Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra seems to be eyeing the Oscars this time. He is leaving no stone unturned for his ambitious Hollywood project `Broken Horses`. After roping in the Academy Award winner Barrie Osborne as the executive producer, the director has reportedly signed Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage for the film.

“Vidhu is currently in Los Angeles, working on for ‘Broken Horses’. Cage has been confirmed for one of the leading roles just a few days ago,” the Daily Express quoted a source as saying.

The actor won`t need to pick up any new languages for the role – or even travel very far – Chopra recently revealed his latest project will be shot in the US and in English.

“In September, I will start shooting Broken Horses in the US. It will be an English film and will be for the world audience. I have done Hindi films, now I am doing English and after this I may do a Hindi film again,” Chopra said.

A huge set is being put up in a desert town bordering Mexico and the US. `Broken Horses` will have a western cast and crew and will start shooting from September 13.

Besides Osborne, Hollywood veteran Fred Roos has also been brought on board as executive producer to put the project and cast together.

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Abhishek Bachchan was recently mistaken for a cop in Goa when he was shooting for Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum. During the shoot, he has been in disguise, comfortably riding a bike, dressed like a local cop and even speaking the local language. In fact, he has blended so well, that he has gone unrecognised in the outdoor sequences.

Abhi’s look gave his unit some amusing moments during the shoot. In one sequence, Abhishek was supposed to confront a bunch of hooligans. The locals nearby thought it was a real confrontation and immediately backed away. Another time, he had stopped his bike at a signal, when a family drove up and asked him for directions. Since Abhishek had become familiar with the state after shooting for Dum Maaro Dum and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se there, he politely gave the right directions. The family drove away, being none the wiser.

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James Bond is reportedly planning to take on the poppy fields of Afghanistan in his next assignment.

If reports are to be believed at least some parts of the next movie in the Bond franchise will be shot in the Helmand province in Afghanistan.

According to online reports on James Bond fansites, the official, a member of the Foreign Office’s drug task force in the country has signed on as a consultant for the franchise.

The official, who has since left the Foreign Office and Afghanistan, is thought to have signed a confidentiality agreement with the filmmakers preventing any discussion of the project, The Times reported.

Should 007 tackle the opium fields of the country, it will be the second time he has ventured into Afghanistan. In the 1987 film The Living Daylights, Bond, played by Timothy Dalton, was imprisoned in a Russian camp in the country, before teaming up with anti-Soviet freedom fighters.

Eon Productions, the production company set up by Bond producer Albert Broccoli, refused to comment on whether the film would visit Afghanistan.

The 23rd Bond film will be Daniel Craig’s third outing as the fictional British spy, following the success of ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’.

The plot of the new Bond film, expected to be released in 2011, is a closely guarded secret.

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Extraterrestrial film E.T has pipped Shrek and Finding Nemo to be named the greatest ever children’s movie. The Steven Spielberg-directed film launched a young Drew Barrymore’s Hollywood career in 1982, reports The Telegraph.

In the poll, conducted by onepoll.com, the second place went to Pixar’s 1996 hit Toy Story, followed by Disney classic Mary Poppins, with The Lion King and The Wizard of Oz completing the top five.

A spokesman for onepoll.com said: The films featured in the poll span across decades and all have something special about them. E.T is a movie the whole family can gather around to watch and it never fails to bring a tear to someone’s eye.

Top 10 children’s films of all time:

1. E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial
2. Toy Story
3. Mary Poppins
4. Lion King
5. Wizard of Oz
6. Bambi
7. Back to the Future
8. Shrek
9. Finding Nemo
10. Labyrinth

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