His latest film “Love Aaj Kal” has sent cash registers ringing, raking in Rs.8 crore (Rs.80 million) on the opening day itself, but director Imtiaz Ali (pictured left) says money is not a “driving factor” for making films, as cinema is his passion.

“Yes, money is important, but that has never been my driving factor for making a film. If that was the case I would have chosen to do multiple films a year. My passion is cinema…money will follow,” Ali told IANS.

The filmmaker, who first hit the jackpot in Bollywood with “Jab We Met”, insists he is still not part of the ‘big league’ as he is not yet a “Rs.10 crore director”.

“No one has approached me with a 10-crore offer yet. I’m still awaiting such a price tag to be attached to my name,” Ali laughed when asked if he has entered the ‘10 crore league’.

Imtiaz had a jerky beginning to his Bollywood career with “Socha Na Tha” taking years to reach the finish line. The film starring Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia was a critical success and though it didn’t work at the box office, it is a favourite on the DVD circuit.

Then came “Jab We Met” in 2007 that featured Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor. It took time to kick off, but it finally won hearts all over and was hailed as a ‘cult film’.

“And to think about it, what is being considered cult today didn’t really enjoy such high critical response when it released,” Ali said.

“Most of the reviews had a 2 or 2.5 stars rating. It is so amusing when the same critics today remember the film as cult, memorable, pathbreaking cinema, etc etc,” the filmmaker added.

Coming back to his price tag, how does he plan to play his cards post “Love Aaj Kal”?

“See, there are different kinds of propositions that different filmmakers consider. Some make multiple movies a year while my sensibilities don’t allow me to work on more than one project at a time. My journey would most likely mean directing one film every two years. This by itself has a bearing on the entire economics,” he explained.

“I don’t want to unnecessarily charge a producer the kind of money that would be unaffordable for him and hence make the entire business prospects unviable,” Ali reasoned. “I’m now primarily looking at a combined model where I get some amount of money as my price while the rest comes as profits from the film.”

He is looking at being even more flexible when it comes to smaller films.

“If at all a subject is of the kind that requires to be made on a small budget, I would have profit-sharing as my prime mode of reimbursement,” Ali said.

After playing Farhan Akhtar’s petite wife in “Rock On!”, Prachi Desai has now teamed up with Tusshar Kapoor in “Life Partner” and she had to shoot some intimate scenes in the film. While she insists she wasn’t uncomfortable, the actress admits she was definitely a bit shy.

“I am a little shy but I don’t know why everyone is saying that I was uncomfortable doing those scenes. In fact, everyone on the set did everything to make me comfortable,” Prachi Desai told IANS in an interview.

Her co-star Tusshar had said that Prachi wasn’t comfortable doing intimate scenes with him and was too much into the “don’t touch me” mode.

The 20-year-old, best known for her role as Bani Walia in television serial “Kassamh Se”, is tired of doing mature roles and wants to play someone more her age.

“I’m waiting to do something young, something that goes with my age. I have had enough of these mature roles. It would be nice if I get to play something close to my age,” Prachi said.

The young actress was in New Delhi for designer duo Kapil and Monika’s collection for the “Celebrating Vivah 2009″ event and walked the ramp in a heavy, embroidered baby pink lehenga.

Elaborating about her role in director Rumi Jaffrey’s “Life Partner”, Prachi said she could relate to her character and it was easy to play a shy girl.

“In this movie, the role I’m playing is of a very shy girl who likes silence and I am very much like that in real life. I’m very down-to-earth and simple too.”

The actress has also signed a movie “Once Upon A Time” with mentor Ekta Kapoor in which she plays a don’s wife.

Not revealing much about the character Desai said: “It’s too early to talk about it.”

She, however, said that she doesn’t see much of a difference in the work environment between television and movies.

“I don’t miss TV at all. It’s like graduating from school to college. There is not much of difference but, yes, working in showbiz increases the level of expectations of your fans. But those expectations keep us going as we are here because of their love,” she said.

