Saif's learning Sanskrit

Saif Ali Khan has got himself a tutor to learn Sanskrit for his next titled Aarakshan.

We hear that the movie that will see Amitabh Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan speaking the ancient rich language, has caught Saif a little off guard. While Amitabh on one hand is very proficient in the language, Saif needs to train himself well to speak the language. He doesn't want to sound unconvincing while mouthing the Sanskrit words and sources also tell us that post shooting, he has been talking a couple of hours to brush up on his Sanskrit skills. Way to go Saif!

Would like to be a journalist in the next life: Amitabh

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan said that he would like to become a journalist in his next life.

"It is not possible in this life, but in my next life I would like to become a journalist," said Bachchan, who is currently shooting for Prakash Jha's film, Aarakshan (reservations) in Bhopal.

When asked what he thought of reservations per se, the 68-year-old actor said he simply mouths the lines provided by the director, and didn't have any personal opinion on the issue.

Praising Bhopal, which happens to be his 'sasural' (in-laws' place), he said that people here were very nice and cooperative.

Director Jha said the film was an effort to show how reservations benefit the weaker sections of the society.

Nandita opts out Midnight’s Children

Balancing motherhood with a career is a tricky one and Nandita Das has made a choice by opting out of old friend Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

It's a film that has been jinxed with actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri etc. opting out of the film. Though signed on to play a pivotal role, Nandita opted out. She says, "With little Vihaan, who is 6 months old now and so delightful, I didnt think I would have been able to do justice to both the roles and would have felt quite torn.

Pity, but as Deepa says, there is Kamagathamaru, where I am playing the female lead and as I say, there is a time for everything!" Nandita was also supposed to do Deepa Mehta's Water but was apparently not informed about her ouster from the project.

This led to a cold war between them, which ended when they met in New York two years ago. For Midnight's Children Mehta offered Das a guest appearance as well. Says Das, "Even that didn't make sense as it would have been neither here nor there. I have made the decision."