It could have taken anyone some time to recognise Riteish Deshmukh on the stage when Manav Gangwani forced him to step on the ramp on Day III of the Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week.

For a fraction of a second, it reminded one of Abhishek Bachchan ... The actor was seen with long tresses carefully pulled back with a hairband, an overgrown stubble and a pair of oversized spectacles. So when we caught up with the actor, we asked him if this is a new look for any of his upcoming flicks. “Yeah, my look is for a film called Unemployment and it is starring me in it,” joked Riteish, but later clarified, “No, it is not a look for any film or anything.”

But why such a drastic change – any complications in his love life? “The only reason is that I am not doing anything these days. And when I don’t go out and am not working, I don’t like to shave and don’t like to get my hair cut! And I am not being a Devdas, really,” he explains! Okay, we buy it, Riteish.

We all know that first love always holds a special place in our hearts. It seems Riteish Deshmukh who began acting after studying architecture can’t get over his first love.

The actor will be seen with his drawing board, designs, discussions and site visits as he is gearing up to design Karan Johar’s new house in suburb. Apparently Karan who recently saw Riteish’s designs was completely amazed by his art. Impressed by his work Karan decided to assign Riteish to design his new home.

It seems that every actor in Bollywood either wants to turn as a director or producer, in that list Ritesh Deshmukh is also added as the actor has decided to produce films. Interestingly, Ritesh does not want to produce Hindi films but he wants to produce Marathi. It may be because of being a Maharashtrian.Though, the actor mainly wants to produce Marathi films currently but later on he may think of producing Hindi flicks as well. In-fact, he has already been offered a couple of Marathi films, but was unable to accept them due to previous commitments. He has also decided if the role suits him, he will also act in the flick in near future.

Vidya Balan and Kangana Ranaut will be paired opposite Sanjay Dutt and Ritesh Deshmukh in Dhamaal sequel.

The two ladies will be seen together on screen for the first time.

Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey will reprise their roles.

The comedy sequel was announced soon after Dhamaal was released in 2007, but producer and director Indra Kumar had issues with locking in the script.

"The film was shelved as Sanjay Dutt was not keen on working on part two after which Indra Kumar put this film on hold and was all set to start another film with Dutt, Anil Kapoor and Akshaye Khanna. However, that got shelved too. Now Indra Kumar has managed to start working on Dhamaal 2 as Dutt is happy with the script. Artshad Warsi, Ritiesh deshmukh and Javed Jaffrey too have given the film a go ahead," a source close to Indra Kumar told Deccan Chronicle.

kshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh are good friends, and have co-starred together in the recent hit 'Housefull' and 'Heyy Babyy' earlier. And now Riteish is happy (and maybe just a little bit jealous) to see Akshay play a Maharashtrian character in his new movie.

Riteish is, of course, a Maharashtrian, and this is what he had to say about Akki's role. "Last night Akshay showed me footage of 'Khatta Meetha' - absolutly thrilled to see AK play a Maharashtrian character Sachin Tichkule," Riteish posted on his Twitter account.

And Akshay has apparently done such a great job speaking the language that Riteish might be a little envious. "Akki's Marathi in KM is better than mine (grrrr)"

Akshay later posted the first look of the movie on his Twitter account (we've got it here for you). And Riteish went on to add, "Priyan (director Priyadarshan) looks in full form- Finally a film on ROAD constructions, Contractors and POT HOLES. Akki's best line is when he says i make my livelihood by contracting the same ROAD- again n again n again- truth behind road constructions."

That's a good line for sure. But to feel better about his Marathi maybe Riteish should try speaking Punjabi in his next, and try to get some compliments from Akki!

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.

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."

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.