Pakistan squad named for New Zealand tour

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the national squad for the tour of New Zealand here on Tuesday.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have been retained as captains for Test and Twenty20 teams, respectively.

T20 squad includes Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Fawad Alam, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Tanveer Ahmed, Sohail Tanveer and Wahab Riaz.

The PCB has said that Wahab Riaz’s includion in the team depends on his fitness.

Test squad will comprise of Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Tanveer Ahmed, Sohail Tanveer and Wahab Riaz.

Sohail Tanveer has made comeback in the national team while Mohammad Yousuf and Imran Farhat have been dropped.

Leaks’ cables put US envoys worldwide on horns

NEW YORK: Release of thousands of diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks has bothered the US diplomats worldwide as friends and foes of the United States turned on WikiLeaks over its release, with some saying the revelations undermined diplomacy, while others dismissed them as worthless.

Pakistan said it considered the “extremely negative reports” carried on Pakistan-Saudi relations attributed to WikiLeaks as “misleading and contrary to facts”.

“It is quite evident that these mischievous reports reveal the utter inadequacy of the author to grasp the essence of the Pakistan-Saudi relationship,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit responded to the WikiLeaks documents that revealed on Sunday.

He said the U.S had alerted Pakistan to the unauthorized leaks. “Since these leaks are in the public domain, we would obviously look at these closely with a view to ensuring that Pakistan’s national interest is not compromised in any manner.

“This will weaken diplomacy around the world. It will weaken diplomacy in general, but first and foremost American diplomacy,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said as the mass release of documents continued. “I see this rather as something that is making the world less safe,” he said.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, mentioned in much of the diplomatic discussion revealed by the WikiLeaks website, dismissed the documents as “worthless mischief”.

Close US allies Britain, France and Germany brushed aside disparaging personal remarks about their leaders contained in the cables. France however condemned the leaks as “irresponsible” and “an attack on states’ sovereignty.”

Britain slammed the release as damaging to national security, but said it would continue to work closely with Washington.

And German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters: “A few gossipy comments about European politicians are not exactly welcome but they are not really important. “But in other cases, people’s lives could be put at risk.”

Israel, which has long waged a diplomatic war on Tehran, said the cables vindicated its concerns about a nuclear Iran that were shared across the Arab world. The documents showed that Saudi Arabia had repeatedly urged a US military strike to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “The Arab countries are pushing the United States towards military action more forcefully than Israel,” said an Israeli official. But Ahmadinejad told a press conference broadcast live on state television that “the documents that they released are a mischief. We do not see any value in them.”

In Saudi Arabia, foreign ministry spokesman Osama Nugali told that “these documents do not concern the kingdom… Nor is it aware of their authenticity. Therefore Saudi Arabia cannot comment on them.”

Russia also played down being called “a virtual mafia state” where all the decision-making is done by “alpha dog” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and not President Dmitry Medvedev, described as “Robin to Putin’s Batman.” “Our own diplomats are sometimes just as open in their own private messages to each other,” a Kremlin official told the Kommersant business daily. But some observers directed their criticism at the US 

Aamir decided to edit his new film Delhi Belly

On February 8 this year, Mumbai Mirror reported that Ramesh Deo's son Abhinav's directorial debut  Delhi Belly, produced by Aamir Khan Productions, is not going to see the light of day till October 2010 because Aamir and Abhinav were having too many creative differences with each other over the film. 

And sure enough, Delhi Belly has still not hit the theatres. 

But Aamir has now taken it upon himself to finish the pending work. The latest on the film is that Aamir is now editing the film all by himself. Visit his Khar office and you will see the actor, wth a bandana wrapped around his head, pacing up and down, while taking breaks from editing the film. And apparently, Aamir has decided to finish the edit singlehandedly. 

Says a source close to the film, "Abhinav will be brought into the picture but only after Aamir completes the entire editing. Abhinav will then be asked for his inputs. Alternatively, if Abhinav chooses to re-edit the film, he will be allowed to do so at that stage." 

Of course, whether or not Abhinav will use his expertise to re-edit the film after Aamir has worked on it is a decision we leave entirely to him. Unfortunately, both Abhinav and Aamir remained unavailable for comment. 

Looking back, this is not the first time that Aamir has a view on a film that its director is opposed to. Amol Gupte's differences with him during the making of Taare Zameen Par are well-known. 

