Director Madhur Bhandarkar, who reportedly had fallen out with actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 2011, over his film Heroine, says that things are normal between them now and he is open to working with her.
Heroine had hit headlines after Aishwarya, who was signed to play the protagonist of his ambitious project, opted out due to her pregnancy.
When asked about his current equation with Aishwarya, the director said, “It is nice. All is good and normal. If there is an interesting script I would be okay to direct her. Yes, why not?”
Heroine had to face quite a few hurdles as it was first offered to Kareena Kapoor Khan but after several meetings and discussions on the script, she had turned down the offer. However, exact reasons could not be known.
Later, the role went to Aishwarya and the film was announced at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011. The shooting was supposed to commence from June, when Amitabh Bachchan broke the news of his daughter-in-law’s pregnancy.
The producers even took the decision to stall the project for the sake of Aishwarya’s health.
Almost at the verge of being shelved, Kareena was finally roped in for the film but it failed to register success at the box office.
“With Heroine I wanted to show the super stardom of an actress and her decline and what happens to her. I have no regrets for any of my films and I stand by them.
On Aishwarya’s comeback film with Sanjay Gupta – Jazbaa – he said that he liked the trailer and even tweeted about it.
Actress Julia Roberts said that she is a genuinely happy person, and credits her husband Danny Moder for her success.
The couple has three children – twins Finn and Hazel, 10, and Henry, 8.
“I am a genuinely and deeply happy person, which, as life goes on, you realize what great fortune that is, to feel like you just have the natural chemistry of joy,” said Julia. “I don’t know if I would have succeeded in some of the efforts that I made if he (Danny) hadn’t been in such close physical proximity to me. There’s something about having the safest place in the world for you in the same room,” added Julia.
The actress is known for her trademark smile.
“I don’t think it’s healthy or productive to self-analyse. The way a person smiles is the way they smile. It sort of becomes this thing: ‘Let’s see that smile.’ I can smile or I cannot smile, but I can’t perform,” she added.
I definitely won’t be the next 007 agent: David Beckham
Former footballer David Beckham finds the rumour of him being the next James Bond funny and says that he was “definitely” not planning to be a 007 agent.
“I saw that the other day and I laughed many times about it,” Beckham reportedly said.
“Definitely won’t be in the next James Bond,” he added.
In fact, he didn’t plan to make acting his new career.
“I’ve never, ever thought about going into any kind of acting. People have actually started talking about me and my new career of acting, which it’s not my new career of acting, it’s just something that I’m kind of stepping into and enjoying myself with,” said Beckham.
It was fans’ effort that pushed Beckham’s name to be considered as the next James Bond as Daniel Craig’s contract approached its expiration date.
Last week, his representative quickly said Beckham “was not planning to step into the action heroes shoes any time soon, despite recently expressing his interest in acting.”
Arif Rashid Pathan has been providing this service free of cost since last four years.
Setting example of Hindu-Muslim unity Arif Rashid Pathan a Muslim auto driver has taken the responsibility of transporting Ganpati idols from shop to devotee’s houses free of cost. Pathan also helps them to transport the idol for immersion. He provides free service to people for the entire day. Pathan has been providing this service free of cost since last four years.
During the first year Pathan didn’t get much response. Then he started installing a board behind the autorickshaw mentioning about the services provided by him free of cost and his mobile number. Eventually people started approaching him to transport Ganpati idol from shops to their houses. They started blessing him and he received good feedback from them. He plans to continue this service in the future too if people supports him.
Pathan doesn’t mind transporting the idols even to faraway places. He doesn’t make any discrimination on the basis of caste, religion while delivering service. He doesn’t look at a person’s religious background while delivering service. Even in Kolhapur too nobody gives importance to religion and caste. People are cooperating with him. He will provide this service next year too and will try to undertake maximum trips for the welfare of people. Next year Pathan is planning to start 10 to 15 rickshaw services for people’s welfare.
