Why should I remain a bachelor: Salman Khan

With Salman Khan, you never know what mood you’ll get. But on Sunday afternoon at Mehboob Studio, he’s jovial. His next film, Ek Tha Tiger, releasing on August 15, is already the subject of much speculation, with trade pundits wondering if it will create a Rs. 200 crore club. Whether it does or does not, his fans are eager to watch their superhero on the big screen again. Between shots of Dabangg 2, the star answers HT Café’s questions.
Today, you’re more successful than ever. Are you working twice as hard, or has this happened by chance?
In the past, I had a knee-jerk approach to work and it showed on screen. I was doing movies for the wrong reasons — trying to juggle dates, do too many guest appearances, take up projects under pressure or for emotional reasons. But now there’s a method to my madness. I have heard people say, “Salman has changed, he’s lost it,” and stuff like that. But it doesn’t affect me. Today, I am doing movies only for my fans and I am enjoying every bit of it. They are happy and so am I.

source-ht

First ODI: Kohli's century counts; Sangakkara's goes in vain

India survived some jittery moments in the fag end before snatching a thrilling 21-run win over Sri Lanka in the first cricket One-dayer of the five-match series, in Hambantota today. Virat Kohli cracked a superb 106 and Virender Sehwag scored 96 runs as their 173-run stand
the second wicket laid the foundation for India's imposing 314 for six after electing to bat.
Diminutive left-hander Suresh Raina (50 off 45) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (35 off 29) added valuable runs towards the end to take the side past 300-run mark.
India then restricted the hosts to 293 for nine to take a 1-0 lead in the series, which it needs to win by a 5-0 margin to reclaim the number one position in ODIs.
The hosts' resistance was built around Sangakkara's fighting 133 but he fell short of partners from the other end until he was joined by Thisara Perera, who scored a quick-fire 44 off just 28 balls.
Sangakkara's knock, his 14th ODI hundred and fifth against India, came off 151 balls and included 12 boundaries.
Sangakkara and Perera rattled up a 78-run stand for the seventh wicket, giving some anxious moments to India but their effort only reduced the defeat margin.
Sri Lanka's fight ended when Sangakkara was bowled by Umesh Yadav in 48th over and Perera was dismissed by Irfan Pathan in the penultimate over.
Pathan (2/37), R Ashwin (2/46) and Yadav (2/76) took two wickets each for India.
Kohli carried his good form of the last season into the match as he scored his fourth hundred in his last five innings. The 23-year-old Kohli blasted nine boundaries in his 113-ball innings.
Sehwag, who was given reprieve by Tillakaratne Dilshan in the second over, had 10 boundaries in his 97-ball innings.
Both the teams will now travel to Colombo for the second match, scheduled for Tuesday.

source-ht

Game on! Pakistan to tour India for 3 ODIs in December

The BCCI has confirmed that the cricketing ties between India and Pakistan will resume and Pakistan will tour India for three one-dayers in December. The cricketing ties between the two countries had snapped after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. The ODIs will be played towards the end of the month, likely during the gap between England ODIs and Tests.
The two countries have played against each other in the 2011 World Cup and Asia Cup recently, but bilateral series have been suspended for almost five years: the last being in India in 2007.
India pulled out of the 2009 cricket tour of Pakistan in the wake of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. They were due to arrive in Pakistan in January 2009 for three Tests, five one-day games and a Twenty20 international.
Pakistan cricket has faced several crisis in the last year and a tour of India may boost the confidence of the game's managers in the country. No international team has played in Pakistan since the March 2009 attack in Lahore, which left eight people dead and several visiting players wounded, and the national team has had to play its "home" matches abroad, mostly in the United Arab Emirates.
A spot-fixing scandal, which ended with three Pakistan cricketers sent to a British prison last November, engulfed the team's Test series in mid 2010.

source-ht

Sequel to Singh is Kinng

He is the man behind films such as Singh is Kinng, Namastey London, Waqt: The Race Against Time and Action Replayy. And now filmmaker Vipul Amrutlal Shah is keen on making a sequel of his 2008 hit film Singh is Kinng that starred Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. “It’s pre mature to say much about the sequel but yes, I am working on the script,” confirms Shah. So is Akshay going to repeat his Happy Singh act again? “I will approach Akshay as I don’t think there can be a Singh is Kinng without Akshay,” says Shah, who is also working on the sequel to John Abraham and Genelia D’souza starrer Force. The filmmaker is also excited about his return to TV after a gap of almost a decade with his production Bhai, Bhaiya Aur Brother on SAB TV. “Our show will hopefully spread a positive message about the joint family culture, and will inspire families to cultivate a joint family system. It will talk about Indian values in a light-hearted manner,” says Shah about the show that revolves around three brothers. “Television is becoming bigger and bigger.It is more challenging than films because TV is more immediate. Also, I believe it is the increasing popularity of TV that’s drawing even people from the silver screen to the small screen,” adds Shah. Source- HT

