Bollywood’s seduction story!

Being spoken about as the love-interest of their Bollywood counterparts seems to be passé these days for B-Town actresses. Instead it’s the Hollywood hunks who’re stealing the limelight and apparently, the hearts of our Bollywood hotties.

Recently actress Kangna Ranaut was romantically linked to Holly hunk Gerard Butler when the 300 star dropped by on the sets of her new film. What followed were rumours of the desi hottie being whisked away for a mini-vacation by the star.

Butler, interestingly, was also linked to powerhouse performer Priyanka Chopra, who’s known to have hosted a party with close friends on his visit to the city in the past.

Actress Bipasha Basu is busy denying rumours linking her to her firang co-star Josh Hartnett. Not too long back, she was under scanner for having shared some rather special moments with footballer Cristiano Ronaldo too. Actress Mallika Sherawat almost got linked to actor Jackie Chan, and later there were also rumours of actor Sean Penn showing a keen interest in her as well. During the shoot of Mistress of Spices, there was a buzz of actor Dylan McDermott having a soft corner for the light-eyed beauty Aishwarya Rai before she became the Bachchan bahu.

It may have been a chance encounter abroad or a matter of two co-stars being rather friendly on sets, there’s no denying that being seen together does become a ticket to create a strong buzz of curiosity and some hot link-ups too.

According to insiders, in most cases, link-ups with Western counterparts are not necessarily a part of the film PR activity, but personal ones as well.

“Indian heroines are very pretty, and Hollymen do find them beautiful and exotic. And by the time the real facts come out, they get multiplied manifold. So a photo-op ends up being a date, and shooting together becomes a full-fledged affair,” says a filmmaker.

An actor known for such link-ups herself agrees, “Many a times people put two and two together and  all we have to do is to remain mum and it fuels the rumour. It’s flirty, it’s fun,” she says cattily. Another one, however, puts forth a different view. “It’s not fair to say that we do it on purpose. Sometimes we are the last ones to hear about it. People here are so awestruck by Hollywood that some just don’t mind it, but not all,” she says.

A marketing personnel reveals that being paired with a Holly actor is any day a better prospect to up the star value in comparison to being linked with a fellow actor.

“Bollywood link-ups don’t create that strong a wave as a Hollywood link-up does here,” he says, adding, “Besides with the exchange of talent, both Hollywood and Bollywood stars stand to benefit by it.”