STAR DIARY Mallika

Mallika Sherawat, who has recently been rubbing shoulders with the A-listers of Hollywood, will be officially conferred with the title of honorary citizen for her charitable efforts by Los Angeles on August 15. Los Angeles City Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa,will recognise Sherawat in a star-studded event on August 15 as a citizen of the US. This is the first time that a Bollywood celebrity is being presented with this title and many Hollywood stars will be gracing the occasion including Hissss director Jennifer Lynch. Sherawat is also quite active on the social networking site Twitter where she interacts with her fans on a regular basis. Her profile is quite popular and has 6,800 followers tracking her posts. While she was recently in the US to promote her film Hissss, the sexy siren dropped in the Twitter office headquarters at San Francisco and chatted with employees. Sherawat is also working on a new American film in which she will play a character based on a San Francisco’s Attorney General. Jennifer Lynch’s Hissss, which will see Mallika play a nagin, will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010.

Bobby Deol, who is not too fond of horror films, has gone ahead and signed one. Currently, being shot in Mauritius, the film is directed by Rajeev Virani and will have Mugdha Godse fame playing the lead opposite him. Apparently, Bobby cannot stand the sight of blood and gore and does not watch horror movies at all. The junior Deol is impressed with Rajeev Rai’s original script and believes that it is not a rip-off of any Hollywood film. Meanwhile, Samir Karnik’s romantic film Vada Raha with Kangna Ranaut and Bobby Deol will have a grand opening at the Norway Film Festival. Made on a shoestring budget, the film is a sweet love story about never losing hope. Earlier, titled Roshan, Vada Raha, which is scheduled to release on September 11, will be the curtain raiser film at the Norwegian International Film Festival.

Koena Mitra, who has been missing in action for the past few days, was on a well-deserved break. The lissome lass recently went on an all expense paid trip to Kenya. Koena, who was in Nairobi to attend an event at the Bollywood Club, was lucky enough to get a chance to go on a wildlife jungle safari. The organisers arranged a four-day jungle safari for the self-confessed animal lover. Koena’s four-day safari included a bush walk where she saw wild elephants and buffalos from close quarters. The organisers had arranged for five-star treatments for her, which included a hot air balloon ride and a champagne breakfast in a luxurious tent in the middle of the forest. Koena, who is just back from her trip, is busy with the preparations of her website launch. The dusky actor will join the leagues of Lara Dutta and Genelia D’Souza by launching her own web portal where she will post exclusive information.