Kareena Kapoor fills Rai Bachchan role

Kareena Kapoor will reportedly play the role initially planned for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani.

According to the Times of India, Bhansali hoped to make the epic 18th century love story in 2003 with Bachcan and Salman Khan but the project was shelved when the couple's relationship ended.

Bhansali is allegedly reviving the project after casting Kareena Kapoor in the lead female role opposite Khan.

The story is based on Indian folklore about General Peshwa Bajirao and his wife Mastani.



'Guzaarish' producers defend smoking scene

The producers of Guzaarish have defended Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s smoking scene in the film, describing it as a script requirement.

Responding to a protest letter sent by the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE), producers UTV said: "The scene in which the character played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is shown smoking was merely a creative requirement for the script."

The organisation objected to posters for the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film featuring the scene in which the actress smokes.

"The poster of the film picks and chooses the same frame in their advertisement campaign. Actually this is a clandestine advertisement of a tobacco product," a NOTE spokesperson told PTI.