As Abhishek Bachchan turned 36 Sunday, close friends took to micro-blogging site Twitter to wish him. Some sent him a “big and tall hug”, while others wished happiness to the “coolest person”.

Here’s what celebs had to say:

Sonam Kapoor: Happy birthday Junior Bachchan! You by far the nicest, coolest person I know.

Bipasha Basu: Happy, Happy Birthday Junior Bachchan! Love and Hugs from Bippy (Bipasha).

Neil Nitin Mukesh: Wishing my elder brother Junior Bachchan a very happy birthday. Lots of love to you brother.

Tarun Mansukhani: Wishing my friend Junior Bachchan a very very happy birthday. Big and tall hug to you. More

There was some confusion today over who would present Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan the Green Globe award as Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was supposed to hand him the trophy, was conspicuous by his absence.

Invitations sent out for the event mentioned that the Hollywood superstar would bestow the honour to junior Bachchan for his “efforts towards fighting climate change”.

“I had no clue that I was to get an award from Arnold… I was only told that I will be getting an award. I haven’t met him also…” Abhishek said.

Noted environmentalist R K Pachauri gave him the trophy.

Abhishek, who has given hits like Guru and Dhoom, also said if given an opportunity he would love to join Schwarzenegger in his cause to raise climate issues.

“If he thinks we are worthy enough of working with him then I would love to do so,” he said. Source

Abhishek Bachchan couldn’t have asked for more. The actor will be honoured for his efforts towards creating a greener environment at a function here and Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger will present him the award.

Schwarzenegger, also the former governor of California, will be in the capital Thursday to be a part of 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. More

Shahrukh Khan visited the Bachchan’s residence to meet none other than Beti B. Reportedly, the actor offered his blessings to Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s newborn daughter.

‘Shah Rukh drops by to meet the ‘little one’, a few others too from the fraternity visit the still in wonder bundle.. and we spend all our time in trying to spend as much time as possible with her !! Simple pleasures of life..!!’ Big B wrote on his blog.

With the arrival of Beti B, it seems that the speculated long time rivalry between the Bachchan parivar and SRK will soon come to an end. Also, Abhishek and SRK were recently spotted having a good time together at photographer Dabboo Ratnani’s 2012 calendar launch. Source

American chat show queen Oprah Winfrey will be soon visiting India to shoot her new chat show Next Chapter with spiritual guru Deepak Chopra. She even wants to participate in the Jaipur Literary Festival in the country. Oprah tweeted, ‘Never been to India, it’s been on my vision board forever (sic).’

Interestingly, if reports are to be believed, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are planning to host a party for Oprah when she visits Mumbai during her tour. Both Aishwarya and Abhishek have appeared on Oprah’s show.

Also, Oprah is keen to meet Beti B as per sources. Source

When Abhishek Bachchan signed up to work on PLAYERS, he knew that this was going to be an out and out action experience. However, never had the actor thought in his wildest imagination that he would end up finding himself suspended mid-air for over 20 hours to film a sequence that would last for a mere 10 minutes in the final cut of the film.

Laughs Abhishek, “There is a sequence in the film where two trains are running on parallel tracks and some terrific action unfolds there. Now Abbas-Mustan had a certain vision to bring this sequence on screen and for that they had an eight camera set up. Idea was to shoot the sequence with each of these cameras placed at a strategic location and then edit the scene in such a manner that it brings a terrific all around effect on screen. But, the only trouble was that I was in the centre of these camera placements. To fulfill Abbas-Mustan’s vision, I was suspended in air for hours at stretch.” More

DHOOM 2 is still remembered for the bravado displayed by Hrithik Roshan when he performed a heist of the lifetime on the top of a moving train. The sequence is still remembered for its grandeur but if the makers of PLAYERS are to be believed, the kind of action as seen in this film centered on gold heist would outshine the sequences seen in DHOOM 2.

Though Abbas-Mustan aren’t willing to get into any comparison mode, they are quite gung-ho about the action in their film which has been shot across places as far off as New Zealand and North Pole. Says Abbas Burmawala, ”Yes, PLAYERS has been made at an altogether different scale. If you remember THE ITALIAN JOB, it had opened with a sequence set in a canal. Here we have started with trains. Of course there have been films where action has been shot atop trains. However, we have done it differently because there are two trains involved. Visually, the entire sequence has come across as really stunning.” More

As the New Year begins for Abhishek Bachchan, the actor seems to have fairly and squarely left the experimentation mode behind. With an eye on commercial entertainers that promise guaranteed results (well almost) and are aimed at entertaining a wider audience instead of merely suiting the sensibilities of filmmakers who wish to bring in a much required ‘change’ in the grammar of cinema, Abhishek is clear that coming months would be focused on getting some hits under his belt.

