Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Katrina Kaif doesn't need short skirts!

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Guess one can’t take chances with stalkers these days. The Bollywood sweetheart who is currently on a roll — yeah, she has just notched up another successful film — is jubilant.

Dressed in a pair of slim-fitting jeans and a pink tee-shirt, her pretty face devoid of pancake, she smiles, “At least they can’t say my latest film is doing well because Katrina Kaif wore a short skirt. I don’t need to show leg to win notices.’’
The actress doesn’t take kindly to being called Bollywood’s lucky mascot either.

“Saying I’m just lucky kind of annihilates all the hard work that I have put into my films,’’ she says. “It also derides the capability of my directors. A script makes a film work, a lot of hard work goes into getting the right script, and to just attribute a film’s success to my good-luck is not right.’’

Of course, she’d rather be called a lucky mascot than a jinx, but she says in her four years in Bollywood, she has strived to make things work. Today, she is in a cushy place. Even Kareena Kapoor, Bollywood’s No. 1 actress, concedes that Katrina is hot property, but Katz is definitely not resting on her laurels. “I’m not ruthlessly ambitious. But, there is greed in me to want to do better work. In that sense, I’m exactly like Akshay Kumar. I deeply admire that quality in him. He has done over a 100 films, yet Akshay still has the same hunger in him to strive to do better.’’

Katrina is no longer a girl in a hurry. She has just three films on the floor — De Dana Dan, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Rajniti. And though she can earn some megabucks really fast, the girl from London with her anglicised Hindi, who began her star trek with the unorthodox Boom, is taking it easy.

Fully aware that the competition — Kareena, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Asin — will eat her alive if she slips, Katz says, “Each successful film motivates me to work harder. For example, in Prakash Jha’s Rajniti I’m the sole girl with power-house performers like Naseeruddin Shah, Ajay Devgan, Manoj Bajpai and Nana Patekar. Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor, my two other co-stars, are also very good actors and my immediate aim is to raise the bar as far as my performance goes.’’

Admitting that it was important just being a top hero’s arm candy in movies like Welcome, Singh is Kinng, Partner and Race to consolidate her position in Bollywood, she now wants to walk down the path of respected performers. Yeah, Katrina knows the length of her skirt can carry her only this far. If she wishes to go further, which she does, she must stand up and deliver.

Now Salman Khan will be gifting his own watches

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Bollywood star Salman Khan, who has given watches worth as much as Rs.50 crore to his friends and family, has found a method of beating his expensive gifting habit. On his mother's advice, he has asked his charity foundation Being Human to manufacture inhouse designer watches.

And the first proud recipient of the Being Human designer-watch was actor Aseem Merchant, Salman's co-star in Boney Kapoor's "Wanted".

"He gave me his the first Being Human watch. It's awesome. Its look and movement are as slick as the super-exclusive Swiss Breitling watches," Aseem told IANS.

"You're right. He did say his mom advised him to find a way of cutting down costs on his watch-gifting habit. He gave me the watch and said, 'Your time begins now'," he added.

Apart from the watch, Aseem also received a Being Human shirt from Salman.

"He made me strip in front of him and try on the shirt. I really don't want to talk about his generous nature. But I've been shooting with him for a year and Salman's generosity is unbelievable," said Aseem.

Salman also gifted Aseem a role in his brother Arbaaz Khan's first production which will star Salman and Shatrughan Sinha's daughter Sonakshi, to be directed by Abhinav Kashyap.

"And since I play the main antagonist with Salman in 'Wanted', he said he wanted me to do a positive role in Arbaaz's production," said Aseem.

Ironically, the real-life buddies are at each other's throat throughout "Wanted".

"And it's not the choreographed, synchronized action movements we see in our films. Salman and I have real basic fist to fist street fights composed by a stunt director called Vijay from the South. Salman and I were fighting on the sets and drinking together once the camera was switched off," said Aseem.

Michael Jackson was spending $50,000 a month on Medicines

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He was consuming insane amount of drugs

Pop legend Michael Jackson was battling with numerous disorders and was spending 30,000 pounds ($50,000) a month on prescription drugs like narcotic pain relievers, muscle relaxants and anti-depressants before his death.

The ailing "Thriller" star, who died on June 25, was said to have consumed "mountains of medication" as he battled numerous disorders in the year leading up to his death, reported thesun.co.uk.

Along with narcotic pain reliever Vicodin, 50-year-old Jackson gorged on other drugs like muscle relaxant Soma and sedative Xanax, antidepressant Zoloft, anti-anxiety drug Paxil and heartburn pill Priolosec.

