Farah offers 'Tees Maar Khan' sequel to Akshay

It seems like this conman is already on a trail as director Farah Khan is planning a sequel to Akshay Kumar-starrer Tees Maar Khan, which hits the screens Friday.

"When Farah and Katrina went to shoot the grand finale of STAR Plus' cookery game show MasterChef India, she was so impressed with Akshay's hospitality that she ended up offering Tees Maar Khan 2 to the actor," said a source. 

Akshay, of course, jumped at the offer!  The finale of MasterChef India will be aired on Saturday.

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After the Bigg wedding, Sara-Ali split

No divorce but it's confirmed. Married Bigg Boss contestant Sara Khan and wild card entry Ali Merchant are not together anymore. 

Their wedding was a spectacle on national television, but there is even more tamasha going on in the lives of Sara Khan and Ali Merchant now. Their marriage is going kaput!

Buzz is that they are fed up of each other and want to go their separate ways.

Is this yet another farce? Another dose of histrionics from the small screen stars? Just like going through their nuptials yet again in Bigg Boss even though they were married earlier or is the marital discord for real?

Says a source, "Ever since the Bidaai actress made an exit from Bigg Boss, she had been squabbling with her hubby over monetary issues. This led to a huge showdown as Sara felt Ali had squandered her earnings."

Adds the source, "Sara who is now shooting for Ram Milaayi Jodi was shocked to know that Ali had turned extra extravagant when she was away in the house. 

A few days ago, they had a massive argument leading to a bitter fight with Sara telling him to leave their Lokhandwala home. Ali has since then been staying with his parents."

Sara's official spokesperson confirms, "It's a personal matter but yes it's true. Sara and Ali are not together anymore.

After she got back from the Bigg Boss house she found out a lot of things and was hurt and she took this decision. That's all we can say."

While Ali maintains, "Yes, I am not staying with her. But it is not due to any problems between us. It is because of her family members who still do not accept me. I want to win their approval and then live with Sara. I need time to win them over and I feel it is better I am not with Sara for the moment."

He adds, "Sara's family had issues with me from Day 1. They were the ones who went around saying that we were already married earlier and stayed away from the wedding celebrations in Bigg Boss."

Ali was a wild card participant in Bigg Boss. Immediately after his entry, their wedding was announced on the reality show.

Buzz was that tthe channel had paid them a whopper of a paycheque to enact their wedding on-air to garner TRPs.

Though, in the house, she gave the impression that she was getting close to housemate Ashmit Patel, she sprung a surprise when she said she wanted to get married to Ali in the house.

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Asin 'marries' Salman on screen

She says after Malayali, Tamil and Telugu weddings, this is her first Punjabi shaadi on screen.

The press in the South is claiming that Asin tied the knot with Salman Khan earlier this week in the presence of close friends.

According to these reports, her parents weren't invited and stormed into the wedding mid-way and tried to stop it.

The actress sighs deeply when responding, "At last, the rumours are coming true. Salman and I are finally married. It's a first for both of us. Too bad, it is only in a movie (Anees Bazmee's Ready). But Salman can't stop joking about the "solemn" occasion," said Asin. 

"Hey guys, I've finally done it," Salman has been shouting across the location at Film City to anyone in hearing distance.

The "news" of Asin's wedding has reached her native place Kerala.

When a local paper announced Asin's "marriage" with Salman with photographic evidence, the actress was flooded with congratulatory messages, with her fan base and relatives in Kerala wondering why she chose to marry without inviting near and dear ones.

She laughs, "You know, I'm quite enjoying the joke about my wedding. I've been in my bridal outfit taking the saat pheras, for a week now. I almost feel I'm really married. The family opposition that is being talked about is also part of the script."

Asin adds that she never knew that getting married was so much fun and adventure. She says, "I've gone through Malayali, Tamil and Telugu marriages. But this is my first Punjabi wedding. And I love it. I even danced at my sangeet to Laung Gawacha."

