Preity Zinta’s complete focus on her IPL team may irritate the Wadias (the rumour is that the Bombay Dyeing seniors aren’t happy that though the major monetary investment is theirs, King’s XI Punjab is known as Preity’s team!) but her filmland colleagues aren’t really surprised. In the decade or more that Preity has been an actress, she has gained a reputation for being thorough with her homework.

There’s a new film coming called Heroes in which Preity plays a true-blue Punjaban with Salman Khan as a Sikh with a turban. There are also lots of other actors like Sohail Khan and Vatsal Sheth (the young actor who starred in Tarzan The Wonder Car) in it. On a flight sometime back to Chandigarh for the shooting of Heroes, a nasty downpour in Mumbai and heavy air traffic in Delhi forced Preity-Sohail-Vatsal to stay inside the aircraft for nearly 12 hours.

Instead of grumbling about it, Preity suggested to her two carefree co-stars that they go over the script together and be ready to shoot when they land. Of course, they eagerly agreed but when the actress pulled out her copy of the script, her two co-passengers were taken aback. Preity’s script was almost worn out with elaborate notes on the reverse side of every page. “We were zapped,” says Vatsal, “and embarrassed to take out our own comparatively neat copies of the script. It was a complete revelation to us that such an established actress had done such impeccable homework. From her costumes to her hair to her mannerisms and her dialogue, Preity had made elaborate notes in fine detail on every page. When we asked her what the notes on the script were all about, she told us that this is how she always works. Once she accepts a role, she does her own research and makes detailed notes to help her performance.”

For her role in Heroes, Preity didn’t stop with making notes. She also did a stint in Anupam Kher’s acting school to loosen up and prepare herself for the role of a robust Punjabi.

The Wadias should actually be impressed that Preity brings so much homework to the table and throws in the glamour that no bank balance can buy in the market. Zinta’s success is no fluke sixer.

Just as the Big B (the Big Blog) proves that Amitabh Bachchan’s articulate ways need no dialogue writer. You can see that AB has decided to simply sit back and enjoy life whether it is as an actor or as a writer. On screen, he is today paid for what he can deliver as an actor and not for the commercial run of a film. As an actor he may be answerable to his audience for his choice of roles or for his own performance but Amitabh no longer carries the burden of ensuring a great run at the box office. And so he dabbles in whatever he fancies — he can revel in the role of the benign Bhoothnath and not really be perturbed by the producer’s profits; 2006-2007 may have been lousy when he bedded a teenager (Nishabd) and picked his nose (Aag), but now with Sarkar Raj around the corner, the power of his performance and presence can be felt even in the promos. Amitabh Bachchan is having the time of his life.

His blog too, carries the same feel of a man out to say what he likes — and too bad if ‘thin-skinned’ journalists can’t take it as good as they give.

Both Amitabh’s and Aamir’s blogs also prove that they can give any scribe a run for his money — our celebrities are as ‘bitchy’ and ‘gossipy’ as the columnists they regularly run down. And the next time a star cribs that journalists get sensational to prop up circulation figures, you can safely retort that a celebrity will write about his dad or his dog to get more hits on his blog!

Ah, with dogs being fashionable, here’s one on Bhoothnath’s wife — the efficient Neena Kulkarni who played AB’s weeping wife in the ghost film. Neena’s Labrador bitch was mated a few months ago with Rani Mukerji’s male pet over three sessions. Wonder what Rani feeds her Lab (thoda pyaar, thoda magic perhaps?) for Neena Kulkarni’s pet came home pregnant and delivered 11 healthy pups at one go!

Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor of Movie Mag International