By now its common knowledge that Shah Rukh Khan and Arjun Rampal are close friends. The duo have starred together in super-hit films like Don and Om Shanti Om. Shah Rukh even made a fleeting appearance in Arjun's home production I See You that released a few years ago. Now SRK and Arjun Rampal will once again be seen together in Shah Rukh's home production Ra.1 to be directed by Anubhav Sinha. While Shah Rukh plays a super-hero kind of a character in the film, the buzz is that Arjun will be playing his nemesis. The sci-fi film which is expected to go on floors very soon features Kareena Kapoor as the female lead.

Katrina Kaif has a point to prove in Raajneeti. It's not just the National Award that she's aiming to get with her performance. It's the long-winded rhetorical dialogues that she wants to get tone-and-pitch-perfect so that once and for all no one would ever say she can't speak Hindi fluently. Surrounded in the cast with stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpai and Nana Patekar who spoke super-fluent Hindi and Urdu and constantly ribbed about her chee-chee Hindi by her co-stars specially Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina has taken a vow to wow with her command over the desi language. In fact, every time director Prakash Jha wanted to get Katrina's attention on location, he would jokingly threaten to get her lines dubbed by another artiste. Not only did she get herself a private Hindi-Urdu tutor, she also got her director Prakash Jha to work on her dialogues and their delivery for extra hours. And now moving away from conventional dubbing techniques, Katrina is actually doing her lines twice every day, once on her own and then in her director's presence. Confirming this double-delivery duty that Katrina has taken on Prakash Jha says, "She once goes through the lines on her own the entire day. Then in the evening whatever words and lines I feel need improvement, she happily dubs them again. I've never seen such determination in anyone before. On location in Bhopal once when she had to do a sequence with Nana Patekar where she had to repeat the swearing-in oath- ceremony with Nana after winning an election, Katrina panicked about the long words and lines. She pleaded with me to cancel the shooting, prepared the whole day and then delivered perfect dialogues the next day." The dubbing for Raajneeti is also very important for Katrina to be eligible for the National Award next year. When Prakash suggested that he might need to get a dubbing artiste to do Katrina's intricate dubbing she had protested strongly pointing out her chances at the National Awards would be nixed. Predicts Prakash, "After Raajneeti no one would ever accuse of Katrina not knowing Hindi." Adds Katrina, "It was a challenge I set for myself. I've always paid that extra attention to my dubbing. But Raajneeti is really tough. Was I challenged by other actors speaking such fluent Hindi in Raajneeti? No, I always look at only myself as competition." Katrina admits her Hindi has improved considerably after working in Raajneeti. "None of my roles so far required any specific fluency in the way I spoke. When I got a chance I decided to work on it really hard."

Akon is coming to Mumbai on Monday to record a song for composers Vishal- Shekhar in Anubhav Sinha's Ra.1. The controversial singer's arrival is being kept under wraps. He's expected to be whisked away from the airport straight for the recording. Akon will be recording on March 9 and 10 before he quietly slips out of India. But hang on. He's expected to return to India in April for live concerts with Aadesh Shrivastav. Confirming Akon's recording in Mumbai, Ra.1 director Anubhav Sinha says, "Akon will be here for the recording on the dates you've mentioned." However, Anubhav very strongly contradicts conflicting reports in the press stating that Akon would also be acting in Ra.1. Says Anubhav, "Akon is only singing for our film. He is not acting in Ra.1." While Shah Rukh will lip-sync Akon's lines, the song in Hindi and English will also feature a female voice, since Kareena Kapoor will be dancing with SRK in the song. The female voice has not been decided as yet. But Kareena Kapoor giving playback for herself is not ruled out. Music composer Aadesh Shrivastav who's in constant touch with the American super-rapper has been informed of Akon's very hush-hush arrival to an undisclosed part of the country for a two-day visit. Says Aadesh, "Akon is coming to India this month. He'll be here a couple of days. Akon then returns to India in April, this time for concerts with me. We're at the moment working out the details and venues." Last month Aadesh recorded a raga-rap number with Akon in the US. Now in the light of all the brouhaha over Akon's Ra.1 recording, Aadesh will release a music video featuring himself and Akon. "It's basically footage that Akon and I shot while recording our song," says Aadesh. Get ready for an Akon blitzkrieg in Mumbai this month onwards.

Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male) Amitabh Bachchan - Paa Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female) Vidya Balan - Paa Best Film 3 Idiots Best Director Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) Boman Irani - 3 Idiots Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) Kalki Koechlin - Dev D Best Actor (Male) Critics Ranbir Kapoor Best Actor (Female) Critics Mahie Gill - Dev D Best Film (Critics) Firaaq Best Debut Director (Male) Ayan Mukherjee - Wake Up Sid Best Debut Director (Female) Zoya Akhtar - Luck By Chance Best Music A R Rahman - Delhi-6 Best Playback Singer (Male) Mohit Chauhan - Masakalli - Delhi-6 Best Playback Singer (Female) Rekha Bharadwaj - Genda Phool - Delhi-6 Kavita Seth - Iktara - Wake Up Sid Best Lyrics Irshad Kamil - Aaj Din Chadiya - Love Aaj Kal Best Story Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots Best Screenplay Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Abhijat Joshi - 3 Idiots Best Dialogue Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra - 3 idiots Best Editing Sreekar Prasad - Firaaq Best Choreography Bosco - Caesar - Chor Bazaari - Love Aaj Kal Best Visual Effect Award Kaminey Best Sound Design Manas Chaudhury - Firaaq Best Production Design Helen & Sukant - Dev D Best Cinematography Rajeev Rai - Dev D Best Action Vijayan Master - Wanted Best Costume Vaishali Menon - Firaaq Best Background Score Amit Trivedi - Dev D Special Award Nandita Das - Firaaq Lifetime Achievement Award Shashi Kapoor - Khayyam R D Burman Music Award Amit Tivedi