Now don’t let your tongue’s wag guy’s coz Vidya has not gone complete nude for the photo spread but has covered her nudity with a white bed sheet.

The Kismet Konnection girl will be seen shedding her clothes for the FHM magazine. For a change the girl-next-door would be seen posing sexily and seductively for the International Men’s magazine. And no prize for guessing the hottest snap of all is the one where Vidya covers her bare body with a bedsheet.

Vidya Balan opens up about the raunchy photoshoot, “I think what we shot for the cover was really very interesting especially where we used sheets and all and it’s just that there is a great sensuality to it. I always think that minimal make-up and no fuss hair takes away from everything and it’s all about the eyes,” she says.

Well with all the love handles and extra flab she likes to flaunt it was a good decision to cover up her body with a white bedsheet.

From the buzz surrounding it, on 08-08-08 Singh is Kinng will set the box office on fire. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif and is set in Punjab, Egypt and Australia. The music for the film has a strong Punjabi influence but there is also a mix of bhangra and R&B on some of the tracks. Though the music has been out for a few weeks now, we really wanted to take time and do a special review for the soundtrack. We asked two of our music reviewers, Sara and Stacey, to take a listen, and here is what they think about this soundtrack.

With Pritam at the helm one would expect a mind blowing album… so is it? Well, mind blowing, no. However, we do think it is a 3 star album with some jammin’ tracks that will get your feet a tappin’, your shoulders a dancin’ and will get you groovin’ to the bhangra beat!

First we have the highly anticipated title track, Singh is Kinng:

International rap artist, Snoop Dogg, makes his entry into Bollywood by lending his vocals for the title track of the album and accompanying him is the UK group RDB and Akshay Kumar. The song has been composed to be an anthem of sorts and in many parts it is effective. Snoop D-O-doubleG starts off the track with his rap bit introducing all the artists. Soon after RDB’s Labh Janjua follows with a musical note, and I feel it is the best part of the song. Akshay Kumar enters next, and I don’t know if we can call it singing because it is more like a dialogue verse in the song. The main problem with this song is that all three artists’ vocals do not run together smoothly and with the sudden interruptions between rap, singing and dialogues, the track turns out to be one random mess.

For me, Sara, this track had a big flaw and it disappointed me. Snoop D-O doubleG’s rap is just bad, and I mean in the complimentary sense of that word. I just wish the music of the refrain stood up to his rhyme. The refrain and the music that goes with it is just bad, in the uncomplimentary sense of the word. That section did not mix with Snoop’s rap or the other parts of the song. It would have been tolerable if it was at least one octave lower and also musically taken down a notch so it was not so mismatched. The repeating of ‘Singh is Kinng’ in that monotone was really quite annoying. Labh Janjua was good and Akshay did well in his rap/dialogue section. But again, Akshay was lost to the music and no match for Snoop Dogg. The weird transfer to bhangra beats near the end was annoying and again mismatched. I give it props for Snoop Dogg, he was real cool like, but the rest of the song did not fit and it is shame.

The last straw was probably his behavior at her birthday party recently when Salman Khan initiated a fight between him and guest Shah Rukh Khan that nearly came to blows.

The sources said that after the incident Salman and Katrina are not on talking terms.
“Katrina is blaming Salman for the entire episode,” said a common friend. Katrina was of the opinion that Salman should have restrained himself as he was playing the host. “But certain things are not in anyone’s control and it is destined to happen,” Katrina said in an interview.

A close friend of Salman said: “He is good at heart. He took initiative for the party to please Katrina. But everything went wrong.” Industry insiders have been talking about the cooling off of this relationship for some months now. The on-off affair has already toned down to a mere friendship, according to their close friends.

Salman has ruined his future with Katrina by his drinking habits and also his hang-up for ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai. Katrina is concentrating on her professional life, which is going great guns. She has also stopped taking Salman’s advice in her career and that has soured relationship between the two.The SRK- Salman spat at the birthday party must have hit the nail in the coffin.

The BIG evening arrived. The evening of 26th July. The evening when Madhuri announced loud and clear, yet again, that she is THE lady when it comes to making hearts ‘dhak dhak’ go all over again. Worldwide. And she did that in style. Making her debut in ‘Unforgettable’ at Los Angeles, she made a grand entry where she arrived with a horde of dancers who graciously made way for her to take center stage. What followed from there on was sheer magic!

- It was just the sound of ‘Ku Ku Ku’ (from the famous ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ composition by Lakshmikant Pyarelal) which was good enough to send the crowds in ruptures. No, Madhuri didn’t perform on this number but the one which kick started the event was ‘Ek Do Teen’, yet another LP composition from ‘Tezaab’. With a phenomenal crowd backing behind her, she went on to do many more tracks including A.R. Rahman’s ‘Kay Sera Sera’ (Pukar).

- However, the highlight of the evening was her pairing with Aishwarya Rai for the number ‘Dola Re Dola’. Ismail Darbar’s magic spellbinded a 20000 odd crowd yet again as Madhuri and Ash matched steps in perfect rhythm all over again. LA was enthralled but there was a lot more in the offering!

- Buzz is that 20000 patrons out there at the venue were actually occupying a space which was meant for 12000 people. No wonder, there were people all over including aisles. Production values at LA, rightly considered to be the ‘Mecca of global entertainment’, were huge and as per insiders, they were even better than what the stars had witnessed in the opening show at Toronto!

- With great sound to match, the props and lighting were great too. LCD curtains, backstage LCD screens, gizmos - all of them contributed to the LA concert matching standards as witnessed in international shows. As someone rightly pointed out backstage, it seemed as if nothing lesser than Madonna was performing LIVE!

