Because he doesn’t think and work in the usual filmi-commercial way. Of course he loves success but he would not sell his soul for it. He would never accept a role he would not love to play even if it most certainly would take him to the (absolutely overvalued) 100-crore club. Instead, he will always choose scripts and roles he is convinced of even if he does not expect a blockbuster from them.

Because of his decision to play those unconventional characters. He has given us such great and diverse characters and outstanding performances in his relatively short career. From his film debut as Ranbir Raj in Saawariya to Raj Sharma in Bachna Ae Haseeno, Sid in Wake Up Sid, Prem Shankar Sharma in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Harpreet Singh Bedi in Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Samar Pratap from Raajneeti and Akash in Anjaana Anjaani. Most recently his breathaking transformation into JJ in Rockstar and now his Barfi that gave us so much without him ever speaking a word!

Because he is open, straightforward and self-confident without being (in a negative way) arrogant. He is always friendly to fans and to journalists, even holding their dictaphone because he talks so softly.

Because he is down-to-earth and loveable and shows a lot of respect to elders and colleagues.

Because he is attractive. Okay, he is no classical beauty and no brawny model – but thank God he is not!! Instead, he radiates character and intelligence which makes a man more attractive than any sixpacks and model looks. And he can be so CUTE, that smile has slayed many a heart!

Because he is carrying on the Kapoor legacy in the best way possible by giving awesome performances in All his movies.

Because he doesn’t take his success for granted just because he belongs to the Kapoor clan. He goes his own way. And we appreciate that his family never promoted or hyped him (compared to other star kids). Ranbir is where he is today not because of his name but because of his talent and his deliberate way to use it.

Because he is a showman. He is so chilled and easy-going and fuss-free when he is on stage or in shows. It simply feels good to watch him.

Because he is a damn good actor, correction, artist. The effortless with which he masters the most various roles is amazing, and his intensity and charisma set the screen on fire.

Because we can’t wait to see what he will bring us next! We are sure that once again it will be something new and something that will make us say Ranbir Kapoor Rocks!

Happy Birthday Ranbir Kapoor!

With contributions by Meera Sharma, Bodrul Chaudhury, Samreen Tungekar and Stacey Yount.

Department is going to provide gripping action, drama, dialogues and men at their most powerful and raw, and is said to be based on realism rather than fantasy. The three male leads are Amitabh Bachchan who plays a politician turned ex-criminal, Sanjay Dutt who plays a bad ass cop who wants to destroy under world mafia, and Rana Daggubati who plays a cop who is a sub-ordinate to Sanjay Dutt. RGV explains, “The character Sarjeroa played by Mr Bachchan represents a Machiavellian character, whose power lies in his manipulation and deception. The character Mahadev played by Sanjay Dutt represents an ultra dynamic character whose power lies in his dual personality which he very successfully hides. The character Shivnarayan played by Rana Duggabati represents a shoot first and talks later kind of a character, whose power lies in obedience to people who he respects!”

Other members of the cast are Abhimanyu Singh as a cruel criminal, Vijay Raaz as a mafia don escaped from police custody, Madhu Shalini as a female gangster and Rana’s love interest, Mohan Babu’s daughter Manchu Lakshmi Prasanna as Sanju’s wife and, not to forget, Nathalia Kaur in the much-awaited item number “Dan Dan” choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. Soundtrack and background score coordinator Devansh Patel reported from the sets, “Our minds have been inflexed by lots of item songs and their item girls over the last two years but this one is from another league. As Nathalia grooves to the ‘Dan Dan’ song, she brings along a never before seen sensuality and vigour to her performance – a combination so lethal that men will certainly have to take a second birth to understand the concoction of this half Indian half Brazilian Kingfisher Calendar 2012 supermodel.” RGV raved, “I frankly have not seen a girl in the last ten years with more grace and expression along with an angel like body and a classically beautiful face than Nathalia Kaur.”

RGV also promises, “Department is being shot in a format that no one has seen before in India. The camera angles are completely new for Indian cinema.” Even Amitabh was impressed when he tweeted from the sets: “Another day at ‘Department’ and RGV’s 5D technology … cameras everywhere, in every corner and space and no DOP ..!! Fascinating.”

The Official Fanpage on Facebook “JoinTheDepartment” already provides a storyline: “Alarmed at the hitherto unseen escalation in underworld criminal activities some top officials including the home secretary, the home minister, and the director general of police hold a secret meeting in which they take a decision to create a new unit which is unofficially referred to as ‘The Department’. They summon a man (Sanjay Dutt) who had a certain reputation in the police to head ‘The Department’ and he in turn choses a team to assist him. This man and a protégé (Rana Daggubati) of his from the team emerge in the front line of the department’s operations and under the tutelage of a gangster turned politician (Amitabh Bachchan) in no time literally finish off the underworld but in the due process they become the underworld themselves. ‘Department’ is going to be primarily about the circumstances under how these two men were parented and about their deadly relationship with each other.”

