The King Khan’s palace
A high profile interior design magazine managed to pull a coup of sorts when they got permission to feature the house of Shah Rukh Khan. It faces the sea in the posh suburb of Bandra in Mumbai. Most fans who crowd outside it only manage to see the tall gates which hide the insides. The photos of the article show a spacious lawn spread out before what looks like an opulent mansion.
While Shah Rukh himself was not there in the frames, wife Gauri was present. The article was timed to the launch of Gauri’s new project — an interior design store. She now joins the long line of star wives who have decided to get into the interiors business. There was first Twinkle Khanna, wife of Akshay Kumar. This was followed by Susanne Roshan, Hrithik’s wife.
Why all of them get into this line of business is still something of a mystery but, given their connections, they certainly won’t want for clients. But it was also the house that put Shah Rukh into a spot of bother recently. A small road besides it has been closed off citing security considerations for some time.
Shah Rukh allegedly also built a ramp there. It is a short cut to a popular church there and local residents are now demanding access to the road. There was also another move by the municipality to reduce the length of the road and the residents allege this is also at Shah Rukh’s behest. Earlier too his house had come into controversy when he had built another multi-storeyed wing to it. Shah Rukh is no stranger to such issues and has some experience in handling them. He will probably get this also sorted out.
Courting it
Salman Khan is famous for getting arrested for poaching the endangered Blackbuck antelope species when shooting in Rajasthan for Hum Saath Saath Hain in 1998. What is not so remembered is the other star who was along in the party—Saif Ali Khan. Saif has also had a number of controversies against his name. Some of them can be attributed to his temper.
Last year he got into an altercation with Lucknow airport security when they asked him to vacate the VIP lounge. But the case that is hounding him is a quite pointless physical scuffle in a five-star hotel with another guest two years back. He and his friends were having dinner in the restaurant there when a senior citizen from a nearby table had asked them to keep the volume down.
And Saif had allegedly manhandled him. The problem is that the man, a South African of Indian origin, has refused to settle or compromise as is usually done in such cases. Last week, Saif had to appear in court for the case. His legal team tried to wheedle him out from personal appearance and he had missed earlier dates. But this time there was the threat of an arrest warrant. Ironic, how a moment of anger can become such an enduring problem.
Not ready for fatherhood
Govinda, once upon a time the biggest star in Bollywood, seemed last year to be finally calling it a day to any aspirations to be a hero anymore. For Jagga Jasoos, a movie being directed by Anurag Basu, he was said to be playing the father of Ranbir Kapoor. When any leading star decides to don a father’s role that is the signal that he has decided to face the reality of his dwindling appeal.
This was what Amitabh also went through 10 to 15 years ago when after a series of flops, he finally decided to act his age. But Govinda’s case is getting a little complicated. Some years ago, when he was completely out, he got a re-entry into Bollywood after Salman Khan got him a meaty role in Partner. He then got a number of movies and one saw a new Govinda.
Earlier in his heydays he would be tardy beyond belief and late by hours for a shooting but now he was always on time and professional to the core, taking to heart the lessons that adversity teaches you. But that good run quickly disappeared and he got the role of the father in Jagga Jasoos. But with that his earlier tardiness has allegedly resurfaced.
Anurag Basu was reported to be so fed up with him being late that he was contemplating Jackie Shroff as a replacement. Govinda, of course, denied it in an interview and said that these were false rumours spread by people out to malign him. Strangely, he also denied that he was playing Ranbir’s father when Anurag himself has given interviews saying that Govinda was chosen for the role because Ranbir was keen on it. He has also decided not to play another role of being a father in an Alia Bhatt movie. All in all, there still seems to be one part of him that wants to hang on to his ‘youthful’ stardom.
The latest rumour
To the ultra long list of women Salman Khan has been rumoured to be seeing, add one more now. Jacqueline Fernandez, who acted in Kick along with him, is said to be his latest heartthrob. It might very well not be true because the grounds for believing it are quite slender. Apparently, when he went to a friend’s place early in the morning at three, Jacqueline was in tow. The news got leaked out and instantly the whispers started. Earlier during the promotion of Kick at a television show, he had called her his ‘Lady Love’.
And there were unfounded rumours of him gifting her an apartment. But the main thing that goes against there being any substance to the news is that Salman has never been coy about admitting his relationships. If he is not doing so, it probably means there isn’t one.
Bizarrely one of the things advanced for Salman wooing Jacqueline is that he likes women who are from outside India. Like Katrina Kaif and Lulla Vantur, who were linked with him. Jacqueline is from Sri Lanka.
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