Adds the source, "Almost everyone associated with Delhi Belly is certain that there is nobody better than Aamir to edit this film. 

A little-known fact is that Aamir sat through the edit of Lagaan and Rang De Basanti too; however, in these cases Ashutosh Gowariker and Rakeysh Mehra were present with him." Abhinav will not have that priviledge however. He's pretty 'cut' up. 

one more messege from zulqarnain

zulqarnain haider gives 2 more messages on facebook
1st one is

Zulqarnain Haider sab se guzarish hai ke dua karain go mulk ko beach raha hai ya mulk ko bechne ke pese le rahe hain allah un ko gharak kare inshallah kare ga

2nd one is

Zulqarnain Haider allah kare gis ne mulk ko becha ho us main chahe main huin ya koi or allah us ko gharak kare sab se guzarish hai go be is kamuin main ho allah un ko gharrak kare.

Lets see what he has to show the PAKISTAN about match fixing and about those peoples who are selling our country :
for image : click here

Bomb kills Iranian nuclear scientist

TEHRAN, Iran – Assailants on motorcycles attached bombs to the cars of two nuclear scientists as they were driving to work in Tehran Monday, killing one and seriously wounding the other, state television reported.

The report did not say whether the two university teachers were directly involved in the country's highly controversial nuclear program.

State TV swiftly blamed Israel for the attacks. At least two other Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed in recent years in what Iran has alleged is part of a covert attempt by the West to damage its nuclear program. One of those two was killed in an attack similar to those on Monday.

The nuclear program is at the center of a bitter row between Iran on one side and the U.S. and its allies on the other. A number of world powers suspect Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons, an allegation the government denies. Tehran's refusal to limit some of its nuclear activities has brought on multiple rounds of U.N. sanctions against the country.

The assailants, who escaped, drove by their targets on motorcycles and attached the bombs as the cars were moving. They exploded shortly thereafter, the state TV report said.

The man killed Monday was identified as Majid Shahriari, a member of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. His wife, who was in the car with him, was wounded.

A second, separate attack in the capital Tehran seriously wounded nuclear physicist Fereidoun Abbasi. His wife was also in the car with him, and she was also wounded.

A pro-government website, mashreghnews.ir, said Abbasi held a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and was a laser expert at Iran's Defense Ministry and one of few top Iranian specialists in nuclear isotope separation.

The site said Abbasi has long been a member of the Revolutionary Guard, the country's most powerful military force. It said he was also a lecturer at Imam Hossein University, affiliated to the Guard.

Some Iranian media reported that Abbasi died after he was transferred to hospital. But Iran's official IRNAnews agency said he was in stable condition in the hospital.

The attacks bore close similarities to another in January that killed Tehran University professor Masoud Ali Mohammadi, a senior physics professor. He was killed when a bomb-rigged motorcycle exploded near his car as he was about to leave for work.

In 2007, state TV reported that nuclear scientist, Ardeshir Hosseinpour, died from gas poisoning. A one-week delay in the reporting of his death prompted speculation about the cause, including that Israel's Mossad spyagency was to blame.

Zulqarnain decided to reveal match fixing secret

Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has said that he would reveal secrets regarding match-fixing and spot-fixing allegations within five or six days, Geo News reported.

He said that he would expose those talking against him in the next five or six days and reveal who has taken money and from whom.

According to sources, he wrote this on his facebook account.

Meanwhile, the family of Zulqarnain has received threats of serious consequences on telephone.

Zulqarnain’s brother, Aqeel Haider told Geo News that an unknown person who called to Zulqarnain’s wife was saying that he was calling from Greece. He was speaking Urdu in clear tone..

After all the controversies had haunted Zulqarnain, his lawyer advised him not to talk to media but despite that, he left above-discussed message on his facebook account.

It may be mentioned that Zulqarnain went missing during Pak-SA series in UAE on grounds of life-threats and later he contacted media persons after arriving in UK.

England Fightback Proves Australia No Longer Hold The Ashes Fear Factor

If there were any doubts about England's new mental strength, particularly when playing Australia, then day four at the Gabba should have gone a long way to eliminating those doubts.

After an under-par score in their first innings, England then had to watch Australia acquire a 221-run first innings lead after Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin batted dreamily together to make England pay.

The old England script would then have read: Bat again, lose the plot, lose the Test match.