When AV asked Pathan about his inspiration behind starting this free service he said, “There was no motive behind this. Four years back, I used to drive auto on rent. On Ganesh Chaturthi day, I was carrying a handicap person and he was carrying Ganpati idol. I hesitated to accept money from that person. Since then, I never felt like charging commuters during the period of Ganesh festival, and I adore lord Ganesha.”
“I drive the auto early in the morning. I receive very positive response from commuters and blessings are pouring in for me from Muslim community as well. Even television channels started airing my news I have been receiving calls from Delhi, Chennai and all over Maharashtra. I do not wish to seek assistance from politicians. Corporation elections are approaching and many parties will approach me. However, I don’t want to enter politics” he added.
A devotee who availed the service of Pathan said, “We always take his help for transporting ganpati to our home. We offered him money but he refused to accept it. We offered him tea and snacks but he only drank tea. He has erected a board on his vehicle and has mentioned his mobile number which has become viral on whatsapp. Therefore large number of people is trying to contact him and he has become very popular among everyone. He makes no discrimination among people.”
“People from RSS, Shiv Sena have called to congratulate me. Dattaji Pokde corporator from Kolhapur has felicitated me and Anil Patil a local leader from Kolhapur also appreciated my efforts. By god’s grace I am doing well in life” said Pathan.
“People should not get carried away by those who are spreading hatred over religions. Just offer your service to the people. I would like to request to my counterparts to follow the path of humanity” he added.
Mamata Banerjee said she believes that Subhash Chandra Bose was alive after 1945, becoming the first head of government to publicly indicate the freedom-fighter did not die in the purported air crash in Taiwan. Banerjee’s comments came soon after her government made public 64 classified files related to the freedom fighter who is said to have died on August 18, 1945 at Taihoku in Taiwan in an aeroplane crash. Banerjee said that her belief was based on whatever she has read so far on Bose, who had raised the Indian National Army (INA) for an armed struggle against the British. Basking in the attention of the historic moment, she remarked that after she has done her duty, the Centre should follow the suit.
Anyway, she has done her duty by making those files public; the Union government should also publish all the reports which they have in their possession. By making these files public, the speculations about Bose’s death would reach to some conclusion. The Centre has about 130 files that it has refused to declassify so far, one of the reasons being the revelation may harm India’s relations with other countries. After Independence, the Congress ruled West Bengal continuously till 1967, when the first United Front government came in power. Nowadays, people are digging history to blame Congress for everything. BJP and other governments are hell bent against Gandhi-Nehru family. Allegation on Sonia for looting the country to removing the Robert Vadra from VIP list, cancelling the stamps of Indira-Nehru, entire force is against the one powerful family. Yet, no one had really done much damage to this family. In this entire saga, Bose’s death is one more added episode. Let’s see what will come out from these published files.
Narendra Modi government officials had met kin of Subhash Chandra Bose and promised them to declassify his files but yet they had done nothing in this regard. We Indians deserve to know what actually happened to one of India’s dearest son. People in a democracy have a right to know about Netaji’s untold stories. Even the files lying with the Central Government should be declassified and thrown open for public scrutiny. Announcement by Mamata is heartening indeed for 1.25 billion Indians. This should serve as an eye opener for the government at the Centre. This is a welcome move; however, we should follow up on this. Time and again, governments had partially leaked but after sometime it vanished from public memory. Files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had always been a stinging issue for any government with Congress as a constituent. However, this is also an emotionally as well as sensitive issue because it is related to freedom fighter. PM should also act on his promise given to Netaji’s family and declassify the files which are with the central government. The nation has the right to know what happened to Netaji.
Mamata also announced that the record of the freedom struggle from 1937 to 1947 would be digitized in order to preserve history. Asked whether the files to be declassified can throw any clue about the alleged snooping on Netaji’s nephew by the central government from 1948 to 1968? Recently, some files relating to Bose, declassified by the central government, had revealed that the Ministry of Home Affairs had snooped on at least two of Netaji’s nephews. The files revealed that the Intelligence Bureau had kept the relatives of Netaji under close surveillance between 1948 and 1968 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister. Subsequent to this, family members of Netaji met Narendra Modi and urged him to declassify all Netaji’s files. Modiji remained in headlines for a week; there was debate and talks on Netaji’s files.