So let’s look forward to May 18 when Amitabh, Sanju and Rana become “legally illegal”.

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After Munnabhai MBBS (2003) and Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006), Sanjay Dutt will play his most endearing role again: Murli Prasad Sharma, called Munna, the gangster with the golden heart. And again, Arshad Warsi will accompany him as his loveable sidekick Circuit.

Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Raju Hirani had planned another sequel of Hindi cinema’s most popular franchise already after Lage Raho Munnabhai was released and became a huge blockbuster. At that time, they had intended to send Munna and Circuit to Amerika to teach Gandhigiri to George W Bush. But after My Name Is Khan showed a similar motive, Chopra and Hirani dropped the plan of Munnabhai Chale Amerika and started working on another plot for Munnabhai 3.

As the wait grew longer and longer, rumours started doing the round that Sanju and Arshad might be replaced by Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi – a rumour which Aamir immediately rubbished: “That’s completely untrue! I have no clue what it’s all about, nor has Raju [Hirani] narrated me its one-liner. I distinctly recall, I hugged Sanju after I watched Munnabhai MBBS. He was incredible in that film. When I think of Munna, I can’t think of anyone except Sanju. For me, Sanju is Munna.”

So Aamir aswell as all the other fans of the Munnabhai series have all reasons to rejoice as Vinod Chopra now confirmed, “Sanjay and Arshad are returning to play Munna and Circuit. We are developing the script right now, and the film should start in 2012.”

With this film titled Munnabhai Ki Aatma Katha, the list of the most awaited sequels in 2012 definitely got one exciting addition more.

On Saturday, Ajay started shooting for Son Of Sardar in Patiala. Most of the cast members are already on site; Sonakshi Sinha is “looking forward to a great outdoor schedule, packed with some balle balle!” Other cast members are Vindu Dara Singh and Juhi Chawla (“Son of sardar …. Beeaautiful haveli … Lovely location in the midst of green fields … Misty cold air … Rising sun …”). Sanjay Dutt will join the team later in December, and Ajay is already looking forward to working again with his buddy: “Shooting in patiala 4 SOS n d cast has finally arrivd ystrday. Wrk startd full swing! Only Sanju missing. Waitin 4 him 2 gt hr n wear a pag!”

Otherwise Ajay is very cautious and silent about his home production, which is planned to release on 30th November 2012. He has chosen the locations in Punjab and roped in Sajid-Wajid for the soundtrack. A first track sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is already recorded.

Amitabh Bachchan told his Twitter community, “Just back from ‘RockStar‘ and living in the brilliance of all – Imtiaz Ali, Ranbir, AR and Nargis” while Karan Johar assured, “Watched ROCKSTAR…and am a certified Ranbir Kapoor fan!! His performance is unbelievable!” Bipasha Basu had been one of the first to tweet, “Ranbir Kapoor as Jordan,U have to fall in love with him!Imtiaz Ali is an outstanding filmmaker!”

Filmfare editor Jitesh Pillaai exclaimed, “What an overwhelmingly beautiful film is Rockstar. And what a standout bravura performance from Ranbir Kapoor. Imtiaz Ali, Ranbir take a bow.” Amul Mohan was touched by both Ranbir and Shammi: “Rockstar in one word, sensational! What an acting performance by Ranbir Kapoor take a bow! People welcome a great actor to the industry. Watching Shammi Kapoor on screen in Rockstar is like a dream. N watch out for Ranbir’s homage to him.” And Shailesh Kapoor, though harshly critizising Imtiaz Ali and Nargis Fakhri, praised Ranbir’s ” stirring performance” and added, “I have decided that I’ll sue anyone who takes Ranbir Kapoor’s name in the same breath as Imran Khan.”

Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap was overwhelmed: “Rockstar is not so much about rock as it is an individuals story…its another kind of coming of age film..just can’t get it out of my head. It is easily Imtiaz Ali’s best. This is how a love story should be told. Soul stirring. Still assimilating. It is unlike most films.. no cacophony of sounds..quiet.. no unnecessary background to propel it forward..Ranbir is just awesome. Such an unexpected film.. does not take any easy route.. does not become a clap trap or a crowd pleaser..It’s just so heartfelt.”