Talking about her dream role, Prachi said she wants to essay the role of Paro in “Devdas” if it is made again for the big screen.

“Paro of ‘Devdas’ is a very beautiful character and Aishwarya Rai looked beautiful in it. Though it would be very difficult to re-create the magic of that movie again on big screen…. if it is done, I would love to essay the role of Paro,” Prachi said.

Brazilian model Giselle Monteiro, who plays Hareleen Kaur in Imtiaz Ali’s “Love Aaj Kal”, couldn’t speak Hindi or dance to save her life.

“She is actually a Brazilian girl named Giselle Monteiro. Why a Brazilian girl to play an old-fashioned Punjabi girl? Well, I was auditioning girls from all over the country to play the Punjabi girl opposite the Sikh Saif. I couldn’t find the right girl to play the 1965 ki ‘gali mein rehne wali ladki, purane zamane ki’,” Ali told IANS.

Giselle had walked into Ali’s office to play another part.

“Giselle came to me through dress designer Anaita Shroff. She was to play Jo, Saif’s Caucasian girlfriend in the second half. She wasn’t right for Jo.

“But my wife, who was there, suggested Giselle for Harleen. I turned and looked at Giselle and realised she is Brazil’s Harleen. She didn’t know how to speak Hindi. But she had only two lines to speak, which we dubbed,” said the director who has got mixed reviews for the film.

“She has been travelling all alone from all over the world from the age of 17. She’s 19 now. Saif kept grumbling he’d look too old with Giselle. But he pulled it off completely,” he added.

Giselle understood the old-world values of her small town character. “The small-town mentality in every part of the world is similar,” said Ali.

But when the sequence showing her dancing at her engagement was shot, she drove the entire unit up the wall because she couldn’t get the steps right.

“We wanted to put her through the paces with Sarojji (choreographer Saroj Khan), but it never happened. Sarojji didn’t have the time. For a foreigner to get the Indian ‘adaa’ right is very tough.

“We take for granted those nakhra-jhatka-matka, which we’ve seen our sisters perform at weddings. Indian girls have those ‘adaas’ without being trained. But for a foreigner it is tough,” said Ali.

Throughout the making of “Love Aaj Kal”, Giselle was referred to by her screen name Harleen. Even when she became visible in the trailers, she remained inaccessible to the public.

The release of Hrithik Roshan’s much talked about film “Kites” may be postponed to next year.

The film, also starring Barbara Mori and Kangana Ranaut, will probably now release on January 15, 2010 and not December 18, 2009 as scheduled.

January 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of Hrithik’s hit debut film “Kaho Na Pyaar Hai”.

According to sources, the Roshans want to release “Kites”, which is a mega film and will also see Hrithik’s entry into international market, as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of KNPH. It will also mark Hrithik’s tenth year as a superstar.

However, the final decision on the release date will be taken in September.

After the successful Swayamvar of Rakhi Sawant, NDTV Imagine is apparently planning to air one more Swayamvar. And, this time it will be that of a man, who’s just as much of a newsmaker as the newly-engaged item girl.

We are talking about aspiring politician/entertainer Rahul Mahajan (pictured left), who got TRPs soaring with his antics on the reality show “Big Boss 2” last year.

A ladies’ man, Rahul has earlier had a failed marriage to longtime girlfriend Shweta Singh. He has also been linked to actresses Payal Rohatgi and Monica Bedi.

The forthcoming Swayamvar will again be handled by SOL Productions Pvt Ltd.

However, the channel is tight-lipped about the developments.

When asked about meeting Rahul, the executive VP of the channel, Shailaja Kejriwal, said Rahul had come to their office for some work.

Rahul Mahajan too has not revealed any details and said he is not aware of being a part of any such Swayamvar.

However, he will surely think about it, if he is offered the show, he added.

The Indian film fraternity is trying to seek 100,000 solidarity comments on a social networking website to urge the government to confer the prestigious Bharat Ratna upon Bollywood thespian Dilip Kumar.

