Sanjay Dutt says producer threatened him through dons

A day after a court ordered the attachment of two properties of Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt over a financial row with producer Shakeel Noorani, the actor's lawyer claimed on December 29 that he received extortion calls from the underworld in 2005 at Noorani's behest.

The film producer rubbished the allegation.

"Sanjay Dutt does not owe a single penny to Shakeel Noorani. Noorani, in the past, has been demanding money from Sanjay Dutt. Mr. Dutt has received extortion calls at the behest of Shakeel Noorani. The complaint was lodged with the Anti-Extortion Cell and late (senior police inspector) Vijay Salaskar was investigating the case," said Rizwan Merchant, Dutt's lawyer.

"Statement of Sanjay Dutt has been recorded. Shakeel Noorani was also personally called to the office of the Anti-Extortion Cell," he added.

Merchant said that when Noorani did not succeed in his extortion demands in 2005, he (Noorani) made a complaint to the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), which was rejected.

"Once a complaint is rejected, a subsequent complaint is barred. The IMPPA could not have passed any award once the first complaint was rejected," Merchant said.

Noorani, however, rubbished all allegations made by the actor's lawyer.

"In fact, Sanjay Dutt has threatened to get me shot if I chase him to complete my film. He had personally thrown me out of the set where he was shooting for his film "EMI" when I requested him to finish my film," Noorani said.

Noorani also denied making any extortion calls, claiming that he had no underworld connections. "It is Sanjay Dutt who has underworld connections. He often met people from the underworld when we went for shooting abroad," he said.

"I was also never called for questioning by Salaskar. You can check the records if you want," he told reporters.

Noorani also claimed that the IMPPA had never rejected his complaint.

The Bombay High Court Tuesday ordered the attachment of two properties of Dutt. The decision followed an arbitration award passed by the IMPPA in January in favour of Noorani.

The properties ordered to be attached include the actor's flat in the Imperial Heights building at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra and his office in suburban Santa Cruz.

Dutt has 30 days to pay Noorani, failing which his properties will be auctioned. The actor can also challenge the order in the high court.

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Shahrukh Khan, the highest paid host ever?

Looks like Shah Rukh Khan is proving that he is the 'Badshah' even of Tellyland. TOI has learned that King Khan is apparently charging Rs 2.5 crore per episode for his forthcoming reality show Zor Ka Jhatka on TV.

Top industry sources claim that with this astronomical amount, SRK certainly becomes the costliest B-town A-lister to be signed on for a reality show. Whenever Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan have hosted TV shows, the industry debated whether they were the highest paid actors. However, this time it looks like the figures are on SRK's side. A source from the show reveals, "No one will speak openly about how much he is earning, but SRK charging Rs.2.5 crore certainly seems a believable figure.

As of now what can be revealed is that Shah Rukh is on for four weeks, Monday to Thursday, and if you calculate it, he is getting Rs 40 crore for 16 episodes. Bring on the superstar who can charge so much even after his last stint on TV (Kya Hum Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain) was panned and did not get the TRP that he got during Kaun Banega Crorepati."

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When Rani bowed before Madhuri

Rani Mukerji made for a Kodak moment when she prostrated in a 'sashtang namaskar' before dancing diva Madhuri Dixit on the reality show 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4'. Check out the pic right here.

Rani admitted she is a self-proclaimed Madhuri Dixit fan after she shook a leg with the 'Dhak dhak' girl on 'Dola re dola' on the show's episode to be aired Monday (December 27).

Rani came as a special guest along with Vidya Balan to promote their upcoming film 'No One Killed Jessica', releasing Jan 7.

The two actresses, who have burst the bubble of catfights in Bollywood by being unusually pally with each other, also danced together on 'Ibn-e-batuta'.

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Russian President Dmitry meets Yash Chopra and Shahrukh Khan

 

They say art and culture has no language and this became apparent during the recent visit of the Russian President H.E. Dmitry A. Medvedev to India when he took out time from his two day visit to head to Yash Raj Studio.

The agenda was quite simple; it was to further strengthen the ties of the two countries with special emphasis on promoting cultural exchanges between Russia and India and for the President to get an opportunity to directly meet with the members of the Indian film industry.

Not many know that Indian Films have been very popular with Russian audiences for over 60 years since the time of the legendary Raj Kapoor. And this fond memory helped to get the President's meeting off to a very cordial beginning and set the mood for what followed.

Russian President Dmitry meets Yash Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan Click here to add this article to My Clips

By Bollywood Hungama News Network, December 24, 2010 - 18:08 IST

Yash Chopra, Mukesh Bhatt, Dmitri Medvedev, Randhir Kapoor, Ramesh Sippy, Manmohan Desai

They say art and culture has no language and this became apparent during the recent visit of the Russian President H.E. Dmitry A. Medvedev to India when he took out time from his two day visit to head to Yash Raj Studio.

The agenda was quite simple; it was to further strengthen the ties of the two countries with special emphasis on promoting cultural exchanges between Russia and India and for the President to get an opportunity to directly meet with the members of the Indian film industry.

