PERFORMER & ENTERTAINER

Kristina Guerrero on Main Street Mantra Show!

Kristina Guerrero is a Film major at UNLV where she is planning to put her focus on screenwritng. Entertainment is where it is for her. She is doing everything she can to break into the entertainment industry by networking and doing performances for UNLV as well as around the Las Vegas area. She has been singing ever since she was a little girl. Her mom always tells her stories of when she performed in Christmas pageants and school events. Her parents encouraged her to succeed in whatever she did, and she feel like they put and extra emphasis on her success as a musician and as a performer as a whole. As a result of her parents’ persistence, she is now able to write her own lyrics and compose her own music, which is a reflection of her life experiences and emotions.

She also acts, writes, dances and models. She some great opportunities lately to model for companies such as Redken 5th Avenue and the Magic Fashion show held here in Las Vegas every year. So far, she has been having such a great time doing what she loves to do, which is to perform. She says “I cannot see myself doing anything else. This is what I love to do. It’s who I am. It’s how I live.”

At the moment, she is part of an open casting call for the Fox TV show GLEE. The way for her to get on the show as a regular cast member is if people vote for her to be on it. All you have to do is sign into myspace.com and go to http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions?link=115140939 and that will take you directly to her audition tapes. From there, you just give out stars. She says, “I just want to thank everyone who has supported my thus far. Knowing that people believe in me and what I do really means more to me than I can even imagine.”

Overall a performer and entertainer blooming to be the superstar of tomorrow!

KAREENA AND SAIF

I think those scenes, and our pairing, have been blown out of proportion by people who can only think of us as an off-screen couple. When the audience sees Kurbaan, I want people to forget Saif and Kareena Kapoor and see the film for Ehsaan and Avantika, because on screen we only do what our characters demand.

We’re serious actors… creative artistes, cinema is our business, we’re passionate about our careers, our work, we have individual takes on cinema and that is what makes us push ourselves to do films like this one where the roles are powerful. Really, this is not some candy floss-mini skirt love story… it is a love story, yes, but intense and complicated, and beautifully woven with terrorism to be a thriller.

Of course, Saif and I are happy to come together in this film, but it’s not as if Dharma Productions had us in mind from the start. I remember Karan Johar spoke to us individually. He chose us separately as actors, because Avantika’s role was so apt for me, and Ehsaan’s was almost written for Saif. It’s great if directors like Karan, and Shriram Raghavan of Agent Vinod, pair us together as actors because they believe we can sink our teeth into meaty roles… and not just because Saif looks hot and I look beautiful, as a jodi. We’re not selling ourselves as a pair, you know.

But, yes, Kurbaan was a great journey because of Karan… and a special one because of Saif. Karan is not just a professional filmmaker with whom I discuss cinema, he’s a friend and philosopher on whom I rely upon when taking the most personal decisions. He’s truly a superlative person, multi-tasking all the time, making films, but always available for family and friends. There was also director Rensil D’Silva, who is edgy in personal life, so he brought a fresh take to the film that was real and slightly borderline… but it being a Karan Johar film, Kurbaan is also commercial, so there’s a wonderful balance.

As for Saif… what can I say, he is truly one of the best actors in the country today. So versatile. And, like with Aamir Khan opposite whom I am also cast in my next film, there’s also so much to learn from Saif. They keep me on my toes. Aamir is a method actor, Saif is both — method and spontaneous, you cannot take one Saif Ali Khan film and put it into another… you cannot compare an Omkara with a Love Aaj Kal. And while I enjoy different schools of acting, I rely on spontaneity, so I could glide through my role in Kurbaan as a result.

It’s different working with Saif because we know each other so well and there’s the need to switch off and go into character. That’s why we chose a real and serious kind of film instead of some romantic comedythat had flippant roles. It was easier to perform because the scenes were raw and edge of the seat.

Switching off Saif and Kareena and switching of Ehsaan and Avantika was complicated, difficult, but in the end, that is what made us select this film. The roles. And that’s what I want you to see it for.

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

Ghajini gal Asin Thottumkal will be seen romancing opposite Junior Bachchan in Ashutosh Gowariker’s upcoming flick ‘Khelein Hum Ji Jaan Sey”, which is based on the Chittagong uprising.

Abhishek Bachchan will be donning the character of Surjya Das in the film.

Previously, Gowarikar offered the same role to Abhishek’s real-life wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

A source said, “This will be the first time that Abhishek and Asin will be paired opposite each other. The film’s first schedule will tentatively start around November 25.”

There are also reports that the actress accepted the role in the movie without even seeing the script as Gowariker’s name was connected with it.

‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ will be Thottumkal’s third Bollywood movie after Ghajini and London Dreams, which is due in theaters on October 30.

TOGETHERNESS IN DEATH

The burial vault above the remains of Hollywood film star Marilyn Monroe has been sold for more than $4.6m (£2.8m). More than 20 offers, starting at $500,000, were received for the space, located in the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

The vault had been advertised on the auction website eBay by the widow of the current occupier. The name of the buyer has not been revealed – except for the initials OS, used to take part in the auction.

The space was auctioned by the widow of the man buried – face down – above Monroe, to raise enough cash to pay off the mortgage on her Beverly Hills home, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.

His remains would be moved sideways to a neighbouring plot to make room for the new occupant, said widow Elsie Poncher. Her eBay advert was entitled “Spend eternity directly above Marilyn Monroe”. Richard Poncher died 23 years ago at the age of 81.

The Westwood Village Memorial Park is the final resting place for many celebrities, including Dean Martin, Natalie Wood, Truman Capote and Farrah Fawcett.

STARRY DREAMS OF RUBINA ALI

Rubina Ali, child star of Slumdog Millionaire, recounts a day with Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman in her new book Slumdog Dreaming: My journey to the stars, published by Random House, India.

Nicole Kidman was seated on a sofa, her long golden hair falling down on her back, looking a bit lost. When I came in, she stood up and came over to me, incredibly beautiful in her long, white dress.
“Hello, I am so pleased to meet you. How are you?” “Fine, thank you.”

After a few months of studies at the Aseema School, I now knew how to say a few basic sentences in English. But it is always very hard for me to understand foreigners’ English as they speak very differently from my teachers.

Meeting Nicole Kidman up close, I realised that she looks like a beautiful doll. I have never met any woman as tall as her. I thought all the women from my slum would be so small in front of her. But her skin, lips and hands, they were all perfect. I thought if I touched her, she might get dirty.

Indian actor, Arjun Rampal was there, too. When I shook his hand, he praised me and complimented me a lot on my acting in Slumdog Millionaire – so much that I blushed!