But under Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, this is a new England attitude and it showed on day four as the Hussey and Haddin show was replicated by Srauss himself and Alastair Cook as they both his brilliant hundreds to drag England out of the mire.

Would Andrew Flintoff's side have managed that in 2006? Or Nasser Hussain's in 2002?

No chance. In fact, no England side since the succesful Mike Gatting led tour of 1986-87 would have been able to perform so well to not only salvage a possible draw but also to set up the opportunity for an unlikely win.

That is still a long way off yet but England have emphatically proved they will go toe-to-toe with Australia and the reason for that is the lack of mental scars in the England squad.
Former teams touring Down Under were full of players who had been battered by Australia in the past. Verbally abused and outclassed while on the pitch and barracked constantly by Australia's supporters when off it, England had come to dread the four-yearly trip to play the Ashes away from home.

But those days are now gone. From the disastrous 2006-07 tour, only six of England's starting XI at the Gabba played in that series and all of those players were involved when England regained the Ashes last summer at The Oval.

They see Australia as a team to beat and not as supermen like some of their predecessors have done in recent times and that approach undoubtedly helped when the pressure was turned up to maximum on day four.

Strauss said: "It was important that we got back in the Test match. We struggled hard on days two and three and everything didn't go our way so we had to come had to come back strong today and we have done that.

"We have shown that we mean business and we are not just here to make up the numbers. We want to win this series and if we want to do that then we have to play consistently."


England teams of old would have laid down for Ponting the moment Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath ran in to bowl but not any more.

Last year in the first Test at Cardiff, England's last-wicket stand of Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar helped salvage a draw and the confidence boost it gave was widely credited after the series as being crucial to England's subsequent success.

And if England can leave the Gabba with a similar result, after an equally looking hopeless situation, the in seven weeks time, England fans may well look to this Brisbane encounter as a crucial turning point and a crucial indicator that England meant business.

Imran Khan Is Not Afraid Of Being Typecast

Imran Khan is the current lover boy of Bollywood. Yesterday, his rom-com BREAK KE BAAD, opposite Deepika Padukone released. His previous release was I HATE LUV STORYS, another romantic comedy, starring Sonam Kapoor. Imran is also going to romance Kareena Kapoor in SHORT TERM SHAADI.

So is Imran afraid of being typecast as a lover boy?

No. On the contrary Imran is least bothered. He says, "I don't care if I am typecast. It doesn't matter to me till I keep doing good films. If my work is good, I will be appreciated irrespective of the kind or genre of the film and role."

The charming young actor is quick to highlight that he is also doing DELHI BELLY, an offbeat film.

Imran has worked in KIDNAP and LUCK, which weren’t rom-coms. But these two films failed miserably. One can only wait and watch to see if Imran can prove himself in genres besides romantic comedies.

Shahrukh Khan biography

Date of Birth

2 November 1965, New Delhi, India 

Nickname

King Khan
SRK
The Badshah of Bollywood
The Tom Cruise of India
Shahrukh
The King Of Romance
The King of Bollywood

Mini Biography

Shahrukh Khan was born on 2nd November 1965. He was brought up in Delhi. He has a sister named Shehnaaz, Wife Gauri Khan, And a dog Named Chewbacca. Shah Rukh Khan has won several awards for his outstanding performance in Darr(1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Right now he is the top most actor in the India. His recent hit Baadshah (1999) has also earned many praises. His latest hits are Chak De India!(2007), and Om Shanti Om (2007).

Trade Mark

His Dimples

His Smile

Trivia

Studied in St. Columba's school, New Delhi, where he was awarded the 'Sword of Honor', essentially the award for best student.

Although his birth name is spelled Shahrukh, he prefers and signs his name as Shah Rukh.

Hindi megastar

Number one Indian star actor in the 1990s, but is now (2000) seriously challenged by the new wonder boy 

Hrithik Roshanwho has become the number one phenomenon in India at the start of the new millenium.

Father of Aryan Khan and Suhana Khan.

2 children with Gauri, Aryan and Suhana

He agreed to star in Aditya Chopra's films without looking at the script first.

One of the four Khans that ruled Bollywood in the 1990s till now (2000's). The other three are Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khanand Aamir Khan.

Formed a popular screen couple with Kajol and Juhi Chawla.

Runs a production company "Dreamz Unlimited" with actress, friend, co-star Juhi Chawla and director, friend Aziz Mirza.

