“On my birthday I will be shooting for Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Three Idiots’ in Ladakh. And the best part is that I will be shooting with my favourite actor, Aamir Khan,” Kareena told IANS Saturday.

Whether the actress will be sparing some time to be with fellow actor and beau Saif Ali Khan in the midst of her busy schedule is unknown, as she remained tight-lipped about her personal life.

“My personal life is personal,” she said.

When asked whether she is irritated with the media frenzy surrounding her relationship with Saif, Kareena said: “I am not irritated. But these things are personal. You guys (media) keeps hovering around us and keep taking pictures wherever we go.”

Kareena, whose latest film “Tashan” was not well received by audiences, seemed upbeat about her forthcoming animation film with Saif titled “Roadside Romeo”.

“The reaction to the trailers of ‘Roadside Romeo’ is just great. In fact, when I saw the rushes in the theatre myself, I told Jugal (Hansraj) that we should make the film with real characters also because it is such a fun film,” she said.

For “Roadside Romeo”, Kareena and Saif have lent their voices to animation characters. The film, written and directed by debutante Jugal Hansraj, is a co-production of Yash Raj Films and the Walt Disney Company.

Kareena, who was in the capital to launch a Lambency Chandan Sparsh Spa, looked gorgeous in a peach anarkali suit with a shaded green dupatta.

Kareena denied rumours that she has shot for a Rs.60 million song for “Golmaal Returns” and that she has signed a Hollywood project.

“I have not done any such song and I have been offered one project but I am actually very happy doing Indian films. Its tough to do a Hollywood film - I mean the language and stuff, I can’t put on an accent. I would rather be the best here than go there,” she said.

Besides this, the actress appreciated how the newly launched spa had state of the art technology to offer to its customers.

“It’s seven star treatment at three star prices,” she said.

The cost included the villain’s castle, special effects, his troops, his costumes and other props.

“Ritz is an ambitious characterisation. Apart from the external opulence, there are a lot of subtle nuances that we have worked upon,” Director Goldie Behl said in a statement.

“Generally, a villain is not so much worked upon but in ‘Drona’, Ritz is a mighty character. He is grand and guileful, and to construct this character on screen has cost us a proper fortune,” he added.

Before “Drona”, Bollywood’s most expensive villains were Shakaal from the 1980 film “Shaan” and Mogambo from “Mr.India” that was a hit in 1987. They were also expensive villains due to their unique look and the set-up of their respective dens.

“Drona”, set for an Oct 2 release, narrates the story of a man who is forced to face his fears and become the hero he was born to become to protect the universe and mankind. Abhishek Bachchan essays the lead role and Priyanka Chopra also shares screen space with him.

Kay Kay or Ritz’s den was created in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic and one of the most expensive cities in the world. A huge castle was hired there to make it the empire of the villain.

Top-notch special effects have been used in the film to make the look extraordinary. The exteriors of the castle have references to the popular Bikaner Fort that have been recreated with the help of special effects.

The interiors of the castle are in the shape of a well and the look was recreated in Mumbai’s Film City with the help of 100 workers for over two weeks.

Also, 200 people were hired to play Ritz’s troops and they shot for two months in Prague.

According to Kay Kay, playing Ritz was a fascinating journey for him.

“It was not just a character but a universe in its own. He is magical and mysterious. It was very difficult in the first place to get into the world of this character and equally difficult to come out of it,” Kay Kay said.

“See, the craft of a theatre actor is superior to that of a film actor. This stage actor (I play) - Harish Mishra - has a huge ego and arrogance in him. It is psychologically very difficult for a film actor to portray such a character. People from stage are a bit louder than normal people. Mishra actually shakes his hands while talking. Actually he speaks in a manner as if his real life too is an extension of the stage,” Bachchan told IANS in an interview during a visit here for a special screening of the film.

The actor, who has been in the film industry since the late 1960s, said that he was made to do a lot of homework by director Rituparno Ghosh for the role of the 75-year-old Shakespearean actor.

“Ghosh took me back to my schooldays and made me do my homework to prepare myself for the character of Harish Mishra. He made me read William Shakespeare’s plays, watch DVDs of plays from across the world. He piled my reading table with books. Besides, there were thorough discussions on the sets. There was no escape for me but to become Harish Mishra aka Harry for him,” he said.