Devansh Patel of Bollywood Hungama joined Kashyap in his opinion that Rockstar is more than just another easy-going popcorn film: “It takes time to absorb some movies and in rare cases you come across films like ROCKSTAR that make you think ten times b4 u pen the review”, adding: “One advice to all the movie buffs: Stop judging movies on ‘rating’ and ‘stars’. It’s not about saving money or a pound or a dollar, it’s about your passion for cinema that should make you want to buy a ticket.”

Kashyap’s colleague Viveck Vaswani demonstrated his respect to Rockstar and the movie’s makers and audience: “Rockstar presumes the audience is grown up and flaws notwithstanding respects them! That’s why its going to be a hit! Ranbir performs for an audience presuming their intelligence and without patronizing them for a second! That’s why its a milestone! Imtiaz Ali has made a film which, flaws notwithstanding has redefined the average age of the Indian audience! As did Udaan, Delhi Belly! Post Rockstar, the bar has been raised! And 21 cr business in 2 days proves the audience will always respect those films that respect them!”

Words every film maker should hang over his desk and remember forever.

Department is a movie about the relationship between underworld organizations and police departments, or as RGV says, “Department is about the personal lives of the cops, how their family equation and social lives get affected by their job. My film Company was about the politics in the underworld. Department is about the politics in the police department.”

In this department, Sanju plays Mahadev Bhosale, a sincere cop who fights the underworld mafia and who is feared by many criminals more because of his mind rather than his gun. His role is said to be based on the real-life character of encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, but RGV quashes rumours about Department being a film about encounter killings. Neither will he show Sanju in uniform or in “that stylish cool-dude way” in Department. “He is playing a very realistic character.”

Even Sanju’s other cop role he’s shooting for (parallel with Department) is based on a real-life character. Anand Kumar’s Zila Ghaziabad is a dramatic thriller about the mafia in Ghaziabad, with Sanju playing a cop resembling the late Thakur Pritam Singh, a famous cop called The Badshah of Bulandshahr from the West UP town of Bulandshahr, who was notorious for his unorthodox way of dealing with criminals. As the producer Vinod Bachchan explains, “The film is based on Thakur Pritam Singh but the story has been modified suitably to make it interesting for the 70mm. I too am from UP and belong to the Etah District of the state and for us, Thakur sa’ab was a hero. He was a man of courage and he had his inimitable style, which is still emulated by people of the area. When writer Vinay Sharma approached me with the script, I was prompted to make this film.”

So even though he has played cops many times before, this time it’s different for Sanju, and like in Shootout At Lokhandwala where he met and interacted with Aftab Ahmed Khan, the man his role was based upon, he did background research also for Department and Zila Ghaziabad. He asked for pictures, documents, articles, anecdotes to learn as much about Pradeep Sharma and Thakur Pritam Singh as possible – very astonishing for this actor who usually is not known for method acting but is, as Raju Hirani once called it, “completely an instinctive actor”. But in this case, Sanju doesn’t want to take chances. He wants to play these two cops as differently as possible – and he wants them to look authentic.

He even asked both filmmakers to show him rushes of the film to check whether he achieved his goal. “Sanjay Dutt knows Department is a very special film for him. I’ve always believed he has one of the strongest screen presence,” says RGV, while Vinod Bachchan confirms, “Yes, Dutt Saab asked to see his look and presence. So I made a special trailer of the film and took it to him.”

Way to go, Sanju!

Rascals is a comedy about the joys of conning where Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn play two cool competing conmen trying to out-scheme each other in consistently amusing and surprising setups. But when both fall for the same girl (Kangna Ranaut), the competition reaches an all new level as both men constantly attempt to outwit each other to win over the surprisingly elusive Kangna! Since much of the comedy involves people taking advantage of one another, having everything put forward in such a gossamer manner that ‘Rascals’ becomes an enjoyable journey throughout with an interesting twist at the end…

Well, the man who might have a say in this twist at the end could well be Arjun Rampal who, according to co-producer Dharam Uberoi, plays “the big boss of the conmen Sanju and Ajay” and whom David Dhawan sees as “the surprise package of the film”. Arjun, who usually is very selective when it comes to do cameos, agreed immediately when Sanju offered him this role – not only because it was Sanju who asked him (“The film is his home production, and I have to do it”) but also because he liked his part: “It’s a fun role in Rascals and Sanju called me up to ask if I could do it. Though it’s a cameo, I loved the script and my character. And I enjoy doing comedy.”

Comedy isn’t a foreign word either for Sanju and Ajay who both have excelled in comedies in the past; as David Dhawan says, “Sanju’s as well as Ajay’s comic timing are just superb”. Sanju and Ajay had already shared screen space in Mehbooba (which later got delayed and was released only in 2008) when they came together for David’s comedy Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (2002). Here they already flashed their terrific chemistry which they developed to perfection in All The Best (2009), that hit film which gave both Sanju and Ajay awards as best actors in comic roles.