Married to Gauri Khan

Named one of Time Magazine's 20 Asian Heroes under 40 (2004)

His son, Aryan Khan, portrayed SRK as an infant in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001).

Son, Aryan Khan, voice of Tez Lajawaab (Dash), character for Hindi dubbed version of Disney's animated film, The Incredibles (Hum Hain Lajawaab).

Shah Rukh and his wife, Gauri Khan, own the production company "Red Chilies Entertainments", which Shah Rukh started for friend and colleague, director/choreographer Farah Khan, for her debut directorial film - Main Hoon Na (2004).

Purchased a villa on a man made island on the coast of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

#74 on E!'s 101 Hottest Celebrity Bodies Countdown (aired January 2006)

Was not very good at Hindi in school, until his mother promised to take him to the cinema if he passed. As he loved films,he got top marks from then on.

His father ran a transport company and his mother was a magistrate.

Gets along very well with former co-stars Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta.

Loves computer games, video games and hi-tech gadgets.

His first name "Shahrukh" means "face of the king".

Resides in a mansion called Mannat in Mumbai, India.

Being a Muslim man married to a Hindu woman, he and his wife combine both religious backgrounds into their children's education.

His parents died before he entered movies. Shahrukh considers it a big regret that they couldn't see what their son was to become.

Has a mannequin of himself in Madam Tussaud's Museum in England. Along with Amitabh Bachchan , Salman Khan andAishwarya Rai.

He has a dog called Chewbacca.

He has an elder sister named Shehnaz Lalarukh.

Father is Meer Mohammad Taj Khan, mother is Lateef Fatima Khan.

Fond of BMW cars and owns a number of them including the latest models.

His favorite drink is Pepsi Cola.

Best friends with Sanjay Dutt, Aamir Khan, Vivek Vaswani, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Hrithik Roshan and his wife Sussane Khan Roshan, Vivek Oberoi, Juhi Chawla and her husband Jai Metha, Rani Mukherjee, Karan Johar, Sajid Khan, Jackie Shroff,Anil Kapoor, Farah Khan, Kajol, Malaika Arora , Chunky Pandey and his wife and Mushtaq Sheikh.

Younger brother of Shehnaz Lalarukh.

His favorite food is Tandoori Chicken and Chicken Thikka.

Suffers from back, knee and neck problems.

Firmly insists and had promised himself that he would never kiss on the lips of any of his female co-stars after he had done the movie Maya Memsaab.

Launched Deepika Padukone's career in Bollywood.

His Father Meer Mohammed Taj Khan died of Cancer in 1981 and his Mother Lateef Fatima Khan died of complications in Diabetes in 1991.

He has been awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Literature) award by the French government for his Exceptional Career.

Launched his perfume "SK" with the French perfumers and Jeannes Arthes.

The reason why Khan took up Mass Communications (film making) is because he loved Television commercials.

Had Graduated from Hansraj College, Delhi University and followed it up with a Masters Degree in Mass Communications (Film making) from Jamiya Milia Islamiya University, in New Delhi, but after a year Shah Rukh opted out as he had to make his acting career in Bollywood.

He had captained all teams in football, cricket and hockey and even played cricket at Zone and National level.

At school he was an ace in Hi

ndi, Electronics and Biology but wasn't good at all in Mathematics.

His debut film was Dil Aashna Hai but due to the delay in the release of the film Deewana was considered as his debut film.

His acting career in Bollywood was launched by his friend Vivek Vaswani and Hema Malini.

Is very scared of riding horses.

Was not at all interested to act in Bollywood films but then he had decided to act in films to secure his families future and earn a lot of money.

Knew Manoj Bajpai as they both studied acting in the same theatre group with Barry John.

For a short span of time Shahrukh ran a restaurant in Dariya Ganj in New Delhi, India.

SRK joined Barry John's theatre group in New Delhi and learned acting from him, Barry John also taught acting to Manoj Bajpai in his theatre group.

Owns three Production Houses in India, Dreamz Unlimited, Red Chillies Entertainment and Red Chillies Idiot Box. Red Chillies Idiot Box Production house will start producing Television Serials in India.

Has started producing Television Serials in India.

Turned down the Quiz Master's (Prem Kapoor) role in Slumdog Millionaire and the role went to Anil Kapoor.

Owns a VFX company, Red Chillies VFX.

