THE Singapore Flyer is not the only one getting a new spin thanks to fengshui.

Bollywood celebrities are taking to the ancient Chinese practice of arranging environmental elements to promote fortune and health in a big way.

Mumbai tabloid Mid Day reported that Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai is a big fengshui follower.

The 34-year-old star - now on the Unforgettable concert world tour with her husband Abhishek Bachchan and father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan - has apparently made her spouse carry fengshui coins in his wallet for good luck.

She had also reportedly redecorated Abhishek's make-up trailer along fengshui lines, putting in necessary good-luck accessories to boost his box-office fortunes.

The newspaper quoted a source that said that the actress became a fengshui fan after she broke up with actor Viviek Oberoi in 2005.

She apparently wanted some 'calm and peace' in her life and an expert gave her tips.

The Hindustan Times reported that Amitabh was very happy that his daughter-in-law gave one of his bungalows a fengshui touch.

He reportedly believed that it brought the whole family luck when their company AB Corp landed a mega joint-venture deal to produce films, television shows and concerts with Reliance Entertainment.

The deal was rumoured to be worth between 10 and 15 billion rupees ($329m and $494m).

Aishwarya is not the only Bollywood star keen on this Chinese practice.

Actor Ajay Devgan and British-Asian musician and Bollywood music producer Bally Sagoo have publicly endorsed their own fengshui masters.

TESTIMONIAL

Ajay, 39, who is married to popular actress Kajol, supports Mumbai-based fengshui practitioner Mohan Deep and has even put a testimonial on the latter's website, www.fengshuimiracle.com

Mr Deep told The New Paper that even top producer and director Karan Johar believes in fengshui.

'He has ensured that everything on the sets of his movies as well as TV show Koffee with Karan is placed according to fengshui principles.'

Mr Deep said that his Bollywood clients usually consult him when they are in a financial fix.

While he declined to give specific names, he cited a few examples of his celebrity dealings.

One was a top movie star who had burnt his fingers while producing a film and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

'He was also having problems at home. I suggested several changes in his apartment and offices.

'I also did several fengshui paintings to balance the elements that were clashing among themselves or with the ruling elements of money, fame, creativity and marriage,' he said.

In another case, a popular actor's wife had asked Mr Deep to help her when her husband was having an affair with one of his leading ladies.

Even Mumbai's television producers have hired fengshui consultants to design their sets.

One such practitioner is Mr Charuhas Naik, who designed the set of Zee TV's Hindi-language reality talent contest, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

Mr Charuhas, who is in his 40s, told The New Paper that he has been a consultant on the show since 2005.

He introduced the blue lighting, a water feature and placed four bamboo shoots on the judges' tables on the show for 'luck's sake'.

He also does a yearly fengshui audit on the show.

'Whenever I feel the need to change it, I will, because I want the show to be the best,' he said.

Mr Charuhas also helps the contestants improve their stage performance through what he called 'personality development'.

He claims to have Bollywood celebrities as clients, but declines to name them as he is known for his 'discretion', he said.

Most of them consult him on matters of the heart.

'I can tell you 95 per cent of my calls are for relationships. You can have all the wealth in the world, it means nothing if you don't have luck in relationships,' he said, adding that he makes trips to their homes to see what needs adjustment.

Mr Charuhas said he was introduced to fengshui in London, where he was studying to be a journalist and has been practising it for over 10 years.

Fengshui is popular with Bollywood directors and producers too.

They also rely on the Indian version of fengshui called Vaastu Shastra - which works on similar principles as its Chinese counterpart.

The Press Trust of India reported that film directors and producers consult numerologists, astrologers and fengshui experts for their movies.

Producer-director Rakesh Roshan would make sure all his releases follow numerology guidelines. That means adding an extra alphabet to his film titles, such as Krrish and Krazzy.

Actors have also changed the spellings of their names by adding an extra letter to boost their luck.

Sunil Shetty added an 'e' to his name three years ago to improve his luck. Now he is known as Suniel.

Film critic Taran Adarsh said that filmmakers and actors have always been superstitious because of the huge amounts of money riding on their films.

'A lot is at stake here, so filmmakers have always taken recourse to superstitions.

'Almost everyone does it in some way or the other,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Aug 14, 2008.