Aspiring Bollywood Actress Beheaded by Actors She Met On the Sets of ‘Heroine’

An aspiring Bollywood actress was murdered by two fellow actors she ‘befriended on the set of her latest film’.
Meenakshi Thapa, 26, was kidnapped and beheaded last month by Amit Jaiswal and his lover Preeti Surin in an attempt to receive a ransom payment.
She had met the pair on the set of Madhur Bhandarkar’s yet-to-be-released film Heroine, where she had a bit-part role.
Thapa’s mother is believed to have paid 60,000 Rupees for her release, but never saw her daughter again.
Detective have said they believe she was strangled in a hotel and her body was hacked into pieces and thrown in a water tank.
Then in a final act of callous depravity her head was thrown from a moving bus on its way to Mumbai.
Mumbai crime branch policemen recovered the body from Surin’s house in Allahabad on Wednesday.
Jaiswal and Surin confessed the crime to the Mumbai Police after their arrest on Saturday night and said they were taken in by Thapa’s pretentious stories about her ‘affluent family’.
‘The accused believed that Thapa was from a wealthy family because her lifestyle, despite not landing a big film role, hid the fact that she actually came from a middle-class background.
They plotted to kidnap her for a ransom of 1,500,000 Rupees and kill her after the payment was made,’ a police officer said.

Thapa was a struggling actress who earlier played a minor role in last year’s horror film 404 and she appeared in some TV commercials.
Her Nepalese-origin family has settled in Dehradun some years ago. Like her, Jaiswal and Surin were struggling for a toehold in the film industry.
The duo lured Thapa to travel with them to Gorakhpur. There they held her hostage and called up her family demanding the ransom.
The police said they told Thapa’s mother that they would drug her daughter and make a pornographic film if she didn’t deposit the money in the victim’s account. They also took her debit card.
The mother deposited 60,000 Rupees in Thapa’s account, but that didn’t save her daughter.
A police officer said: ‘They returned to Mumbai from Allahabad by bus. On their way they threw out the bag.’
In the meantime, Thapa’s brother registered a complaint with the police in Dehradun on March 17 about his missing sister. The Mumbai Police were promptly alerted.
In Mumbai, the killers thought they had done away with all evidence but for one slip. Jaiswal still had Thapa’s mobile phone SIM cards.
These led the police to the duo hiding in suburban Bandra.
‘They confessed to the crime, but couldn’t tell us exactly where they threw away the head during their journey from Allahabad to Mumbai,’ a police officer said. Jaiswal, 36, and Surin, who is 10 years younger, were originally from Allahabad.
They eloped after Jaiswal’s wife discovered their affair and landed in Mumbai to try their luck in films.
Instead they scripted one hell of a murder that could even spook Bollywood scriptwriters.

Arjun Rampal Gears Up For Prakash Jha's 'Chakravyuh'

Arjun Rampal has wrapped up shooting for Madhur Bhandarkar's ambitious film Heroine and now the RA.One star is gearing up for Prakash Jha's Chakravyuh.
 The film deals with issue of Naxalites and will be shot in Madhya Pradesh. Arjun, who will play a cop in the movie, jetted off to Bhopal last night.
 "On flight heading to Bhopal. Goodbye all wish me luck a grueling 2 months await me. Chakravyuh begins. Love and luck to all," tweeted Rampal on his page.
 Reportedly, Arjun will do some heavy duty action scenes for the film and has been training hard to get into the skin of his character.
 Meanwhile, the 39-year-old star has also signed Apoorva Lakhia's Zanjeer remake in which he'll essay the role of Sher Khan.
Charavyuh went on floors yesterday and features Esha Gupta, Abhay Deol and Manoj Bajpai alongside Rampal.

Madhur Bhandarkar Granted Relief In Preeti Jain Rape Case

Madhur Bhandarkar can now heave a huge sigh of relief, as the Supreme Court (SC) has stayed the criminal proceeding against the filmmaker, in Preeti Jain rape case.
 
 In July 2004, Preeti Jain, an aspiring actress, had lodged a complaint against Madhur alleging that he had raped her several times between 1999 – 2004, on the pretext of marrying her and casting her in his films.
 In her statement, Preeti had then said, "We had sex 16 times and Madhur made promises of giving me a lead role in his films. However, he didn`t offer me a lead role in any of his movies. At times when I refused, he raped me."
 A lower court found substance in Jain's complaint and asked Madhur to face trial in the case. Bhandarkar then moved the apex court challenging the court's orders. In 2011, the police too supported the director, by filing a report that the case against him was false.
 And today, SC granted him relief in the case. Reacting to the verdict, the 43-year-old filmmaker said that eight years of his life has been ruined due to the case.
 Madhur Bhandarkar, is presently busy with his opus Heroine which stars Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Randeep Hooda in the lead roles.

