ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Growing up in a small, isolated village in Austria, he turned to bodybuilding as his ticket to a better life. Prior to that he served a mandatory one year in the Austrian military (beginning in 1965). After conquering the world as arguably the greatest bodybuilder who ever lived, he went to America to make his name in motion pictures. Hampered by his impossible name and thick accent, success eluded him for many years. It wasn't until he found the tailor-made role of Conan that he truly came into his own as a performer. A succession of over-the-top action films made him an international box office star. By alternating violent action films with lighter, comedic fare, he has solidified his position as one of the most popular - if not the most popular - movie stars in the world. After his long, and successful movie career, he ran in the California recall. He is now the Governor of California, yet another celebrity to be elected to the position.

NICOLAS CAGE(7 JAN 1964)

The son of comparative literature professor August Coppola (a brother of director Francis Ford Coppola) and dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang, Cage changed his name early in his career to make his own reputation, succeeding brilliantly with a host of classic, quirky roles by the late 1980s.

Initially studying theatre at Beverly Hills High (though he dropped out at 17), he secured a bit part in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) -- most of which was cut, dashing his hopes and leading to a job selling popcorn at the Fairfax Theater, thinking that would be the only route to a movie career. But a job reading lines with auditioners for uncle Francis' Rumble Fish (1983) landed him a role in that film, followed by the punk-rocker in Valley Girl (1983), which was released first and truly launched his career.

His one-time passion for method acting reached a personal limit when he smashed a street-vendor's remote-control car to achieve the sense of rage needed for his gangster character in The Cotton Club (1984).

In his early 20s, he dated Jenny Wright for two years and later linked to Uma Thurman. After a relationship of several years with Christina Fulton, a model, they split amicably and share custody of a son, Weston Coppola Cage (b.1992).

Harman versus Imraan- The battle of the debutants!

Aamir Khan is determined to make a success out of his nephew Imraan's career, come what may. And even if that means taking on the competition headlong, so be it. Anything for family, seems to be the marketing motto, as Harry Baweja puts in 80-crore plus Priyanka in the hi-fi sci-fi Love Story 2050 to ensure his son's super success on July 4.

Enter Aamir Khan with nephew Imraan's Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na and on same Friday as Harman's debut. "The Bawejas were shocked," says a source close to the film. "They had planned and strategized their film's release almost six months in advance. They had spoken to all their potential competitors from Salman and God Tussi Great Ho to Ram Gopal Varma and Sarkar Raj to Apoorva Lakhia 's Mission Istanbul and Aziz Mirza's Kismat Konnection to Yashraj and Tips. Harman called them up personally to make sure his film comes on a freed Friday. Then suddenly Aamir showed up to create an almost Saawariya-Om Shanti Om crisis. Jaane Tu's release was nowhere in sight when Love Story 2050 was announced. Suddenly they came out of the blue! "

Harry Baweja made a panic call to Aamir. Says the source, "Harry Baweja knows Aamir from the time he did B. Subhash's Love Love Love where Harry was an assistant director. Ever since then they've been in touch. When they spoke, Aamir told Harry he was indeed thinking of coming on 4 July. The reason given was that Sanjay Gadhvi's Kidnap in which Imraan has a key role was coming on July 25. Aamir reasoned that Imraan couldn't have two releases too close to one another. Later, the Bawejas were horrified to know that Kidnap was scheduled for August 22. Harry urged Aamir to move his film to July 11. But Aamir is adamant. "

Incidentally, Genelia Dsouza who plays Imraan's leading lady is also Harman's girl in his second release Victory. "The Bawejas first trailer started on a Sunday. That same day a blog went up saying 'Imraan Versus Harman'. That's when the Bawejas first came to know that the Khans were planning to release on the same day. Since then there has been a systematic campaign to bring down Harman on the blogs with comments like 'Harman looks gay'. He looks like a lot of things. But not gay. One of the blogs comments cattily on actors like Hrithik Roshan and Harman Baweja relying on their physique. Someone even broke into a website (wikipedia.com) sponsoring Harman's film and defaced it. They even changed Harman's picture to an unidentifiable man, and said the film was budgeted at 60,000 rupees and was to be released for 30 seconds in July 1950. The Bawejas traced the defacers to Delhi. The identity of the hackers was used just once, to deface Harman's face."

Harman smiles off all the competition. "Healthy competition is always welcome. I'd rather focus on my work. We've just started the promotion of our first song. It's one of the costliest songs ever filmed."

Newcomer knocking on Bollywood's door!

Sikander, who has been working in the industry since the age of 15, has also gone for acting workshops to hone his acting skills.The most significant debut was of Sikander, son of versatile and acclaimed actors Anupam and Kiron. Critics have given his acting prowess the thumbs up in "Woodstock Villa" that released Friday.


A clear pointer that the industry is short of saleable stars and is flush with cash is that Sikander already has another film completed and ready for release. His next is "Summer 2007" by director Suhail Tatari that is likely to hit the silver screen in mid-June. The film also stars Gul Panag, Ashutosh Rana and Sachin Khedekar, among others.

Ditto for Sikander's "Woodstock Villa" co-star Neha Oberoi, who also debuts in the film (she had a small part in "Dus Kahaniyaan"). Neha, who is related to director Sanjay Gupta, will soon be seen in a film starring Sanjay Dutt called "Easy Monthly Instalment (EMI)".

Celebrity News

WHEN SANIA MIRZA MET SARKAR ?

The Bachchans are all excited about their forthcoming film Sarkar Raj which opens across cinema halls this coming Friday (June 6).

Just last week, Amitabh along with beta Abhishek and bahu Aishwarya attended an event in the suburbs where the background score of Sarkar Raj was launched by T-Series. With the IPL mania finally coming to an end, all are now eagerly awaiting one of the first big releases this summer. And it’s not just our aam junta who is looking forward to this film but it seems that even tennis sensation Sania Mirza is eagerly awaiting the release of Sarkar Raj.

In fact just the other day, Sania was shooting next door to Amitabh Bachchan at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. When she knew that ‘Sarkar’ himself was in the vicinity she expressed her desire to meet him and wish him luck for his film. It may be recalled that Sania had even come on Bachchan’s popular game show KBC a few years back. Big B immediately came out of the shoot, when he heard that Sania has been waiting to meet him. After the exchange of pleasantries, Sania introduced her mother and sister to the superstar, and they wished him all the luck for Sarkar Raj. What’s more, Sania even appreciated the promos and said that even though she would be traveling abroad next week, she would definitely take time out and watch Sarkar Raj

Looks like Big B has yet another solid fan added to his humongous list of admirers.