A community titled “Dilip Kumar for Bharat Ratna” on Facebook that now has over 850 members dedicated to the cause was started at the behest of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

Bhatt said he was not the only one who wishes that the 86-year-old be awarded the country’s highest civilian honour.

“It is the entire industry’s effort. From every region, stalwarts have come out to appeal for him. I was just a foot soldier. It is the Indian film industry’s effort, not an individual’s effort,” Bhatt told IANS via SMS.

The group has been primarily created to seek solidarity from people so that the administrators of the website can bind all the comments in a book and submit it to the president and the prime minister.

The members of the community have been asked to “leave a comment or endorse by replying a one liner – ‘I endorse that Dilip Kumar is the most deserving person to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna’”.

Dilip Kumar, who is married to actress Saira Bano, is known for his landmark performances in films like “Devdas”, “Madhumati”, “Ganga Jamuna”, “Mughal-e-Azam”, “Shakti” and “Karma”.

Many of his fans as well as members of the industry have put out individual comments.

Posts like “Honouring Dilip Kumar is honouring Bollywood”, “He deserves Bharat Ratna. Period” and “Bharat Ratna….most certainly. He is an icon in the truest sense of the word!” are splashed on the online community’s website.

Celebrities supporting the cause include actors like Rajeev Khandelwal, Mukul Dev, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Varun Badola, Randeep Hooda and Urvashi Dholakia. Film critic and filmmaker Khalid Mohammed, director Prabhakar Shukla and popular Bangladeshi singer Runa Laila have also joined the effort.

“Dilip Kumar is one of the finest actors in the Indian film industry. He did only 64 films in his career and is still regarded as the best. He is like Lata Mangeshkar, you won’t get another Lata…Similarly, you won’t get another Dilip Kumar. In the true sense, he is Bharat Ratna,” said Shukla, known for his film “Gudiyaa”.

Till date no actor has received the Bharat Ratna award. In 1992, acclaimed filmmaker Satyajit Ray was the first person from the entertainment industry to have been conferred the honour.

Music greats like Carnatic music vocalist M.S. Subbulakshmi, sitar player Ravi Shankar, singer Lata Mangeshkar, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan and classical singer Bhimsen Joshi became its proud recipients.

After undergoing a check-up last week, Shah Rukh Khan has been advised against doing stunts as his shoulder has not fully healed. He needs a month or two more to be completely fit.

SRK had injured his left shoulder on the sets of “Dulha Mil Gaya” and later underwent a surgery for the same.

According to his physiotherapist Dr. Ali Irani, Shah Rukh is recovering slowly from the injury. He has got almost 90 percent of the movement back in his shoulder. But it will take a couple of months for the shoulder to strengthen. And until that happens, he cannot start shooting for action sequences.

Shah Rukh had been advised to follow a specific fitness regimen which includes special type of exercise with a theraband, which helps to strengthen the shoulder muscles.

Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra admits that there were some glitches in his movie “Delhi-6″, but says the film’s selection for Venice Film Festival has washed away all these wrongs in the script.

“I’ve a new beginning and end. This was how I originally intended the film to end with Abhishek Bachchan’s character’s death. I’ve realised there were people who were genuinely confused by some aspects of the film. After much introspection, I discovered where I had gone wrong.

“One thing was about the mirror about looking within oneself, then the ‘Kala Bandar’ metaphor also didn’t work. The joy of being selected for Venice has washed away all these wrongs in the script. I’ve been invited to share the platform with some of the world’s best filmmakers,” Mehra told IANS.

Starring Abhishek and Sonam Kapoor, the film was released on February 20, but didn’t do well at the box office.

Talking about the changes he has made in the film for the Venice film fest, Mehra said: “I filmed the sequence of Abhishek’s character’s ashes being immersed in the river. The film now begins with his voiceover announcing he’s dead now. So it’s now a dead man’s story. Everything falls into place now. We also understand why Abhishek played the role so quietly, sensitively. It was such a beautiful piece of grammar. I don’t know why I abandoned it for a happy ending.”