Not many know that Indian Films have been very popular with Russian audiences for over 60 years since the time of the legendary Raj Kapoor. And this fond memory helped to get the President's meeting off to a very cordial beginning and set the mood for what followed.

Shahrukh Khan, Dmitri Medvedev, Yash Chopra, Kareena Kapoor

President Dmitry Medvedev was very happy that he was able to spend some time at the studio along with Yash Chopra and meet with the members of the Film Producers Guild of India and others. He said that his association and love for Indian films started way back in 1970 with Raj Kapoor's Shree 420, a popular and iconic film in Russia. He also said that cinemas are a common language and that he looked forward to receiving good proposals from the Indian Film Industry.

Even Yash Chopra was thrilled to meet the President as he said, "We are honoured to have the President of Russia, H.E. Medvedev, who took time off during his very short visit to India, to come visit us. Speaking on behalf of all of us present here and particularly the film fraternity, I am confident that this visit will most certainly help us to build on our already strong cultural and emotional relationship that has existed over many years. With this as our heritage, we should be looking at doing things collectively going forward."

While at the studio Yash Chopra invited the Russia President to the sets of Ra.One to meet Shah Rukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor. This was a special occasion for the President, being the first time that he was on the sets of an Indian film shoot. In his unique and witty style, Shah Rukh Khan said that there is a great diversity of Russian and Indian culture which can be mutually drawn upon. He suggested that we should go there to learn the ballet and Russia should come here to learn the bhangra!

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Salman’s celebrating his birthday in Dubai

Salman Khan turns 45 today (December 27) and he’s in Dubai to celebrate in style. Salman is in the city with his family, and planned ahead are joint birthday and New Year celebrations. You can check out our pics of the family on their way to Dubai from Mumbai airport right here.

Salman posted on his Twitter page yesterday: “Wat up! On ma way to dubai. Wish u all a v happy new year.”

Celebrating with Salman on this birthday trip, apart from his family, are lots of friends, including Sajid Nadiadwala and David Dhawan.

Today, of course, the birthday boy was flooded with starry wishes via Twitter

Brother Arbaaz posted: "Happy birthday Salman bhai. Have a great day and a Dabangg year ahead. We all love you :)"

Salman’s ‘Dabangg’ co-star Sonakshi Sinha tweeted: “Chulbul Pandey/ robinhood pandey/ Salman Khan ko janamdin ki shubhkamnayein! pretty sure he is bringing the house down in dubai!!”

Preity Zinta: “Hey Salman, wish u a very happy birthday & may all things wonderful big & small always come ur way ! Lotza love always :-)”

Amrita Arora posted: “Happpppy b'day Salman Bhai..hope u have a superrrr year....”

Riteish Deshmukh posted: “Wishing Salman Khan very happy birthday.” Genelia D’Souza also wished Salman, retweeting Riteish's message.

So what exactly does Salman have planned for his birthday? Watch this space for updates! And if you're in Dubai, keep an eye out for Chulbul Pandey!

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Katrina most profitable actress of 2010

Ajay Devgn and Katrina Kaif will be crowned the most profitable actors of 2010 at the 'ETC Bollywood Business Awards 2010 - Evaluating Movie Moghuls' today (December 28). First timer Abhinav Kashyap will get the most profitable director trophy.

On evaluating the industry players on the basis of return on investment for the first time, the actors have won the top spots after the economic quotient of their movies was taken into consideration as a cornerstone for mapping their success.

"Figures talk, you cannot manipulate it, you cannot play games with it," said Ajay, who has had six releases this year including 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?' 'Raajneeti', 'Golmaal 3', and 'Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai' and except 'Aakrosh' and 'Toonpur Ka Superhero', all his movies did good business.

The research done by ETC indicated that Indian audiences paid a cumulative sum of Rs.282 crore to watch Ajay's films throughout the year vis-a-vis Rs.142 crore to watch Katrina's 'Raajneeti' and 'Tees Maar Khan'.

Breaking all records is Salman Khan starrer 'Dabangg' that has been named as the top grosser of the year. Debut director Abhinav Kashyap bagged the most profitable director trophy for the corrupt cop saga with audiences paying a cumulative sum of over Rs.140 crore to watch his film.

"It is a fair assessment of the recipient's work and his popularity and mass appeal," said Arbaaz Khan, winner of the most successful producer for 'Dabangg'.

This will be the first time in India where an initiative has sought to recognize even the marketers, distributors, production houses and exhibitors on the basis of business the industry has generated in 2010.

"All those who represent the industry, actors, musicians and directors have only been judged on creative parameters. No one had thought of evaluating them on how much business they had generated," Anurag Bedi, business head, ETC, said.

"Such an evaluation will bring forward the workings of Bollywood as an industry," he added.

The ceremony also has first time categories such as marketing (best marketed film of the year - 'My Name Is Khan'), distribution (special award for film distribution) and promotion (most successful banner/corporate house/production house of the year), among others.

