Fatwa against Veena Malik

Veena Malik has been issued with fatwa by an Indian Muslim body over her new marriage reality TV show. 

The model has signed up to participate in a live 'Swayamvar', where she will choose a groom and marry him on TV. The 33-year-old has already come under fire for taking part in the show after fellow actress Rakhi Sawant claimed that the star already lives with her boyfriend Ashmit Patel.

The All India Muslim Tyohar Committee is believed to have ex-communicated the troubled Pakistani actress for her "objectionable" photos on net and for "degrading the sacred institution of 'Nikah'".

'Fatwa' means that she will be socially boycotted. Following the FHM nude photos row, Muslim clerics and heads of community are concerned that Malik is "sending a wrong message" to young women with her actions.

"We were getting complaints from concerned community members who said that the activities of this Pakistani female actor was sending a wrong message to our teenagers, especially girls, " the Mirror quoted Ausaf Shahmiri Khurram, chairman of the Majlis-e-Shura as telling The Times of India.

"The complaints said that there were offensive photographs of this woman all over the internet and that she was going to have a 'swayamvar' on television. "Islam has a certain procedure for a 'nikah'. We do not have 'swayamvar', " Khurram said.

The group met on Tuesday to order a "social boycott" on the star, who sparked fears for her safety when she was reported missing at the weekend before turning up in a Mumbai hotel.

Khurram reportedly added that Malik had "openly revolted" against Islam and had "made a laughing stock" of the community.

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Neil is a geeky & nerdy couch potato in PLAYERS

Time and again one hears of an individual going bananas. However when it came toNeil Nitin Mukesh, he turned into a potato. Well, literally so when he had to play a part in PLAYERS which was akin to turning into a couch potato. Since he plays a computer geek called Spider in the film, he was required to put on weight so that he could make his character believable.

''He had to shed his 'hero' image for PLAYERS since he is closest to all the gadgets in the film. When Abbas-Mustan suggested that he goes through a look change for the film, he didn't blink an eyelid and put on over 5 kgs on himself. Of course he was conscious about what he was doing since there were other films in the pipeline too but then he was confident that once the shoot would be through, he would shed all excess baggage through some intensive work out,'' says Neil's friend.While he was quite comfortable about approaching the role since he is a gadget freak himself, there was some good thought that went into getting the appearance right.


Says Neil, ''See, Spider is not about body and look, it is about being tough and sharp while being cool. As a computer hacker who is a nerd, I had to play cool but be believable. I too understood that if a guy is constantly on computer and eating junk food, he would be slightly like a couch potato. So I was this geeky and nerdy young man who had to come across as a nice-n-cute person.''

This means that while Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and Sikander Kher went ahead with their mean act on the field, behind the scenes it's a rounded up Neil who sets the stage up for the gold heist. Laughs Neil, ''Still, weight or no weight, I promise one thing that I won't let audience down as far as Spider is concerned. I will win hearts for sure.''

Sure Neil, we will see.

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Shweta does the Madhuri moves!

CHAALIS CHAURAASI (4084) is not only about the four protagonists Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni and Ravi Kissen, but the very seducing Shweta Bhardwaj is also making a mark with her item song 'Setting Zhala' in the otherwise male-centric film. The actress' jaw-dropping performance in the song may also achieve more numbers of footprints in movie theatres.Interestingly, Shweta's outfit in 'Setting Zhala' is somewhat similar to that ofMadhuri Dixit's in the song 'Hum Ko Aaj Kal Hai Intezar' from the film SAILAAB. But, will Shweta be able to pull off her performance alike the veteran star? Wait and watch.

Naseeruddin is once again seen portraying a witty shade as he grooves with glam-doll Shweta. Kay Kay also leaves no stone unturned to impress her. Similarly Ravi Kissen and Atul Kulkarni try to match their moves with the bold beauty.


The film is produced by Maask Entertainment and Filament Glo (India). Hriday Shetty dons the director's cap and Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Ravi Kissen and Rajesh Sharma share the screen space. Renowned music director Lalit Pandit and the composer of the popular item song 'Munni Badnaam'has given the music for the film.

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NO SACH KA SAAMNA for Rajeev Khandelwal!