And surely they are ‘rascals’ in real life too. David Dhawan admitted laughing, “Sanju and Ajay are big pranksters. I was cautious around them, especially if they were together, because they were always conspiring against me! Especially Sanju is quite a rascal! An amazing and loveable rascal, but a rascal nonetheless,” smiled David who began his career as a film editor and worked on quite a few of Sanju’s films like Naam and Jaan Ki Baazi. And when David wanted to direct his first film, none other than Sanjay Dutt was willing to work with the newcomer-director in Taaqatwar (1987). Since then, David and Sanju have been friends (“I don’t have a professional relationship with Sanju, he is more like family”) and worked together in five more films, and it was a matter of course for Sanju to sign David for the maiden production of his banner Sanjay Dutt Production Pvt.Ltd (together with M/s Rupali Aum Entertainment Pvt.Ltd).

David Dhawan compares his two ‘rascals’ Sanju and Ajay with Tom and Jerry: “The fact that Ajay and Sanju are such good friends is the best part of Rascals. When two actors have great rapport between them, it always shows on screen. The entire give and take between Ajay and Sanju is what brings maximum laughter in the film. For the audience it would be fun to watch the two of them in sequences which would be akin to ‘Tom & Jerry’ chase. I really enjoyed working with the two of them. With Sanju and Ajay around I got the kind of actors that my script demanded and together both of them have improvised further on the scenes. This is the kind of value that senior actors bring to your film. As a director you just need to explain the scenes to them and then they just take them to a different level altogether.”

Being a big fan of Manmohan Desai (“I have always maintained that Manji has been my ‘guru’”), David also thought of Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna while shooting with Sanju and Ajay “who are easily today’s Bachchan and Khanna”. Surely it was a great moment for him when Big B in person unveiled the first Rascals trailer on August 11 – after a phone call from Sanju who shares a deep friendship with Amitabh since the latter’s early steps in the industry supported by the late Sunil Dutt.

Besides Kangna Ranaut and Chunky Pandey, Rascals will also see Lisa Haydon who enjoyed working with the two rockstars Sanju and Ajay and dancing “Shake It Saiyyan” with them (music by Vishal and Shekhar, choreography by Bosco and Caesar). Asked about who was the bigger prankster on the sets, Lisa called it a tie. “But they have their individual styles. Sanjay is fantastic at imitating people. David sir (David Dhawan) is cracking up all the time too and Ajay has a scary sense of humour. He says things in a serious tone, so it would take me some time to actually figure out if he was joking or not,” laughed Lisa. However, ask her who was the biggest rascal on the sets, and she smiles, “Me”.

In spite of their funny references (as seen in the trailer) to their prominent roles Raghubhai (Vaastav) and Sultan Mirza (Once Upon A Time In Mumbai), Sanju and Ajay are calling themselves Chetan and Bhagat in Rascals. Which made writer Chetan Bhagat comment on Twitter, “The good thing is, takes two stars to handle my name. I could live with that ;)”.

With Rs.500,000 per school, toilets for girls and facilities for drinking water, rainwater harvesting, and sports and games can be created. The fund raising target of the 12-hour telethon on NDTV had been Rs.5 crore for 100 schools. In the end, the target was even exceeded: Rs.7 crore will give 139 schools across the country a better life.

‘I think we have touched a chord that even 65 years after Independence, we haven’t been able to provide separate toilets for girl students in government schools. As a next step, we now pledge to visit each chief minister to urge them to provide in their next budgets Rs.50 crore to Rs.100 crore for creating basic infrastructure in government schools,’ said NDTV chief Pranoy Roy as he wound up the telethon.

‘It is important that the entire nation gets together for this initiative,’ cricket star Sachin Tendulkar said after NDTV anchor Vikram Chandra launched the telethon. During almost nine hours he gave many tips to Mumbai school students present in the studio and, in an interactive session via video, to children all over the country (‘Sachin ki Paathshala’); he showed his skills and even was the centre of the quiz ‘All about Sachin’ with school children which was hosted by NDTV sports editor Sonali Chander and actor Boman Irani (who, in a funny scene, caught Munnabhai Sanju trying to ‘cheat’ during the quiz). Sachin never grew tired of appealing for donations and made a contribution of Rs.500,000 each on behalf of his children Arjun and Sara.