Personal Quotes

(December 2001, about Hrithik Roshan): I wish I looked as good as he does. And I wish I danced as well as he does!

Yes, I do have a close circle of friends and I am very fortunate to have them as friends. I feel very close to them I think friends are everything in life after your family. You come across lots of people all the time but you only make very few friends and you have to be true to them otherwise what's the point in life?

I'd rather sink trying to be different, than stay afloat like everyone else

I cannot repay my fans for what they have done for me, they have given me so much love and that love has taken me to the number 1 position where I am today, the only thing I can do for my fans is to never stop working, and to do films till the very end, it is the only way I can express my love for them.

To me, Devdas is the end of love stories. I've portrayed an obsessed lover, a nice lover, an angry lover, a romantic lover. And now I've played Devdas. For someone who doesn't even like love stories, I've played an awful lot of lovers. Personally speaking, I wouldn't see any of the romantic films I've acted in.

I'm the luckiest man in the world and I don't want to hide from the faces I'm acting for. So I don't surround myself with guards, I've never given an interview in which I've said I feel bad that I can't go shopping or I can't go to Chowpatty and eat bhelpuri without being mobbed. I'm not the kind of guy who goes out wearing dark glasses (I don't think I'm a big enough star to hide behind them, honest). I go to see movies in the cinema theatres, I go to restaurants with my family and friends even though I know people are going to disturb me there.

God has become a generic term like `mind blowing.' It is embarrassing. I would have said that to Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar. I used to tell them I want to stand in the same space as you. I've told Kamal Haasan, I just want to touch you. They are the gods of acting. When people call me God, I say, no, I'm still an angel or saint of acting. I still have a long way to go.

(August 2004): Awards that ignore me are losers.

(August 2004): I'm try-sexual. I try anything that's sexual.

(August 2004): I have no competition. Every year the names I'm pitted against keep changing. You can't cream the competition, you have to kill it.

I keep hearing that our films are escapist and unreal but I find our films the most real in the world. We don't have people going up in a rocket and single-handedly blowing up a meteor. We don't have a president on Air Force One saving the world or things coming out of people's stomachs. Our fantasies and escapism are real. It's just people singing and dancing in the street. If England had won the World Cup you would have seen people singing and dancing like that.

I don't like wearing dark glasses. I'm happy with the fact that people know me. I want people to scream and shout at me, I want people to trouble me when I'm having lunch, I like six bodyguards around me. I love being a star. I find it very strange when people who are famous say they don't want to be photographed. I don't want to be photographed first thing in the morning, I don't want people peeping into my bedroom, but besides that, it's a wonderful life.

"I haven't given up smoking. I'm very clear about it, it's a personal choice. I want to cut down on it. It shouldn't be made into an issue to say, damn good or damn bad. Whether I give it up or not shouldn't be an issue." (Movie Mag, May 2006)

"I was supposed to have done Rang De Basanti (2006), the guy on the motorbike. I didn't have the dates. They were shooting in Delhi and the dates were clashing with Paheli." (Movie Mag, May 2006)

"It's not like Steven Spielberg is waiting with a script for me. I don't think I'll ever be offered a great international film in my lifetime, so I'd rather be a king here. Moreover, Indian cinema is the greatest in the world. But of course, after spending three months in LA, London, and New York I found that our cinema is a little exaggerated. To make a mark in the West we have to reach their level without losing our identity, culture or songs. I don't want to star in a Hollywood film, but want to make a film that crosses over universally." (Movie Mag, May 2006)

On trying to get Paheli (2005) an Oscar nomination: "There's a misreport here about our lobbying at the Oscars. The understanding that we have of the Oscars is very different from how it really is. Because Indian film, foreign films are not known, you're supposed to hire a PR company which we did. It's not as if you just go there, show your films, lobby and talk to them. You're not allowed to lobby as in you're not allowed to meet the Academy members, talk to them or even make a call to them. You just keep advertising in the 'For Consideration For Oscars' category. We took out full page ads in papers like Variety and Hollywood Reporter. The only good thing we did was that we advertised very frequently, it was promoted on the same scale as the biggest of films. We did it because we could afford it." (Movie Mag, May 2006)

"I felt Asoka (2001) should have been chosen for the Oscars. We had worked towards that. We had these international distributors for it. We were the first to actually release an Indian film internationally in traditionally non-Indian theaters. We spent a lot of money and lost a lot of money too. We were the first to put up boardings in London, in tube stations. We did speak to everyone who was anyone here, wondering if Asoka could go to the Oscars. But the one that got chosen wasLagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) which was even better. So we had no complaints. After that I didn't make any film for the foreign market." (Movie Mag, May 2006)

You must respect your seniors, bu never get intimidated by them. Winning should be a habit, not an option. The four Hs are important when you play to win --- honesty, humor, hard work and a bit of haraamipan.