Why is Modi Government hesitating in releasing information about Bose? Who are they afraid of? Are they trying to protect Russia as Dr. Subramanian Swamy says? We owe so much to their families. Expressing shock and concern over snooping done on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s family, BJP launched a scathing attack on Congress for the alleged role of its then government and said the opposition party has been snooping in its DNA. BJP also cited examples of snooping on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law and on former Finance Minister when chewing gum was found in his office.
Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths intercepted and copied letters written by the Bose family and even trailed them on foreign tours. Bose’s family reacted to reports with “shock” and said it was a “poor reflection” on the quality of democracy at that time. Congress however debunked such reports about snooping on Netaji’s family by the then government.
The fear that Subhash Chandra Bose may return, and even perhaps, Sardar Vallabhai Patel was stronger than Nehru. So he used the Russians to see to it that there is no challenge to his PM’s chair. And the Russians wanted only Nehru to be the head of India. The same continued even when Lal Bahadur Shastri was the PM and the Russians wanted Indira Gandhi to be the PM.
Some also claim that, Netaji did not die in the Taihoku plane crash. In fact, he escaped to Soviet Union, in the hope of restarting the freedom movement with the help of Russians. But Stalin betrayed him, and imprisoned him in Yakutsk (Siberia) concentration camp (Gulag). He was tortured there, but was alive till 1958. This whole fact was known to Nehru and his cohorts. Basically, Nehru insisted on Stalin that Soviet Union should not free Netaji. This is because if Netaji returned to India, Nehru will lose his prime ministership, due to the former’s popularity. Moreover, Nehru knew that the British gave freedom to India, not because of non-violent movements of Gandhi and Nehru, but because of the violent insurrections that occurred in the British Indian army and navy, in support of INA (Indian National Army). That is why, the Congress government, after independence, created propaganda, mainly by writing history books for students, that it was Gandhi and Nehru who delivered us freedom from the British rule.
Netaji’s family has their own version to believe. Netaji reportedly died of injuries sustained in a plane crash in the Japanese-occupied Formosa (Taiwan) in August 1945. However, many have refused to accept the theory. In fact, Bose was not honoured with the Bharat Ratna because of this controversy. The family also pointed to the report of the Justice M.K. Mukherjee Commission — constituted by the previous National Democratic Alliance government to probe Netaji’s disappearance — that said the Centre did not give the permission to commission vital documents, thus hampering the inquiry. Now, files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the State government’s custody will be put in the public domain. Let’s see what would be revealed in these files further or these documents will put full stop to all speculations regarding the death of Bose.
The Maharashtra government on Friday transferred the high-profile Sheena Bora murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The decision came even as former Mumbai Police commissioner Rakesh Maria was transferred and will not be probing the case, said state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) KP Bakshi.
Maria was probing the case and was promoted earlier in September with the government calling it a routine matter which should not be linked to the Sheena Bora murder case. Bakshi said the case is being transferred so that there is an impartial and complete probe, and guilty must be punished.
“We want to send a message to the people that we have no intention of interfering with any investigation. Therefore, this decision has been taken,” said Bakshi.
“Formalities have been completed. We have contacted the Central Government officials. The decision of the Centre will be accepted by the state,” Bakshi said.
Bakshi added that the Sheena case was not just a murder case and money issue is also involved in it.
Ahmed Javed is the new Mumbai Police Commissioner but he isn’t interested in supervising the probe in the case, said Bakshi.
Notably, the Bakshi further added that present Mumbai Police Commissioner Ahmed Javed is not interested in supervising the Sheena murder probe.
The announcement has come days after speculations were ripe that the transfer of the Rakesh Maria was done in the backdrop of the Sheena murder case.
However, the Maharashtra government had later clarified that Rakesh Maria would be heading the said probe.
But the confusion over the “supervisory” role assigned to former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria in the Sheena Bora murder case had refused to douse.
