Anger in India at Bollywood star’s detention in U.S.

MUMBAI, India — Saturday, August 15. Independence Day in India. News trickled in that one of India’s most recognizable faces and names had been detained at an international airport in the United States. Questions about individual freedom, independence, liberty, and laws of the land are still being furiously debated in India.
Shah Rukh Khan said he was detained by authorities at the Newark, New Jersey, airport.
Shah Rukh Khan said he was detained by authorities at the Newark, New Jersey, airport.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan says he was detained by immigration officials in the U.S. for up to two hours and questioned. He says he believes it’s because of his Muslim last name, Khan.

“They kept telling me it’s because my name is common and I was too polite to say, common to what?” says Khan.

U.S. officials deny the superstar was held up because of his name and say the whole process took just 66 minutes – and that too, because the airline had misplaced his bags.

Whatever the reason, the incident has kicked up a furore in India. There’s an outpouring of outrage and anger at the way an Indian VIP was treated. Ambika Soni, India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, said of the U.S.: “The way they frisk us, I say we frisk them the same way.”

Is she overreacting?

Among all the support fans are offering Khan, there are those who have little sympathy. Fellow Bollywood actor Salman Khan asks: “What’s the big deal? We all have to go through security.”

Do you agree with him? Has this whole incident been blown out of proportion? One observer said: “No-one is above the law of the land, and the U.S. officials were just doing their job.”

We’d love to know what you think. Should Shah Rukh Khan have not made such a fuss about being detained at Newark airport – or do you understand why he felt slighted?

Posted by: CNN Correspondent, Mallika Kapur
Filed under: India

Beware gossip-mongers, celebrities will take you to courtS

By BW Team
Posted on 04 Aug 2009 at 11:40am
aishwarya rai gossip 225x300 Beware gossip mongers, celebrities will take you to courtNew Delhi, There are stories and rumours galore about film stars, but celebrities are no longer willing to tolerate gossip that will affect their relationships. Many like Aishwarya Rai, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar have threatened legal action to stop gossip-mongers from spreading false news about their personal lives.

Recently an article titled, “Career more important than family”, published by a website infuriated Aishwarya so much that she issued a statement saying she would take legal action against those who are spreading rumours about her.

According to Archana Sadanand of Imagesmiths, who handles the publicity for Aishwarya, a celebrity’s life is in the public domain but circulating untrue statements about them affects their personal lives.

“Yes, a celebrity’s life is there in the public domain but writing things that are untrue and attributing false statements to them affect their personal lives and in such cases the best way out is legal recourse,” Archana told IANS.

“A rumour is a rumour until it takes the shape of newsprint or media space… when we authenticate any such information by broadcasting, we in a way are adding to our readership or viewership.

“But we seem to forget that a life, a person is attached to such rumours and in most cases these rumours have a snowball effect,” said Archana, whose client list also includes big names like Akshay Kumar and Imran Khan.

In the past actors like Saif Ali Khan and Akshay too have threatened legal action against gossip-mongers.

Saif was at the receiving end when The New York Post reported that he had thrown attitude in a local bar and was thrown out. He then threatened to take the newspaper to court.

“I’m considering taking legal action against the paper. The article is slanderous and completely baseless,” Saif, who was shooting for Siddharth Anand’s “Tara Rum Pum” then, had said.

Akshay too decided to act against those spreading rumours of a discord in his married life with Twinkle Khanna.

Akshay and Twinkle’s spokesperson released a statement that said: “They will not stand for false and malicious reporting by any publication any more. They have sent a legal notice to the publication concerned for the false report that they published on July 24, 2007, and they will take them to court.”

Akshay also threatened to sue a British tabloid for giving false “details” of his and ex-girlfriend Shilpa Shetty’s personal lives. It was published soon after Shilpa won British reality TV show “Celebrity Big Brother” in 2007.

“I will never talk about a lady in those terms, this is totally baseless, I’ve never spoken to the said newspaper and I will seek legal recourse,” Akshay was quoted as saying that time.

Said Rajnigandha Shekhawat, another publicist: “Rumours can take a completely nasty turn sometimes with absolutely no bearing on the truth… I think it’s fair if the actors threaten to sue.”

“However, rumour-mongering is a big part of a celebrity’s life and most of them are now aware that there is no escaping it,” said Rajnigandha, whose clients include Shahid Kapoor, Sonal Chauhan, Vir Das and Purab Kohli.

Even southern actors have come down heavily on people circulating false news.

Recently, when Tamil actress Trisha was accused of entering into an unsavoury argument with former India cricketer Hemang Badani at a hotel, she issued a stern denial and said that certain “vested interests” have been spreading rumours about her.

“I won’t keep mum from now onwards. Whosoever writes or says anything bad about me, I won’t mind taking them to court,” she had said.

Many feel that stars seek legal help not just to safeguard their personal lives but also to protect their image.

“Actors survive on image, it’s their bread and butter. So how can they take somebody trying to tarnish it so lightly? And in the clutter today, image has become more important…It’s part of the marketing strategy of celebrities,” said Neelam Gupta, who handles the publicity of singer Sukhwinder among others.

But rumours about stars have always done the rounds. So are celebrities becoming more impatient now?