Mehra says that the exciting part of this festival journey is that the version of “Delhi 6″ they saw in Venice was radically different from what audiences saw when the film released.

“I sent Venice a new version of ‘Delhi 6′ quite different from the one we saw here. My original script was different. I went and shot another version quite different from the one people saw. I had to do this. Otherwise I wouldn’t have died in peace.”

The director is on cloud nine right now.

“This is quite exhilarating. The Venice film festival is considered as posh as Cannes and Berlin. So it’s great fun. I got the e-mail informing me of ‘Delhi 6′ being selected at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday (July 30) night. They loved the film. It will be screened on either September 2 or 3,” he said.

Mehra had been forced to incorporate a happy ending for the sake of the distributors. He admits he erred with the substitute ending for “Delhi 6″. Now he wants Indian audiences to see “Delhi 6″ with the changed beginning and end.

“It’s the director’s cut, like Francis Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’, which didn’t make sense the first time. Later it went on to make history after the changes. We shouldn’t have been in a hurry to release a film which tries a new grammar and idiom. But the whole experience has been eye-opener. To make the changes in vision and then get selected for such an honour, is such a blessing,” he said.

The director, who hit the jackpot with “Rang De Basanti”, has been missing from the action after “Delhi 6″.

“I just went into a shell, writing. I’ve three subjects now and any of them could be my next film. Yes, I do want to do ‘Mirza Sahibaan’ with Sonam Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan. The two are like my piece of the art. It’s crazy what we share. I can’t put it in words,” he said.

Mehra and his wife N. Bharati, who edits his films, have just returned from a camping holiday from Leh and Ladakh.

“It was our first holiday since we started ‘Delhi 6′. We left after we shot the new version. I’ve grown wiser now. I’m happy I’ve gone for the sad ending in ‘Delhi 6′. This is a creative correction that has made me sleep easier,” said the director.

Aishwarya Rai is elated over bagging the main leads in two mega south Indian projects – Mani Ratnam’s “Raavan” and Shankar’s “Endhiran”.”Shankar had approached me previously to work with him, but it never materialised.

Finally, everything landed in place and here we are working together after 10 years,” said Aishwarya on the sets of “Raavan”. Tamil superstar Rajinikant, who is playing the male lead in “Endhiran”, was also very keen to work with Aishwarya and had tried to sign her for his earlier ventures – “Padaiyappa” and “Chandramukhi”, but the actress could not spare the dates.

Speaking about Ratnam’s “Raavan”, in which she once again teams up with her husband Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya said: “I don’t want to reveal much about it. Working with Mani is always a delight. He is a man of perfection. I am lucky to act in his movies again and again.” Aishwarya was earlier seen in Ratnam’s “Iruvar” and “Guru”, in which Abhishek was in the main lead.

While shooting for “Raavan” in the jungles of Kerala, the entire cast and crew had a scary experience when an elephant ran amok and killed 51-year-old mahout Andavan. The actors including Abhishek, Aishwarya, Vikram, Prabhu and Munna had to take shelter in a guest house. According to sources, the film personalities spent the night in the forest guest house and survived on bread and eggs.

After 12 hours of tension and waiting, the crew returned to their hotel. Now the cast and crew of “Raavan” has moved to Ooty where the remaining portions of the film will be shot.

It’s been just over a month since Priyanka Chopra joined the social networking and micro-blogging website Twitter and she has already got more than 11,000 followers, much more than Mallika Sherawat and Gul Panag put together even though they have been online for quite a while now.

Priyanka is known to be net-savvy and a lover of gadgets and it’s no surprise that she is taking Twitter quite seriously.

She has even been letting out some personal info about herself on the site. She recently posted that her parents gifted her a diamond bellybutton ring for her birthday on July 18 and that she’s got a piercing done. Not only that, she has uploaded some pictures too.

Priyanka is said to read all the messages sent to her and even takes time off to reply to her fans, as and when possible.

Catch Priyanka Chopra at http://www.twitter.com/priyankachopra