The actor said that the USP of the film was the loneliness of the character and the mundane theme.

” ‘The Last Lear’ is a strong emotional film with laughter and tears from real life,” he said.

But Bachchan was quick to clarify that character in the movie did not carry any of his personal traits.

“I have just played the role depicted by the director. The story carries real life traits, but not Amitabh Bachchan’s real life traits. The character of Harry is a believable one, but I can’t say if it exists in the real world.”

“The Last Lear” is based on Utpal Dutt’s play “Aajker Shahjahan”. Shot in theatrical style, not only is it Bachchan’s first English film but it is also the first time he plays an actor in a movie. It also stars Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal.

Asked about his experience of having worked with Utpal Dutt, he said: “I have been privileged to work with Dutt from the beginning of my career - be it giving commentary in his Bengali film ‘Bhuvan Shome’ or having him as a co-actor in my debut Hindi film ‘Saat Hindustani’.

“This film has been inspired by his play ‘Ajker Shahjahan’. But I cannot even attempt to be in his shoes. He is a true Shakespearean stage actor.”

Many critics have termed Bachchan’s performance in “The Last Lear” as his best so far.

“I don’t think it’s just to categorise my films and label them as good, bad or best. It is not healthy for the career of an actor … it limits his creativity. I have done over 150 films so far and if you ask me all of them have been my best performance irrespective of box office results,” the actor quipped.

This is the first time Bachchan shared screen space with popular Bengali actors like Prosenjit and Jisshu Sengupta.

“I am lucky to get such an opportunity to work with some of the most popular actors from the Bengali film industry. Every one of them has experiences worth listening to and came up with suggestions to better the script before a shot,” Bachchan said.

Though upset that the film’s Mumbai premiere was cancelled due to protests by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists over his wife Jaya’s alleged “anti-Marathi” remarks, the actor said that he had no regrets.

“It would have been better if I could share my film with the Mumbai audience too. But there are no regrets as the premiere was held in Kolkata - my second home - where I started my acting career. This is the second time after the Hindi film ‘Agneepath’ that a premiere of my film is being held in this city before Mumbai,” Bachchan said.

Asked about the row with MNS chief Raj Thackeray, he said: “That chapter has ended. All I would say is that I am convinced that I am not alone. All people of India are with me and as long as I have the strength, faith and support of the people no one can harm me.”

Bachchan added that he was unaware about Congress chief Sonia Gandhi coming out in his support against Thackerey.

“I read about it in the newspapers. But personally, I am unaware of this news,” he said.

“After ‘Veer Zaara’, filmmakers used to call me up for only bubbly roles or those which required a hint of a Punjabi accent. But now that I have lost a lot of weight, I am getting a lot of glamorous roles - the kind that are very different from what I have been doing till now,” Divya told IANS.

The actress, who was seen in films like “Train to Pakistan”, “Baghban”, “Aaja Nachle” and “U, Me Aur Hum”, feels that directors are now more confident to experiment with the roles they offer her and also with her looks.

“I give a lot of credit for this change to my weight loss,” she said.

Divya admitted that losing weight took a lot of hard work and determination.

“Beyond a point, I realised that a person’s looks really matter. It was important for me to maintain a fit figure and generally be fit. I had to stop everything I love doing, including giving up on gol gappas, sweets and all good food.

“And then I did a lot of exercise, went to the gym, and it paid. I am getting exciting roles now.”

The 30-year-old actress is upbeat that nearly 10 of her films will hit theatres in a year and that she is “not repeating” any one kind of character or look in any of them.

Starting with Arindam Chaudhuri’s “The Last Lear”, which released Friday, Divya has an interesting line-up of films including Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s “Dilli 6″, Shyam Benegal’s “Welcome to Sajjanpur”, Rohit Kaushik’s period film “Chehre” and a political thriller, “Monica”.

Divya revealed that she will be playing a “sensuous, intriguing and mischievous” character in “Chehre” and will be donning a never-seen-before look in “Monica”.

Apart from these projects, she is also doing a film with Irrfan Khan and three other comedies.

Divya is known to be selective about roles, but says she has no set preferences.

“I think these choices are very intuitive and instinctive for every person. There is no set idea about the kind of roles I want to do, but I guess I have done a good combination of commercial and parallel cinema,” she said.

