CELEBS FACTORY

Bipasha Basu is glowing these days. Her good friends have been talking about the new mystery man in her life for weeks now, but the dusky actress has so far only admitted to dating "someone new", refusing to reveal his identity. The secret is out now. We have learnt that the screen siren has been dating Shahid Kapoor!

Says a source, "For over a month now, Bipasha has been talking about a very sweet guy in her life. She's been telling friends that he's an eligible young man and has been showering her with gifts and some much-needed attention. She's been gushing to her friends about how "sweet and affectionate" he is. Bips maintains that while they are not serious yet, he's been wooing her persistently and she's basking in the warmth of his adoration."

Considering they've never worked together, everyone's wondering how the two met. Apparently they were introduced by Shahid's trainer, Abbas. Shahid is as much of a fitness junkie as Bipasha — that was a common bonding subject the first time they met. "Obviously they are only just getting to know each other, so Bips doesn't want to jinx it by talking openly about Shahid," says the source.

Both Bipasha and Shahid have recently split from their long-time partners ( John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra, respectively) and don't want their budding romance to come under the spotlight. A couple of weeks ago, however, Shahid was spotted with hickeys on his neck during a shoot and people on the unit pulled his leg about it. He refused to comment on the mystery lady who 'marked' him, but was later spotted out and about with Bips. Adds the source, "On Saturday night, Shahid hosted a small party at his newly-renovated Andheri home. There were about 20 guests, and Bipasha was also present. Shahid had invited only a handful of his close friends, including Siddharth Anand, Karan Johar, Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, Ayesha Takia and husband Farhan Azmi, Ahmed Khan, so her presence there raised quite a few eyebrows."

When asked, Bipasha claims she hardly knows Shahid. His spokesperson on the other hand says, "They are friends, just as he is friends with other people in the industry. The news of them dating is untrue." Ho hum!

Bollywood actor John Abraham talks about Bipasha Basu and his breakup in Simi Garewal Selects India's Most Desirable show. He is the guest on this week's episode.

Here's what he has said. The actor who will soon be seen in Force opposite Genelia D'Souza said: "We had a beautiful relationship but it doesn't exist anymore. I'm solely responsible for it. I didn't want to get married, maybe one day I would, and I'll take everyone by surprise."

The actor further said: "We've given closure to the relationship as I didn't match up to the relationship, I was not ready to commit when the relationship needed culmination. I have grown out of the relation... the breakup is painful but you have to move on." "We had decided, if we ever parted ways it won't be for another man or woman."

John has said it. Wonder what Bips has to say now?

The news of actors Bipasha Basu and John Abraham’s break-up came as a shock to most as the two were dating for the past eight years. Though Basu has been vocal about her feelings,Abraham refused to comment on the relatioship until now. He has apparently poured his heart out on a chat show (the episode is yet to be aired) recently.

A source says, “When asked about his relationship status, John said that after being in a relationship for eight years you want to try out everything to make it work. And when it still isn’t working out, it’sstill not easy to break up instantly as you have some really fond memories with the person. He added that Bipasha was a very strong person and that’s what he loved about her. As a girlfriend she was a caring and nice person. She was very homely unlike the image created by people. But the problem he felt was that they were both headstrong. He went on to say that as much as men say they believe in women’s liberation, they are chauvinistic. He added that he cared about the women in his life and would not like it if they were in any problems. Therefore he maintained the ‘no comments’ stand.”

The source further adds, “On the show John’s parents were asked who they feel would be an ideal girl for him. John’s dad maintained that he should settle down with any girl he felt happy with and also said that he liked Bipasha. John’s mother said that her son needed a more homely and caring girl, who understood her son. She clearly ignored Bipasha in her talks and not even once referred to her.”

However, now rumour mills are abuzz that Abraham is quite enjoying his single status and has been hitting it off quite well with women around him. And one name that seems to be topping the list is that of an upcoming model apparently called Priya. In fact, John has been spotted having coffee and on another occasion dinner with her. Now, Abraham are you still going to maintain a ‘no comments’ stand?

There's tremendous buzz around Vishesh Films' Murder 2 starring Emraan Hashmi and Jacqueline Fernandez for obvious reasons.

The trade and the public who have now come to expect a staple erotic quotient from the Bhatt brothers (Mukesh and Mahesh) — Jism and Murder being the reference points — know that Murder 2 won't just push the envelope but tear it.

Mahesh Bhatt, the brain behind these films, admits that Jacqueline is bolder than Jism's Bipasha Basu and Murder's Mallika Sherawat (Murder). Says he, "We at Vishesh Films decided to make films with a high quotient of erotica to cater to the new consumer who is living a life radically different from the life I lived in my youth. "Bollywood cinema was slow to realise this but society had moved on. That is why when we made Jism and Murder and Raaz, the audience lapped it up. They had no problems with it. But the purists were outraged.

"For the first time in Indian cinema, Bipasha uttered the words, "the body doesn't know love, it only knows lust." Then we had Mallika in Murder who sleeps with another man and returns to her marriage only because her affair isn't working out. She has an intensely fulfilling sexual extra-marital relationship and feels no guilt. This is the post modern Indian woman.
"The India in which we were groomed, was shackled to certain beliefs. In the cinema made by our predecessors — Raj Kapoor and Raj Khosla — we were invariably shown that good people fell in love while bad people had sex.

"For me, the eye-opener came when I saw Jism in Delhi and found 70 per cent of the audience comprised of rich women. It was not just being viewed by sex-hungry frontbenchers but also by an evolved upmarket audience. "Raaz was simply the precursor. With Murder 2, women have gone one step further. Jacqueline is a different animal from Mallika and Bipasha. While they sinned with their eyes open but still yearned to conform towards the end; for Murder 2's Jackie, sex is even more casual. For her sex is like an expression. She does it as casually as she would inhale or exhale. That is what it is." The film releases worldwide on July 8.