Rumour has it that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was one of the first actress es to be approached for Milan Luthria's next with Ajay Devgn. But she reportedly turned down the offer to play a royal scion (the character is inspired by Maharani Gayatri Devi) when she heard that she would have many scenes with Emraan. The reason for this is the jibe the actor took at her, when he called her 'plastic' on Karan Johar's talk show Koffee With Karan Season 4. It has been two years since then, but it seems Ash is in no mood to let bygones be bygones. We reached out to Luthria, but until the time of going to press, he wasn't available for a comment.

Paromita Vohra (MID-DAY; May 4, 2014)

Now that everyone in Bombay who did not go to Florida for IIFA has voted and put up their selfinks (yes that's what they're called) and we are not arguing about Modi, Rahul, Kejriwal, let's talk about the really important, life-changing stuff. Yaniki, what I learned from Koffee With Karan Season 4.

1 General knowledge is the new personality. Earlier people who were not good looking were often spoken of thus — s/he is not conventionally pretty but they have a great personality. KwK S4 taught me that the only people who need to know stuff like who is the Prime Minister of India, the difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Robert de Niro, R D Burman and of course acting, are people who are not good-looking and not on the Bollywood A-list. For those who think this only applies to shallow Bollywood, please look around you. Got it? Good. Now go back to reading your general knowledge book like a good ugly duckling, please.

2 Big, and I mean BIG, film directors (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) can make fat jokes. Just because they are hosting a TV show does not mean they actually have to work at being funny. Please! That's like, so pleb, ya.

3 Mahesh Bhatt, Emran Hashmi, Shraddha Kapur, Aditya Roy Kapur were way more chilled out than all the upmarket guests put together. So, Vishesh Films has got something Dharma Productions hasn't. Or put another way, Dharma Productions has got something Vishesh Films hasn't. Maybe it's Chetan Bhagat.

4 Critics are — there, nothing more. So said Farah Khan and others. They don't count because only money can be counted. Maybe this is why Zoya Akhtar likes the term Silver Jubilee but Rohit Shetty is cool with the term 100 crores. No critic objected so, I wondered whether Farah Khan was wrong and actually they aren't even just there or they feel directors don't count (logical, if only money counts).

5 Movie people can decide nothing matters except money, fame and good looks, but the media has to be caring about human feelings of movie people and causing rishton mein daraar.

6 Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. That's why Juhi Chawla rocked and Madhuri Dixit couldn't find her footing, Mahesh Bhatt said he walked out of Rockstar (thank you!) and Emran Hashmi deserved the hamper.

7 If you try to say smart things in a ditzy crowd, you will sound ditzy. Had Sonam Kapoor understood this, she would not have tried to use the term queer accurately, to mean those who don't make conventional, heterosexist gender and life choices — on a show which was convinced that the only way a man would have sex with another man is at gunpoint. On the other hand — oh look! We finally found the plot for Dostana 2!

8 Mahesh Bhatt is more fun than Ranveer and the other fellow who came with him.

9 Once upon a time, KJo used to be fun. I didn't learn that in Season 4. But I remembered it suddenly in the episode with Anurag Kashyap. Where the love and admiration between the two created a conversational chemistry and Anurag blushed and Karan sparkled and there was candour, self-deprecating humour, thoda emotion and a frothy intimacy. Like the old episodes with SRK.

10 If you come back like that in Season 5 KJo, then (and only then) will all be forgiven. We bore the kabhi gham, for old time's sake. Next time kabhi khushi, or no vote from us.

Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with fiction and non-fiction.

Reach her at www.parodevi.com.

The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.

Katrina Kaif, out of choice, did not have a single release for over a year. There were some who questioned that decision, considering Deepika Padukone had managed to make a mark with three successes in Kaif’s absence. But the unparalleled success of Dhoom 3 has changed the equations all over again. The film is on its way to be declared as Bollywood’s biggest hit ever. And Kat’s sensational act in the film has dwarfed the competition. Looks like Kat saved the best for the last — no wonder industry experts now believe that with D3, she has reclaimed her position as the undisputed Numero Uno actress in the country.

When Kaif chose not to do any film until Dhoom 3 released, there were skeptics who believed she was making the wrong move. Industry watchers felt that this gamble wouldn’t work because ‘what would she have to do in an Aamir Khan film anyway?’

But Katrina followed her mentor Aditya Chopra’s belief in her. And her confidence bore fruit. No actress in the franchise (Dhoom) has benefited as much as Katrina.  Aishwarya did make a huge impact in Dhoom 2 but the star of the show was easily Hrithik Roshan. However, in the latest instalment of the series, Katrina is very much a factor for the repeat audience. Says a leading distributor from the North, “You have to see the reactions to Katrina’s introduction song. Yash Raj did the best thing by not revealing much of the song on television.”

The year was tough for Katrina. She didn’t have any release; her personal life was under scrutiny. And then there were people who tried to hit her professionally by speculating about her marriage. The last big voice to resonate that was Kareena Kapoor’s on Koffee With Karan. Needless to add, Katrina quickly corrected that stating that she had no such plans in the immediate future.

It has been a good year for Deepika and one cannot ignore her successful run at the box-office. Maybe if Dhoom 3 hadn’t created history like it did, Deepika would have been on a stronger wicket. But Adi Chopra’s all-time blockbuster just keeps getting bigger with every passing day. Most importantly, Katrina has a larger role to play in its success and that’s something that the audience as well as critics have agreed upon.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh cannot believe how strongly Katrina has struck back. “She has certainly got back with a vengeance,” he says. “One hit benefits everybody and changes the whole box-office popularity of a star. Katrina is definitely one of the main reasons, apart from Aamir and the Dhoom franchise, that D3 is such a big hit. Katrina is still super hot.”

“It’s difficult for Deepika or any actress for that matter to have another year like the year gone by — where you have three successes,” says a top exhibitor. “And then one film that is so huge, so beyond reach and so striking comes along and changes everything. Deepika will never have a year again when her closest contemporary, Katrina Kaif, won’t have a single release. That time has come and gone.”

The year 2014 will see the battle of supremacy getting fiercer. Katrina is well settled at the top once again. She has Bang Bang with Hrithik and Kabir Khan’s next with Saif as her next big ones.

But it’s not just her. Deepika now has to watch her guard from even Parineeti Chopra and Anushka Sharma, who’re tremendous performers and have a good slate of films coming up.

Trade speak

Komal Nahta
It was presumptuous and wrong of people to write off Katrina Kaif just because she didn’t have any releases this year. She was always in the top bracket and with the huge success of Dhoom 3 she has shot up even more. Apart from breaking records like the fastest Rs100 crore bracket etc the film will soon cross Rs200 crore and estimated to gross Rs300 crore in its lifetime figures.

She will then become the first and only heroine till now to have a Rs 300-crore film. While many things contributed to the success of Dhoom 3, including Aamir Khan, Katrina’s song Kamli has tremendous repeat value. I have had many people tell me that after watching Kamli they were ready to walk out kyun ki unka paisa vasool ho gaya!

Vikas Mohan
Whatever Katrina has done it’s a tremendous job and she has given 100 per cent to her performance. If people had been writing her off it’s because of her own stupidity! She wasn’t seen on screen the whole year. She has signed some good films next year — they become hits and she will be right back on top again!