I don't look at the figures that my movies make. The only figures I look at are girl's figures. (When asked to comment on what he felt about the figures his movies gross.)

Whenever I fail as a father or husband... a toy and a diamond always works.

If I talk to a girl, it's assumed that I'm having a scene with her. If I don't, then it's assumed that I'm gay.

I don't kiss on screen. Period.

There are only two Khans. Ghenghis Khan and Shahrukh Khan

Sex is not required to sell my film. My name is enough.

You never win the silver, you only lose the gold.

I am very shy. If I am flying British Airways and the air hostess asks me two questions, and I don't understand her accent - I will go hungry for the entire flight.

The dream I chased, took me on a journey. A journey more rewarding then the goals, the achievements. When I look back it's like facing a million mirrors. Each reflection opens a window. A window to the world I've just discovered. The world I want to share with all of you.

If I am a role model, I must be the worst one in the world.

I've never had a girl make a pass at me.

Togetherness, passion, laughter, faith, trust and jealousy are the essential ingredients of love.

The collar-bone is my favorite part of the human body.

If asking me whether sleeping with X or Y gives the media pleasure, then so be it. It's a small price to pay.

‘Jyoti’ To End Its Journey With One Hour Special Episode

November 26, 2010 : A shocking news for the fans of TV serial ‘Jyoti’ of Imagine TV awaits! After completing a journey of about 21 months with all its viewers, the show is finally going off air on November 27th.



There will be a special one hour episode on this Saturday which will conclude the show on a happy note.


A new show titled ‘Armaanon ka Balidaan Arakshan’ will take up the 8.30 pm slot from November 29th. We have all loved Jyoti in all her roles, be it as a loving daughter, a fearless and independent working woman, a devoted wife or as a loving mother. She has been the light of her family and took responsibility of her two younger sisters and brother since her father was handicapped in an accident.



‘Jyoti’ started her journey on Imagine TV in early 2009 and it came with a promise to offer something different from the usual ‘saas-bahu’ drama. It was the story of this middle class girl ‘Jyoti’, who was portrayed as a symbol of ‘women

Shahrukh Khan: Facing criticism For Hosting Dinner Party For A Pakistani TV Channel In London

November 27, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan is being criticized by the Shiv Sena (SS) and the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) chiefs for hosting a dinner party in London on Sunday for a Pakistani TV Channel where along with the dinner there is a fashion show and a dance show scheduled to be held.

The news appeared in the mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena called Saamna. Shahrukh Khan has been given the wrath of the party chief as it says that while the country is expressing deep pain and paying homage to the martyrs and the victims on the second anniversary of 26/11 attack on Mumbai, how could he go and grace the occasion in support of Pakistan?

Shahrukh Khan, who also has plans of supporting the flood victims of Pakistan, has faced the criticism of going in to support the neighboring country despite such big pains caused by it to India.

Shahrukh Khan who has arrived just recently from Berlin to Mumbai is scheduled to participate in the song and dance show to be held in London on Sunday.

Earlier too there were protests by the SS and MNS as Shahrukh Khan had expressed his views against the exclusion of the Pakistani players from the IPL.

It remains to be seen what developments take place after this wrath from the SS and MNS chiefs.

Madhuri Dixit, Remo D’Souza: The Great Dance Maestros to Judge Jhalak Dikhla Jaa

November 27, 2010: Perhaps Madhuri Dixit is one star who will always be hot property in Bollywood. This star has enthralled audiences in the 80’s and 90’s with her great jhatkas and matkas with such power strokes that even till this day and date there arethousands of dancers who try to copy her moves in their dance performances.

However, there are many that can replicate her but no one can duplicate her!

So, here we have Madhuri Dixit again at the helm of a popular dance show the small screen as she is to judge the show along with the ace choreographer Remo D’Souza, who is also an expert in the field of dancing as he has already judged another popular dance reality show on another channel. The two dance maestros are to judge the popular reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’.