“I don’t agree. I’ve heard of stars in the 1980s going and beating up editors of film magazines! That’s something I haven’t heard of in recent years,” said Rajnigandha.

Remembering Michael Jackson on Twitter

Remembering Michael Jackson on Twitter

Forever live the King Michael Jackson

The tragedy of Michael Jackson's death at age 50, reportedly from cardiac arrest, pales in comparison to the tragedy of his life. To understand all that Jackson had and lost requires wiping away three decades of plastic surgeries that deformed him, erratic behavior that made his name synonymous with the warping powers of fame, and a 2005 trial for sexually abusing a child that, even though he was spared of any finding of wrongdoing, made him a pariah to all but the most brainwashed of fans.
But if you can forgive or forget all that, underneath was one of the most talented entertainers of the 20th century. Quincy Jones who produced Jackson's quintessential solo albums was devastated by the news of his passing. "I’ve lost my little brother today," Jones said in a statement, "part of my soul has gone with him." Said Jones: "Divinity brought our souls together... and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the 80’s. To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all...." long live the king

Maldives Starzshowz

 

Katrina does it again

Whether it may be it her tempestuous romance with Bollywood’s bad boy Salman or her Box Office hits, Katrina Kaif is one such B-town dame who is riding high on the wave of limelight.
Be it her sex quotient or oomph factor, Katrina has pipped reigning queens of Bollywood – Kareena, Priyanka, Deepika and Bipasha time and again.

According to the latest Bollywood news, Katrina Kaif has once again been voted as India’s Sexiest Woman by an international men’s magazine. Last year too, the dainty beauty pipped Kareena, Bipasha and Priyanka. This time, with all these actresses strutting in swimsuits in their flicks, Katrina still topped the popularity charts.

When enquired the graceful actress about her India’s sexy woman tag, Katrina said, “It feels good to be voted by fans and that too in such huge numbers, but I don’t think if you wear a bikini or show skin, you look sexy. I would rather say I’m pretty.”

The actress maintained that the magazine links the gap between East and the West as urban men like her because of her cosmopolitan looks. Of late, Katrina recently topped the Most Seached Actress on the internet.

When asked who is the hottest hunk in Bollywood from among those the svelte actress is working with —Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor? “Only if I’m in love with a man, I find him hot. But I think Neil is the cutest,” quipped the actress!

Bollywood losses pegged at Rs 350 crore (75 MILLION $)

As we go to press, news comes in from an official source in the United Producers and Distributors Forum that Amit Khanna, who has been mediating
Shah Rukh Khan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Mahesh Bhat in a discussion with the multiplex owners
between the producers and the multiplex lobby will host the final round of talks between the warring parties.

Mahesh Bhatt says, “The champagne will only be uncorked once the paperwork is done.’’ Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were involved in the final stage of talks, along with Yash Chopra, Ronnie Screwvala, Mukesh Bhatt and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, “The first quarter of 2009 was disastrous for the film industry. Both film corporations and mutliplexes lost money on movies like Chandni Chowk To China, Victory, Billu and Tasveer 8X10.’’ Dev D is the only one that sailed through with a decent profit margin.

Describing the second quarter of the year 2009 (April to June) as an even bleaker period for the entertainment companies, a trade source says, “This is the darkest period in Bollywood history, thanks to the multiplex-producer stand-off.’’ With revenues hitting an all-time low, it’s almost like writing off the quarter. For producers whose films are on hold, it’s money deferred, but it is a disastrous quarter for multiplex players as well.

“The stand-off will show in every company’s quarterly result. But at the same time, we need to take into account that this is a major crisis. Everyone kept ignoring it, but at some point it needed to be addressed,’’ says Priti Shahni, from one of the leading film corporations.

Though markets have jumped considerably, the share prices of multiplex companies have underperformed mainly due to the stand-off.
Even assuming the strike is called off on May 29, the collective losses between multiplexes, producers and allied businesses is being pegged at Rs 350 crore by industry estimates, with each day of strike costing around Rs 5-7 crore.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Bollywood/Bollywood-losses-pegged-at-Rs-350-crore/articleshow/4593123.cms

Shilpa Shetty 'shines' on Vogue cover this month

Mumbai:

If you were to guess the name of the cover girl of the latest edition of Vogue, the above line would definitely make sense. Not just for the reason that it's from her debut film but also because it suits her more than to anyone else this season. With her IPL team Rajasthan Royals' not making it to the finals, Shilpa Shetty did face a defeat recently. But, not the one to sob, Shilpa is raring to go and how! She can be seen sizzling while looking her curvaceous best on the cover of the recent edition of Vogue.

If the title 'The Business of being Shilpa Shetty' is anything to go by, then, it's totally needless to say that the story angle is surely tilting to more of Shilpa - the businesswoman as compared to Shilpa - the actress. Validating this is none other than her 'Prince Charming' Raj Kundra, who says "I saw the international appeal Shilpa had and suggested she make a brand of herself. She's taken to business like a fish to water. I call her India's Martha Stewart".

While talking about the change in her life, Shilpa says, "I like the idea of reinventing myself, of moulding and enhancing one's personality...I am not someone you would call a conventional beauty". To read more about Shilpa - the businesswoman, pick up the latest copy of Vogue.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Shilpa-Shetty--shines--on-Vogue-cover-this-month/467421/