Maria was transferred from the post of Mumbai Police Commissioner on September 8 and promoted as the DG (Home Guards). Ahmad Javed, a DG-rank officer, was brought in his place, fuelling speculation that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was unhappy over Maria’s handling of the murder case.
Indrani Mukerjea, wife of media baron Peter Mukerjea, was arrested by Khar Police on August 25 over her alleged role in the murder of Sheena Bora, her daughter from an earlier marriage, in 2012.
Sheena, 24, was allegedly kidnapped from outside National College in the western suburbs. She had come to Mumbai from Assam in 1990s along with Indrani and completed a BA in Economics from St Xavier’s College.
According to police, in 2011, Sheena got a job with Reliance Mumbai Metro, but suddenly stopped coming to duty. The same year, her Facebook account was deactivated.
In a possible breakthrough in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) row, students of the institute have written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and have agreed to a dialogue.
The FTII students replied after the I&B ministry wrote to the students seeking an amicable solution to the issue.
This comes days after a three-member team constituted by the ministry to review the standoff at FTII had submitted its report to the government.
The team, headed by Registrar of newspapers SM Khan had held talks with students, faculty and other stakeholders at the premier film institute.
“We had very good discussions with all the stakeholders staff, faculty, students and the alumni and we could understand the issues involved. All are satisfied with the discussions and we will submit our report to the I&B ministry very soon,” Khan had said after the talks but remained non-committal on whether Chauhan would be removed, saying the details cannot be disclosed.
A representative of the FTII Students’ Association (FSA) also described the talks as “very fruitful and much awaited discussion”.
The students have been on strike, boycotting classes and other academic activity since June 12 to demand removal of Chauhan, claiming he lacked “credentials, vision and academic excellence” to head the premier institution.
The campus unrest reached a flashpoint when police swooped down on the campus and arrested five students for vandalising the premises and confining FTII director Prashant Pathrabe to his chamber.
The arrests had triggered outrage and several top politicians including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal condemned it, prompting the Centre to despatch the team headed by Khan to Pune.
Maharashtra Police has detained two more persons from neighbouring Karnataka who are closely related to Sanatan Sanshta activist Samir Gaikwad, arrested in connection with the murder of veteran Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare.
The detention was made from Sankheshwar area, where Gaikwad received his preliminary education, of Belgaum district in Karnataka.
The duo–Sushil Jadhav and Shridhar Jadhav– were subsequently taken to Sangli in Maharashtra, where they were interrogated in the presence of Gaikwad, a senior police official from Kolhapur, requesting anonymity said.
Interrogation of both the detainees, who are Gaikwad’s maternal cousins, is still on and both have not been given a clean chit yet, he said.
They are also s said to be associated with the right wing outfit Sanatan Sansthan.
Both the brothers were picked up by the investigating team on the basis of Gaikwad’s call data records (CDR). The Special Investigation Team (SIT) was keeping a close watch over the call details of Gaikwad and his frequent contacts whom he used to make calls very often, the official said.
The voice samples of both the brothers have also been taken and have been sent to a laboratory in Gujarat for multi-layered sound clearance, he said.
Before interrogating Gaikwad’s cousins, police also questioned Gaikwad’s mother Shanta, his brothers Sachin Gaikwad and Sandeep Gaikwad and let them off.
After the arrest of Gaikwad from Sangli, Maharashtra Police had recovered a laptop, 23 mobile handsets, 50 sim cards from his possession. The probe team is still scanning his call data records (CDR).
They also interrogated a woman–Jyoti Kamble– who was picked up from Kanjurmarg in Mumbai and is exploring her link with these two brothers, the police official said.
He said more detentions are likely in the coming days based on Gaikwad’s call records.
Gaikwad, an active member of ‘Sanatan Sansthan’ since 1998, was arrested after police went through his “innumerable” phone call records and leads obtained through electronic surveillance by the SIT, set up to track down Pansare’s killers.
He was produced in a court at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra which remanded him in police custody till September 23.
Pansare (81) was gunned down outside his home in Sagar Mala locality of Kolhapur city on February 16 and succumbed to his injuries on February 20 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.