Divya was here to promote “The Last Lear” along with her co-stars Amitabh Bachchan, Shefali Shah, Arjun Rampal, director Rituparno Ghosh and Arindam Chaudhuri.

In the English film, she plays a happy-go-lucky Christian girl, Ivy.

“I (my character) brings in a whiff of fresh air whenever I come into the picture. This film has been a learning experience for me, as it required me to be very simple.

“It was tough because I had to unlearn what I learnt over the years,” she said.

Divya has worked with Amitabh in five films earlier, but she said that working with the veteran actor always excited her.

“I have worked with Amitabh Bachchan in five films … I was not nervous, but excited. In ‘The Last Lear’, I got to do just a teeny-weeny role with him.”

“We have been flooded with calls asking us if the film is called ‘Happy New Year’. And now, we get news reports that confirm the same on their own without even making a call to us. Let me put all queries to rest at one time. No, our film is not called ‘Happy New year’,” Kumar said.

He said a suitable title for the film had not been decided yet.

The untitled film, which is a romantic flick, will have the Bollywood’s strong man Sunny Deol and bubbly actress Kangana Ranaut sharing screen space for the first time. Besides, south Indian actor Madhavan is also playing an important role in it.

The film, which will be directed by Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao, would be shot in Chicago later this year. The director duo had earlier directed Salman Khan starrer ‘Lucky-No Time for Love’ which bombed at the box office.

He asked the caller, music director Sarang Dev, if he was sure his image as a Bollywood baddie would go down well with the image of the revered mythological character.

“I had a hearty laugh when he said he had called me, in fact, to lend my voice to the character of Ram in MEL’s animation movie. “Ramayana, The Epic.” Of course, I immediately responded with affirmative, if only to shed some of my sins by lending my voice to a divine character, who was virtue personified,” Bajpai recalled at the promo launch of the movie here today.

Juhi Chawla, Ashutosh Rana and Mukesh Rishi, whose voices have also been used in the movie, also attended the launch function.

Speaking on the occasion, Juhi said when she had taken her kid to see two Indian-made animation movies recently; she was a bit disappointed by their poor animation and technological quality.

“So, when MEL wanted me to lend my voice to the character of Sita in its animation movie, I put the precondition that it should be of international standard. They immediately sent me the clippings of the portion shot and I was convinced that they had indeed done a great job. But I still have no clue as to why they chose me to lend my voice to the mythological character, Sita,” Juhi said.

For Ashutosh Rana, who has lent his voice to the character Demon King Ravana, the project was like a dream come true.

“I was born and spent my childhood in a village in Madhya Pradesh, where the only form of mass entertainment available were the seasonal Ram Leelas. As a child, it was my dream to play a part in them. When they needed children to play Hanuman’s monkey brigade, I vied to play one of monkeys,” Rana recalled.

He said for years he nursed a secret ambition to play the role of Ravana in one of the Ram Leelas.

“I have always liked Ravana’s self-assurance, devotion and bravery. Besides, the actor playing the role of Ravana in the Ram Leelas in my village was immensely popular across 16 surrounding villages. But my ambition remained unfulfilled,” he said in mock seriousness.

Bollywood villain, Mukesh Rishi, who lends his voice to the character of Hanuman, said that “Ramayana, The Epic” helped him shed his Punjabi twang in speaking some of the Hindi words, thanks to the script-writer Rituraj Tripathi who insisted on chaste diction for every word.

Chetan Desai is directing the 100-minute movie, which is now fifty percent complete. He said it was being made essentially to introduce the young generation to Indian mythology.

“We are presenting the movie the way the young generation would like to see it, without tampering with the epic’s originality. It has fast-paced action, contemporary music and the latest sound effects,” he said.

The movie is slated for release early next year.

According to Jai Natarajan, executive vice president of MEL, the animation industry in India which was worth Rs.10.5 billion in 2006, would grow up to Rs.40 billion in the next three years.

“MEL also provides 3D animation and visual effects training through Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), which has 60 branches across the country and also in the Middle East and Nepal. MAAC has so far trained 30,000 animators since its inception in 1996 and 14,000 are now undergoing training at its different branches,” Natarajan explained.

MEL has delivered animation to international companies like BBC, Rainbow, Electronic Arts, Activision and Google.