- Talking about international standards and Madonna, audience didn’t care less since they had Amitabh Bachchan amidst themselves. Though everyone from Riteish Deshmukh to Madhuri Dixit had their golden moments while audience too having all the right reasons to rejoice, the atmosphere was altogether different with Big B taking center stage. He sung his famous numbers from the 70s and 80s all over again but the moment of the event was him reprising his unforgettable trademark dance steps for the number ‘Jahan Teri Yeh Nazar Hai’ [Kaalia]!

- Big B taking center stage comes with a story by itself. As everyone is aware by now, he has been indisposed for last so many days. He wasn’t in his best spirits till moments before his act and was wrapped in muffler and shawl. However, the moment he got into his costume and arrived in front of a roaring crowd, it was a different Amitabh Bachchan altogether. Not showing any signs of discomfort, he gave the appreciative ‘junta’ it’s paisa vasool moments!

q - Meanwhile the ‘bachcha brigade’ has been in it’s elements as well. Riteish is enjoying all the attention he is getting while kick starting the events and the LA concert was no different. Getting madder with every passing day, he is now used to the thunderous response his acts have been getting him. Even though the songs and the dances remain to be the same from one show to another, it is the improvisation and sheer comfort while occupying the stage which is making all the difference.

- Ditto for Preity Zinta who has been dancing away to glory with her many songs including the ones from ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ [Shankar Ehsaan Loy]. Humor too is accompanying her wherever she goes since now she is being termed as a Lady Soldier. Reason? The flu has spread it’s wings over the ‘pretty woman’ as well and at LA, she too took the stage in spite of being unwell!

- However, the man who is continuing to get more and more whacky day by day is Abhishek Bachchan. Yet another show, yet another entry from the crowds. And this time around, he also had a cradle/suspended platform (akin to what one witnesses with those who clean windows at high rises) for company as he juggled from one end of crowd area to another! He went berserk and also did the crowd, which continued to make this tour one evening to remember for all!

- While so much happened on stage, back stage drama was in full force as well. Vishal Dadlani shares an interesting anecdote. Apparently, while working on the sound design for the show, he was interacting with the Sound Engineer who belonged to LA and had earlier worked on setting the stage for international concerts. Oblivious to the stars for which he was working for this time around, he wasn’t clued in to the legend called Amitabh Bachchan. This is when Vishal woke him to the fact. He gave him a simple analogy. He asked him how would he react if he worked setting up the platform for someone like Elvis Presley. All dreamy eyed, the Engineer’s obvious answer was - ‘Unbelievable and over the moon.’ To this, Vishal replied, “Bro, today you are doing it for someone as legendary as Presley. Get your best work in place, stay tuned and do check out the response from the audience. You would have lived you dream!’

While it is obvious that the Engineer as well as thousands of fans did get to live their dream, it was another concert on another day, just in a matter of hours for the stars. As they moved out of a enthralling response in LA, it was time to board flight for San Francisco and rock the show. Again!

After delivering several popular albums including Partner, Sajid-Wajid are back yet again with another big budget Salman Khan film. But does this one really go as far as their previous work or is it a sore thumb in their roaring career graph?
The album opens with the title song, God Tussi Great Ho. With upbeat vocals by the hugely talented Sonu Nigam and Shankar Mahdevan, this song does have some universal appeal. Especially when the chorus chimes, you want to sing along. But other than that, the music is nothing special and doesn’t have the same memorable tunes as the magnanimous ‘Do you wanna Partner?’. There is also nothing new in the song, as all the instruments are those we have heard over and over again. It begins with a techno tune which courses throughout the entire song and then has the same old ‘shaadi’ type of drums and flutes. One would have expected the title track to be a bit more flowing and memorable. The lyrics also are utterly confusing and annoying!

Moving onto the second song of the album, Lal Chunariya, once again I have to admit that this song is nothing but plain. It reminds one of the song ‘Lal Dupatta’ in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi for which Sajid-Wajid also composed music. Really, it simply doesn’t sound fresh at all and everything from the lyrics, music, and feel of this song is ‘been there, done that’. It’s definitely a disappointing track with no great chorus and zero appeal.

Tujhe Aqsa Beach is the third track and has “winner” written all over it simply because of the fact that it has ‘Salman Khan’ written all over it. With a catchy chorus and unforgettable tunes, this song really sticks in your head and you end up singing along after one listen. The lyrics are very well crafted as well. They aren’t a ‘Dil se re’ or ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ but they certainly epitomize today’s generation in a fun and frolic way. Humorous and catchy, this song is one not to miss, although the short English raps in the middle were unnecessary. But all in all this is a great, fun, dance number.

From the beginning of the fourth track, Let’s Party, you can see that this song isn’t any different from any other disco-dance number. After finally building up with the third track, the album falls flat yet again. ‘Let’s Party’ is a song you really can’t bear after about one third of it. The chorus is extremely annoying with the same old tunes and the lyrics are nothing new. Overall, this song is lukewarm.

The last song is Tumko Dekha and it looks like they have saved the best for last. With a haunting melody and beautiful lyrics, this song indeed goes that extra mile straight into your heart. This is a lovely piece of work, one that might even make up for the other downers of this album. Yet still, it is not completely perfect. One could really have done without the suddenly fast momentum and the English lyrics in the middle which are very irritating! But other that that, this song is quite a rewarding listen.

Sajid-Wajid tried to re-create the magic this time around, but couldn’t find anything new or exciting to bring to the table. In all honesty, this album sounds like music we have heard in the early part of the new millennium. There is no single chartbuster that will appeal to the masses. The music of God Tussi Great Ho is definitely a downer, for the composers as well as the film in general.