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Two remakes of two huge hits - both coincidentally from the 1970s - are released in one week to great expectations... but sink without a trace. So, the question arises - do we really need remakes? The most memorable remake fiasco was by none other than mighty Ram Gopal Varma. His "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", made with an obscenely high budget and big stars, is a re-styled and re-modelled version of Ramesh Sippy's 1975 cult film "Sholay". But it sank at the box office without a trace.

Tension is brewing between Sanjay Leela Bhasali and Farah Khan over the release date of their films "Saawariya" and "Om Shanti Om" respectively. The former is upset with his colleague for ridiculing him and his mother on chat shows and interviews. "Making fun of my 75-year-old mother is really not done. I'm proud to have my mother's name as part of my name. No civilised human would want his or her parent ridiculed. Even if 'reliable sources' decide to make fun of my mother to make mileage they'd still have my mother's blessings," Bhansali told IANS.

"Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag" has bombed at the box office, but that hasn't deterred Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan from wanting to work again with the director. "Yes, he (Varma) wants to do 'Time Machine' with Abhishek and me. I'm comfortable working with Ramu. So why not another film? I haven't done a sci-fi before," Amitabh told IANS.

Be it the softly romantic "Pyar hua iqraar hua" from "Sri 420" or the frankly sensual "Aaj rapat jayen" from "Namak Halaal", rain songs have been a constant in Bollywood films down the ages. Here, stars and directors list their favourites: Saif Ali Khan: My favourite rain song will have to be "Tip tip barsa pani" from the film "Mohra". I like the lyrics and the ambience created by the tune.

He is rumoured to have a soured relationship with co-star Arshad Warsi and split from long-time girlfriend Bipasha Basu, but John Abraham is unfazed by the grapevine buzz. The actor, busy shooting abroad and pursuing his international goals, says his inaccessibility to the media fans the rumours.

Though he didn't go very far as an actor, Rahul Bajaj has achieved success with his first novel "Bollywood Roulette: Inside the Struggle", which exposes the underbelly of the Hindi film industry. Rahul, who used to be an investment banker in New York but came back to India to take up acting as a profession, says after publishing such a story, he has no hope of getting any roles in future either.

Film: "Go"; Music Director: Sneha Kanwalkar, Prasanna Shekhar, Amar Mohile; Singers: Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan, Suzanne, Sneha Kanwalkar, Meenal Jain, Vinod Rathod, Priyadarshini, Farhad Bhiwandiwala; Ratings: ** Ram Gopal Varma's (RGV) music doesn't always get the cash registers ringing,yet his thriller background scores always make a mark. With his next film "Go", this, too, fails to happen. Let's see how.

Bollywood may not ever develop as broad a global market as Hollywood, but it seems set to become a financier and marketer of global products - created at home or abroad, says Newsweek magazine. The ticket sales for Indian productions are rising fastest outside India, even as its increasingly wealthy middle class heads to the box office at home for more unconventional fare, the magazine notes in its Sep 10 issue citing PricewaterhouseCoopers projections.

Govinda, who is once again teaming with Salman Khan in the sequel to "Partner", says he is doing the movie for the sake of his fans who want to see him with his "Partner" co-star again. "People have accepted 'Partner' wholeheartedly. Salman, David (Dhawan) and I worked as a family on the sets and audiences saw us as a family in the film. The good vibes always show up," Govinda told IANS.

Item girl Rakhi Sawant, who has signed a new semi-autobiographical Broadway-style Bollywood musical called "Balti Devi: Queen Of Southall", is looking for an image makeover. "If I want I can make people weep like Meena Kumari. I live in India and I do feel uncomfortable with my image sometimes. Whatever I've done so far is because the public demanded it. It's the public that's undressing me," Rakhi told IANS in an interview

From indolent Nawabs chewing betel nuts to regular denizens going about their day-to-day life even as they surmount subtle signs of marginalisation and alienation, the caricature of Indian Muslims on Indian celluloid has undergone many changes. The just released "Dhokha", revolves around a Muslim police officer in Mumbai who finds nothing in common with suicide bombers from his own community but is faced by the same questions that bog many in the minority community in India.

Film: "Victoria No. 203"; Cast: Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Preeti Jhangiani, Sonia Mehra, Kamal Sadanah, Javed Jaffrey, Tora Khasgir, Rajesh Khera; Director: Anant Mahadevan; Rating: ** Of the two remakes released this week, "Victoria No. 203" is slightly better than "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag" but not good enough to strike gold at the box office.