Karthiga wants no comparison

Karthiga, the leading lady in Ko, is in cloud nine as her debut film has been declared a hit. The debutant, while speaking about her experience in her first film, made one request to the media – that is not to compare her with her mother Radha or aunt Ambika. The young lady says that she knows that comparisons are inevitable in this industry but requested the media to refrain from it as it will help her perform better.

Karthiga said that working with a director like KV Anand helped her to know the nuances of acting and all credits for her performance in Ko should go to him. She also added that her mother and aunt were instrumental in polishing her performance by giving her tips on acting.

Swathi in Anjali’s place

Sasi Kumar and Samuthrakani had a lot of problems over finalizing the leading lady for Poraali. Director Samuthrakani had earlier signed up Anjali to play the lead role but she opted out owing to certain differences with the director.

This stalled Poraali’s progress for sometime but everything seems to have turned fine now with Sasi Kumar and Samuthrakani deciding on going back to their favorite actress Swathi. It may be noted here that Swathi played the female lead in Sasi Kumar’s smash hit flick Subramaniapuram.

Poraali’s shooting is slated to begin soon and will be filmed in Madurai and Theni areas. The shooting will progress at a breakneck speed as both Sasi Kumar and Samuthrakani wants to complete it soon.

Pawan Kalyan sets a new record

For the first time in Tollywood, a film will be released worldwide in 1000 theatres simultaneously. Power star Pawan Kalyan has managed to do it! His Theen Mar, which is a remake of the Hindi film Love Aaj Kal, was released in 1000 screens worldwide on April 14^th 2011. Prasads IMAX in Hyderabad screened 30 shows which again is a record in the Telugu film industry. Pairing along with Pawan in this Hindi remake is Trisha.

The film is directed by Jayanth C Paranji and produced by Ganesh Babu. Music has been scored by Manisarma and all the five songs set to tune by him have turned out to be chartbusters.

Whom did Rajini vote for?

Rajinikanth had a tough time at the polling booth yesterday with people swarming around him when he cast his vote. The Superstar waited for the police to remove the camera crew around him but with no signs of this happening, he decided to exercise his franchise in full public view. Newspaper reports say that Rajini has cast his vote to the AIADMK.

Later in the evening, the Superstar met the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi at his residence to complain that the camera crew was hogging around him and in that confusion he pressed the wrong button.

Mumbai Lilawati Hospital used for money laundering?

Lilawati Hospital in Mumbai is a buzz of activity with the Income Tax Department sleuths raiding the premises following reports that the hospital is used as a façade for money laundering. The raids, which are currently on, come in the wake of the Supreme Court of Indian issuing notices on April 6^th to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), SEBI and the Central Government to look into the money laundering activities that the trustees of the hospital were allegedly involved in. The raids are also being conducted simultaneously in the premises owned by Mayfair Realtors and Vestra Infrastructures which had loaned a huge amount to the Lilawati Trust in 2002.

Only 10 tickets for the Sri Lankan President

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage is discontent with his Indian counterpart for issuing just 10 tickets for the cricket World Cup finals between India and Sri Lanka. The minister said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s delegation consisted of more than 10 people but the party had to be restricted to 10.

The minister was quoted by The Sunday Times that the other ministers who accompanied the President had to procure their tickets in the black market.

Another minister Seneviratne said that when Indian delegates visited Sri Lanka they were treated much better. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner in New Delhi, Prasad Kariyawasam, however, said that facilities extended to their delegates were satisfactory.

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A special gift that awaits Tendulkar

A special gift awaits Tendulkar! Thirty-three year old Ganesan, goldsmith by profession, is waiting to hand over a tiny replica of the World Cup trophy to the master blaster. This mini world cup, made of pure gold, just measures about 10.25 millimeter and weighs 230 milligrams.

The architect of this World Cup replica says that he took the design after a thorough research on the internet. Ganesan says that he wants to hand over the replica to Sachin Tendulkar in person. He hopes to meet the cricketer during the IPL matches to be played in Kerala or at his home in Mumbai.

Shakeela in Prithviraj’s film

The glam doll of yesteryear, Shakeela, has been signed up as a comedienne in the Malayalam film Teja Bhai and Family in which Prithviraj plays the lead. The film is said to be full-length comedy with the story revolving around a Malaysia-based don who falls in love and how his life changes.

Shakeela’s role in Teja Bhai and Family will bring her a new set of fans mostly from the family sector. According to sources close to Shakeela, the actress is trying to shed her sexy image and has been looking for roles that will take her close to the family audiences.

It may be mentioned here that Shakeela’s comical roles in the recent Tamil film Boss engira Bhaskaran was well-received by the movie buffs.

No more corruption from Aug 15

Anna Hazare’s fast demanding that the government consider the Lok Janpal Bill to tackle corruption in India has received support from all quarters with youth, businesspersons, housewives, college and students, and film personalities extending their support.

Bowing in to Anna’s demands, the Union government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has agreed to discuss the Bill. With this assurance, the septuagenarian’s fast ended last night (7^th April 2011). While calling off the fast, Anna said that he has set a deadline of August 15^th for the proposed Bill to be enacted. Speaking about the Bill, PM Manmohan Singh said, “This (corruption) is a scourge that confronts all of us. The Government intends to introduce the Lokpal bill in Parliament during the monsoon session.”

The Bill to be passed will give an independent Ombudsman to prosecute ministers, bureaucrats and judges if charged with corruption.

