Kareena attends workshop for the remake of Stepmom

All set to match her strides with show-stealer Kajol, Kareena is working real hard for her upcoming movie, which is a Hindi remake of the popular Julia Robert starrer Stepmom. Kareena has been attending acting workshops with the film’s director Siddharth Malhotra.

“The last time I rehearsed for a part was for Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Omkara’. But that was a more unconventional film and role where I had to get into a milieu and character I knew nothing about. But ‘Stepmom’ is urban and very contemporary. I play a very normal metro-centric working girl,” said Kareena

Kareena plays a normal working girl, and that's not easy for one who has been larger than life in most of her movies. “I walk, talk, dress like an ordinary working girl. I’ll be using no makeup.” Designer Manish Malhotra too is having a hard time trying to bring down Kareena’s glamour quotient in “Stepmom” to look like an ordinary working woman. “I couldn’t cut my hair as planned because of continuity clashes. And I didn’t want to cut my long hair. But I’m going for a new hairstyle,” said Kareena.

Talking about Kajol, Kareena said: “She’s always been one of my favourite actresses. We worked together in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’. But this is something else.”

“The desi version of ‘Stepmom’ is very different from the original. My role is also a big departure from what Julia Roberts played in ‘Stepmom’,” added Kareena.

Saif sharing their weekend home with Hollywood's Pretty Julia

The entire Pataudi clan, former cricketer Tiger, his actress wife Sharmila Tagore and their three children, including star son Saif Ali Khan, were at Pataudi, Haryana, over the weekend sharing their ancestral home with Hollywood’s Pretty Woman Julia Roberts.

While Roberts, the first Hollywood celebrity to stay in Pataudi House that has now been converted to a heritage hotel, is at the Nafeez Manzil, the Pataudi family was at the main palace.

"Julia Roberts is our guest. She’s staying in a part of our property. We’ve let the unit stay in a flank because she’s a colleague and I know what it is like to shoot far away from home," Sharmila told over the phone from Pataudi Sunday.

"We’re staying in the main palace. They are staying in a separate part of the royal property known as the Nafeez Manzil. In the past, Aamir Khan shot and stayed with us for ’The Rising’. Deepa Mehta shot ’Earth’ in Pataudi though that portion was edited out," said Sharmila.

Sharmila says she came to her ancestral house, a short distance from the national capital, with her entire family for a family function.

"Tiger and I are here. He dragged us out here in this heat, much to our annoyance. Saif and my two daughters Sabah and Soha are also here for a Mewati Akikah ceremony which is a traditional Muslim mundan (head shaving)," said Sharmila, who is very angry at the way her son is referred to as the ’Chote Nawab’ in the media.

"Saif is a grown-up man of 36. There’s no Chote or Nawab in his personality. He wants to be known as an actor, though he comes from a royal family," she said.

Pataudi Palace belongs to Sharmila’s husband, the erstwhile prince of Pataudi and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Roberts, who is here to shoot the India part of her movie "Eat, Pray, Love", landed in New Delhi Sep 17. She has been shooting scenes with her Hollywood colleagues Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins at the Ashram Hari Mandir in Pataudi, about 40 km from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Directed by Ryan Murphy, the movie is based on Pushcart prize-winning author Elizabeth Gilbert’s spirituality-travel memoirs, "Eat, Love, Pray", and features Roberts as Gilbert who travels to Italy, India and Indonesia in search of peace.

The 41-year-old will be in Pataudi till Oct 9 and is expected to leave for Bali thereafter.

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Julia Roberts introduced her children to the Swami Dharam Dev

Julia Roberts reportedly introduced her children to the Swami who oversees the ashram where she is shooting ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ with the names of Mahalaxmi, Ganesh, and Krishna Balram.

The Pretty Woman and her new film were officially blessed by the Swami at Ashram Harimandir in Pataudi, reports a news daily.

The film’s shooting started on September 20, and she met with the sacred site`s chief official, Swami Dharam Dev on Monday September 21 to ask him for his blessing.

Film insider Rajan Zed said, "When Julia went to seek his blessings, Swami was quoted as telling her to step into sadhvi`s (virtuous woman) role in her real life whenever she was in self doubt.

"Swami also reportedly suggested her to adopt prayers, meditation and yoga in her real life and take all good things she learned at the ashram back to the USA.

"She reportedly introduced her children to Swami with the names of Mahalaxmi, Ganesh, and Krishna Balram. Swami reportedly tied raksha-sutra (sacred protective thread) on their wrists."

The actress launched the filming with a hawan fire sacrifice and cooked dal-roti (bread) for a community lunch at the ashram.

On November 28, 2004, Roberts and cameraman hubby Daniel Moder became parents of fraternal twins, daughter Hazel Patricia and son Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter. Their third child, son Henry Daniel Moder, was born on June 18, 2007, in Los Angeles.

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