Akshay interested in Cooking

As Akshay is gearing up to host the reality show Master Chef in India, the actor is making sure that he hones his culinary skills before the show begins. Sources inform that, “Akshay, who is a superb cook himself, signed up for a culinary course recently to brush up his cooking skills. Akshay has been training hard so that he does not fall short when an emergency arises on the sets. He also wants to have enough knowledge about cooking and recipes so he can be a master chef himself before hosting the show.”
Everyone knows that Akshay started his career as a chef in Bangkok but the actor has forgotten how to fix a quick meal. Akshay does spend time in the kitchen whenever he has some free time after shooting or on a holiday and tries to conjure up a tasty meal for wife Twinkle and son Aarav.
The show will go on air by the end of this year. In the meantime Akshay is busy shooting for Anees Bazmee’s Thank you in Canada.

Currently, the actor is also in talks with the production house on ways to make the cookery show interesting. Akshay who had earlier hosted the reality show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi for two seasons had done some stunts himself to pep up his contestants. The show was a huge success. Similarly, Akshay will want to whip up a tasty dish for his contestants so that they are comfortable on the show. Will his culinary skills cook up a storm in the ratings? Let’s wait and watch.

Akshay Kumar is little busy right now

Akshay Kumar recently got stuck in a traffic jam and reached the sets of ’Tees Maar Khan’ a little late.

And Katrina, his costar in the lead, followed suit. So, what did didciplinarian director Farah Khan do? She gave them a dressing down!

Hear it in Akki’s own words: "Uh Oh! Over trained this mornin now I’m late stuck in one of Bombay’s finest traffic jams...Farah Khan’s gonna blow her top, luckily I have the excuse of Bombay rains to save me..thank u god :)."

This was what Farah did. "C i told u Farah was gonna kill me 2day:) she came storming out of d studio,screamin & cursing,banging on our van doors 4 nt being on d set."

And, here is the climax. "she scared the life out of Kat but of course was winking at me the whole time, what a woman :)" Kat should have been very uneasy as her delay in turning up at an endorsement appearance made it to the headlines recently.

Akshay Kumar in Indo-Canadian Film

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who is co-producing the Indo-Canadian film ’Breakaway’ on ice hockey, has roped in Vinay Virmani to play the lead.

The Canada-born actor, who attended the Lee Streesberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, will share screen space with Canadian actress Emily Van Camp in the film.

’Akshay is very excited about it since he’s had a longstanding bond with Canada and is looking forward to working with the team on the film,’ a source close to the project said.

Robert Lieberman of ’Mighty Ducks’ fame will direct the film that will see Vinay as an ice hockey player who hails from the Canadian South Asian community.

Akshay invited SRK for a special preview.

There was a time when Akki took potshots at SRK and his supposedly numero uno position in Bollywood.

Now, it seems that the rivalry betwen the two superstars is a thing of the past. Akshay invited SRK for a special preview of his latest release ’Khatta Metha’ and the ’King’ Khan obliged him readily. Since SRK is busy with his ’Ra. One’ shoot in London, he has requested Ashtavinayaka Productions to arrange a print for him, which he will watch at the brand new preview theatre he has built at his home.

Our sources say, there is nothing new about the friendship as the superstars were in touch for the past few months. A few weeks ago, SRK had landed in Film City at the sets of ’Patiala House’ and was seen speaking to Akki for a long time. So, his desire to see ’Khatta Meetha’ is genuine, he added.

Sajid Nadiadwala's Housefull prints hold for Iceland volcano eruption

In the absence of commercial flights to European countries following volcano eruption in Iceland, producer Sajid Nadiadwala has no option but to hire private jets to take the prints of his forthcoming comedy ‘Housefull’ to Britain and other countries in the region.

"This is most unforeseen. In all my years as a producer, I`ve never encountered such a a crisis. There`re about a 100 prints to be taken to Europe. Air traffic has come to a standstill," Nadiadwala told reporters.

Directed by Sajid Khan, ‘Housefull’ that stars Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Lara Dutta and Deepika Padukone, is set for April 30 release. As per the rules, delivery overseas has to be made a week in advance of the opening day.