Highly talented and extremely handsome Rajeev Khandelwal has made a mark for himself and achieved much critical acclaim as well as commercial success in offbeat films like Rajkumar Gupta's AAMIR, Anurag Kashyap's SHAITAN etc. However at present Rajeev is concentrating and focusing all his energy on the hot television reality show, SACH KA SAAMNA-2 which he now hosts for the newly launched channel, Life OK. The actor recently visited the University city of Aligarh and interacted with the students to promote his show, and in order to know the views of the students on corruption (which is the subject of this season of SACH KA SAAMNA), and also participated in a group discussion. Rajeev expressed his happiness in visiting the historic university and said, "I have received so much love over here; in fact even more than Delhi university which I visited recently." 

When we asked him in a lighter vein if he was ready to sit on the hot seat and face the truth, the honest and straight forward actor replied instantaneously, "No, absolutely not! I salute the people who have the courage to sit on the hot seat and speak the truth in front of the camera and the whole world. But personally I do not have that courage and so I will not be able to sit on the hot seat and face reality." Rajeev also explained that he works with only those people whom he really feels comfortable with and a good script is a must before he signs on the dotted line.

Certainly, Rajeev has always regaled his fans with spirited performances, and seeing his passion for his craft we know that there will be many more to come in future!

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A little nip and tuck

From botox to breast implants, at some point, most stars resort to it as a quick-fix to what does not look right to them in the mirror.

2011 was filled with buzz about the following stars. Pics don't lie. Take a look...

Kangna Ranaut: Her in-your-face 'assets' quite obvious in Rascals could not however uplift the film.

Sridevi: While preparing for her B-Town return, the actress has been 'changing' herself and trying hard to keep up with the young girls.

Though those close to her say that her frugal diet is making her face look different!

Bipasha Basu: In July, B-Town was buzzing about the actress getting her assets enhanced.

But apparently the real reason she quietly checked into a south Mumbai hospital to get top heavy by a veteran cosmetic surgeon was because of a previous job gone wrong!

Apparently the gel breast implants done a while back came undone, resulting in 'double trouble' that had to be rectified!

Shazahn Padamsee: She was seen through the year in various stages of swollen lips and by the year-end has finally got the desired pout!


Shazahn Padamsee


Sridevi


Biapsha

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Has Priyanka become too big for her boots?

Apparently, Priyanka Chopra is throwing too many tantrums on the sets of 'Barfee'

Looks like Piggy Chops is following the footsteps of her ex-beau Shahid Kapoor. Similar to his obsession for perfection, Priyanka too has been throwing a few starry tantrums to have things her way on the sets of Barfee.

Buzz is that PC is working a tad too hard on her role in this Anurag Basu film, which has caused a few problems for the crew.

A source from the crew spills the beans, "Priyanka is a wonderful actress but she has been acting a bit difficult on the sets. She is known to be very accommodating but we don't know why this sudden change in her attitude."

The source further reveals that PC has been acting very fussy about her look in the film. He points out, "She wants everything her way.

She is being too fussy when it comes to her looks and make-up in the movie. She even changes her dialogues at her own will and also insists on doing retakes even though the director is okay with the take.

Not only that, she demands to take her shots from a specific angle. She is a big star and there is no point arguing with her. So we have to give in to her demands." Priyanka remained unavailable for comment.

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Response to Don 2 better than expected

Actor Kunal Kapoor, who plays a key role in Farhan Akhtar's much-awaited film Don 2: The King is Back, says the film has got a promising reception.

'The response has been superb. We expected a good response, but I think it's been far beyond anyone's expectations,' the 34-year-old actor said here at a special screening of the film.

Don 2: The King Is Back released in 41 countries Friday, and hit screens in Britain Thursday.

"Everyone liked it. I think you know once the movie works, people like things about the movie, then they like everything about the movie," said Kunal, who has shared screen space with superstar Shah Rukh Khan for the first time in the movie.

Kunal made his Bollywood debut with M.F. Hussain's Meenaxi: A tale of two cities, but tasted success with Rang De Basanti the following year. He has worked in films like Hattrick, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Aaja Nachle besides making special appearances in Bachna Ae Haseenon and Welcome To Sajjanpur, and was last seen in "Lamhaa".

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Don 2 Review

By: He Who Must Not Be Named

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Om Puri, Kunal Kapoor, Boman Irani, Aly Khan, Nawwab Shah, Florian Lukas

Story and Screenplay: Farhan Akhtar, Ameet Mehta, Amrish Shah

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Director: Farhan Akhtar

Rating: ****

Both Salman and Shah Rukh Khan are, perhaps, the biggest prisoners of their own success stories in Bollywood. While the former is deeply mired in his ever brooding Bhai image it is SRK, who at times, redeems himself with his suave performances.