“Yes, this is pretty much the need of the hour,” says an industry expert, “If you look at some of his last few films, his characterisation left a lot to be desired as well. In DUM MAARO DUM his character died a premature death. GAME was too complicated for many to comprehend. Audience expected him to be a conventionally revolutionary in KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY instead of being a subtle participant whereas the true essence of his character just didn’t come out well in RAAVAN.”

Things should change though in 2012 as Abhishek would be expecting a much better outing in months to come. While PLAYERS and BOL BACHCHAN should be just the kind of massy entertainers that Abhishek would be waiting for, shooting of DHOOM 3 kick-starts later this year as well. Thankfully for him, each of these films has a certain credibility attached which means a better success ratio is definitely on the anvil. More

A general assumption in Bollywood is that films that release in January are not blockbuster hits. But, NO ONE KILLED JESSICA came in with a bang in January 2011 and broke the conventional January curse. The Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan film, which had no male superstar, grossed nearly Rs. 30.220 crore.

Now the Abbas – Mastan film PLAYERS, which is an official remake of THE ITALIAN JOB, is releasing on January 6, 2012. Stupendous action stunts, glamorous scenes and more importantly the Abbas – Mastan style thriller stand as the ultra selling points of the film. Moreover, the promotional events have also created a certain amount of buzz.

The multi-starrer film which casts Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bipasha Basu is expected to mint money. Source

As reported, a lavish ceremony will be organised for the baby post January 15 (Makar Sankranti, which is when the period finishes).

Bring all this up and Abhishek Bachchan says, “I haven’t figured the name yet. But I’ll lock on it soon. Aishwarya (wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and I didn’t know whether we were going to have a boy or girl. So we didn’t jot down names.”

However, he admits they want to settle for a name that starts with the alphabet ‘A’. “We had shortlisted a few, but it’s difficult to choose that ‘one’,” asserts the new father, adding, “I can’t tell you the names that we’re considering right now. Ash and I want it to be with the letter A.”

The new father is often compared to his dad — Amitabh Bachchan — in terms of his acting skills and box-office hits. Does he feel his daughter too may face those pressures? “It’s a blessing to be my parents’ son and my grandparents’ grandson. My child will grow up saying her parents are actors. But I don’t want her to use that as a crutch. She will have to work her way around things the way her parents and grandparents did,” states Abhishek, whose forthcoming film, Players releases this Friday. More

Fans of the Bachchan family, who have been eagerly waiting to see what the newest addition to the family will be named, can now finally look forward to the event in the near future. Sources have claimed that Abhishek Bachchan will be naming the little bundle of joy after January 15, 2012.

It seems that the recently turned parents are waiting for the ‘kharwas’ period, which is considered inauspicious, to come to an end before they name the baby. Bachchan Jr was quoted to have said, “I haven’t figured the name yet. But I will lock it soon. Aishwarya and I did not know whether we were going to be blessed with a boy or a girl so we didn’t jot down names.”

Abhishek Bachchan however admitted that they want to settle for a name that starts with the alphabet ‘A’. “We have shortlisted a few, but its difficult to choose that one name,” the recently turned father was quoted to have said in a media interaction. Source

Probably Rohit Shetty’s ‘Zameen’ was the first film where Abhishek Bachchan’s distinct masculine style was noticed by the audiences. ‘Dhoom’, ‘Dus’, ‘Bluffmaster’, and ‘Dum Maro Dum’ consolidated his image further. The promos of ‘Players’ suggest that Abhishek is again going to flaunt the same ultra male attitude in the film.

Although the makers have denied any resemblance with ‘Dhoom’ but the appearance of the film hints something different.

It’s the official remake of ‘The Italian Job’ which means that a major part of the film will showcase chase sequences. The director duo of Abbas-Mustan is also expected to give the film their special touch. Last some years have not been very productive for the acclaimed directors. Last seven years have produced just one hit ‘Race’ for them. ’36 China Town’ and ‘Naqaab’ were duds at the box office despite huge publicity drives. Thus they are expected to return with the formula used in ‘Race’. That is, a big star cast and a fast paced screenplay. Abbas-Mustan tend to cover the flawed script with a racy screenplay which creates space for style. More