I love him … not

I love him … not

This was somewhat predictable. Uday Chopra has been for some time been associated with the actress Nargis Fakhri. They have been seen together and the gossip mill has been abuzz. Nargis did not do such a bad job in her debut film Rockstar where she was pitted against Ranbir Kapoor.

But it didn’t exactly set her career on fire. She is coming soon in another movie but is just part of an ensemble cast of actresses. Varun Dhawan stars in that film as the hero. Her other film is opposite John Abraham.

Both these actors are not in the big league. A relationship with Uday Chopra, son of Yash Chopra and doyen of Yashraj Productions, is a safe harbour. Recently he gave some indication of their relationship when he tweeted in public: ‘Things @NargisFakhri loves travelling, spas, Doritos, pizza and ME!’ When she was asked about it in an interview, she laughed it off saying he was just joking and she was not in love. But then what else would she say?

Making success pay

 Success can be heady. Just ask the director Sujoy Ghosh. For over a decade he struggled to make a hit. Unlike many directors who deliver a flop and then disappear into the Bollywood wilderness, Ghosh persisted.

He made a flop in Jhankaar Beats, followed it up with another flop in Home Delivery. He still managed to get Amitabh Bachchan himself for his third movie, Aladin, a modern fairy tale of sorts. That too went dud without a whimper.

Then the unthinkable happened. Kahaani, which had no star cast except Vidya Balan sporting a pregnant look, became an unexpected superhit. There were a number of reasons for it. After Dirty Picture, Vidya was suddenly a household name. Plus, Kahaani, unlike Ghosh’s earlier fare, was in fact a good entertaining thriller. From a failure, he got catapulted into a creative success. And he apparently understands the price of it.

According to a news report, he has asked for close to US$6mn for the making of the sequel from the co-producers of the original which had been made at just over US$1mn.

Ghosh also wanted music and satellite rights. And now the issue seems headed for a dispute with his former producer saying that the sequel can’t be made without their consent. And Ghosh is saying that if his demands were not met he would go to someone else.

The enigma around the child

The curious case of Shah Rukh Khan’s third child got curiouser even though some of the mysteries don’t remain in it any longer. For example, the question of whether he had a child at all is no longer moot.

About that there was confirmation, first from the civic authority which issues birth certificates. A functionary there said that there indeed had been a registration with Shah Rukh as father and Gauri as mother. It was a boy. Everything else is in the realm of speculation even now.

Remember that a controversy had erupted around it when gossip items mentioned that the child was going to be a boy. It had led to Shah Rukh being accused of doing a prenatal sex determination test, an illegal act in India. And then medical bodies, child rights activists and even religious organisations had vehemently protested against it.

With the child being a boy you would think that all these people would feel vindicated. But there was one catch — according to the records, the child was born on May 27, more than a month ago. So when the news reports accusing him of doing the sex determination tests were being bandied about, the child had already been born.

Shah Rukh continues to remain tight lipped about the whole thing. At a news conference to promote the movie that is releasing next week, Chennai Express, he was asked a flurry of questions related to the child. But beyond saying it was ‘a little sad and a little happy’, he told them it was a private matter.

There is a hint of a larger story behind it and eventually it will come out. But till then, rumours are going to outweigh any real facts.

On full focus

Both of Salman Khan’s brothers have gone from being actors to behind the cameras, directing and producing films. But you still would think Salman would refuse to follow suit.

For one, his brothers Sohail and Arbaaz were resounding failures as actors despite a long line of films to their credit. That was what forced them to produce and direct and even for that they were piggybacking on their brother’s stardom.

If Salman’s doing so well in his career, in fact as never before, there is really no need to take the additional burden of crafting movies. But it turns out that he is going to turn director but, er, it is not exactly what you would think.

Mental, his next movie which has gone through a series of delays, is being directed by Sohail. But there is also going to be a short film on the making of Mental and for that apparently Salman himself is taking on the ropes.

According to reports, he wants it to have the feel of a small film instead of a series of vignettes revolving around incidents in the sets while shooting. Mental was going to be the next big blockbuster against his name. But it has been plagued by problems.

They missed the Eid date when all of Salman’s biggest movies are released. And then there were labour rivalries in the sets which led to more complications. Contrary to public perception, it is not comfortable being at the top in Bollywood. There is always another Khan breathing down your neck. In this case Shah Rukh, who has roped in Rohit Shetty’s magic touch for his film Chennai Express which will release soon.

Salman, therefore, is showing a lot more interest in Mental than he does for his other films. One flop is enough to make a chink in the armour.

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