The usually quiet Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is stirring up many new controversies these days. He ahs started blogging recently. in one of his recent blogs Aamir talks about his dog which is named Shah Rukh Khan. Aamir defends himself saying the dog came with the house he brought. The house owner named the dog Shah Rukh since apparently the the actors shot for an ad in the same house.

What i don’t understand is how can Aamir be so downright rude and insulting? Shah Rukh has never commented ever on Aamir’s films or life. What does Aamir want to prove? Just because Shah Rukh doesn’t make serious/hard hitting movies like Aamir that doesn’t mean he is not a good actor.

And Aamir hasn’t just stopped making comments on Shah Rukh. Recently he has composed a song targeting Salman Khan. The song talks about Salman’s love for fast bikes, watches and women. SO what’s the big deal? They are Salman’s personal interests and Aamir has not right to comment on them.

What scruples does Aamir have? He divorced his wife and married his long-time girlfriend, who he started seeing when he was already married. Aamir should bow a step down and reduce his arrogance.

it is unfortunate that some ministers in maharashtra are saying bar dancers are better than the IPL cheerleaders. i fail to get what’s their problem. at the rate we are going they will have problem with us even eating and breathing!

their dresses are not vulgar but yes they are american style. these girls are just doing their duty of entertaining people in the stadium. as long as people are happy with them then what is the problem?

i am just sick of this moral policing. for each and every thing the ministers have a standard excuse ‘it is against our indian culture’. they show such double standards. many of these ministers openly patronize bars and brothels. but no one cares a hoot about it and yet they come and meddle their noses in unwarranted affairs.

if not anything it is just going to turn off foreigners from visiting our country thanks to the numerous restrictions and rules.

IPL or the Indian Premier League kicked off yesterday in a grand fashion at Bangalore yesterday. the new Twenty-Twenty format is aimed at attracting more viewers and more money. lets look at some of the pros and cons of such a format

pros:

1. several cities of india will compete with each other for the ultimate crown. inclusion of international players like ricky pointing, shane warne is a major plus point.

2. many young domestic players will get a chance to impress the selectors who may make them a part of the regular international squad

3. its short and sweet. in flat 90 minutes (each side) one will definitely have a result in hand!

4. cheerleaders, filmstars dancing is good in wooing crowds. so its entertainment plus good cricketing skills on display

now lets look at some of the con’s

1. Money is an important factors. many players have signed up for this format to earn quick bucks. as england bowler kevin pietersen was quoted somewhere in the media as saying the money from such formats was enough to ensure funding for his children’s education in the latter part of life

2. india is a cricket crazy nation. we have several sponsors who have come forward and supported this initiative. but apart from a few like kingfisher who already supports tennis, will the others sponsor other sports like tennis, hockey, squash in this country?

3. wouldn’t it be nice to have such a knock out format even in football in our country? similar events already exist like the santosh trophy, but they could be done on a larger scale.

4. player burnout is a major concern. already the international cricket calendar is filled with numerous events. add to it if ipl becomes a yearly event, then players will not get adequate rest and in case of injuries will not get enough time to recover

5. and finally its great to see so much money being spent for the opening ceremony like laser show, acrobats, cheerleaders, etc. but the same money can be used to upgrade existing infrastructure in the country like football stadiums, badminton courts, coaches, etc.

6. ‘doctored or tailor-made pitches’: Just yesterday in the match between Kolkotta Knight Riders and Deccan Chargers of Hyderbad the pitch was really horrible. it had so much bounce that very third player got hurt. and then the drama of a ‘power failure’. play was disrupted for half an hour thus disrupting the concentration of the players.

Deccan Chargers at that moment had a very good chance to win the game. I don’t understand why did the home team create a pitch suitable to their requirements. Can’t you play a game on a fair pitch? Is it asking for too much? By cheating and using such unfair means they can’t continue to win for long

What say guys?

Couple of weeks back I saw the Hindi movie Jodhaa Akbar. Directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar the movie talks about the romance between King Akbar a Muslim and his Hindu wife Jodha.

Many communities in India especially the Rajputs had objection to certain facts in the movie. Several controversies exist over the origins of Jodhaa and her being the wife of Akbar. Many religious groups in the country felt that the movie hurt their sentiments and called for a ‘ban’ on the movie.

 When the ban was not enforced, they resorted to physical violence. Theatres and halls screening the movie were vandalised, people were not allowed to see the movie. Thus in this process many harmless people got injured. Finally the Uttar Pradesh and couple of more states banned the movie.

I fail to understand why do people in our country have to resort to physical violence at the smallest of things? Its not the first time that certain people have had objections to a movie. Few years back when Deepa Mehta released her film ‘Fire’, it had to stop screening in theatres across Mumbai. The Shiv Sena termed that the film was against ‘Indian culture’ since it dealt with lesbianism.

If people have opposition to a movie, book they are free to voice their opinions in a peaceful manner. Our country is a democracy wherein everybody has a right to freedom of expression. Resorting to violence is not the solution. Such incidents only harm the reputation of our country.

 Because of the ban many film lovers have been denied an opportunity to see the movie. Hence, many of them will now rent out a pirated CD or DVD of the movie and catch it at home. Ultimately it is also the film producer’s loss.