The senior CPI leader was a prominent social activist in Maharashtra and worked for the welfare of the poor and suppressed. He was also at the forefront of the toll agitation in Kolhapur.
Meanwhile, Virendra Marathe, managing trustee of Sanatan Sanstha, told that his trust will provide all necessary help including legal aid to free Gaikwad, claiming that he is innocent and police has falsely booked him in the case.
Airport operator Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has agreed to provide Rs. 777 crore to Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) as its contribution in constructing three stations of the Colaba-Seepz-Bandra underground metro.
“A memorandum of understanding has been signed between MMRC and MIAL for participation and contribution of Rs 777 crore by the latter, towards construction and operation of stations at Sahar Road, domestic and international airports on metro-3 corridor,” a statement issued by the implementing agency MMRDA said.
The Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro, which will provide connectivity to major hot spots of the city, including international airport, will pass through Sahar road, domestic airport and terminal T2 international airport, it said.
“Airport Authority of India (AAI), through MIAL, will also provide required land for construction to MMRC and co-ordinate activities during the construction and operation of metro stations,” MMRDA said.
A 22-year-old youth from Vehloli village in Shahapur taluka allegedly killed his drunken father on Ganesh Chaturthi day, a police official said.
Police inspector Pravin Kolhe of the Khinavali police station under Shahapur told that the victim Namdeo Mukne, (50) used to come home frequently drunk.
His son Santosh (22) was annoyed with his father’s drunken behaviour and wanted to end the problem, the police official said.
On Thursday afternoon at about 3.30 pm when his father came home heavily drunk and quarrelled with family members, his son allegedly picked up a grinding stone and hit his father with it, after which he died on the spot, the police official said, adding that his body has been sent for postmortem.
An offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and a hunt is on for the accused who is still at large, the police official said.
In order to check incidents of LPG cylinder blasts, which pose a threat to lives and property, LPG provider companies here have planned a series of awareness camps and workshops to apprise residents with precautions and safety measures in cylinder use.
R K Tiwary, Chief Regional Manager of Mumbai LPG Regional Office of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), said, “In Mumbai city, half of the population lives in slums and there is less alertness in safe handling and storage of gas cylinders. Hence, we chose this city to start a awareness campaign.
“Our focus area would be chawls and slums. Apart from explaining the methods of safe handling, we would also show them video clips. This would serve two purposes. First, they would come to know how to handle LPG gas and second, they would learn how to stop its extraneous use in order to conserve energy,” he said.
Tiwary said orders have been issued, not only by the HPCL authorities but also by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), to all its LPG cylinder distributors to hold at least one meeting of the safety clinic with the customers in one month.
Currently, the BPCL has 72 LPG distributors, while HPCL has 58 distributors in the city, and all of them have been asked to conduct at least one round of the safety clinic till Diwali this year, he further said.
Describing the key areas of awareness, Tiwary said, “We would explain various aspects, such as what should be the ideal place of storage of an LPG gas cylinder, what precautions to take before the cylinder is connected to a stove, while using the cylinder and when the cylinder is not in use.”
Director Madhur Bhandarkar, who reportedly had fallen out with actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 2011, over his film Heroine, says that things are normal between them now and he is open to working with her. 
Actress Julia Roberts said that she is a genuinely happy person, and credits her husband Danny Moder for her success.
Setting example of Hindu-Muslim unity Arif Rashid Pathan a Muslim auto driver has taken the responsibility of transporting Ganpati idols from shop to devotee’s houses free of cost. Pathan also helps them to transport the idol for immersion. He provides free service to people for the entire day. Pathan has been providing this service free of cost since last four years.
The Maharashtra government on Friday transferred the high-profile Sheena Bora murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The decision came even as former Mumbai Police commissioner Rakesh Maria was transferred and will not be probing the case, said state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) KP Bakshi.
In a possible breakthrough in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) row, students of the institute have written to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and have agreed to a dialogue.
Maharashtra Police has detained two more persons from neighbouring Karnataka who are closely related to Sanatan Sanshta activist Samir Gaikwad, arrested in connection with the murder of veteran Communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare.