Goa beaches lose star value

MUMBAI: The beautiful beaches of Goa and the five-stars around them will be bereft of their glamour quotient this holiday season. Most Bollywood stars, for whom Goa is a must-do every year-end, have decided to stay away this time. "Goa just doesn't seem to have the buzz this year,'' says a star. "Earlier, we'd make a booking six months in advance and pull strings for hotel reservations because they were so hard to come by.Now it seems to be a no-show.''
Whether it's due to safety concerns or because the current mood in Goa is bluer than its waters or just the fact that tourist traffic has ebbed this year, robbing the beach state of its festive buzz, Bollywood stars are consciously making an effort to stay away. "For years, Goa has been my favourite Christmas-New Year destination,'' says Manisha Koirala. This year, Koirala has flown to USA for the new year.
For several others in B-Town, the party at Vijay Mallya's beachside bungalow was virtually de rigeur all these years. But this time, there will be very few Bollywood biggies in attendance.
Shah Rukh Khan and his family are in Los Angeles -the actor is shooting with Kajol for Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan and is expected to stay put there for almost 40 days. Sanjay Kapoor and his wife Maheep, who were also Goa regulars, are joining the Rock On gang-Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Arjun Rampal. Sanjay Kapoor and his wife Maheep, who were also Goa regulars, are joining the Rock On gang-Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani and Arjun Rampal-in Dubai. "Till a few days ago, Arjun and his wife Meher were tossing a coin about whether they should head to Goa,'' said a common friend. "However, they have now decided to party in Dubai instead.''
Kareena Kapoor and boyfriend Saif Ali Khan will attend midnight mass at Bandra's Mount Mary Church, and stay home for a traditional Christmas dinner; later in the week they are scheduled to fly to the Swiss Alps for a new year vacation. Katrina Kaif is joining her family for Christmas in Mumbai itself. But reports have it that her beau Salman Khan, who is headed for Goa, may persuade her to spend time with him at the year end.
Rahul Bose is another actor who will be in Goa; but a majority of the other regulars like Ameesha Patel are staying back in Mumbai. Vidya Balan will head to Pondicherry with her family. Akshay Kumar and his wife Twinkle will spend their annual vacation in Hong Kong. "I'm committed to a very private holiday with Twinkle and my son Araav,'' says Akshay, adding that the celebrations will start on December 29, his wife's birthday, and continue till January 1, 2009. Kumar is also scheduled to do a concert in Hong Kong as part of the promotion tour for his film Chandni Chowk To China.
Bipasha Basu, who's flying out to Hong Kong on January 1, is shooting in Mumbai till December 30. "However John (Abraham) and I are tempted to take a one and a half day vacation to Goa just to ring in the new year,'' says the Bengali beauty who proclaims she just loves Goa, no matter what.