While the award for the most profitable multiplex chain of the year goes to PVR Cinemas, the most successful small-budget film of the year trophy will be handed over to 'Peepli Live'. Corporate house of the year is Shree Ashtvinayak Cinevison Ltd.

The ceremony will also recognise the most successful Hollywood film of the year with 'Inception' taking centrestage.

"ETC Bollywood Business Awards 2010 - Evaluating Movie Moghuls" will aired December 28 at 8.30pm on ETC channel.

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Obama praises Aamir’s work

An invite to the prime minister's private dinner for the US first couple was an honour enough, but when President Barack Obama praised his work, Aamir Khan was on cloud nine.

The star, who was invited to the dinner by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Race Course Road residence, was cornered by the waiting media as soon as the dinner got over around 10 pm last night.

"President Obama said he has heard a lot about my work and my films," said Aamir, who was clad in a cream coloured kurta pyjama.

"It (the dinner) was an opportunity to meet big personalities. I am a big fan of Manmohanji and I am happy that he called me up," he told the journalists.

Aamir, 45, also praised the dinner platter and revealed that First Lady Michelle Obama had told him that she has danced to his title number from Rang De Basanti.

Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar and his actress-activist wife Shabana Azmi were also invited to the grand feast.

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Madhuri Dixit on Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa

The gorgeous dance diva has decided to be a judge in the fourth season of the hit TV dance show, Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa. This is the first time Madhuri will be seen in an entire season as a judge. It is not surprising that the show broadcasters chose her… we are all aware of her marvelous dance skills. She has the talent and of course, years of experience behind her. However, from what we hear, it wasn’t easy to convince the beautiful lady. Special screenings were held in LA and the original format – Dancing With The Stars¬ – was discussed. Top arrangements for her stay during show shootings in Mumbai have been promised and of course, an undisclosed amount has been agreed upon. The show is expected to start end of this year.

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Salman is Ready for his next

Salman Khan has started shooting for the next schedule of Ready, which promises a dose of humour, drama and action along with great music.

After breaking all box office records with Dabangg, Salman is back at his comic best in Ready, which is being produced by T-Series.

"Ready is a highly anticipated movie since it marks the coming together of Salman and director Anees Bazmee after No Entry, which did extremely well. Salman has impeccable comic timing and there's no denying the track record of the man with the Midas touch - Bhushan Kumar. By the looks of it Ready has blockbuster written all over it," said a source in a press statement.

The film is currently being shot in Mumbai.

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Ash setting trends in Malaysia

Traditional dresses worn by Aishwarya Rai in the films Raavan and Robot have been runaway hits in Malaysia.

The churidar and long-sleeved kameez Aishwarya wore as a dance teacher who gets kidnapped in the modern-day version of the Ramayana are a hit among women shoppers. Both Tamil (Raavanan) and Hindi versions (Raavan) along with Robot with megastar Rajnikant were huge hits among Malaysian Indians.

The traditional dresses - called masakali - have been in the market since early this year. But sales have peaked as Deepavali approaches.

Malaysia is home to 2.1 million ethnic Indians, a bulk of them Tamils who throng to Chennai-made films. But craze for Bollywood films is there among everybody. The Bachchans – Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya – and the Khans, SRK, Aamir, Salman and Saif Ali – are immensely popular there.

Thiyananthan Bathumalai, managing director of Harekrishna Silk, said most of the masakali dresses in the market were inspired by movie stars.

"For example, we now have 'Robot masakali', which was inspired from the movie Robot and 'Raavan masakali', which was inspired by Raavan, of course," he said.

Thiyananthan said many customers ask for masakali suits on entering his shop.

"People still ask for 'Anarkali suits' or 'Patiala suits' which were the craze some time ago. But this year, it looks like Aishwarya Rai is leading," he said.

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Marriage proposals for Kat

Katrina Kaif is in Patiala for the shooting of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. The gorgeous lady is haunted by plenty of local Punjabi boys who have been lining up outside her hotel to catch a glimpse of her and well, ask for her hand in marriage! These hopeful young men have been infatuated with Kat’s character ‘Jasmeet’ from the movie Namastey London, who comes to Punjab to look for a husband.

As hilarious as it may sound, Kat’s hotel is surrounded by her male fans who have gone to the extent of asking the hotel staff if they can somehow get in touch with her parents to discuss a potential proposal! From what we hear, Katrina has been provided with top security and a special backdoor entrance where she sneaks out of the hotel.

Kat, however, laughed it off when a source approached her. She said her team of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is enough to keep her feeling safe and protected and it is all in good fun.

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Golmaal 3 is all about wit

Golmaal 3 has just been reviewed by movie critic Taran Adarsh and from what we hear, he has good things to say. Rohit Shetty has satisfied his fans – the flick is a clear winner and has certainly lived up to its expectations… in fact, more than that. Ranked among Bollywood’s funniest movies in recent years, G3 is light, full of entertainment and apparently, leaves you feeling good. We can’t wait to see Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor belting out one witty dialogue after another! Time to de-stress and laugh out loud… definitely hitting the theatres for this one!

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