Shah Rukh Khan owns up to being a ladies man

NEW DELHI: Seated at a restaurant in London surrounded by some 10 women, including his wife Gauri, when Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh says that
he "likes being with girls", you simply have to believe him.

"I don't have many boyfriends. I like being with girls, and probably that's why people think I'm a little girlish. But I don't have any such male bonding with anyone...," Shah Rukh said in the first episode of Discovery Travel & Living's upcoming series "Living With A Superstar - Shah Rukh Khan".

Most of Shah Rukh's closest friends are of the opposite sex - Kajol, Farah Khan, Juhi Chawla, Rani Mukerji and so on.

Among his best known male friends is filmmaker Karan Johar, with whom he has done many hit films like "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" and "Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna". Shah Rukh's most awaited film of the year "My Name Is Khan" is also Johar's baby.

The new TV series "Living With A Superstar..." chronicles Shah Rukh in his real, day-to-day life. It aims at taking viewers into the private spaces of the 44-year-old, who is fondly known as King Khan by many of his fans and colleagues.

The 10-part series, which has Shah Rukh's voiceover, will go on air Feb 26 at 9 p.m. with a slice of his life from a family vacation in London.

He is seen taking a rickshaw ride on the street, cheering for a street performer, playing football with his children Aryan and Suhana at Hyde Park, bingeing on food, smoking, visiting Madame Tussaud's wax studio - and most of all just being himself.

In subsequent episodes, viewers can know about Shah Rukh's relationship with his children, wife, sister and friends, unique style of shooting, time management, interactions with fans and staff and about his house Mannat.

The series, jointly produced by Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment and Blue Mango Films, is the biggest ever by the channel, according to Rahul Johri, senior vice president and general manager, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific.

"This is the biggest thing we have done. We have shot in Dubai, San Jose, San Francisco, London, Mumbai, New Delhi, we had been following Shah Rukh wherever he went since March 2009 and he gave us complete access," Johri told the media, without divulging the investment made for it.

The series will have eight repeats in a week, justifying the fan following that Shah Rukh commands across the globe.

source:economictimes.indiatimes.com

Natalie Portman dating a co-worker?

London: Rumours are abuzz that Natalie Portman is romancing a co-worker, just weeks after her rep denied she is dating Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.

A spokesperson for Portman, 28, dismissed reports last month (December 2009) after online gossips suggested she was dating the Star Trek actor.

But now, gossip mills have gone into overdrive with reports that the actress is reportedly involved with 32-year-old Benjamin Millepied, who worked as a choreographer on her new ballet movie, Black Swan.

Portman reportedly showed off her new boyfriend at a New Year's Eve party in New York City.

"She has been subletting Sarah Michelle Gellar's apartment and she wanted to celebrate the New Year with a few close friends and introduce them to Ben. They have actually been a couple since the fall, but she wanted to see how serious it was before she started to show him off to her inner circle. She really likes him,” the Daily Express quoted a source as telling In Touch magazine.

source:indianexpress.com

Amitabh Bachchan to promote Modi's Gujarat

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has roped in the biggest name in Bollywood, superstar Amitabh Bachchan to promote his state. While organising a special screening of his movie Paa for Modi, Amitabh had said "There are lots of good things in Gujarat which should be promoted. I am ready to give my voice and face for the promotion of Gujarat tourism." Bachchan also added "The main motive of my visit is to promote my film Paa which deals with many sensitive issues and I wish Gujarat government makes the film tax free".

Amitabh also gifted Modi with a copy of Madhushala, a collection of poems written by his late father Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Narendra Modi thanked Bachchan calling him a 'mahanayak' and welcomed his offer to promote Gujarat tourism. Incidentally Bachchan's decision came on a day when his friend Amar Singh quit from all his posts in the Samajwadi Party which has been a huge critic of Modi and the BJP. Amitabh was Uttar Pradesh’s brand ambassador during SP's rule which had earned him the ire of MNS in Mumbai.

source:entertainment.oneindia.in

3 Idiots tops Britain's Christmas viewings

Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots has retained its position in the top 10 at the British box office in week two after eclipsing Hollywood's Avatar in Christmas viewing charts.

The total overseas box office takings for the film so far is a record-breaking $10 million.

In Britain, 3 Idiots has grossed more than 1.115 million pounds ($1.8 million), and as the number one film on Christmas Day, out-grossing Avatar, producers Reliance BIG Pictures said Wednesday.

The film is Britain's highest grossing Bollywood film of 2009 and now the highest grossing Indian film ever to release in the US, beating the takings of Om Shanti Om.

source:sify.com

Veer Salman Khan fuming again

Mumbai: Early this year Salman Khan has expectations riding high with his forthcoming flick Veer all set for release by end of this month.

The superstar is engaged in promoting his film ardently as the D-Day arrives closer.

But, recently when he was at a particular venue to promote his film Veer, Salman lost his cool. Not that anything was wrong with arrangements made for the promotion.

Salman actually lost his cool on his guard who had accidently pushed a child away who was approaching the super star for his autograph.

Displeased with the guard, Salman chided his guard in front of all those present.