No, I certainly have no doubts about their acting prowess. They both are extremely talented gentlemen and a treat to watch on screen. But for that you need to have capable directors like Farhan Akthar or Abhinav Kashyap who don’t get too deferential to the biggest stars of our times. Perhaps that’s why a Chulbul Pandey or Kabir Khan charms the pants off you while Lovely Singh and Shekhar Subramanium look like a poor joke.

So yes, Don 2 is FARHAN AKHTAR’s film who gives us SRK we all love to see – funny, witty and never too loud.

Barely ten minutes into the film and you are sold to his Don who is back with his eviler designs and delectable wisecracks. He is a suitable cousin to Ethan Hunt and Danny Ocean, an anti-hero planning to rob a Berlin bank of its euro printing plates in a daring heist.

To do so he escapes with his old foe, Vardhan (Boman Irani) from a Malaysian prison giving yet another heartburn to ex-flame Roma (Priyanka Chopra) and veteran cop Malik (Om Puri).

What ensues is high octane action, deadly car chases, treachery and of course unpretentious dark humour.

I’m sure the human moments will be missed by some in this slick thriller but then they may have very well worked against the film which has some ruthless men saying very mean things to each other. Well, how can you expect a man like Don to go all mushy over a girl, who puts his enemies under a bone crushing machine and exhorts them to make a right choice by saying “Main Nahi Chahta Tum Kisi Dabav Mein Koi Faisla Lo.”

Shah Rukh Khan is spot on as Don. Perhaps with this film, he is out of the shadow of the original Don. Now, he can certainly look forward to the subsequent sequels of this franchise without getting compared to Mr. Bachchan.

Priyanka Chopra looks convincing as Roma. She is still not over her failed affair with Vijay/Don, looks impervious to his charm before finally giving in. But remember... it’s still complicated.

Lara Dutta glitters in her small cameo as Don’s liaison. Kunal Kapoor as Sameer Ali, Don’s technology consultant, is just okay for his screen space. Hrithik Roshan who makes fleeting appearance as a masquerading Don looks pleasant but sticks out like a sore thumb in otherwise believable Don adventures.

The script is taut. Music and background score are cracking. Songs don’t impede the story telling. The cinematography captures the virgin locales of Berlin in full glory as King Khan goes all wild on German streets.

Farhan Akhtar makes a welcome comeback behind the camera. Undoubtedly an accomplished actor, he should certainly direct more often. A special mention is in order for his writing team Ameet Mehta and Amrish Shah who make Don 2 not only a slick but a smart thriller as well.

So, while catching Don may be an impossible task for the Police force around the world you can and certainly should catch him at a theatre near you.

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I am most close to Jacqueline and Asin: Sonam

In an industry where people play the numbers game, actress Sonam Kapoor believes in being friendly. 

"Almost all of my directors are my friends. Be it Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra or Punit Malhotra, they all are dear friends. Even all my male co-stars are my friends, " Sonam said at a recent event.

As for her female friends in B-Town, she said: "I am most close to Jacqueline (Fernandes) and Asin (Thottumkal). In fact, these two are doing a movie ('Housefull 2') together and I am so jealous of them!"

The actress, who is looking forward to her film "Players", is set to don the garb of Santa, and play peacemaker between two friends on UTV Stars' new show "Superstar Santa".

"My episode has two girls whose friendship is broken due to misunderstanding. My job is to bring them together and try to understand what went wrong, " said Sonam, who insists she tries her best to be there for her own friends despite being busy.

"I have a huge bunch of friends and I am always there for them whenever needed, " she added.

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I'm a very desi girl at heart: Mahie Gill

Simple living, high thinking is Punjabi kudi Mahie Gill's motto. If she's not acting, you're bound to find the actress living a simple life.

Says Mahie, "I'm a very desi girl at heart. I love gorging on fish, crabs, dal and sabzis.

Whenever, I get some time, I love to cook for myself. It's kind of therapeutic.

Even my dressing is very simple. On most days, you'll find me wearing jeans, t-shirt and chappals.

However, I like dressing up on occasions like a function or a film awards.

Then, you'll spot me in saris paired with chunky earrings." All we have to say Mahie is that we like your attitude.

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