Madhuri Dixit is in Mumbai these days and she is to stay in India for three whole months. Of course the beauty with the graceful dance moves herself is going to be a tough one to please on the show. But then if one has to get an esteemed title from an equally esteemed judge there has to be a lot of hard work and perfection put into it.

The buzz going around is that the third judge might be Saroj Khan, the maestro of dance technique herself, but it has not yet been confirmed. Saroj Khan is a name in the industry who is considered to be the ultimate institute of dancing ,and with her having already judged the first two seasons of the same show it is expected that she shall be the ultimate name in the judge’s seat this season too.

Saroj Khan is also the dance guru who has given Madhuri the unforgettable steps inthe numbers like Choli Ke Peeche, Dhak Dhak, and Dola Re.

'BREAK KE BAAD' Movie Review

Director: Danish Aslam
Cast: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sharmila Tagore, Yudhishthir Urs,
Shahana Goswami
Rating: **

Advice: It’s not even a date flick, it’s just not going anywhere folks!

Here’s a love story of the Now generation…but sadly it is nowhere near wow! To begin with the film has a vaporous plot and all along it pretends to be a sequence of cute moments. Like two school kids watching Mr India, all agape and reciting the dialogue along with Mogambo. They discover a common chord between them right there and hit
it off. They go to the same school and grow up watching movies from the projector room as the boy’s dad happens to be the owner of the theatre. Predictably they kiss and fondle each other and ‘get together’.

The now grown-up twosome - Aaliya Khan (Deepika Padukone) and Abhay Gulati (Imran Khan) are often found bickering and squabbling affably most evenings on the terrace, swigging some beer and smoking. Welcome to the world of ‘Now’ generation of urban India!

Aaliya and Abhay drive around cutting smart jokes and sharing a good rapport with urchins at traffic signals who chirp ‘I love you sweetie!’ every time the cute couple passes their kerb. 

But Ms Aaliya isn’t happy with her perfect world, she wants to ‘take risks’ and ‘see the world’ and be an actor against her mother’s (La Tagore in mul kurtis and trousers) wishes. She sneaks herself into an Australian college to break free.

Ahem! The plot is see through here on. Aaliya gets to Australia and shacks up with Indian siblings – hard-as-nails sister Nadi (Shahana) and her horny yet friendly brother Cyrus (VJ Yudi). Aaliya also lands herself a meaty role in the campus play. While back home her pining boy friend frets and fumes in his father’s office. The only thing he
still enjoys doing is making funny faced sandwiches and kilos of biryani.

Long distance telephone calls only whet Abhay’s jealousy. He takes the next flight out and lands up down under in Australia. By now, Ms Dimples is getting film offers and she feels bogged down by his sudden appearance. She decides to “break up” with him. And if you think, Abhay is now going to find his bearing by setting up his own eatery
and Aaliya is going to start missing him. Bravo! You are as clever as the screenplay & dialogue writer Renuka Kunzru. 

On the whole, this is a film that really goes nowhere – even though they actually go down under to foreign shores.

The only thing that works in favour of the film is bootilicious Deepika in snazziest shorts and lover boy Imran with those melting brown eyes. The lead couple is totally engaging and makes the whole film a tolerable watch.

Veterans Navin Nischol, Sharmila Tagore and Lilette Dubey pitch adequately. Shahana Goswami in beach gear tries to be hip and Yudi in silk dressing gown tries to be cool – and they try hard.

As far as debutant Danish Aslam is concerned, he manages to conjure up quick fire moments like Abhay chiding Aaliya about going off to Australia to pursue a course in Mass Communication saying,” Do(he and Aaliya’s mom) logon se toh communicate nahi kar payi tum…” but these are like soap bubbles – so fragile and so momentary.

Andre Menezes’ cinematography is admirable but Vishal Shekhar’s music and Prasoon Joshi lyrics do nothing to enhance the film’s appeal.

Break Ke Baad …kya?...nothing much really!!!

India marks two years since the Mumbai attacks

MUMBAI — India was set Friday to mark the second anniversary of the militant attacks on Mumbai with memorial events and prayer meetings to honour the 166 victims killed during 60 hours of carnage.

Police and security forces who tackled the 10 Islamist gunmen were due to parade through the city, while mourners also planned to gather at the hotels, railway station, cafe and Jewish centre where the massacres took place.

