Posts Tagged ‘august 18’
Bharati Dubey I TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 18, 2009)
Khan, who was detained at Newark airport for slightly over an hour, clarified that the reason given to him for detention was that his name kept popping up on the computer and not because of lost baggage issues.
Shah Rukh did admit that he felt slightly violated when asked to name people in America who could vouch for him. “I don’t want to be treated as somebody special and I don’t want anyone to lose their job because of this incident. But should they have taken my fingerprints and retina scan, then let me off without verifying these? It shows the system is wrong.’’
Khan brushed aside allegations of the incident being a publicity stunt. “I don’t need a stunt to remain in the public eye. And I don’t think being detained and questioned is a matter of pride. But one cannot deny that this is a problem happening around the world,’’ said the actor, adding that this was the not the first time.
Quoting German pastor Martin Niemoller, Khan said, “They came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.’’
New Delhi: Amid the raging controversy over Shah Rukh Khan’s detention at a US airport, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Monday waded into the maze of swirling opinions by wondering what the fuss was all about.
Singh said Khan’s campaign on his treatment at a US airport may make people suspect it was a publicity stunt for his next movie My Name Is Khan. The SP leader said even millennium star Amitabh Bachchan was subjected to security-related checks in France, a country which has given him the highest civilian honour, and in Switzerland, but he never spoke about it. “There are two types of people in society—one, who make an issue out of an incident and another, who cooperates with procedures. Bachchan never blew it up. APJ Abdul Kalam, who is high in stature, was frisked in his own country but he kept quiet even though the whole country screamed over it,” Singh said.
Singh’s wading into the controversy seems his attempt to get even with King Khan with whom he has a history of bitterness. But the SP leader denied such a motive, saying there was no animosity between him and Khan and they were nowfriends. He said, “It is unfortunate the minorities are being targeted with suspicion but considering the plight of the US, it (security procedures) cannot be termed totally unjustified.” Specifying his objection to SRK’s actions, Singh said it would have been good if Khan had let people, as in the case of Kalam, make an issue of his airport detention than protest himself. TNN
THE TIMES OF INDIA (August 18, 2009)
Farhan has no time for Rahman
Posted on: August 18, 2009
By Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 18, 2009)
Shooting for Kartik Calling Kartik and hunting for exotic locales for Don 2 is keeping Farhan Akhtar so busy that he is unable to find time to record a song for Blue with AR Rahman. The song will be filmed on Zayed Khan. Rahman, who is scheduled to return to India from the US next week, has the option of scrapping the song or recording it with a different singer. But the composer is willing to wait as he is keen to work with Farhan. He says, “It’s not just his voice. It’s the attitude that he extends to his vocals. I thought Farhan sounded terrific in Rock On!!. But the song I have in mind is totally different. I am against talking about something which is uncertain. What if the time factor plays villain? No point in jumping the gun.” |
Now Ranbir starts blogging!
Posted on: August 18, 2009
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 18, 2009)
 Ranbir Kapoor is the latest Bollywood actor to join the blog bandwagon. Starting tomorrow, Ranbir’s blog will appear in a popular entertainment portal. He will start by penning down his experience of working in his forthcoming film, Wake Up Sid.
A source said, “Contrary to his role in Wake Up Sid, in which he plays an extremely lazy character, Ranbir is quite creative in real life. He will be blogging on a daily basis where he will write about his role and his experience of working with producer Karan Johar, co-star Konkona SenSharma and director Ayaan Mukherjee. If his write-ups get a positive response, he will continue blogging. |
- In: Interviews
- 5 Comments
• Is your marriage with Jackie over? Definitely not. Jackie and I are very much together. I met Jackie when I was 13. He is not very communicative. At the end of the day, you have to see life through your kids. You don’t have to upset the balance. I know a lot of people have insinuated many things, but it’s not true. • Why did you part ways with Kaizad Gustad professionally? We hear he wants to get back with you. That’s right, we have parted ways professionally. He will always be a friend, but I will not be working with him again. I need to be on the same page with the person I am working with. • You are now linked with your new business partner, Sahil Khan. Sahil is only a few years older than my son, Tiger. The other day Tiger joked I am going to be arrested for pedophilia. • Was Boom a big mistake? Unfortunately, it got pirated and the distributors backed out. They took the film but didn’t pay us. Thankfully, Manmohan Shetty and Ashok Hinduja stood by me. Shetty gave me a lot of time to pay my lab bills and Hinduja agreed to take his money after a long time. Jackie too stood by me. • And then? After a point, Jackie told me that I was not a tough person and I needed to take it easy. So I lay low. I had to pay Rs 18 crores to Ashok Hinduja. We sold some of our assets. • Did all this affect your relationship with Jackie? It was rough after Boom, but we planned how we were going to come out of this. • Is Jackie not good with money matters? That’s wrong. He is a Gujarati and has an astute sense of money. The only thing is that he goes the extra mile to help a friend. If a filmmaker claims he has gone over budget, he will say, “Forget it. Don’t pay me.” When we were newly married and didn’t have a car, we would often walk back home from our outings and he would give a lot of money to the beggars. • After the bad experience, you are still planning to make another film? I can’t allow failure to bog me down. Jackie had told me that I shouldn’t jeopardise our family money again. Now, you don’t have to use your personal funds. There are many corporates and financers to back you. • Is Jackie a better father than a husband? Jackie is a better father, but he is a wonderful husband too. • Is Jackie strict with Krishna? No sleep-overs at friend’s place. He will keep texting her to know where she is. Rules are different for Tiger. Krishna minds that but then Tiger reminds her of their three-year age difference. • You have sold your Sony shares? Yes. We invested in Sony about 15 years ago. Many people told us that it was a crazy idea. It’s time to move on.