IPL 2012: Luke Pomersbach gets interim bail

Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach, arrested on charges of molesting an American woman in a hotel on Thursday night, was on Friday granted interim bail for a day by a Delhi court. There was drama during the 30-minute proceedings, when the 27-year-old batsman, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the IPL, complained of uneasiness and fainted while the victim broke down when she narrated the incident. Policemen took him outside the court room and gave him water after which he regained composure to come back to the court room made stuffy by the crowd of lawyers, journalists and onlookers. Pomersbach, who has had a history of brawls and brush with police in his country, and accused of outraging the modesty of a woman here last night after a post-match party, was granted relief by Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha till Saturday. The Magistrate directed the Delhi Police to bring the CCTV footage from the hotel tomorrow along with the medical records showing the nature of injury caused to the woman's fiance Sahil, who is admitted in ICU in a private hospital here after being allegedly beaten by Pomersbach. "The accused is granted interim bail till tomorrow," the magistrate said. "Bring the CCTV footage of the hotel and the doctors opinion about the nature of the injuries sustained by him (the woman's fiancee Sahil)," the court said. During the hearing, the court asked the Delhi police as to why they had not secured the CCTV footage of the hotel. Delhi Police had sought that the court should sent the cricketer into judicial custody. The woman narrated the sequence of the event saying that she was with her fiance and Pomersbach forcibly entered their room in the hotel to have drinks and molested her. "Sahil only told him 'please leave the room' and he (Pomersbach) turned and started assaulting him and punched him (Sahil) several times on his face," she said. Delhi Police submitted that Pomersbach misbehaved with the woman and assaulted Sahil, who received injury. The woman told the court that despite being beaten severely the case has been registered under section 323 of the IPC for simple hurt. "The injuries are grievous and the police have charged him just under Section 323 of the IPC.. Sahil was beaten so badly that he is in the ICU," the woman told the court. Advocate Neeraj Chaudhary, who appeared for Pomersbach, vehemently opposed the police version and said that Sahil has not not been admitted to the ICU and Pomersbach was instead beaten up by him. "Pomersbach was beaten up by Sahil in the room. There was no previous rivalry between them. They (Sahil and the woman) had invited Pomersbach to their room," the counsel said adding that his client was not carrying any arms with him

source: times of india
 

Hate Story will give erotic films new definition: director

Quite perturbed with the way erotic films are being handled these days, director Vivek Agnihotri says through his upcoming thriller Hate Story he wants to change the way sexuality is portrayed in India. The Paoli Dam starrer is creating a lot of buzz for its steamy scenes and Agnihotri related stories Bollywood Release: Paoli Dam's Hate Story I’ve no inhibitions as an actor: Paoli Dam 'Hate Story is India's Basic Instinct' feels that the movie should not be mistaken for a typical masala film. "Erotica are very fine art. In this country, nobody treats it as a genre. We make it as a masala film by incorporating semi nude models dancing behind the actor. In this way it becomes titillation. "I took it as a challenge when Vikram Bhatt (producer) asked me to direct it. Though it's a very difficult genre primarily, I tried to introduce this in the mainstream with due dignity and originality. We decided to call it as an erotic thriller only because we don't want to mislead our audience," Agnihotri told PTI. The filmmaker, who started his career four years ago with multi-starrer thriller Chocolate and has made only three movies so far, said he is not in the rat race to make films every year. "I am not that kind of a director who makes two films per year. I was busy in making a film called Buddha in a traffic jam and it consumed two and half years. The film stars Arunoday Singh and Mahie Gill in the lead roles. As soon as I finished it, Vikram called me for Hate Story," he said. Source- Hindustan Times

Emraan Hashmi: Serial kisser to crowd puller

Shooting outdoors in an uncontrolled environment can be tricky. But actor Emraan Hashmi and the unit of Jannat 2 had a trick up their sleeve when they were filming in heavily populated areas of the capital such as Chandni Chowk. On the first day, Emraan posed with fans and signed autographs, related stories Emraan-Esha get intimate in Jannat 2 Emraan Hashmi hungry for films Emraan Hashmi back with Jannat 2 Emraan Hashmi can’t get dates right keeping them happy. The crowd, however, very quickly managed to learn that ‘cut’ meant they could approach the star and ‘pack up’ was their cue to descend upon the start. Managing the mob became a tough task and escorting the actor to his van, parked a kilometre away, was a nightmare for the security guards. Ask Emraan about his crowd-controlling ploy and he says, “It was very difficult to navigate through the crowd. So from day two, we decided that after our work was done, I would leave and five minutes later they would announce pack up on the mike for the rest of the unit and no one from the crowd would be wiser.” The trick apart, Emraan praises the locals who were helpful through the shooting. “Security, not just for me, but the crew, the equipment and the works was quite an issue, especially while shooting a film like Jannat 2 in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk and Purani Delhi,” says the actor, adding that 10-15 guards were no match for the thousands who gathered around. “The place is always packed with people and we wouldn’t have managed to shoot without some help from the  locals. They would listen when asked to be quiet for a shot.” Has the size of the crowd increased post his recent successes, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010) and The Dirty Picture (2011)?0 “Yes, the crowd has escalated. All actors love mobs and so do I. The more the people, the bigger the crowd, the better I feel, and the better it is for my ego,” says Emraan. Source-Hindustan Times