Four down, three to go

Filmmaker finally gets Madhuri Dixit, Rani Mukerji, Karisma Kapoor and Shabana Azmi onboard for his upcoming project

Nikhil Advani’s ambitious all-female cast project is on track. Though several names have been tossed around for a while, the filmmaker has now confirmed that Madhuri Dixit, Rani Mukerji, Karisma Kapoor and Shabana Azmi will star in the film.

Incidentally, the film will have seven leading ladies. The rest of the cast has yet to be ascertained. Says Nikhil, “I am in Boston currently and will be in Mumbai after a week. I have already spoken to the actresses. Once I am back, I will finalise the rest of the names.”

The producer-director also has another project on hand — an action thriller which apparently stars Irrfan, Huma Qureshi and Arjun Rampal. However Nikhil is taking his time to finalise which project will goes on the floors first.

He says, “I am yet to sign anyone for this film. I am working on several projects and the casting is still on.”

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Bollywood hotties get sizzling for Shabana Azmi

It was as if all of Bollywood's eye candy was on one stage at Shabana Azmi's 'The Mijwan Welfare Trust Show Sonnets in Fabric' to raise funds for the education of girl children in her ancestral village Mijwan. Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh were among the hotties who got sizzling on the ramp, all dressed by uber designer Manish Malhotra.

Shabana Azmi said that the effort was aimed at creating awareness about the talents of kids from Mijwan. She'd also said, "My father (Kaifi Azmi) always said that change has to come from the youth. People like Ranbir prove it. This year we have 25 stars walking the ramp for us. So our film industry's participation is growing." she added.

And Bollywood certainly enjoyed walking the ramp for a good cause. Neha Dhupia posted on her Twitter page, "Was a fun evening, walked the ramp for Shabana Azmi's charity, mijwan... Glad we could collectively and fashionably make a difference!"

Celina Jaitly added, “Was wonderful walking for Shabanaji's Mijwan project show last night with all my other colleagues. Manish Malhotra’s clothes were awesome" Shabana, meanwhile, said she was proud of the development in her ancestral village.

"In Mijwan we run a school, a college, a computer center and sewing and chikankari centre. The work they do is so stunning that Anita Dongre has been giving them work. Now Manish Malhotra is also giving them work. The ramp show will create awareness of their fine craft.

"Someone said about the embroidery work of my girls in Mijwan, ‘So beautiful is their needlework that butterflies would be tempted to sit on them.' Because their work has to do with the garments and embroidery this fashion show makes a lot of sense."

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