• Why? Initially, there were only few channels. Being in business in the nascent stages is always more thrilling. Now, we want to do something different. I have started a production company with Sahil Khan. Our first film, Rani, will go on the floors in January. • Is Kevin Spacey still involved with the film? Actually we were thinking of casting him, but we changed the script. • You discovered Katrina Kaif. Is she still in touch with you? Not really. We met at a party once and just greeted each other. • Did you change her surname? She had an English surname, which was not easy to pronounce. She is not Katrina Kaif originally. She is Katrina Turquotte. We wanted to give her a surname which would be accepted by the Indian audience. First we thought of naming her Katrina Kazi, but then we thought Kazi would have a religious overtone. So we thought of Kaif. • But it is said that she has a Kashmiri father. If that’s what she says, you have to believe her. Her name on her passport that time was Katrina Turquotte. |
Karan and Vishal patch up
Posted on: August 18, 2009
It wasn’t a premier but the turnout was nothing short of a red carpet event. Sunday evening trial of Kaminey had the who’s who of Bollywood queuing up to watch the film that got stalled by swine flu. From the mainstream brigade led by Karan Johar, Rakyesh Mehra, Imtiaz Ali and Ashutosh Gowariker to the alternative set of Anurag Kashyap, John Matthew Mathan, Nagesh Kuknoor, Aziz Mirza, the auditorium at Yash Raj resembled a class of directors. Also marking their presence were Hrithik Roshan in the scraggy beard he’s grown for Guzaarish, Gauri Khan, putting aside all rumours of a fallout between SRK and Vishal Bhardwaj, Manish Malhotra, Dino Morea, Yash Birla, and standing quietly in a corner, Pankaj Kapur. But what became the talking point was Karan Johar whose film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna had earlier clashed with Omkara, leading to much rumour-mongering between the two camps, on Monday going all out to praise Kaminey. Karan who has publicly admitted his desire to move from bubblegum cinema to a more serious format, starting with My Name Is Khan, gushed on Facebook. “Kaminey… Edgy, intense, compelling, and a shot of great cinema in your face, take the ride alongwith bravura ensemble performances, Shahid, Priyanka and Amole Gupte, stand tall and firm in every inch of this brilliance. More power to you Vishal, and thank you for the inspiration.” Likewise, Anurag Kashyap, for whom Vishal earlier scored the music for No Smoking, wrote, “Kaminey, badi hi kamini film hai.” Finally, Vishal’s grouse of being the perennial outsider in Bollywood is laid to rest. |
Though Govinda is not letting the cat out of the bag, in Mani Ratnam’s Raavana he plays the man who guides Aishwarya Rai’s screen husband (Vikram) through the difficult forest terrain chasing the social outcast who has kidnapped his wife. In fact, his role is not loosly based on Lord Hanuman anymore. All the mythological analogy is being cleared out of Mani’s film and Govinda’s role is the first to benefit from the cleansing act. What started as an extended cameo has now become a full-fledged role. Meanwhile, rumours doing the rounds about Govinda’s eccentric behaviour have not affected him. He said, “If I’m so difficult why did Mani offer me such a role?” According to Govinda there’s absolutely no truth to the rumours that Mani is unhappy with him. “In fact, my character of the man who guides the protagonist through the forest has shaped into an achha khaasa role as the film progressed.” Apparently, Mani is so pleased with Govinda that he has offered him another film. Commenting on his work, Govinda said, “Bahut mushkil se mujhe kaam phir mila hai (I’ve got work again after much difficulty). I’ve to concentrate on holding what I’ve found after a long struggle rather than give importance to people who are trying to malign me.” “Mani, Santosh Sivan (cinematographer), Abhishek (Bachchan) and I have been shooting happily for the film. Recently, when an elephant killed his mahout in Kerala, the unit had to shift to Ooty where I will be joining them on August 18,” he added. |
Fenil and Bollywood 