Aishwarya's warm hug to hubby Abhishek at Stardust Awards event!

At the recent Stardust Awards night, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won an award for her powerful act in Sarbjit. While the award was given to the actress by her superstar father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya wanted her husband Abhishek to be present by her side during this great moment.

Given that Abhishek was hosting the show, he was backstage preparing for the next segment.

But when he learnt that Aishwarya was missing his company and even pronounced that her victory was incomplete without his presence, the doting husband made it a point to walk up to the stage and congratulate the missus.

Together Abhishek and Aishwarya shared a warm hug, leaving the viewer’s amaze!

Film Sarbjit's official India entry for Oscars?

Omung Kumar's latest release Sarbjit, which was based on the life of Indian farmer Sarabjit Singh, who was sentenced to a Pakistani jail on charges of being an Indian spy, wowed everybody and news has it that the movie will be sent for the Oscars.

The film's producer Vashu Bhagnani intends to send the movie as one of the contenders for India's entry to the Oscars and approving the same, Bhagnani told, ''We will send it as an entry, independently or in the race with other films. We will channelize our energy to make sure Sarbjit is in the race to become India's entry to the Oscar this year.''

Sarbjit was screened at the Cannes Film Festival where the film was highly appreciated and loved by the audiences. Vashu Bhagnani also added ''We will also enroll the film as one of the competitors in the bid for National Awards.''

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan did not take a single penny for 'Sarbjit', reveals Producer Sandeep Singh!

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who made her comeback to Bollywood with Sanjay Gupta's thriller Jazbaa, will be next seen in Omung Kumar's Sarbjit, which is based on the life and struggles of Sarbjit Singh, an Indian farmer convicted of spying by the Pakistani government and his sister Dalbir Kaur, who embarked on a campaign to get her brother freed from jail.

At a latest event, Sandeep Singh, the producer of the movie disclosed, ''Not many know this, but Aishwarya did not take a single penny for this film and whatever money we had paid her, went into her NGO. Even Randeep Hooda took a pay cut for this film, because the motive here was not to make money, but to send across a message. Even Sarbjit's family did not demand any money for the movie rights and we are quite grateful to them for this.''

Sarbjit, which also stars Richa Chadda and Darshan Kumaar, is slated to release on May 20.

Sarbjit Singh's real sister Dalbir Kaur broke down after seeing Sarbjit's trailer!

The powerful trailer of Omung Kumar's forthcoming biopic Sarbjit, which is based on the life of slain Indian prisoner Sarbjit Singh, who spent 22-years in a Pakistani jail on false espionage charges, was lately unveiled and it has not only moved the viewers but it also made the real-life Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur very emotional.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is playing Dalbir Kaur's role in the movie and the latter is thankful to the actress for translating her journey so well on-screen. Dalbir tells, ''The trailer of the film Sarbjit was enough for me and my whole family to see our hurtful journey play out in front of our eyes. We all had tears in our eyes because everyone's performance is very impactful.  As the characters moved, we could see ourselves in them and I cannot express the kind of emotions we felt at that time. It was difficult to be reminded of all that had happened, but we are happy that the nation will know our story now and hope that they will make sure something like this doesn't happen to any other family in future.''

She further adds ''Everyone is amazed by the posters and the trailer that is all over the news. Aishwarya, Randeep and Richa justify the characters so well and I feel it couldn't have been any better. I am very honored that Aishwarya has essayed my character and has essayed it so well. As much I have seen on set in Punjab, it was evident that she put her heart and soul to do justice to my character. It was surprising to see a superstar like her so humble and caring. She hugged me every time I met her with a lot of warmth and made sure I was comfortable. I am blessed to have been associated to a substantial woman like her and I did see myself in her. I thank her and love her for understanding me and my journey so well and putting it forth in front of everyone so correctly.''

Randeep Hooda is playing Sarbjit in the movie, while Richa Chadda is essaying the role of his wife Sukhpreet Kaur.

Mary Kom’s actor Darshan Kumar learns pure Urdu for 'Sarbjit'!

Darshan Kumaar, who shot to fame with Omung Kumar's Mary Kom, will be next seen in Kumar's forthcoming directorial Sarbjit, in which he will play a Pakistani lawyer and we heard that Kumaar learned Urdu for his role as he will be seen speaking in the language in the movie.

The actor will be playing the role of Awais Sheikh, a Pakistani lawyer who left no stone unturned to get justice for Sarbjit Singh, an Indian farmer, who was convicted on charges of espionage.

A source close to the fine actor disclosed that as Darshan is playing a Pakistani lawyer, most of his dialogues required him to speak in pure Urdu. The actor, who hails from a Jat family, had never spoken authentic Urdu but for the role, the actor learnt basic Urdu words and the accent too.  It is also known that to get an in-depth knowledge of his character, Darshan had regularly been in touch with the real Awais Sheikh, who is presently in Sweden.

Darshan Kumaar told, "I have been to Pakistan couple of times for my theatre shows, while staying in Lahore i had interacted with locals quite often so I had a few images in my mind on how their body language and accent is. During that time I discovered that a lot of them speak Urdu with a touch of Punjabi language and my friends who were based there helped me to catch the language. That's how i gained my initial knowledge and then it was all about mugging the dialogues and doing continuous rehearsals.''

Apart from Darshan Kumaar, Sarbjit also stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda and Richa Chadda.

Richa gifted a toy tractor to director Omung Kumar!

Richa Chadda, who will be seen playing a key role in Omung Kumar's forthcoming movie Sarbjit, gave a special gift to Kumar when the shooting of the movie wrapped up.

As the film has been mostly shot in rural Punjab, Richa gifted a toy tractor to Kumar, who was reasonably amused by the gesture. Confirming the same, Richa told, ''I was driving back from the location and spotted a tiny shop in the village selling local toys. We had just finished shooting an important tractor scene. A tractor also embodied the spirit of the Punjab farmer... I wanted Omung to remember the film and me. That's why I picked up this unusual present."

The big clash of Sarbjit and Raman Raghav 2.0 on coming 20th may!

It is all getting actually fascinating. In the times when real life stories are really doing well at the Box Office (Airlift, Neerja), it is going to be a clash of a couple of more two months from now. Come 20th May and Sarbjit would have competition in the form of Raman Raghav 2.0.

"What makes it further interesting are the names associated with the two films," tells our source, "While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the face of Sarbjit (while playing his sister Dalbir Kaur), Anurag Kashyap is at the helm of affairs for Raman Raghav 2.0. The movie has Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing the title role but when it comes to the clash of the big names, this encounter would be seen as AK v/s ARB."

It is a known fact that Sarbjit is based on the life of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national who was convicted of terrorism and spying by a Pakistani court. In 2013 he was attacked by fellow inmates and died six days later at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. On the other hand Raman Raghav 2.0 is based on the notorious serial killer Raman Raghav who operated in Mumbai during the mid-1960s.

"It should be a well fought battle because of the directors on board," a trade expert adds, "Director Omung Kumar has made a critically acclaimed and successful Mary Kom before, again a biopic. There is good buzz already around Sarbjit with Randeep Hooda playing the title role. On the other hand Anurag Kashyap's expertise lies in dark edgy dramas. With Raman Raghav 2.0, he is stepping back into the familiar zone. Moreover, Nawazuddin was much loved in Anurag's Gangs of Wasseypur. The director-actor 'jodi' is special."

As for Sarbjit, this is pretty much expected as the film was looking at a solo arrival on 20th May. While there is good intrigue built up around the movie which has Randeep Hooda as the central protagonist, a knock on the door from Raman Raghav 2.0could well prove to be a surprise guest paying a visit.