In fact, both Asin and Salman have decided they will get married Punjabi style, if and when it happens. "It's a pact. It will be a big fat Punjabi wedding."

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No One Killed Jessica gets 'A' certificate

No One Killed Jessica, based on the murder of model Jessica Lal in a Delhi pub, has been passed without a single cut with an 'A' certificate. Vikas Behl of UTV, producer of the film, said, "Emotion of the journey, power of the people and relentless effort of the media needed to be brought to the audience in the right light, and hats off to the Censor Board for keeping that above all else while judging the movie."

Rani Mukherji plays a crime reporter in the film while Vidya Balan essays the role of Jessica's sister Sabrina. The film releases on January 7.

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Seven-tier security for Malaika Arora Khan

A day after the Mumbai police sounding a terror alert, about four Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists having sneaked into the city to carry out 'violent attacks' during the New Year period, hotels are taking extra precautions to ensure the security of stars who will perform there for their yearend bashes.

Organisers at the Sahara Star hotels at Vile Parle and Amby Valley have decided to put a seven-tier security system in place for actresses Mallika Sherawat and Malaika Arora Khan.

The two hotels will also have stars including the entire Salman Khan family, along with big business tycoons.

The seven-tier security cordon will include police, security personnel, gadgets like metal detectors, surveillance cameras, elevators with access keys, and sniffer dogs.

Rajesh Mohan, strategy head, Sahara Star hotel said: "We will have a seven-tier security in place for the New Year's Eve party at both venues. The whole area will be under CCTV surveillance with security guards monitoring the feed around the clock. We will have security guards, policemen in plain clothes and metal detectors and baggage scanners."

The hotel has hired 500 security personnel for the Vile Parle venue and 250 for the Aamby Valley one, he added. 

"People will have access cards of the floors that they need to go to, which will have to be swiped for the elevators to move. We have limited our entries to 2,500 people for security purposes. There will be a control room to monitor the CCTV cameras," said Mohan.

"The focus on security this year is greater than in previous years," said Ankit Anand, partner, Red Om entertainment, which is organising a year-end bash at Novotel Hotel, Juhu.

"We have made it mandatory for guests to submit some identification before the passes are issued to them. Also, our security budget is higher this year."

Hitesh Keswani, who is organising a party at a lounge in Worli, has also decided to go tough on security. 

Apart from hiring people for scanning guests' bags, Keswani has also hired around 25 bouncers who will be present at the venue.

Himanshu Roy, Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Mumbai, issued an advisory to Mumbaikars to stay alert. He said the Mumbai Police had received intelligence inputs of four LeT operatives having sneaked into the city.

"They have been identified as Abdul Kareem Moosa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah and Mahfooz Alam.

They recently sneaked into the city to carry out extremely dangerous activities, possibly during the upcoming Christmas and New Year festivities," Roy said while releasing a sketch of Jinnah.

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February wedding for Lara-Mahesh

Spilling the beans on popular chat show Koffee With Karan has become more the norm than the exception. The latest news from the sets is that Lara Dutta and fiance Mahesh Bhupathi have confessed to Karan that they plan to tie the knot in February next year.

Says our source, "Lara and Mahesh appeared on the show on Wednesday night. When the Koffee With Karan host quizzed them about their relationship and romance, they spoke openly and even discussed marriage plans.

When Karan asked them outright about the marriage date, they promptly replied that it would be in February 2011 and that their families were in the process of fixing the date. Lara even told KJo how the tennis ace proposed to her in New York on Sept 12 this year."

The couple even replied to queries regarding past relationships. Bhupathi was claimed to be the reason behind the actress dumping Dino Morea while some reports even said Lara was responsible for the divorce of Mahesh  and model Shwetha Jaishankar.

"They spoke candidly about their respective exes and cleared the air on how those relationships were over before theirs started," reveals our source.

Dutta has been previously linked to model Kelly Dorjee.

She has been seeing Bhupathi for the last year, ever since the doubles specialist separated from his wife in '09. Mahesh announced the engagement on his Twitter page.