The attackers arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, and authorities only regained full control of the city three days later.

Live television footage was shown around the world as commandos battled with the militants and terrified civilians tried to escape the bloodbath. About 300 people were injured.

Nine of the gunmen were killed and the sole survivor, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was condemned to death by a Mumbai court in May. He is challenging the sentence.

Both New Delhi and Washington blame the attacks on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

Police officers were due to unveil a memorial to Constable Tukaram Ombale at Chowpatty beach in south Mumbai, where he lost his life as he tackled Kasab.

Earlier this month US President Barack Obama visited the city, and met the families of victims and survivors, as well as paying his respects at a memorial in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, which was one of the militants' prime targets.

Obama and his delegation made a point of staying overnight at the hotel, the scene of a three-day siege, in what was seen as a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity.

The US president did not include a visit to Pakistan on his four-nation tour of Asia, despite it being a key US ally in the war against Islamist extremism.

India has accused Islamabad of not doing enough to bring the plotters behind the attacks to justice, and the incident still colours relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals, while Delhi remains wary of attacks from Pakistan-based Islamist militants.

Security was raised in Mumbai ahead of Friday, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

"With (the) terror threat lingering over the city in the view of the second anniversary of 26/11, we have made elaborate security arrangements and Mumbai has been put on alert," senior city policeman Rajkumar Vhatkar said.

Separately, the Press Trust of India reported Thursday that India test-fired a medium-range version of its nuclear-capable Agni-I missile, which has a range of 700 kilometres (440 miles) off the coast of the state of Orissa.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram will attend a commemoration function in Mumbai, while other senior politicians will lay wreaths at a martyrs' memorial at a police club.

A multi-faith meeting will be held at the Gateway of India monument in the evening

ARACHI: Pakistan hockey secured the gold medal after defeating Malaysia in the final of Asian Games Thursday.
PAK 2 - MALAYSIA 0
Sohail abbas *
rehan butt *

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Sports Minister Aijaz Jakhrani, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and others have appreciated the team victory.

Pakistan has won the final event after 20 years.

The government has announced Rs 5 million for the winning team while Aijaz Jakhrani has said that all the players would be given permanent jobs.

Pakistan v South Africa 3rd ODI at Dubai Preview

Pakistan play South Africa in the fourth ODI of the series. South Africa leads 2-1 and will look to bag the series in this penultimate match.

The good news from Pakistan’s perspective is that after a continuous struggle with the bat in the lead-up to the series and in the series as well, they have had a couple of good games where they have run the opposition close. South Africa, on the other hand, had begun well on the tour but suddenly seemed to have lost their bearing in the second and the third ODI. They managed a nervous win in the third match but the scoreline could have easily been 2-1 in favour of Pakistan.

South Africa will go in favourites into the game with an offer of 1/2 (SportingBet) as compared to 7/4 (Blue Square) if Pakistan win.

After his initial half century, Younis Khan (4/1 at Totesport) has failed to impress and that has contributed to their top-order woes. Fortunately, for two games in a row the lower-middle order has performed their task well and carried the side out of trouble. Misbah-ul-Haq (8/1 at William Hill) lost his place in the ODI side and it looks unlikely that he will be selected in this game and Imran Farhat (9/2 at BetFred) should maintain his place in the side.

Surprisingly, Umar Akmal (5/1 at Boylesports) hasn’t played a single game in the series so far and with the series at stake, he could just be afforded an opportunity.

Hashim Amla (3/1 at Boylesports) continues to dominate the proceedings for the South Africans, following his 65 with an unbeaten century in the third game. What he needs is for some batsman in the top-order to assist him. With the status on the Graeme Smith (4/1 at William Hill) hand injury unknown, one can hazard a guess that he may be afforded more rest to allow him to recover fully from the issue.

In his absence, Jacques Kallis (7/2 at BetFred) will look to overcome his previous game’s duck and bat through the innings given his seniority.

Pakistan seemed to have caught up with the Proteas in the previous couple of games but after the successive games, the question that needs to be asked is whether they have any more fuel in their tank. South Africa should be favourites for this one.

Tips:
Favourites: South Africa (1/2 at SportingBet)
Top South Africa batsman: Jacques Kallis (7/2 at BetFred)
Top Pakistan batsman: Younis Khan (4/1 at Totesport)