Madhur wants Kareena Kapoor to be 'Halkat Jawani' of Heroine

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar wants to break the tradition of the industry regarding, casting another actress to do an item track in his film. Instead, the filmmaker who is making his most ambitious project Heroine has asked his leading lady Kareena Kapoor to turn into an item girl for a song titled ‘Halkat Jawani,’ which is said to be incorporated in the under production project.
 Bhandarkar says, “I know Kareena can do justice to the item song. With an immense talent, she possesses, Bebo will rock the dance floor with the item track called Halkat Jawani. I am sure the audience will remember this one for a longer time to come.”
 With Chhammak Chhalo’s success last year and Dil Mera Muft Ka, in Agent Vinod this year, the magic of Bebo in Halkat Jawani is definitely set to work for Heroine.
 Madhur also wants to prove a point to other filmmakers that his actress is capable enough not only to enthrall the audience with her performance but also impress them with her jhatka’s and latka’s at the same time.

Randhir Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor And Madhur Bhandarkar Unveil UTV 'Walk of the Stars'

Bhandarkar’s next film to be a Political Thriller

Madhur Bhandarkar is currently working on ‘Heroine’. His next film is said to be a political thriller, based upon the politics in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He is confused between Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra to play the politician’s role.

 A close friend of the filmmaker revealed, “Vidya would suit the role of the mature politician to the T. And after working with Priyanka, Bhandarkar has developed a very good professional rapport with her as well. So let’s see which girl wins the race.”

 Explaining the character of the politician, she is a woman from the northern part of the country, who is very vulnerable. However, within a short span of five years, she develops into a bold and conniving woman, who survives in the political world.

 “Political films are Madhur’s forte. His 2003 Satta based in Mumbai, received critical acclaim,” said the friend.

 Bhandarkar’s friend also told, “Madhur is talking to UTV Motion Pictures and Eros International for this one. Both the corporate houses have shown a lot of interest in the project.”

 If all goes well, the film will roll in December 2012.

Madhur Bhandarkar to face trial in Preeti Jain's rape case

On one hand Madhur Bhandarkar’s highly anticipated film, ‘Heroine’ is shaping up very well while on the other hand, he again embroiled in a rape case trial. The Bombay High court on Thursday rejected the application of the filmmaker to stay the process against him in a Mumbai metropolitan court in the Preeti Jain rape case.
 "Justice R.C. Chavan today (Thursday) refused to stay the trial against Bhandarkar, stating that he will now have to face criminal trial," Jain`s lawyer S. Kunjuraman told IANS.
 "Bhandarkar has tried his level best to buy time by approaching various courts and filing several pleas. But now he has exhausted all his tricks and will have to face trial," he added.
 In 2004 July, upcoming model Preeti Jain lodged a complaint against Madhur Bhandarkar accusing him of raping her several times between 1999 and 2004 under the pretext of marrying her and promising her to cast her in his movies.
 In September 2011, a Mumbai metropolitan court had found evidence in Jain`s complaint, issued process against Bhandarkar and directing him to face the trial.
 In November last year, the filmmaker was granted anticipatory bail.

‘Heroine’ based on Aishwarya Rai???

On the sets of Heroine, Kareena Kapoor was spotted with a baby bump. As soon as her pics with the baby bump were out on the net, rumor mills started their work. Yes! Rumors had it that the film ‘Heroine’ is based on Aishwarya Rai, who walked out of the film after her pregnancy announcement.
 Though the director of the film Madhur Bhandarkar has clearly staed that his film is not based on any actress, yet there are n number of stories coming up, time and again.
 Talking to a news channel, Kareena Kapoor makes it clear to everyone that ‘Heroine’ is a completely different film and is neither based on Aishwarya nor Manisha.
 Bebo further says that, the story is a fiction and is written by Madhur himself. She also says that, it is not the heroine or her clothes and glamor that the story is based upon but her mind.

Top 10 Scandalous Actors: Number 4: Preeti Jain

In the stormy monsoon of 2004, starlet Preeti Jain made it to page one of national dailies, accusing Madhur Bhandarkar, the director of Page 3, of rape and criminal intimidation. It also became the first ‘casting couch’ scandal to go national. Then in 2005, after appearing in a short film with Zeenat Aman, Preeti Jain was arrested for allegedly commissioning a ‘supari’ (Bombay slang for assassination) on the director via a Bombay gangster. Preeti claimed she was being victimized by the high and mighty and found company in bar dancer Tarannum, with whom she shared a jail cell for some time.