Newsbytes!

Star attraction: Akshay Kumar

Guess who was the star attraction at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations in New Delhi last week? Akshay Kumar! The actor brought the house down with his Punjabi song and dance.

While most stars lip-sync during stage performances, Akshay sang the song himself while dancing nonstop -- without getting breathless. "It comes from healthy living, I guess," the actor states. Proper eating habits, enough sleep, no alcohol and cigarettes, nothing addictive except work is Akshay's magic mantra. "And you cannot call me a teetotaler because I don't drink tea either," he grins.

Incidentally, while Akshay was the hot favourite at the NRI meet, his favourite was Tamil actress Simran. "I loved the way she sang and danced on stage. She was terrific!" says the actor, whose latest film Talaash isn't as big a washout as it's made out to be. "It's doing very well in the North Indian states. But it's a disaster in Mumbai and overseas," he confirms.

Meanwhile, wife Twinkle seems well-adjusted to her new status of motherhood. "My son Aarav and my work as an interior designer keeps me busy round the clock. Fortunately, my baby is very well-behaved, though he does seem to have a temper," she smiles. Proud father Akshay answers queries about Aarav with a ready quip, "Oh, he is in the gym now, checking out the scene well in advance!"

"So I'm a year older, what's the big deal!" smiles Hrithik, who celebrated his birthday on January 10 with family and close friends. He reveals that his cell phone was bombarded with calls throughout the day. "Since I changed my number recently, I cannot understand how so many people got through."

"Since my debut film, Kaho Na...Pyar Hai, I've hardly had a chance to be in the country during my birthday. This birthday, I experienced my fan's enthusiasm for the first time," he says. Fashion designer Anna Singh threw a quiet party for the star in the evening. "That apart, there was the usual havan in my home," smiles Hrithik.

When filmmaker Bunty Soorma died suddenly leaving his Arjun Rampal-Amisha Patel love story unfinished, Vikram Bhatt took time off from his busy schedule to do the needful. But now, the project has run into financial trouble and the director finds himself at a loose end, with the shooting dates allotted to the film threatening to go to waste.

"I don't know what to do. Footpath is complete and Aitbaar is on the floors. I need to start a film after that," sighs the workaholic director. But there's no need to fret as [producer] Ekta Kapoor is waiting in line to start a film with him, with her brother Tusshar playing the lead.

Anbesivam has competition

Kamal Haasan-Madhavan starrer Anbesivam, one of the Pongal releases (on January 14), has a lot of competition. But the main competition comes from Vikram-starrer Dhool, which released a few days before the festival, on January 11.

"Dhool opened ahead of Pongal and has a taken a phenomenal opening," says Madhavan who wrapped up shooting his latest Tamil film Priynanan Thazi in Ooty on January 13, to be back in Chennai for the release of Anbesivam. "I'm very nervous about this film because the audiences expect the sky from me and Kamalji."

After working with Karisma Kapoor in Rishtey, Anil Kapoor teams up with her sister Kareena in Dharamesh Darshan's Bewafaa.

"If I may say so myself, we look really good together. We shot a scene yesterday but the regular shooting will start next week," Anil informs.

Incidentally, he may be cast in Ram Gopal Varma's international espionage drama Ek. Says Varma, "I am developing a role in my script for which Anil would be ideal." Though Varma has been teamed with brother Boney for a number of films, he has not worked with Anil so far.