The revelations on the true scale of the tragic star's pills habit came as his family said they now wanted an investigation into the quantity of drugs he was prescribed.

"They suspected the drugs were harming Michael - but not as badly as this. What is crucial to them is not the drug types Michael was taking, but the quantities he was taking them in," said Brian Oxman, the Jackson's family lawyer.

"This is a huge and major concern. During Michael's court trial he was taking 40 Vicodin a day - and this may have even increased. It’s an insane amount of drugs to be given and to be taken," added Oxman.

Some of the King of Pop's prescriptions were allegedly written by his Beverly Hills dermatologist Arnold Klein. Most were taken from Jackson's local drug store Mickey Fine Pharmacy.

Many prescriptions were bought under the fictitious name Omar Adams, claimed to be a name Jackson devised for a fictitious alter ego. The cost of the superstar's spiralling prescription drugs usage led to a number of lawsuits.

In 2001, he was sued by Mickey Fine Pharmacy for arrears of about 7,000 pounds on his account.

Jackson also owed Klein around 18,000 pounds at the same time. And in 2002, lupus specialist Allen Metzger claimed that the singer owed him 16,000 pounds.

'New York' makes money across the world

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Producers say movie top earner in UAE for 2009
Yash Raj Films' "New York" that sees director Kabir Khan tackling an unconventional and serious subject has brought much-needed respite to the box office by grossing Rs.350 million worldwide over the three-day weekend.
"New York", released worldwide on Friday (June 26), is about three friends whose lives change post the 9/11 terror attacks on the Twin Towers. It stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan in pivotal roles.
The movie that hit over 900 screens across the world had promising advance bookings and continued to register more demand from the audience after the first day of its release.
According to Tushar Dhingra, COO, BIG Cinemas, the film "opened very soundly and is giving good results".
"It has proved to be a strong box office ledge for multiplexes. After a long, long time, this movie has been able to pull the crowds to the cinema halls again," Dhingra told IANS.
Apart from its success in India, "New York" has also garnered positive response from movie buffs in the US, Britain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where it was released across around 60, 40 and 30 cinema halls respectively.
The movie has opened at the number three slot on the Australian charts and 10 in Britain at the weekend. It was the top earner in UAE for 2009, said a press release by Yash Raj Films.

Michael Jackson fans ‘commit suicide’

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Fans of Michael Jackson have been hit hard by the star's death - 12 devotees have allegedly killed themselves following the tragic news.

The King Of Pop passed away on Thursday (June 25) from a cardiac arrest and millions of his fans worldwide went into mourning.

But several of them found it too hard to cope and subsequently ended their own lives, according to the founder of an online Jackson fanclub.

Gary Taylor, president and owner of MJJcommunity.com, says, "I know there has been an increase (in deaths), I now believe the figure is 12. It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live.

"They (fans) can't accept it, they feel in some sort of different reality. I'm stunned that he's dead. One minute he is coming here for concerts and the next he is gone. I think the funeral will be where the reality kicks in that he is gone and won't be coming back, there will be a huge depression in the fan community when that happens."

And Jackson's political activist pal Reverend Jesse Jackson has even recorded a message to his fans, urging them not to "self-destruct" in the wake of the singer's demise.

Jesse Jackson says, "This is a time when hearts are heavy. There is great pain but great cause to celebrate Michael's life. It made Michael happy saying 'We Are The World'. Don't self-destruct. We fall down sometimes, we get back up. That's the right thing to do. In Michael's name let's live together as brothers and sisters and not die apart as fools."

Thousands of Jackson fans are planning a vigil on July 13 at the O2 Arena in London where the star was due to kick off his 50-date comeback tour.

I'm expecting great response for this film

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'Kambakkht Ishq' is very important for Akshay

The box office is on a roll after a long lull thanks to Kabir Khan's "New York" that got a good opening at the box office. Now the Hindi film industry is pinning its hopes on Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor's much-hyped romantic comedy "Kambakkht Ishq" to keep the cash registers ringing.

Made at a budget of Rs.40-45 crores (Rs.400-450 million), the film was extensively shot at Universal Studios in Hollywood as well as in Italy and Mumbai. This Bollywood extravaganza also has much publicised cameos by Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards.

Co-produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and Sunil A. Lulla, the film has been directed by debutante Sabbir Khan and also has Aftab Shivdasani and Amrita Arora in pivotal roles.

