, Shri Dushyant Kumar, Mehboob

Actress Vidya Balan has been in Mumbai shooting for Lucky Charm, Aziz Mirza’s comeback film. Unfortunately, a viral flu and fever kept her from finishing the picturisation of a song that features her in some dream sequences with Sha-K (Shahid Kapur).

Rather than tell anyone how sick she was, Balan called choreographer Ahmed Khan to enquire about the shooting location. Khan sensed that she was unwell and told her to stay home and rest. Being the committed actress that she is, Balan showed up anyway, didn’t complain at all and in between takes retreated to her van to rest.

When the cast and crew saw her condition worsening a meeting was called. Against Balan’s insistence, Mirza, Kapur, Khan and Shabina (Balan’s designer) decided to terminate the shoot for the day and send her home to rest.

You would never know it but “serious” Ajay Devgan is quite the prankster and makes it known especially to his co-stars during film shoots. During a recent shoot for film Halla Bol it was no different and he had director Rajkumar Santoshi play along to help entrap actress Vidya Balan.

Balan and Santoshi were discussing a scene when Devgan came in and began praising the recording of a song they had just done for the film; Santoshi agreed. Vidya became curious, and of course Devgan had his Ipod handy. He offered it to her so that she could listen to it.

As soon as the actress turned it on, she got a mild electric shock, one strong enough to stun her for a moment. Balan took the joke with a sporting attitude and the whole crew, including Devgan and Santoshi enjoyed a good laugh at her reaction.

What: Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan at Halla Bol media meet
Where: JW Marriott, Juhu, Mumbai
When: 12 November, 2007