“I want to make it clear that Sarkar Raj has nothing to do with Godfather 2,” Ram Gopal Varma asserts. The director of this week’s release does not want his film to be compared with Francis Ford Coppolla’s classic. This is odd as, having seen the film I can say that its plot about the underworld activities of a powerful Mumbai family mirrors Coppola’s Corleones. Further, some sequences in Varma’s homage are lifted directly from the Hollywood original.

Varma also denies that his movie is a sequel to his earlier Sarkar (2005). “It does not take off from where Sarkar ended.” His lead man, Amitabh Bachchan contradicts him: “Yes, it does take up from where Sarkar left off.”

Is Varma suffering from memory loss? This is because he openly declared on the Sarkar DVD cover that he was influenced by The Godfather trilogy. “Yes, Sarkar has been inspired by the classic film. I have been deeply influenced by Francis Ford Coppola’s unforgettable movie, both in technical style and content.”

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the new addition to the cast. She plays the feisty head of a foreign company which aims to build a power plant in Mumbai at any cost. Amitabh Bachchan, her father-in-law, comments on her performance: “Most of her films have done the obvious with her by capitalising on her natural assets. Sarkar Raj does not pay attention to it. She is devoid of make-up and it works well.”

Bollywood nights in Bangkok

In addition to hitting the big screen this week with the aforementioned Sarkar Raj, the Bachchan’s will be attending this weekend’s International Indian Film Awards (IIFAs) in Bangkok. Director Karan Johar is expected to host the award ceremony on Sunday and the stars have already started to arrive in order to practice their dance routines. It remains to be seen whether Shah Rukh Khan will attend but Aamir Khan will definitely be giving the event a miss. Aamir does not attend Bollywood award functions “as they lack credibility”.

Will Shilpa sue?

Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and a host of other A-listers have been confirmed to appear as narrators in an audio-visual film to be used in the background to a new play, City of Dreams which opens in Mumbai on June 13. It is a stage musical about a small town girl who dreams of becoming a Bollywood actress. Sounds familiar? This was the subject of Shilpa Shetty’s recent ‘dancical’ Miss Bollywood.

The name game

Anupam Kher’s Bollywood acting school will open in London in September. His son Sikander, who made his debut in last week’s release Woodstock Villa, is keen to dissociate himself from his father’s name. “I have never used my surname and I like being called only Sikander.” Another star son, Abhishek Bachchan disagrees: “The truth is that I will be no one without the Bachchan surname. Abhishek is nothing without Bachchan.”

Brits in Bollywood

Last week’s BBC broadcast about the experiences of ‘Brits in Bollywood’ was unintentionally hilarious. Wanna be Bollywood actor British Asian Ateesh Randev revealed that he missed having “a cup of tea from a teapot” and “fish and chips”.

Bollywood Brad, London hunk Upen Patel boasted of his lavish Mumbai lifestyle: “You can have staff. I have a driver, maids, cars and bikes!” Patel cannot believe his good luck as back in Blighty he thought he “would do law and stuff.”

Coffee, tea or me?

“Men would ask me out for coffee and drinks and more!” Kunal Kapoor laughs when he talks about his trip to Sydney. The Rang de Basanti hunk did not realise that his hotel was bang in the middle of the city’s gay district. Is it his favourite city? “Bangkok is like a home away from home as my sister lives there. It reminds me a lot of Mumbai – the craziness, the noise, the traffic. I love it!"

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