While we don’t need any list to prove Aishwarya Rai is beautiful, the West certainly can’t seem to get enough of her. And marriage to Abhishek Bachchan certainly hasn’t seemed to have affected her appeal.

In a list on the 100 most beautiful women today published by the current Harpers and Queen Magazine, the former Miss World has been placed ninth. Interestingly, she bagged the same position in the publication’s list last year too.

Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie topped the list followed byy supermodel Christy Turlington, Queen Rania of Jordan, film director Sofia Coppola and celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.

The compilation was made by 1000 experts from the all over the world from varied fields of fashion, arts and the media.

Ash, who is shooting in Karjat for Ashutosh Gowarikar’s ‘Jodha d Akbar’, was not available for comment, but hub by Abhishek is certainly one lucky man, wot say?

For all those who care to look beyond Mallika Sherawat’s bosom, news is that the actress is turning a businesswoman. She is all set to start a production house with her brother Vikram very soon. If she chooses to produce the kind of films she acts in, other production houses will have to shut shop soon!

Apparently, Mallika has wanted to start a production company for quite some time and now finally, the idea is crystallising. The name of the film will be Blue Velvet and the actress is currently busy finalising scripts for her company.

A source informs, “Mallika has launched her banner Blue Velvet and is currently reading piles of scripts that she has received. She intends to support projects that she believes in. Many filmmakers have dropped their scripts at her office and from what we hear, upto 50 scripts are being scanned right now. Her brother Vikram will be looking at the financial aspects of the firm.”

The source further adds, “It is quite likely that Mallika will start her production house by backing the stuck film Fauj Mein Mauj which is directed by Murli Nagavalli, who has been an assistant to Priyadarshan earlier. The film has Mallika Sherawat playing a female cadet in the Indian army. The film also stars Sahil Khan, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav.”

However, Ravi Walia the producer of Fauj Mein Mauj denied it, saying, “There is no truth in it. My film is being solely produced by me and I have no clue if Mallika is turning a producer or anything.”

What is good for the goose is good for the gander. And Bipasha Basu recently proved this when she was caught kissing Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo at a pub in Lisbon. Reportedly, John Abraham is extremely upset and embarrassed after he saw pictures of Bipasha kissing the 22-year-old star, on the Internet.

Both of them were co-hosts for announcing the New Seven Wonders of the World that took place on last Saturday evening in Cristiano’s home country Portugal.

John has been shooting in Pondicherry for Nagesh Kukunoor’s Aashayein and had been very supportive of Bipasha when there were constant reports of their relationship hitting troubled waters. He even dismissed rumours and announced that both of them are very much together and he has intentions of getting married to her. However, the latest kissing controversy has taken its toll on John and he has gone completely quite after the Bipasha- Cristiano pictures were splashed all over.

A source on the sets of Aashayein at Kailash Beach Resort near Pondicherry says, “John was pretty cool and mingling with everyone on the sets till the day before evening. However, he came to know about this entire episode only after he returned to his room after packup. When John started surfing the Net, he was shocked to see pictures of Bipasha splashed everywhere. Obviously, Bipasha had not informed him about this whole episode. John seemed very upset and what added to his misery was that everyone knew about the episode.”

John was very embarrassed to face anyone from the unit and preferred to be alone after he learnt about the controversy. He spent the whole day in his room.

“Even yesterday he only came out of his make-up room when he was called for the shot. He shot for the film, but it was very clear that he was very embarrassed. It is still very unclear whether he had spoken to Bipasha after this news had come out,” adds the source.

“It was very sad to see an otherwise cheerful and warm John looking completely down and out. It is quite obvious that he is upset and shocked. However, being the professional that he is, he hasn’t thrown any tantrums,” says the source.

It’s great to be…
In a city where I love to come back time and again. Kolkata has always been very special to me. Why, even my mother is a Bengali!

I’m looking forward to…
Cash with an ensemble cast, Bits and Pieces with Rahul Bose, Sanjay F Gupta’s Alibaug and Krazy 4. All these films are slated for release this year and I hope I don’t find egg on my face.

I prefer…
An ensemble cast to one where I play the lead. Lately there has been an upsurge in ensemble cast films and they only seek to up the ante.

Modelling for me…
Is a redundant word now. I feel there’s very little intelligence involved when you’re posturing. It’s when models leap over to films that they prove their acting prowess. Small wonder then that the most sought-after faces in Bollywood are all models!

I dislike…
Getting pigeon-holed. Bollywood suffers from it; a fear that plagues all actors. I have tried hard to cut loose and do roles that I have believed in and enjoyed working in.

As actors…
We allow ourselves to get stymied. I say act like it’s your last shot. No force on earth can circumscribe me.

For a change…
I was quite excited playing a TV journalist in Shootout at Lokhandwala. The final product hadn’t quite shaped up the way I thought it would. My character was left wanting. But again, I’m an actor and my role ends there. Any extension of it offscreen would be cut short.