Sadhick Batcha’s mysterious death

The mysterious death of Sadhick Batcha, a close aide of the ex-Union Minister A Raja, currently in Tihar Jail for the 2G Spectrum scam, is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Batcha (38) was found hanging at his residence in Chennai on March 16. He was rushed to the Apollo Hospitals where he was declared dead and a post mortem was conducted on the same day at the Royapettah Government Hospital.

The case was transferred to the CBI and a five-member team visited Batcha’s residence to collect evidence on his death. The team including the CFSL Director and two CBI Joint Directors from New Delhi inspected the premises and summoned Batcha’s family members for enquiry. Batcha’s family members do not reside there anymore and the scene of crime is left undisturbed, the CBI official said.

Batcha’s wife Rehabanu had earlier told the police that the door to her husband’s room had to be forced open as he did not answer her calls for lunch on the fateful day. However, the officials investigating the crime scene say that there was no indication of the door being forced open.

Rahul Gandhi’s movements, a cause of concern

The Mumbai police were kept in tenterhooks after Rahul Gandhi opted for the common route from the Leela Hotel where he was staying to the Wankhede Stadium. The politician and Member of Parliament also made two halts – once to catch the view from the Rajiv Gandhi Setu Bridge and then at a restaurant for a meal.

These two unscheduled stops also had the police in a tight spot as they were concerned of Rahul’s safety. Police sources confirmed that Rahul did not take the VVIP route earmarked for reaching the Wankhede Stadium where the World Cup finals was played.

Abhi and Ash party with Tendulkar

It’s party time in Bollywood! With Team India lifting the World Cup, Sanjay Narang hosted a party for cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar. The party was attended by several Bollywood biggies including Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Eesha Koppikar, Karan Johar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Shahid Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar and others.

A photograph of Sachin posing with ace photographer Atul Kasbekar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra made it to the press recently. Interestingly, the photo was clicked by Abhishek Bachchan. Kasbekar in his Twitter page has said that he wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to photograph him with the cricketing legend.

32 killed in UN plane crash

Four crew members and 29 United Nations personnel were killed when the UN plane that carried them crashed while landing in Congo’s capital Kinshasa. All the passengers on board, except one, is dead, confirmed a UN spokesperson. On the plane, which was traveling from Kisangani to Kinshasa, were members of the UN peace keeping force and some UN staff members.

It has been reported that the CRJ-100 jet busted in two and went up in flames when the pilot was attempting to land the plane.

Satya Sai Baba critical

Puttaparthi, the holy town where Satya Sai Baba resides, wore a deserted look with news spreading like wildfire that Satya Sai Baba is in critical condition. Though the members of the Satya Sai Baba Trust are not forthcoming on the details of his health condition, people believe that he is critically ill.

Satya Sai Baba was admitted to the Satya Sai Baba Super Specialty Hospital on March 28^th for lung and chest infections and since then his health condition did not show any significant improvement. He is currently kept on life support systems in the Intensive Care Unit.

Police have been posted at the hospital to ward off any untoward incident.

Did India lift fake World Cup trophy?

Where is the original World Cup?

It was the not the original trophy that India lifted on April 2^nd, 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. “The real trophy, valued at about $130,000 in money terms, but priceless for any cricket lover, was not at the Wankhede stadium, as the world had been led to believe,” reported India Today.

The goof up came to light as the World Cup lifted by the Indian cricket team did not have the names of all the World Cup winners as it should have. Instead, the Cup just came with a blank black pedestal.

It has been reported that original world cup was seized by the Mumbai customs after the ICC failed to pay the customs duty amounting to Rs 22 lakhs. The Chairman of the CBEC confirmed that the Trophy lies in the customs warehouse.

Lakshmi Rai in touch with James Cameron

Lakshmi Rai was fortunate enough to meet Hollywood director James Cameron while she was shooting for the Priyadarshan-directed Arabiyum, Ottakavum, P. Madhavan Nairum in Abu Dhabi. The actress had said earlier that Cameron arrived on the sets of this Malayalam film to see how filmmakers work.

During this visit, the actress had the opportunity to interact with Cameron and the ace director reportedly expressed his desire to cast her in one of his films. Speaking about this, Lakshmi says that it is true that Cameron gave her his business card and both of them are in touch through e-mail since then. The actress confirmed that she will meet Cameron when she visits California.

Book on Gandhi may not be banned, after all

Joseph Lelyveld, the ex-executive editor of The New York Times, is caught up in a controversy over penning the biography on Mahatma Gandhi titled Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle with India.

The author had reportedly made some controversial statements about Gandhiji’s sexual preferences and claimed that he was a racist. Following this, there was a call to ban this book in India and the Government of India also decided to amend the laws to make maligning Gandhi’s image an offence.

Reacting to this, the Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said that there are no plans to ban the book or amend the laws as the author had explicitly stated that no such things regarding Gandhi being bisexual or about racism appears in the book.

Rana sets rolling!

Finally, Rana has set rolling! The film’s photo shoot happened at the AVM Studios in Chennai with Rajinikanth and Deepika Padukone participating in it. Well, this is indication enough that they will play the lead pair. Regarding the rest of the star cast, we need to wait for an announcement from Rana’s director KS Ravi Kumar.

A few days ago, KSR had said nothing about Rana has been finalized except the lead pair and until then the media should stop their guesswork regarding the other heroines.

The photo shoot is an indication that the film’s shooting is to start very early as sources close to the Rana team say that the photos shot now will be used for newspaper promos.