Volcanic ash disrupted flights and most of air traffic to Europe was shut on Tuesday.

"I`m hiring private jets to carry the prints to the nearest city with an open air base. From there the prints will be taken to various European cities by train or road. I`m so desperate. I`m ready to employ any means of transportation - planes, trains, automobiles, whatever is available."

The added expenditure incurred by the paralysing of air traffic is the least of Nadiadwala`s worries.

"It doesn`t really matter how much money it would cost. The important thing is to get the prints to the European centres on time. Or else the entire overseas release would be affected."

The harassed producer won`t rest easy until a solution to the transportation deadlock is found. "It`s been one crisis after another for me. First, the underworld threats then this volcanic eruption."

So stressed is Nadiadwala that he hasn`t been able to enjoy the completion of his next project ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ that stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.

"Ranbir Kapoor had a wrap-up party for `Anjaana Anjaani`. But I wasn`t able to attend because of these two back-to-back crises at my workplace. Now I`ll celebrate only when ‘Housefull’ is released properly everywhere."

ESPN Star Sports and Houseful film to promote upcoming ICC Twenty20

ESPN Star Sports and Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment have tied up to promote upcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup and multi-starrer comedy "Houseful", both of which are opening April 30.

"Cricket is passion, cricket is entertainment and in the same way film is passion and entertainment. Hopefully every stadium where India will play will be houseful. During the first year of ICC Twenty20 World Cup, `Heyy Babyy` had tie up with it and India won the final," said director Sajid Khan, at Taj Lands End Hotel here Wednesday.

"This is the third time we are coming in tie-up with ESPN and Twenty20 and hopefully this time India will again bring back the cup and our film will also do well."

This is the third time after "Mujhse Shaadi Karoge" and "Heyy Babyy" that Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment and ESPN Star Sports have joined hands together.

The forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 will be held in West Indies From April 30-May 14.

Sajid Khan considers it as a lucky tie-up.

"Arjun, Riteish, Akshay, Lara and myself have done a series of ads for Twenty20. It`s a sort of a lucky tie-up. I think this is good for ESPN Star Sports and the film. We had collaboration twice and every time we were mutually benefited," he Sajid.

Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Dheer share a strong and emotional bond together

Actor Akshay Kumar inaugurated the ‘Abbhinnay Acting Academy’ on Thursday. The event was hosted by veteran actor Pankaj Dheer (popularly known for his character ‘Karna’ in the hit series Mahabharat), his brother Satluj Dheerand Sunita Hariharan.

Akshay and Pankaj Dheer’s friendship goes back right from Akshay’s first film. They share a strong and emotional bond and out of this emotional bond Akshay willing agreed to inaugurate the academy. They have worked in six movies together including ‘Ikke pe Ikka’ and ‘Mr.Bond’.

The event started at 8 am at the Academy itself, which is situated in Jogeshwari. Present at the event were the proud owners Pankaj Dheer, Satluj Dheer and Sunita Hariharan, the faculty members and celebrities like Saurabh Shuklaw, Javed Khan and Mrinal Kulkarni. Hiten Paintal was present to support his dad Gufi Paintal, who is the head of the faculty department.

By opening an acting academy, Mr. Dheer has fulfilled his dream. “I strongly feel that the need of the hour is to have an acting school that will not only teach the technical aspects but also make one understand life, people, emotions and relationships. Acting is supposed to revolve around ‘Navras, a method of teaching that is long forgotten. Exploring the ‘Navras’ is the essence of our teaching. This is what Abbhinnay Acting Academy is all about.”

Abbhinnay Acting Academy is a world class Institution, setup with the objective of providing such aspiring and talented youngsters with the skills and techniques required to excel in the art of acting. Managed and run by well-known industry professionals, the faculty consists of some of the most sought after names from FTII- Pune, NSD-Delhi and our very own Hindi film Industry.

Photos: Akshay Kumar Launches Pankaj Dheer’s Abbhinnay Acting Academy