Ever since she broke up with cricketer boyfriend, Yuvraj Singh, there’s been a shocking silence from Kim Sharma’s end. At first we thought the girl is still trying to come to terms with the painful break-up, but we saw her recently, and changed our mind. Kim is looking hotter than ever before (if that’s possible); the girl’s on a complete health trip - with hours of work-outs, yoga topped with an ultra healthy diet. Looks like Kim wants to restart her career with a new avatar, with no strings attached and no distractions. And of course, the signal is that she’s hot and single. Is she ready to mingle? We’ll let you know as soon as we find out.

For Salman, charity begins at home. And that’s why he has recently launched his Salman Khan Foundation. The idea to start his own charitable trust took off when SRK called him to appear in his show. And now, we hear the actor did another bit for his trust. In spite of being down with a cold and fever recently, he danced at the wedding of a Mumbai business magnate’s son. And giving him company were Akshay Kumar, Shahid Kapur, Priyanka and Lara, who charged astronomical amounts of money to dance at the wedding. But, unlike the rest of the stars, Salman apparently didn’t charge a penny. And guess what the reason for this was? The business tycoon, it seems, had bought some of Salman’s paintings at a very high price. And the money was deposited with his foundation. So, when it came to doing his bit, Salman was more than happy to oblige the tycoon. Now, what do we call him - a good boy or a bad boy?

It’s not easy being Preity Zinta. For the last two days she has been wincing in pain, hobbling around while shooting in the outskirts of Chandigarh. “We’ve been shooting here for Mera Bharat Mahaan. Yesterday, while doing an outdoor scene with Salman Khan, I was running barefoot when a nail pierced the sole of my foot. At that time I didn’t feel the pain so much. But as the day progressed my foot got worse. I’m still alive and kicking. These things don’t bother me much, except that this one is hurting a lot,” says Preity.

Preity had to take a tetanus injection. “And now my arm too is heavy and swollen. So I’m managing on one foot and with one arm. Although I’m in considerable pain I’ve to continue shooting because we have to wrap up this week. Oh, the hardships of being an actress,” she jokes.

Preity will shoot next in eastern India. “While last year I was out of the country most of the time, this year I’m on an extended Bharat darshan. I got quite sick of shooting abroad all the time. 2007 is my India Year. It’s so nice to see the interiors of the country. Right now everything is so green and lovely in Punjab. It feels good to know one’s own country even if I’ve to limp my way through the hinterland,” she winces as she draws attention to her injured foot again.

There were practical problems about shooting in Chandigarh. “I’ve been hanging around cows and buffalos. I’ve never been so close to nature before. Out here where we’re shooting there’s a jamun (blackberry) tree and a kairi (mango) tree. Every day I feed the buffalos and pluck jamuns. But the whole world lands up for the shoot. The crowds get quite unruly and the fan attention does tend to distract from the work at hand. We have to tell them, ‘Hum kaam kar rahen hain.’ And they look strangely at us. ‘We thought you were shooting.’ So yeah, it does get quite hectic,” she says.

Things have ended between Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor. It has already been said that the newly-flourished love between the two upcoming actors has died out completely.

The story has moved forward now. Or backward, actually. To rewind a bit, when love blossomed between Deepika and Ranbir, she had promptly moved out of then boyfriend Nihar Pandya’s house with whom she had been living for the past two years.

Now, we hear that after her break-up, she has promptly moved back with Nihar again.

Says our source, “Things were just not working out for Deepika and Ranbir and they decided to call it quits. Now she has moved back with her ex-boyfriend, Nihar Pandya with who she had been staying ever since she shifted to Mumbai from Bangalore. Incidentally, she has also recently bought herself a house in Bandra.”

The source adds, “The Om Shanti Om production team needed to send across some documents and dialogue sheets to Deepika’s place for her to read. When the production member asked for her address, Deepika said, ‘Send it on my old address’. When the production member asked whether she meant her earlier address, Deepika made things very clear by saying, ‘Yes, my old address. I have moved back with Nihar.’”

When contacted, Deepika refused to answer our question. She simply said, “Nihar and I are good friends and we continue to be so. But I am single, and the only love of my life right now is Om Shanti Om and my new house. I am very happy doing it up.”

Bipasha Basu is getting bigger. If the current event of things is anything to go by, than, the sultry actress is flying high. Though she may have grabbed eyeballs for her cosy pictures with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in a Lisbon nightclub, all the fame is now translating into concrete stuff. Simone Sheffield, Aishwarya Rai’s manager for international projects, has now taken up Bipasha’s work too. She will be handling all works and meetings of the actress in Hollywood. “Yes, from now on, I will be representing Bipasha in the international market. There are already lots of meetings lined up for Bipasha. She’s got a bright prospect here. With her kind of striking looks and demeanor to go with it, there’s no doubt that Bipasha has enough potential here,” says Simone.