Wonder when some people in our country will change?

Here is some humour to liven up your day. Got this funny thing in my mailbox through one of my friends. Enjoy!

1) There would be 10 times as many people on the ship

2) There would be a song with Kate Winslet in a white saree and of course singing in the rain

3) The movie would be called “Pyar Kiya To Marna Kya”

4) Hero and Heroine would float in cold water for days and still survive, but the villian would die on the first dip

5) The iceberg would be sent by the heroine’s father to teach the hero a lesson

6) None of the women would float due to heavy designer sarees.

And last but not least

7) Half of the rescue boats would be reserved for SC/ST/OBC

Yesterday i saw along with my family and cousin sister the movie TaareZameen Par. the film had earlier got earlier got excellent reviews in the media for its treatment of a delicate subject. I wasn’t in any mood to c the movie, since i just had a fight with one of my loved ones.

Yet hats off to Aamir Khan the director and actor of the movie. He has so beautifully dealt with the subject of dyslexia in kids. It is very true as depicted in the film today’s parents are pushing the kids towards the rat race. is coming first in the class more important than your kid’s happiness and satisfaction?

In the film the lead character a young boy has failed in the 3rd standard and is repeating the class. he has a problem expressing through words and cannot understand multiple instructions. he expresses himself through beautiful paintings which depict is thoughts. unfortunately his parents don’t understand his problems and forcibly send him to a boarding school. in the boarding the young boy improves slowly with the help of his art teacher played by Aamir Khan.

The film is excellent because it shows that children affected by dyslexia are not ‘mentally retarded’. they are intelligent in many other ways. the film was so touching, during many parts of the movie i had tears swelled up in my eyes.

i think there wasn’t a single person in the move theater who did not shed tears. i would recommend everyone to watch this movie without fail and hopefully parents will not succumb to the rat race in the future. instead they should encourage the hidden talents in their kids.

As the movie tag line says ‘every child is special.’

The pic was taken at Tirupathi after Ash and Abhi’s marriage. It is unfair that the Bacchans used their star power and chose not too stand in the line of devotees at the temple. Instead they got VIP treatment which is unfair and infuriated many of the devotees prompting an inquiry into the incident

Earlier this year Bollywood’s top stars Abhishek Bacchan and Aishwarya Rai got married. When they were getting married, top daily newspapers here in India were agog with stories about the wedding preparations, guest list. And mind you, all these stories were featured with photographs on the front pages of a national daily.

but give me a break. India is soon getting accustomed to the ‘paparazzi’ culture. But don’t newspapers and tv channels have better things to do. who cares from where Aishwarya’s mehendi came or what dress she wore. there are so many other serious things happening in the country like naxal killings, people dying of poverty. the obscene amount of money spent on the wedding could be used for more noble causes like charity or uplifting the poor in the country.

Why am I being shoved with images and news which I’m not interested in seeing? as someone rightly put it with the exception of Animal Planet and National Geographic channels, the rest jumped on to the bandwagon.

Recently Abhishek Bacchan’s grandmother Teji expired after a suffering from an illness. Again the media went overboard in its coverage of her funeral. Suddenly Teji was hailed as a modern woman, who sacrificed her luxuries and chose to marry a lesser affluent person.

Newspapers like the major dailies at least in Mumbai had profile of Teji Baachan. The front page photo in many dailies was Abhishek consoling Aishwarya at the funeral with captions like ‘Kuch Naa Kaho.’ As Mr P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor with the Hindu Newspaper and Magsasay Award Winner sys, “no one is bothered about the funeral of a poor farmer in Vidarbha who was deep in debts. His family did not even have the money to gather money to cremate him. And on the other hand you have the Late. Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani whose body was kept in an expensive sandalwood coffin.” Sandalwood is very expensive and found in minor quantities in our country.

So, my point is there are many other pressing issues in the country which deserve space on pg 1, rather than carrying some stupid entertainment news.

Last year the whole of India with Richard Gere-Shilpa shetty kiss incident. for people who are new to this incident, let me give you a brief background. Richard Gere is the Hollywood heartthrob and Shilpa Shetty’s claim to fame is the ‘Big Brother’ contest she won amidst racial discrimination in the show.
Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty, whose claim to fame is the recently concluded big brother reality show appeared at an AIDS charity event together. suddenly Gere planted an impromptu kiss on Shilpa’s cheek and swooped hr down in his arms. this picture was splashed across all the major national dailies on their front page. conservative political outfits kicked up a storm in protest of the kiss. they even burnt effigies of Gere and Shetty.

My question is why do some politician’s have to fuss about such a small issue? We are the land of ‘Kamasutra’! out ancient texts have prescribed various sexual aspects. don’t we have better things to do! if today they are protesting against an impromptu kiss, then tomorrow they will ban films or plays only because they have a kiss!

how long can we be held ransom to some stupid politicians. if u don’t want to see this kiss, then close your eyes! nobody is forcing you to see it! why do your need to protest and make a huge fuss! there are other serious things to do for politicians! why don’t they do something for farmer suicides or reducing poverty. Live and let live.