Producer accuses Govinda of threatening him

That Govinda always had the ‘issue’ of being a latecomer on the sets was well known. The latest ‘allegation’ against him is that, Praveen Khanna, a Mumbai based film producer has gone ahead and lodged a complaint against him for abusing and threatening to kill him.

Reports have it that, the reported abuses and threats were allegedly hurled by Govinda amidst a meeting of the Indian Motion Pictures’ Producers Association (IMPPA). The said matter is registered as a complaint with the Khar police station, who said that they had received a written complaint from Praveen Khanna that Govinda had abused and threatened to kill him after a heated exchange on Aug 24, and that the same has been registered as a non-cognizable offence.

A Minute With: Ayesha Takia

MUMBAI: She was hailed as one of Hindi cinema’s most promising faces but Ayesha Takia chose to walk away from it all and concentrate on other things in life.

The 26-year-old actor is back on the big screen for now but isn’t promising to stay on. Takia spoke to Reuters about her sabbatical, what acting means to her and her latest film “Mod”.

Q: It’s been a long time since you’ve been seen on screen and even longer since you’ve been in a Nagesh Kukunoor film.
A: “I know. For me it’s been two-and-half years. Nagesh and me wanted to do something after ‘Dor’. Of course, ‘Tasveer’ happened but that was not magical so we wanted to do something like ‘Dor’ again. We kept discussing it and one day he called me out of the blue and said ‘do you want to do a film now because I have a script’. We found someone who wanted to make it and suddenly, somehow it all worked out. It was worth it because it has turned out to be a really special film.”

Q: What have you been doing? What’s stopped you from working?
A: “(Laughs) I wanted to consciously step away from things for a year. I have been here for eleven years. I started out when I was fifteen so I definitely needed a break. Everyone needs to step away and see their life as it is. Also, I knew that I wanted to travel after marriage. That was a priority. Business is also important to me, I am still learning from Farhan (Azmi, her husband). He obviously knows this really well and we have some dream projects that we are working on. We have a ten-room boutique hotel in Goa that we are working on right now.”

Q: So what did you see when you stepped back and looked at your life.
A: “I think we evolve with each year. You cannot be in the same place doing the same thing, day after day for so many years. For me, I need to explore other areas of my life, understand myself as a person in different ways. I cannot be putting on make-up, going to my van …listening to someone say ‘action’ all the time. How many days can you do that. How can you not want to know aspects of your life?”

Q: Did you have people advising you not to go on this sabbatical?
A: “Almost everyone told me I was getting married too early, that everything would be ruined. But I was clear that I didn’t want to put everything else in my life on hold till the camera and films got tired of me. I decide when I will do a film or get into business or anything else. Films cannot decide what I do in my life. Or else, I would be concentrating on the number game or getting a PR for myself.”

Q: But does that kind of attitude work in an industry like this one?
A: “It doesn’t actually. But I have been really lucky, I have always said that. I don’t think it can continue to work like that. Even now, I keep getting offers and I consider myself fortunate, because even as an actor, I have so many dos and don’ts as an actor too. I don’t know if it can work for everyone.”

Q: What are your dos and don’ts as an actor?
A: “Well, nothing in particular. Just some things that I am not comfortable doing. It has to with my moral fibre and I not saying anyone else is right or wrong. It’s just what I want to do or not.”

How much will Kim Kardashian’s wedding pictures cost?

TrendPK.com: Kim Kardashianmakes money off of just about everything so it is only fitting that her wedding pictures bring in a nice chunk of change.

It is rumored that Kim’s wedding pictures have been sold for $1.5 million, states TMZ. ‘People’ magazine reportedly won out in the bidding battle to score the exclusive wedding day pictures.

But, she hasn’t just made money off those pictures as Kim reportedly made $300,000 for her engagement announcement and $100,000 for pictures of her bridal shower.

Letter returns after 28 years

A California man received an envelope of pictures of his mother which was mailed shortly before her death 28 years ago.
Mother of John Mead of Placerville sent the envelope, postmarked August 13, 1983, to her cousins in Washington State, but the letter recently arrived back after 28 years. The envelope contained several family pictures he had never seen before. John plans to distribute the pictures among his family and attempt to track down the intended recipients.

The letter s 28-year journey may be attributed to a note on the envelope from the post office claiming the letter had been damaged. However the envelope and its contents appeared to be in perfect shape.

Sanjay Dutt challanges HC’s property attachment order

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt today moved the Bombay High Court, challenging its earlier order regarding attachment of two of his properties following a financial row with producer Shakeel Noorani.

In an appeal filed before Justice R Y Ganoo, the actor has challanged the order on various technical grounds and urged the court to set aside its order.

The court had earlier passed an order following an arbitration award passed by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) in January last year in favour of Noorani.

According to Noorani’s lawyer Ashok Saraogi, the arbitration award by IMPPA was sent to Dutt in January 2010 and he was given 90 days to respond. When the actor failed to, IMPPA applied for the execution of a decree in the High Court and accordingly order of attachment of his properties in Bandra and Santa Cruz suburbs was passed.

Mr Saraogi said his client had in 2002 paid Sanjay Dutt a signing amount of Rs 50 lakh for his film ‘Jaan Ki Baazi’. But Dutt failed to complete the shooting and in the year 2008, the actor told Noorani that he would not be able to complete the film, causing financial losses to his Noorani, who has now claimed Rs 3.28 crore from Dutt.

The appeal, which was mentioned today before the court, will come up for hearing on January 12.

Peter Jackson, “The Hobbit” button up behind-the-scenes deals with studios

A financial deal has been put into place that provides the investment MGM needed to put behind Peter Jackson’s planned adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”

As part of the deal, Warner Bros. receives international theatrical rights to distribute the pictures when they come out in 2012 and 2013. Since Warner/New Line already owned domestic distribution rights, this gives the studio the ability to collect a worldwide distribution fee, according to THR. In addition, Warner secures home-video rights to the titles, which should prove lucrative.

MGM, which needed Warner’s financial assistance to complete its end of the deal, holds on to international television licensing rights, while the studios jointly will collaborate on marketing and release plans.

Part one of Jackson’s “Hobbit,” which will be filmed in New Zealand, will be in theaters in 2012.

Bollywood small films became big in 2010

NEW DELHI: While 2010 saw some major releases such as “Dabangg and Rajneet reap rich rewards, the overall box office was weighed down by mostly lackluster performers (“Kites,” “Raavan”).

Independent box office figures for the year”s total box office gross are not available here but industry estimates reckon that with about 180 films releasing in 2010, the overall business registered a loss of about 30 billion rupees ($66 million).

Action romantic drama “Dabangg,” starring top actor Salman Khan, hauled in about 1.45 billion rupees that is considered the year”s biggest hit among a handful of hits. But what is interesting is that some success stories came via small films without major star power such as India”s 2010 Oscar entry “Peepli Live.”

The trend of smaller films has been growing over recent years and it now seems that the industry has expanded to include both formulaic blockbusters and edgy fare.

“What is essential is the strength of content more than just star power that audiences will respond to positively,” said Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Tanuj Garg.

The Mumbai-based production house released the year”s edgiest film, “Dibakar Banerjee”s Love, Sex Aur Dhokha” (via Balaji”s “alternative” banner Alt Films), which pushed the envelope with its digitally shot look and feel exploring urban sexuality. It grossed an estimated 80 million rupees, easily recovering its 10 million rupees budget.

“The fact that observers were not sure if a film like “LSD” could work in cinemas showed the resistance to such fare, but the film”s success proved everyone wrong,” added Garg.

Balaji also tasted success with gangland drama “Once Upon A Time In Mumbai,” a more mainstream release starring top actor Ajay Devgn, whose star power also contributed to the success of political thriller Rajneeti from major banner UTV Motion Pictures.

Devgn, along with top actress Katrina Kaif (also seen in “Rajneeti” and latest release “Tees Maar Khan”), are considered the year”s most bankable stars.

But it was smaller films that found favor, such as comedies “Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge” and “Phas Gaye Re Obama” (both released by Warner Bros. Pictures India), while Walt Disney Studios India also experimented with another comedy, “Do Dooni Chaar” starring veteran actor Rishi Kapoor.

Hollywood studios in India largely played safe when it came to blockbuster releases. Fox Star Studios” “My Name Is Khan” starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan was the only major star vehicle from a Hollywood studio here.

But industry estimates reckon that despite the film”s strong haul of about 800 million rupees, “FSS” probably didn”t turn a profit with Khan given the film”s high acquisition and marketing costs, rumored to be about 1 billion rupees.

“The trend of previous years where budgets and acquisition costs spiraled out of control are now being corrected,” said UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur. “Films that were greenlit this year were probably priced at more realistic levels than in the past, which means that the industry has gone through a correction that was required.”

But what makes 2010 a bit of a damp squib is the resounding thud of major flops such as the much anticipated “Kites” starring top actor Hrithik Roshan and Mexican TV actress Barbara Mori.

Released worldwide by Reliance Big Pictures, romantic drama “Kites” was also seen as an experiment in making an international Indian film targeting a crossover audience, when Hollywood director Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”) recut and “presented” the film for its U.S. release.

Similarly, another Reliance film, acclaimed director Mani Ratnam”s “Raavan” also performed below expectations despite an extensive marketing campaign and screenings at the Venice and Pusan festivals.

Again, it was a small film like UTVMP”s “Udaan” that got international attention as India”s only official Cannes entry this year (in the Un Certain Regard category), putting the spotlight on emerging talent like the film”s debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane.

The new year will begin with an offbeat release “No One Killed Jessica,” based on a real incident, the murder of a Delhi-based fashion model Jessica Lal.

As Motwane said, “I think it is safe to say that India is on the verge of a breakthrough in terms of a new kind of Indian cinema that can appeal to a larger audience. We are getting there in terms of competing with other countries.”

Don-aided producer bullies Sanjay Dutt

MUMBAI: A day after a court ordered the attachment of two properties of Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt over a financial row with producer Shakeel Noorani, the actor”s lawyer Wednesday claimed that he received extortion calls from the underworld in 2005 at Noorani’s behest.

The film producer rubbished the allegation.

“Sanjay Dutt does not owe a single penny to Shakeel Noorani. Noorani, in the past, has been demanding money from Sanjay Dutt. Mr. Dutt has received extortion calls at the behest of Shakeel Noorani. The complaint was lodged with the Anti-Extortion Cell and late (senior police inspector) Vijay Salaskar was investigating the case,” said Rizwan Merchant, Dutt’s lawyer.

“Statement of Sanjay Dutt has been recorded. Shakeel Noorani was also personally called to the office of the Anti-Extortion Cell,” he added.

Merchant said that when Noorani did not succeed in his extortion demands in 2005, he (Noorani) made a complaint to the Indian Motion Pictures Producers” Association (IMPPA), which was rejected.

“Once a complaint is rejected, a subsequent complaint is barred. The IMPPA could not have passed any award once the first complaint was rejected,” Merchant said.

Noorani, however, rubbished all allegations made by the actor’s lawyer.

“In fact, Sanjay Dutt has threatened to get me shot if I chase him to complete my film. He had personally thrown me out of the set where he was shooting for his film “EMI” when I requested him to finish my film,” Noorani said.

Noorani also denied making any extortion calls, claiming that he had no underworld connections. “It is Sanjay Dutt who has underworld connections. He often met people from the underworld when we went for shooting abroad,” he said.

“I was also never called for questioning by Salaskar. You can check the records if you want,” he told reporters.

Noorani also claimed that the IMPPA had never rejected his complaint.

The Bombay High Court Tuesday ordered the attachment of two properties of Dutt. The decision followed an arbitration award passed by the IMPPA in January in favour of Noorani.

The properties ordered to be attached include the actor”s flat in the Imperial Heights building at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra and his office in suburban Santa Cruz.

Dutt has 30 days to pay Noorani, failing which his properties will be auctioned. The actor can also challenge the order in the high court.

High Court passes order to seal Sanjay Dutt’s Mumbai properties

They say that old incidents always comes back one way or the other, either to make you feel nostalgic or to haunt you. In case of Sanjay Dutt, it’s the latter that holds true.

The Bombay High Court has passed an order to seal Sanjay Dutt’s Mumbai property after producer Shakeel Noorani dragged the actor to court over losses incurred due to him abandoning a film. The case so far: In the year 2002, Shakeel Noorani launched the film Jaan Ki Baazi that had Sanjay Dutt in the lead along with Priyanka Chopra. Noorani claims that halfway through the shooting of the film, Dutt cancelled the shooting and that despite repeated attempts to contact him, he didn’t respond. That’s the reason why Noorani took a step to move to Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPPA) seeking help, who in turn, had called Sanjay for hearing him but the arbitration committee adjourned the case twice on his request. The IMPPA, then, told Noorani to move to court, which had the High Court executing decree attaching the assets of Sanjay Dutt, which includes his residence in, Imperial Heights building at Pali Hill, Nargis Dutt Road, Bandra and his office, Sanjay Dutt Productions, Mayfair Melody at Tagore Road in Santacruz.

Noorani, on his part, claimed Rs 2.03 crore from Sanjay Dutt, which also includes Rs 50 lakh paid to him as signing amount. Noorani’s lawyer Ashok Sarogi told the media that Sanjay has an option of either paying the said amount of money within 30 days or else his properties (residence and office) would be auctioned.

On the other hand, Sanjay Dutt’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said that they will have a look at the decree execution order of the High Court and also the IMPPA award and then decide on appropriate action to be taken in this matter.

Christina Aguilera’s Semi-Nude Photos Caused by Hacker?

A few days ago, the online community was shocked when a number of Christina Aguilera’s semi-nude photos spilled in the internet. The pictures show the singer wearing sensual outfits including a bodice held only by rhinestone studded straps, a see-through t-shirt, and a long robe which she lifted to show off her (rather big) tummy.

Aguilera’s representative released a statement claiming that the photos were ‘hacked’ from the account of the personal stylist of the artist and that the shots were for personal use only. Christina’s spokesperson supported this claim saying that the photos were taken inside Aguilera’s private home and is for private exchange only between the singer and her stylist.

Even though using the word ‘hacker’ seems like a fairly common alibi for stars with unintended photos exposed, this time the case seems to be true for Aguilera. Most of her photos show her on normal garbs wearing a shirt, leggings, and some pumps. Except for not having a bra, Christina’s aim for the pictures does not seem to be a seductive one because of her unflattering messed up hair and semi covered face.

Her picture wearing a robe and showing her tummy also seems to be taken during the time when she was still pregnant with her son, Max. As for the rather revealing costume, it was the same one she wore on her video ‘Not Myself Tonight’.

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