Sanjay Dutt joined the telethon for several hours as a co-host, gave out jadoo ki jhappis to donors and helpers and even made a donation of Rs.10 lakh. The same amount was given each by Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar. Govinda enjoyed the public paying a dancing tribute to Shammi Kapoor. Even Gulshan Grover, Neha Dupia, Dia Mirza, Darsheel Safari, Shabeer Ahluwalia and many other stars, dancers and musicians joined the telethon which was telecast live on all NDTV channels until the news of the earth quake on the Sikkim-Nepal border came in on Sunday evening. Nevertheless, many small and big donations continued pouring in and in the end gave a result which will make many school children in India happy.

Sanju is very happy about the chance he got offered by producer Karan Johar and writer-director Karan Malhotra. “I was spellbound by the way Karan (Malhotra) conceived his Kancha Cheena and happy that I was getting a chance to show people what I was capable of as an actor,” he beams, adding that at first he was wondering “how I could play someone so chillingly evil”.

Well, he obviously could, and his co-star Hrithik Roshan is sure that Sanju’s Kancha Cheena will be as unforgettable a movie villain as Amrish Puri’s Mogambo (Mr India). A statement which makes Sanju smile: “Mogambo and Sholay’s Gabbar Singh are my all-time favourite bad men,” he assures. At the trailer launch he had named “Gabbar” Amjad Khan as his favourite villain actor.

Sanju also underlines Karan Johar’s statement that this Agneepath will not be a remake but rather a tribute to Mukul S Anand’s Agneepath (1990). It will be “more earthy, raw and grounded,” he says. Some of the old characters like Mithun Chakraborty’s role were dropped from the story while new ones like Rishi Kapoor’s Rauf Lala were included. This new Agneepath will be a new interpretation of the Vijay-Kancha story, not a copy of the old one.

That’s also why Sanju paints another Kancha Cheena portrait than the suave Danny Denzongpa in 1990, and the most obvious difference is Sanju’s clean-shaven head. “We’d earlier thought of going in for prosthetics but when we reached Diu it was so hot that the make-up started to melt. That was a problem because it took three hours to put it on and two hours to take it off. So, I decided to go bald. And when I looked into the mirror after my session with the barber, I got a shock because I’d never had a mundan (tonsure) even as a child,” he says and adds with a laugh that his twins Iqra and Shahraan at first were confused by their dad’s bald look. But they soon got used to it, especially as Sanju spent every weekend at home during the long schedule in Diu. “It was a long ride after a physically gruelling schedule but the children are too young and I didn’t want to disconnect with them for 60 days,” he explains and adds, “Now they are wondering why small, prickly hair have suddenly sprouted”. No doubt, Sanju is a very happy family man, and he knows whom to thank for: “Having Manyata as my wife is the best thing that could have ever happened.”

The first look of Agneepath was launched on August 29 and was immediately creating waves. “With over 80,500 hits within 48 hours of Agneepath’s trailer being uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Dharma, this is the first time that a movie trailer has generated so many views on a single site alone,” Dharma Productions happily reported. Besides Hrithik’s intensity, it was above all Sanju’s evil and menacing look which grabbed eyeballs even on many other websites. Many people compared his look with Lord Voldemort and are looking forward now to the Hrithik-Sanjay fight on January 13, 2012.

For a whole week after the trailer launch, Sanjay Dutt was trending on Twitter in Mumbai. But surely not only because of the “Dark Lord of Bollywood”. In those days people also got to see new promos of David Dhawan’s Rascals starring Sanju, Ajay Devgn, Kangna Ranaut and Arjun Rampal. “We had a blast shooting for Rascals,” Sanju says about his maiden home production which will be released on October 6, three weeks before SRK’s Ra.One where he will be seen in a cameo. And not to forget the first witty promos for Bigg Boss 5 showing Sanju and Salman Khan in a playful mood. “The chemistry between Salman and me is evident in the promos,” Sanju smiles. “He’s like the younger brother I never had and I’m glad he’s gone to the US for treatment. I pray that he returns soon, healthy and cured.”

Seems like Sanju is a jack of all trades nowadays. But surely he finds his biggest happiness at home with his wife and his cute twins who will turn one year on October 21.

According to sources from the sets, Sanju will be doing some tough action scenes with Priyanka Chopra as his sidekick. SRK personally asked Sanju to do this cameo in Ra.One, and Sanju had agreed immediately, refusing to even talk about money. So SRK found another way to express his gratitude for Sanju by donating him an Italian motorbike which had been Sanju’s secret wish. To deepen their bond, Sanju recently invited SRK and some friends to his place for dinner after which SRK raved on Twitter about Sanju’s hospitality and his beautiful twin babies.

After Sanju’s short appearance in Om Shanti Om, this will be the first time Sanju and SRK will share screen space in action.