The jodi got engaged when he was in New York for the US Open and Lara was there for a magazine photo shoot.

Bhupathi's Big Daddy Productions and Lara's Bheegi Basanti Production are co-producing Challo Dilli along with Eros International. Recently, the first shooting schedule was completed last month.

After Lara and Mahesh announced their engagement in September, Lara's publicist had told the media that the actress was starting work on Farhan Akhtar's Don 2, so there were no plans for a wedding for the next couple of years.

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Aishwarya Rai in race row

Fashion bible Elle magazine has been caught in a race row after reportedly whitening the skin of Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on its cover.

Readers reacted with anger after it was suggested that the fashion magazine might have digitally 'bleached' the complexion of the former Miss World.

The 37-year-old, who has also starred in Bride & Prejudice and The Pink Panther 2, appears on the cover of this month’s Indian edition of the magazine.

However, her skin appears to be several shades lighter than her normal colour.

Inside the magazine, she is again pictured in a series of shots, all showing her with pale skin, reports the Daily Mail.

Fans have been posting angry comments online about the latest cover, with one saying: “It’s annoying because it seems like lighter skin is always in fashion as if darker skin is ­something to be frowned upon.”

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Sammir Dattani and Ritika Jolly get engaged

I Hate Luv Storys actor Sammir Dattani got engaged to his long-time sweetheart Ritika Jolly last Sunday in Mumbai. The affair was a quiet one, attended only by family and close friends.

Sammir excitedly said, "I've known Ritika for a long time now and we decided it's the right time to get engaged. The wedding will happen sometime next year."

His fiance is an aspiring writer with a corporate background. As far as his own career is concerned, Sammir claims to be busy with a Kannada film down South.

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Anil Kapoor: It is time to accept new films

Now that his big budget multi crore NO PROBLEM is out of his way, Anil Kapoor would be concentrating more on his acting assignments. While he would continue to produce films in future as well, as of now he is mighty occupied with multiple assignments that would keep him occupied as an actor over next one year at the least.

"That's right", says Anil Kapoor, "I had planned the release of NO PROBLEM and AISHA in 2010 and wanted to focus on these two productions. Now that both films have released, it is time to accept one or two new films as an actor as well."

Currently Anil Kapoor is busy with the shooting of Priyadarshan's TEZZ and Tom Cruise's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4, both being action flicks. He was also supposed to be a part of another action drama POWER but rumour has it that the film is shelved. However come 2011 and Anil Kapoor would also begin shooting on RACE 2.

"Another major reason behind why I couldn't do both productions as well as acting in Hindi films is my commitments in the West", says Kapoor when asked if it was a conscious decision on his part to go slow on his acting career, "I had to be there for all the events related to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Then I had another priority in the form of my TV show '24' for which I had to be stationed in Los Angeles for as many as six months."

However once he was back in town, there were quite a few films that he flagged off, all of which would most likely be hitting the screens in 2011.

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Rajinikant's 'Robot' part of IIM-A course

AHMEDABAD: He can get millions raving about tricks like getting a cigarette somersault and land in his mouth or a pair of shades land on his eyes from mid-air, romance a woman onscreen half his age and rake in over Rs 100 crore in the first week of his film's release. That's the phenomenon called Rajinikanth .

'Robot', the Rajinikanth-starrer which became the second highest grosser among Indian films and spawned a slew of Rajini jokes, is set to come to the laboratory of IIM-Ahmedabad.

As part of an elective course called 'Contemporary film industry: A business perspective', students of the postgraduate programme at IIM-A will take up 'Robot' or 'Enthiran' as a case study to analyse the business of cinema and its success story. The course will also study 'Muthu', another Tamil film starring Rajinikanth. The movie was later translated into Japanese as 'Muthu Odoru Maharaja' or 'Muthu: The Dancing Maharaja'.

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Shah Rukh Khan slams 'Bigg Boss'

MUMBAI: The TV industry today might be inundated with regular notifications, criticisms and controversies for its reality show content but Shah Rukh Khan , who is making his comeback on the small screen as the host of Zor Ka Jhatka " on Imagine TV, says his will be a dignified show, just like the superstar himself.

