Hussain Kuwajerwala’s better half Tina and Riteish Deshmukh have been friends for over a decade. Says Tina, “I’ve known him since we were in college together.

We rarely get to meet, but when we do, I make sure we catch up. He’s a really dear friend and I am very fond of him.”

Apart from being a good friend, Riteish has now turned into her interior decorator! His design firm, Evolution, is doing up the interiors of Hussain and Tina’s new house in Lokhandwala Complex. The people who work with and for Riteish are brilliant. Presently, Naaved Patel is looking after our interiors. These guys really understand my sensibilities.”

Tina is in no hurry to finish her home fast even though her vision is simplistic and minimal.

Riteish Deshmukh, who is known to play pranks, embarrassed Neil Nitin Mukesh when he showed his semi-nude picture from the movie "Jail" and asked why he was exposing so much. An embarrassed Neil said: "The director of the movie wanted me to do this and hence I did it."

But Riteish wasn't done with pulling Neil's leg and said: "Abhi aisa kar rahein ho to aage kya karoge?'(When you are doing such stuff right now, what will you do in future?)

Neil blushed and couldn't find words to match witty Riteish who, along with Boman Irani, has been hosting the IIFA awards for three years now.

One always wonders about Deshmukh family where the people from diverse background live under one roof what must be the dinner table conversation like!

Ritesh breaks the curiosity and divulges, “My parents are generally curious to know what happened on the sets. I share my stories and probably end up imitating some colleague. But I am more interested in politics than films. It’s fun to know about the developments. It’s a great time back home with family.”
He adds, “My brother (Amit Deshmukh) and I share a fantastic rapport. He’s active in politics. He has the passion to take whatever my father began to the next level. He is very attached to our hometown, Latur, and wants to bring in change and do new things there. I’ve seen my father evolve from an MLA to a minister and then the chief minister and now a cabinet minister. It’s strange to view your brother as an MLA, someone you have grown up with. My father heads for Parliament and my brother for the Legislative Assembly. I’m like dude, what’s happening here? I leave for my shoot and my younger brother (Dheeraj Deshmukh) leaves for office. It’s quite a cool space to be in.”

Mumbai: The International Indian Film Awards (IIFA) 2010 to be held in Sri Lanka in June, during three days of glamour and glitz will be hosted by Lara Dutta and Boman Irani who will be the hosts for the fourth time whilst Riteish Deshmukh will be joining them on stage for the third year.

Speaking at the Media Conference in Mumbai, India, Lara Dutta said she was proud to be selected to host this mega event which is watched and enjoyed by millions of fans across the globe. Along with Irani and Deshmukh, they will be taking center stage at one of Colombo's most anticipated events in June 2010.

IIFA weekend 2010 is supported by Sri Lanka Tourism with a mission to inspire, build and deliver tourism as a key driver of the island's economic growth.

Riteish Deshmukh who is on a two-month break from films has decided to grow his hair for a new look for his next film Dhamaal 2. Yesterday, he had his hair trimmed, styled and coloured at Hakim's Aalim salon yesterday morning.
The actor says, "I trimmed my long hair a bit and coloured it light ash brown. I can't experiment with lighter colours like ash blonde because my skin colour is too dark. Now I will grow it more and leave it to Aalim to figure after two months how to cut it differently. I want to grow it more."

Aalim says, "Riteish's hair colour is funky and subtle and took about two hours. We will create something new and mature for Dhamaal 2. I have been styling Riteish's hair since his first release Tujhe Mere Kasam."

A lot is heard and said about monkey business. Mostly referred to in plain humour, seldom does it happen that 'monkeying around' takes any serious connotation.

This is what happened during the shooting of Sajid Khan's Housefull where a monkey plays a key role in a funny fight sequence. Though the film does boast of an A plus setup with the likes of Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal and Jiah Khan towering the cast, it was the pint sized monkey that demanded most attention. Reason? Its Hollywood roots. This is the same monkey who is nothing less than a star after having worked in a mega blockbuster like Pirates of the Caribbean. No wonder, 'starry' tantrums were at its peak during the shooting of Housefull.

Laughs Sajid Khan, "It was as amusing as it gets. My first film Heyy Babyy was a multi starrer and it went along so smoothly. People asked me that how would I handle my three heroes and three heroines in Housefull but I used to laugh it away wondering what was the fuss all about. After all most of the cast members are my friends first, and have immense faith in me and each of them was quite clear about his or her role in the film. This is why I always believed that the shooting of Housefull will go on smoothly. Little did I know that of all characters in my film, it would be a monkey that would end up throwing so many tantrums."

Remember the comedy Dhamaal which released in 2007 starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Ritesh Deshmukh, Javed Jaffery and Ashish Chowdhary? It’s claim to fame was that it was an all-boys affair and had no female lead.

Even when the sequel to the film was announced earlier this year by producer Ashok Thakeria and director Indra Kumar, it was declared that Dhamaal 2 also wouldn’t have any heroines.

Now suddenly, the makers have changed their mind. Just three months before Dhamaal 2 goes on the floors, two heroines have been added to the project, thereby ending the all-boys claim.

This ‘house’ is ‘full’ of cricket fans.

So it wasn’t surprising when a leading Asian sports channel announced a marketing tie-up with Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment for Housefull — they had done the same for Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Heyy Babyy — with the cast of the film, Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal and director Sajid Khan, ready to go on field with their support for Team India in the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

Interestingly, the release of the romcom entertainer coincides with the launch of the premier cricket tournament on April 30.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh, in a rib-tickling session, admits to pre-release jitters, getting into politics and 'being a rooster'. After long, one of your solo-hero projects!

Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai releases today. Apprehensive?
Nope. I meticulously work on all my projects, but its success is never in my hands. I feel pre-release jitters for every film. I think it's how a film is pitched to the audience that makes a lot of difference. Besides, if it's a small budget, single hero film like Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, it's not as much money riding on me. And likewise, the returns expected are not all that high.

Is it difficult for you to keep switching between solo and multiple-actor projects?
I debuted in 2003. I did a few solo projects. The scripts that came to me afterwards were extremely boring and unexciting. Eventually, I took on two-hero films like Bluffmaster and three-hero films like Masti and Heyy Babyy and four-hero films like ApnaSapna Money Money. They all did decently well. I agree there was pressure on me to push Apna Sapna... a bit, but other than that, I have never been under nerve-wrecking pressure.

We used to bump into Ritesh Deshmukh pretty often. The lad, who stays in Worli, used to make it a point to go to Siddhivinayak temple every Tuesday barefooted, and return the same way albeit with a huge tikka on his forehead, a sign that he had sought His divine blessings.

However, since about the past one year, we haven’t spotted a devout Rits. When we met up with the actor, he was at his wittiest best, and when we asked him of his connection with God, he confirmed, “Oh, it’s still on, I still go to Siddhivinayak religiously... only these days, I take the sea-link,” he joked, “After all, the government has done an amazing job of it, eh?” he winked!

Of course, it’s no wonder that politician Daddy Deshmukh has sonny Ritesh’s full support, and Ganapati Bappa Ritesh’s full devotion.