Raveena

Monica Bellucci

Udit Narayan bows before Ranjana

Aishwarya

Aamir

Katrina

Salman

Kangana

Soutan Impact: 2006 opened with tales of Raveena Tandon pouring a drink into her husband’s ex-wife face at a party hosted by Farhan Akhtar’s best friend. Happily, Ravs didn’t deny the incident. Let’s raise a toast to the boiling spirit of the bubbly Ravs.

Sonia….Yet So Far: The minute Jagmohan Mundhra Provoked Sonia Gandhi by announcing a bio-pic on her distinguished life, doubts were raised about the film’s veracity. To make a film on Sonia with pin-up girl Monica Bellucci in the lead seemed as far-fetched as N. Chandra’s plans to make a film on Mrs Indira Gandhi with Manisha Koirala in the lead. Both plans bombed.

Wed Dreams: Udit Narayan said he had only one wife. His first wife, Ranjana, said he had two. Maybe, Udit didn’t know how to count. Or, maybe, he didn’t believe bigamy was a big deal. The Bihar Woman’s Commission forced the popular singer to accept Biwi No. 1. Maybe he should catch up on the collected works of Saawan Kumar on how to get away with a doosri biwi.

The Nightingale’s Flyover Symphony: Who would’ve thought an innocent declaration (that she’d rather not stay in Mumbai if a flyover was made across her home) would have Mumbai screeching against the country’s Bharat Ratna? Democracy, anyone? For weeks and months the press couldn’t get enough sound bytes on the importance of being Lata Mangeshkar. Strangely, the bridge has gone into a fridge for now.

Ash...Din Din Ka Fera: One thing must be said about the ‘fan’ from South Africa who sent Aishwarya Rai a small fortune in an envelope. He was no fan. Look at the chakkar that he put the beautiful actress in. Ash even had to fly down from Jaipur where she was shooting for Jodha-Akbar. From riding horses to battling controversies Ash did it all with dignity.

Salman’s Buck-ingham Palace: Can any year be complete without Salman’s scandalous doings? The black buck case cropped up again. This year Salman went back to jail, albeit for just a few days. Then the bail. Is ko kehte hain waqt ka khel. Salman also lost his hair, and not because of the jail ka khaana. All this added up to exorbitant delays in the completion of Jaan-e-Mann, Baabul and God, Tussi Great Ho.

Katrina’s Ahem, HemLine: Bare legs at a dargah…not done! Religious protesters wanted Katrina to…it isn’t clear what they really wanted her to do! Cover her legs or cover her. Maybe, just free tickets for Vipul Shah’s Namaste London? Or maybe they wanted bottles of the hair remover that preserved those amazing legs.

Salman-John, HELLO BROTHER- Bye Bye: Filmy friendships couldn’t get flimsier. While John kept mum, Salman made snide remarks about John at any given opportunity. So what happened between them during their Rock Stars concert? Maybe Mallika Sherawat has some answers?

Bipasha Ko Kis ne CHheda: Something happened during her ride to New Jersey for the Independence Day celebrations. The guys who drove her down made indecent comments. Bips refused to keep mum. They don’t make Bengali actresses temperamental for nothing.

Aamir’s Dam BUST: The minute Aamir spoke up for the Narmada Bachao Andolan it was time for an Aamir Bachao Andolan. A particular political party banned Aamir and his film Fanaa from Gujarat. Yash Raj Films wondered if casting another Khan apart from Shah Rukh was such a good idea after all.

Kim Cho??? Did Shamita Shetty and Kim Sharma really fight over cricketer Yuvraj Singh? Doesn’t matter. Because before year-end Yuvraj was fighting with others on his birthday. That’s why they call it a bash. Sha-bash, Yuvraj!

Kangana KO Khanke: Acid shock…. Kangana’s sister was acid-attacked in Dehra Doon. Who was the goon who wanted the poor girl done in too soon? “Why am I always in the news?” Kangana moaned. It’s called success, my dear. Get used to it. Though our sympathies on this are with Kangana and Rangoli.

Sholay KE CHHOLAY: The minute Ram Gopal Varma announced his decision to do a new version of Sholay, all hell broke loose. The producers of the original Sholay got cracking. Somewhere you feel Ramu enjoys all the attention. But the constant back-and-forth on the film’s cast and intentions made this the most talked-about remake of the year.

Manisha’s Dog Day afternoon: Woof, kya mussibat hai! A very careless reporter made a hash of things by writing that Manya had a canine named after a religious prophet. Morchas were taken out, effigies burnt, and the actress was all but driven out of the city. Turned out she had no pets! Except, of course, the ones on two legs. And none of them look like a a dog, anyway!