Riteish Deshmukh got a lucky break that saved his life — not once but twice — in South Africa while shooting for the high-paced action thriller, Cash, directed by Anubhav Sinha.

Narrating the first incident, Riteish says, “It was an action sequence which had Esha (Deol) driving her car at high speeds and I had to jump off from the boot of her convertible with another car following behind. When they said, ‘action!’

Esha moved on cue but I wasn’t ready so I fell behind with my jacket getting caught on the rod behind the radio transmissions. Esha didn’t know and kept driving on with me hanging on. I tried to keep my hand from going under the tyre.”

The gallery has been updated with the following images:

- Heyy Babyy promotional stills (3 images)
- On the sets of Heyy Babyy (1 image)
- Heyy Babyy movie stills (1 image)
- Apne Premiere (6 images)

The much awaited Sajid Nadiadwala's film HEYY BABYY with a heavy duty star cast of Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh and Vidya Balan has been a blockbuster 'Hit' on YOUTUBE

No sooner was the HEYY BABYY promo uploaded on 'YOUTUBE', the opening day itself created a record of sort for any Bollywood film on YOUTUBE.

HEYY BABYY has made a huge impact in the digital space with the promo simultaneous release in cyberspace along with its theatrical release. HEYY BABYY recorded highest views on the 1st day itself with around 10,000 hits in cyberspace. And if this is an early indicator for the buzz of the film, then HEYY BABYY is touted to be a sure fire blockbuster at the box office too. Even when the theatrical promo was played out in the theatres, it generated a euphoric response amongst the audience indicating that HEYY BABYY is the 'must see' film of the year!!

Ayesha Takia who recently walked out of Aamir Khan’s Ghajini remake has also walked out of another big film now. The actress was supposed to play the female lead role of Princess Jasmine in Sujoy Ghosh’s fantasy film Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp opposite Ritesh Deshmukh who plays Aladin in the film. However now she is no more a part of that project.

According to sources, things did not work out with Ayesha for the film and hence it led to her exit. The director and producer are on the look-out for a new leading lady.

It may well be a unique concept for Bollywood, as Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria's DHAMAAL has an all-male cast, comprising of the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Jaaved Jaafrey, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh and Ashish Chowdhary. There is no heroine or actress in the film, and if director Indra Kumar decides to add a song in the movie, he might have to sign an actress to match steps with his five heroes!

The film was completed in a record time and the producers have decided to release it all over on 7th September.

As always, we must add that release dates can change, even at the eleventh hour.

Gone are the days when Riteish was content doing laugh-a-minute capers. Today the guy is on to doing a family entertainer, a thriller and a fantasy – all at the same time. No doubt, Riteish Deshmukh seems to have become really serious this year!

These days the otherwise chirpy guy is consciously opting for roles that will allow him to exhibit other facets of his apart from just comedy (which he has been well-appreciated for but now seems to be done with, though he claims otherwise), he is also shedding off his jovial attitude for a serious, no-nonsense one.

When we cornered him recently, Riteish was pretty serious about his work. Here’s an excerpt from our recent chat with Ritesh ‘Husmukh’ Deshmukh.

Ritesh's appearance on Koffee with Karan-Season 2 has been added to the media section in 5 parts. Special thanks to Mary.

Rajkumar Santoshi finally gave out cast details for his big budget film, Ramayan. Ajay Devgan was finalized to play Ram and now, Riteish Deshmukh will be playing Laxman, Ram’s younger brother. For the role of Ravan, South Indian actor Prakash Raj has been signed. Prakash Raj was earlier seen in films like Shakti - The Power, Shart - The Challenge and also in Santoshi’s Khakee.

Talking about the casting, Santoshi says that only North Indian actors will be the members of King Dasharath’s clan while South Indian actors will be a part of Ravan’s clan. The shooting of the film will start early next year.

Rajkumar Santoshi is currently shooting Halla Bol starring Ajay Devgan and Vidya Balan.

Having usually played urbane, slightly flummoxed characters in almost all his films, Riteish Deshmukh is all set to become seriously exotic for Sujoy Ghosh's Aladdin & the Mystery of the Lamp , with Amitabh Bachchan as his genie.

The actor is somewhat shy talking about this project.

"I don't know what plans Sujoy and (producer) Rohan Sippy have about my looks. It could be totally Arabian or it might be somewhat contemporary. But it's an exciting prospect any which way," Riteish said.

First things first! It’s said that NAMASTEY LONDON is the 2007 adaptation of Manoj Kumar’s immensely likable PURAB AUR PACHHIM. Sure, NAMASTEY LONDON is about a spoilt British girl of Indian origin and a desi guy, but the similarities end there. In fact, NAMASTEY LONDON also bears slight similarity to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s classic love story HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, with the husband allowing his wife to follow her heart, helping her unite with her lover.