In order to make up to the child who was at the centre of this incident, Salman gifted the kid a personally autographed audio CD of Veer.

source:bollypatrika.com

Genelia D’Souza rubbishes rumors of marriage with Riteish Deshmukh

Mumbai: Genelia D’Souza rubbishes rumors of marriage with Riteish: Actress Genelia D’Souza is gearing up for the release of her flick Chance Pe Dance opposite Shahid Kapoor on Jan 15.

But, Genelia is in news not for her forthcoming flick but for stories that are stating that the actress is all set to marry actor Riteish Deshmukh.

The actress has rubbished all the marriage rumors surrounding her. She is quick to point out that presently it is her work that is her prime focus and she is not even thinking about settling down.

It is being rumored that Genelia and Riteish have been involved for the past six years when they first starred together in the movie
Tujhe Meri Kasam.

 

source:bollypatrika.com

Kareena Kapoor in 'Who Mattered Most in 2009' list

CNNgo has listed Kareena Kapoor in their prestigious list of '15 People Who Mattered Most in 2009'. The icing on the cake is that Bebo is one of the only three actors from Bollywood who have been named in the list.

For the uninitiated, 'Who Mattered the Most in 2009' is a compilation of prominent personalities who remained in focus in that particular year, due to their prominent contributions. This list includes scientists, politicians and people from the arena of sports and music.

Besides Kareena, the other Bollywood stars who have been featured in the list include Ranbir Kapoor, composer A R Rahman and Abhay Deol.

source:sify.com

Avatar with $68.3M, tops $1B worldwide

LOS ANGELES – James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar" had another stellar weekend with $68.3 million domestically, shooting past $1 billion worldwide, only the fifth movie ever to hit that mark.

No. 1 for the third-straight weekend, 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" raised its domestic total to $352.1 million after just 17 days. The film added $133 million overseas to lift its international haul to $670 million, for a worldwide gross of $1.02 billion.

"Avatar" opened two weekends earlier with $77 million, a strong start but far below dozens of other blockbusters that debuted as high as $158 million. But business for other blockbusters usually tumbles in following weekends, while "Avatar" revenues barely dropped over the busy Christmas and New Year's weekends.

"It's like a runaway freight train. It just keeps doing business," said Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "Here's what's happening: I think everybody has to see `Avatar' once. Even people who don't normally go to the movies, they've heard about it and are saying, `I have to see it.' Then there's those people seeing it multiple times."

"Avatar" was Cameron's first film since 1997's "Titanic," the biggest modern blockbuster with $1.8 billion worldwide.

Cameron now is the only filmmaker to direct two movies that have topped $1 billion. Along with "Titanic," the others are "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" at $1.13 billion, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" at $1.06 billion and "The Dark Knight" at a fraction over $1 billion, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

With "Avatar" closing in on No. 2 film "The Return of the King," Cameron is in striking distance of having the two top-grossing movies globally.

"Avatar" has had a price advantage over those other billion-dollar movies. About 75 percent of its domestic business has come from theaters showing it in digital 3-D presentation, those tickets typically costing a few dollars more than admissions for the 2-D version.

Finishing at No. 2 for the weekend was Robert Downey Jr.'s crime caper "Sherlock Holmes" with $38.4 million. The Warner Bros. film lifted its domestic total to $140.7 million after 10 days in theaters.

In third place was 20th Century Fox's family tale "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" with $36.6 million. It raised its 10-day total to $157.3 million.

The top-three movies, along with solid holdovers that included Universal's "It's Complicated" at No. 4 with $18.7 million, steered Hollywood to a big start to 2010 after a year of record revenue.

Hollywood finished 2009 with $10.6 billion domestically, easily surpassing the previous record of $9.7 billion in 2007, according to Hollywood.com.

Factoring in today's higher admission prices, the year was strong but not a modern record-breaker for number of tickets sold. According to Hollywood.com, domestic admissions came in at 1.42 billion in 2009, the most in the last five years, though well below the modern record of 1.6 billion in 2002.

In Hollywood's glory years of the 1930s and '40s, before television eroded the movie audience, estimated movie attendance ran as high as 4 billion some years.

Studios began 2010 with a headstart over last year. Overall revenues came in at $230 million, up 50 percent from New Year's weekend in 2009, when "Marley & Me" was No. 1 with $24.3 million.

Like "Titanic" 12 years ago, "Avatar" has fairly clear sailing now that the holidays are over. Hollywood is entering a slow season, when fewer big movies arrive and competition is lighter.

"Titanic" lingered as the No. 1 film for months leading up to the Academy Awards, where it won 11 Oscars, including best picture and director.

"Avatar" also proved a critical favorite with strong Oscar potential. Cameron broke new ground in combining live-action, digitally-enhanced performances, visual effects and 3-D presentation to immerse viewers in his futuristic tale of humans and aliens on a distant moon.

"Leave it to James Cameron to do this. To not only set the technical world on fire, the visual world on fire, but also the box-office world on fire 12 years after `Titanic,'" said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Avatar," $68.3 million.

2. "Sherlock Holmes," $38.4 million.

3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel," $36.6 million.

4. "It's Complicated," $18.7 million.

5. "The Blind Side," $12.7 million.

6. "Up in the Air," $11.4 million.

7. "The Princess and the Frog," $10 million.

8. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?", $5.2 million.

9. "Nine," $4.3 million.

10. "Invictus," $4.1 million.

source:yahoo.com