"I might joke around, fool around with my loved ones, entertain people at length. Sometimes they misinterpret it but I believe I am a dignified person. I am a dignified husband, a father, a brother, a son-in-law," Shah Rukh told IANS in an interview here.

"I will never want my show to stoop down to a level where I feel ashamed of it. I will never do or let any kind of misbehaviour rule my show just for TRP ratings as people say."

The 45-year-old has earlier hosted shows like "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (2007) and "Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?" (2008) and people loved him for his natural wit and humour that had audiences in splits.

Last month, the information and broadcasting ministry cracked down on two shows - "Bigg Boss" and "Rakhi Ka Insaaf" - by issuing directives to change their telecast timings following viewers' complaints about vulgar content being proliferated through them.

Shah Rukh's new show is the Indian edition of the internationally popular "Wipeout".

"Zor Ka Jhatka" will see 28 TV stars battling it out in an obstacle course set in Argentina and the superstar also claimed he will stand as an apostle of love and peace to curb eventual male egoes on the show.

"Fights on my show are a little dicey to see. I am a love maker and not a fight maker. And if they do, I will stand as a peacemaker then," he said in his trademark dimpled smile with visible ripples around his cheeks.

Asked about his competitive strategy to tackle other celebrity hosts on the small screen, he said: "Till the time competition is healthy everything works perfect. Everybody is doing their job and are giving it their best shot."

"My competition is with myself and not any celebrity. I truly believe that I do a good job, I work very hard and I will keep working hard. And that is what is of concern to me," he added in his nonchalant King Khan manner.

So will the host perform any adventure sports too?

"The first thing that I made clear to the channel was that please don't make me go there and do any of those sports. They want me to do a promo where I need to do some of the activities, but I'm not looking forward to it. Getting dipped in mud, drenched out in dirty water - I can't take that humiliation. But lets see," he quipped.

The show will go on air in January next year.

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Akshay Kumar 'was elbowed' by Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif accidentally elbowed Akshay Kumar on the set of Tees Maar Khan, Kumar has revealed.

The actor told reporters that shooting had to be stalled for two hours after Kaif elbowed him during a vigorous dancing scene.

"We were shooting for the song ‘Bade Dilwala' and Katrina got so involved in her dance that she actually hit me hard with her elbow."

The actors and director are currently promoting the film in Delhi and gave an impromptu performance of one of the dance numbers.

Speaking of the live performance afterwards, Kumar said: "When we shoot for any song, there are often many cuts but I enjoy performing in front of live audiences because the response makes me feel good."

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'Tees Maar Khan' sees UK record opening

Farah Khan's new film has opened to record collections in the UK.

The Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif starrer is reported to have collected over £70,000 in two days of preview screenings, and is expected to gross £100,000 by the end of the week.

The filmmaker told Digital Spy: "In the UK and US we are releasing earlier because the holidays begin on 22nd, so we get a really long weekend.

"We want to get the advantage of a bigger opening weekend and we get a five-day weekend this way. In the Middle East we release 23rd because all films release on a Thursday over there."

The current box office figures suggest that the Shirish Kunder-penned comedy may have the biggest opening ever in the UK for a Hindi film.

Tees Maar Khan is out now in international markets and releases on Friday in India.

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Katrina Kaif wants Charlie's Angels type role

Katrina Kaif has revealed that she has three dream genres for acting roles in mind, one of which is a big Hollywood action film.

The actress said the first on her list is a period film, which she would want to follow with a romantic tragedy like Devdas.

Kaif added that big Hollywood action roles, the type usually played by Angelina Jolie or Cameron Diaz, sit third on her list.

"I want to do an action film like Salt or Charlie's Angels," she said.

The actress, who has starred opposite many of Bollywood’s leading men, said there is one she particularly wants to work with.

"I want to team up with Aamir [Khan]. In the last few films, the way he has romanced on screen I loved, especially in Ghajini," she added.

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