“We don’t like to copy; so what if it is inspired?” Saif Ali Khan replied when he was asked in London last week if this week’s release Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (TPTM) was the Bollywood version of the Julie Andrews musical Mary Poppins. Khan plays the stern guardian of four orphans who are befriended by a bicycle-riding angel. “Jaws and Schindler’s List have the same story!” Khan reasoned.

Is Khan happy with his current A-list status? “I was really doing such bad work and just about managing to survive. All our lives changed with the success of Hum Tum.” TPTM reunites the lead pair of Khan and Rani Mukherjee with director Kunal Kohli. The trio worked together earlier in the aforementioned When Harry Met Sally Bolly-remake. “We have had such fun shooting in Bangkok and Los Angeles especially annoying Rani!”

“It was cheaper to shoot in Bangkok than in Delhi,” director Kunal Kohli told me when I asked him why he filmed abroad. “Have you seen Delhi prices?” Kohli has just started his own production house. Why the lack of proper advance press previews? “We’ll show you the film on the Wednesday or Thursday before its Friday release but certainly not before!”

Going Green

Is something brewing between Deepika Pandukone and Saif Ali Khan? I bumped into the Om Shanti Om dreamy-girl in London last Thursday at a posh Knightsbridge hotel. Dressed in a green sweat shirt and white leggings, Pandukone looked like she had just returned from the gym and appeared to be well settled into the hotel. Guess who was her fellow guest? Saif Ali Khan, who was also wearing a green top!

Blogging out

“I have always been a closet writer,” Karan Johar confessed earlier this week when he was asked why he planned to establish his own blog website. Johar, Bollywood’s most successful director, is the latest Bollywood A-lister after Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan to jump onto the blogging bandwagon. “The blog isn’t to discuss my daily routine or my sexuality. I am not turning blogger to blabber about my life but to express my thoughts on cinema.”

The good uncle

Both Karan Johar and Aamir Khan will express their thoughts on cinema later this week in London when they form part of a panel discussion on Bollywood’s future. Johar will also be talking about his career at London’s Nehru Centre on 1 July. Aamir Khan is also in London to oversee the publicity for his nephew’s debut film Jaane Tu which is released next week. Imran Khan (no relation to the Pakistani cricketer) arrives in London on Friday and both uncle and nephew, along with director Abbas Tyrewala will be courting the UK press this weekend.

Daddy directs

“I am not a star son,” Harman Baweja stated when asked about his debut potential in the upcoming July 4 release, Love Story 2050, Bollywood’s first major futuristic flick. Harman may not be a star son but he has a successful director dad who has made the film for him and a ‘good friend’ in former Miss World now turned Bollywood babe, Priyanka Chopra who agreed to star opposite him.

Unaffordable tour

The Bachchans Unforgettable World Tour kicks off in July but some global fans are disappointed at the high ticket prices. Amitabh Bachchan returns to perform in Trinidad on July 20th after many years. The price of admission is a whopping $2000 TT dollars (about £200). “We cannot afford those prices so they can lump it!” Patricia Maharaj, an irate Trinidadian housewife fan told me via email.

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