The movie's highlight is the Akshay-Kareena chemistry and mind-blowing actions. The 41-year-old actor, who plays a swashbuckling stuntman in Hollywood in the film, has gone whole hog and done death defying stunts himself.

"This is a film for the masses but with a rich international feel to it that would break the mass versus class barrier. We have the best of both the worlds in the film with Kareena playing a supermodel. The Akshay-Kareena combination is the one to watch out for," Nadiadwala had told IANS.

"Kambakkht Ishq" explores the relationship between two individuals who are completely opposite in nature. Viraj (Akshay) is a stuntman in Hollywood who detests women, while Simrita Rai (Kareena) is a part-time supermodel and doesn't believe in love.

The two meet but they love to hate each other especially because of Simrita's waspish tongue. But the turn of events forces them to be together as Simrita's best friend Kamini and Viraj's brother Lucky decide to get married.

Simrita and Viraj try to stop the wedding, but they end up falling in love with each other instead.

"Both the producer and I dreamt big and we sort of took a simple and interesting story and made it larger than life," said the director.

"Kambakkht Ishq" is releasing with 2,000 prints across the globe. It is an important film for Akshay as his much-publicised last two releases - "Chandni Chowk To China" and "8X10 Tasveer" - turned out to be duds.

"I'm expecting great response for this film. Though I had worked very hard in 'Chandni Chowk...' , the response didn't turn out to be as expected. Some people and critics didn't like it and '8X10 Tasveer' was more like an art film, which has a niche market in India. 'Kambakkht Ishq' is a complete entertainer and I hope the audience appreciates it," Akshay said.

He says the length and the budget of the film is reasonable.

"It's a reasonable budget (film) around Rs.45-50 crore and is in the similar range as 'Chandni Chowk To China' or a 'Singh Is Kinng'. (And) we won't take much of your time. The film boasts of some power-packed entertainment in two hours and 15 minutes. I guess that is quite reasonable for a film of this scale," he said.

Apart from a diverse promotional strategy, the advance booking for the film opened on Sunday instead of a Wednesday for other films.

With the unprecedented buzz and the huge star cast, the film is expected to lend a hand in reviving the box office.

Michael Jackson’s mum gets temporary custody of his Kids

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Katherine Jackson also temporary guardian of his estate

Michael Jackon’s mother Katherine Jackson has been granted temporary guardianship of her son's orphaned kids.

The Thriller hitmaker, who died from a cardiac arrest at the age of 50 last Thursday (June 25), is survived by Prince Michael Jr., 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II, known as 'Blanket'.

The kids are currently being cared for by their grandmother, who filed a petition for custody for all three children on Monday morning (June 29).

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued the ruling, but Katherine will have to wait until a July 6 hearing to discover who gets permanent guardianship of the kids.

Her attorneys told the court the children's biological mother, Debbie Rowe, has "no relationship" with them, and that if she won custody, it would be "detrimental" to the kids.

Rowe, who initially waived her parental rights to her two kids by the late pop star, is expected to challenge the Jacksons for custody of Prince Michael and Paris. An appeals court has ruled she is the legal mother of the children.

According to the Jackson matriarch's court documents, it is "not known at this time" whether Rowe agrees that Katherine should be the legal guardian.

The document continues: "Minor children are currently residing with paternal grandmother. They have a long-established relationship with paternal grandmother and are comfortable in her care."

Katherine Jackson has also been appointed temporary special administrator of her son's estate.

Hours after a Los Angeles court granted Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of her late son's three children, the ageing matriarch was handed the power to administer aspects of her son's estate until a hearing the following week.

In ruling, a judge stated that Katherine will be able "to control tangible personal property currently in the physical possession of a third party, and to marshal and secure such assets."

In court papers filed by Katherine Jackson's attorney, she states, "Numerous bank accounts now exist that are in control of third parties, some of which accounts were used to pay expenses of (Michael Jackson's) parents' home."

The new ruling gives Jackson's mother immediate responsibility for her son's belongings and means nothing from his estate can be sold or auctioned by a third party without her knowledge and consent.

This follows reports that certain memorabilia items, which were retrieved from an April auction, are in the hands of a former associate of the King of Pop. These items, including a custom-made limousine and the old gates to Jackson's Neverland property, can no longer be sold until further notice.

Jackson's longtime friend David Gest is currently seeking legal action after his collection of memorabilia was sold in Las Vegas on Friday (June 26) night - a day after the King of Pop's death. He insists the timing of the sale was inappropriate.