Repeat of the hug

Shah Rukh also doesn’t get very elaborate when asked about Salman. But recently this hands-off policy took a break and it was again in every same place where they first broke the ice, at the iftaar event of a local politician. Both of them in fact tried to avoid each other, but the host pulled them together for a photo. And then it was just natural that the photo op led to them giving a quick hug.

But it was more like a formality that they had to undergo rather than any deep affection. After the hug, both of them again parted ways to sit at separate tables. Salman’s father Salim, in fact, shared the table with Shah Rukh. Reports say that Salman was asked to join but politely declined.

Later, however, when the media asked him, he said that he had always liked Shah Rukh. But that was also probably just a sound bite into which too much meaning shouldn’t be read. As things stand, it looks like they are just two superstars who are cordial when occasion but don’t want anything to do with each other.

Clearing the air

Anurag Kashyap, outspoken as he is, often gets into controversies but in the present one he was really not at fault. In a newspaper report he was quoted as saying rape is like a bad accident. Immediately, there were angry reactions both online and by women’s rights activists. Kashyap, taken aback by the whole incident, made a rare and detailed blog post explaining his stand.

He said the words attributed to him were in fact by a woman he had met who was in turn referring to an article about a rape survivor who despite her trauma firmly stood against lynch mob mentality and sought a fair trial for the rapist. Kashyap then gave a lengthy argument which stated that rape is a heinous crime but a survivor also has the right to heal in private instead of becoming a spectacle or a symbol.

Snapped out

If a successful actor thinks that she is now a certified star then that is not enough. Others have to accept it too. Or else, it can lead to complications. In the case of Shraddha Kapoor, who is exactly two hit movies old, something like that happened recently. She found an odd community to rile in the form of photographers who cover Bollywood. Recently, all of them got together and decided that they would not shoot Shraddha any longer.

This might be a ban that some of the superstars might laugh and dismiss about but to an actress who is still building her career it was always going to be an uncomfortable problem. And Shraddha did have herself to thank for it. At a reality show in which she was coming as a guest, the photographers were promised they could shoot her.

But then they were told they would have to wait for hours till the shooting got over. And when it did, she just didn’t come out for the shoot. All of them together then decided that she would be banned. At first Shraddha refused to apologise but a few days later a meeting was called in which she personally spoke to them and got them to lift the ban.

The incredible fee

Strange are the times for Hrithik Roshan. As his career reaches an ascendancy that he has never known, his personal life alas is in the doldrums. His wife has separated from him and there might be snide gossip reports about how he is enjoying singlehood but it’s never easy to part ways and go through its complications, especially when children are also involved. Initially both families even tried to fix the relationship. But that it has not succeeded only goes to show how this chapter is over. But career wise the sun is shining as bright as it possibly can for Hrithik.

His movie Bang Bang is on the anvil and if that becomes a success then he would be an actor who has not had a flop for three years ever since Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara ended his string of failures. After then Agneepath and Krrish 3 have been both blockbusters. And just how much his stock has gone up became apparent in an unconfirmed leak about his fee for Ashutosh Gowariker’s project MohenjoDaro. It is a big budget period movie and many in Bollywood must have been left with their mouths agape when they learnt that he was getting paid Rs50 crore or close to $8mn.

This is exactly half of Rs100 crore, the number that decides whether a movie is a superhit or just a regular hit. One only has to imagine the kind of business that MohenjoDaro must do to make profits if Hrithik is being paid such a huge amount. Of course, this is something that the three Khans might also command but we never get to know because the rest of the superstars take a cut of profits instead of a regular fee.

The only hitch is that Gowariker is still scouting for a producer and that means the money is not lined up yet. Given the astronomical amount he is going to need to make the movie plus pay Hrithik, he might have a tough time getting the finance.