Shayari by Shahid

Aamir Khan beware. For his upcoming film Teri Meri Kahaani , Shahid Kapoor is undergoing strenuous training, and drawing inspiration from Aamir while at it. Apparently, Shahid is playing a poet in the film and has to recite shayari a la Aamir in his 2007 film Fanaa. Now director Kunal Kohli wants Shahid’s poetry to be better than Aamir’s, and to this end, the former has to watch Fanaa about 20 times a day.

Shahid, perhaps realising the magnitude of matching up to Aamir Khan, is daunted by the prospect. “I have great respect for Aamir Khan. And though I really enjoyed his character in Fanaa, when Kunal asked me to do the same in Teri Meri Kahaani, I was taken aback. How can I even think of matching up to Aamir’s caliber,” he says. TMK is said to be set in p r e - I n d e p e n d e n c e Lahore, and Shahid is playing about three characters in it. “But I can’t make a fool of myself by trying to match up to Aamir. So, as a compromise, we decided to find a way out,” he says. Anil Kapoor’s Hollywood ambitions may be back on track. Buzz about town is that Anil is being considered for a Roger Donaldson project, titled Cities. A thriller that brings together three different stories from London, Mumbai and New York, Cities will have Anil Kapoor playing a Mumbai cop. The film also stars Kirsten Dunst, Orlando Bloom and Dominic Cooper.

“Cities was supposed to go on floors late last year. While that unfortunately didn’t happen, plans are being put together once again,” says a well- placed source, adding that the revised deadline for work to begin will be later this year. “The main reason for its delay is that it doesn’t boast of a big studio backing it, unlike MI4. Small, independent films need more time and breathing space to get going.”

Anil, confirming the news, adds that he hopes to squeeze in a couple of Bollywood assignments before Cities begins. “Cities will start by the end of this year. Before that, I would be wrapping up Race 2 and Shootout At Wadala,” he

says.