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The actor has selected Tirupati as the platform to launch his political career because of his attachment to the place, famous for the Lord Venkateshwara temple.

Chiranjeevi's brother-in-law and advisor Allu Arvind Wednesday visited Tirupati as part of the preparations for the public meeting. He visited a few grounds in the town to select the venue for the meeting but declined to comment.

The meeting is likely to be attended by thousands of people from various parts of the state and abroad.

The actor, who has a massive fan following, recently told media that he would announce his party in August. After the meeting, he will embark on a state-wide yatra or tour to prepare ground for the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in March next year.

The actor's brother K. Nagendra Babu, brother-in-law Allu Arvind and some close aides have been holding meetings of various sections of people for the last few weeks, as part of preparations for the new party's launch.

Sources close to Chiranjeevi said he would contest the elections from the Tirupati constituency. He will thus be following in the footsteps of thespian and Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) late founder N.T. Rama Rao, who considered the temple town auspicious for his politics.

Chiranjeevi is looking to repeat NTR's feat, who created a record by coming to power within nine months of his founding the TDP. NTR also contested elections from Tirupati and launched every election campaign from that town.

It seems like Kareena Kapoor is still not done with ex beau Shahid Kapoor. After dumping him almost a year a go Bebo is making sure that Shahid is never cast opposite her.

Director Imtiaz Ali who had Kareena and Shahid in his hit Jab We Met wanted to cast the lead pair again in his coming movie. Kareena expressed her discomfort working with Shahid and asked Imtiaz to replace him with someone else. Akshay Kumar was offered the role and he happily accepted.

It may be recalled that not too long ago Kareena was upset with Imtiaz when he had cast Deepika Padukone opposite her beau Saif Ali Khan in his next movie. Saif wanted Imtiaz to cast Kareena but the director declined in what will be Saif's home production. To appease Kareena Imtiaz had promised to cast her in his next movie. It seems Kareena just doesn't want to be in the same frame as Shahid. On his part Shahid has time and again maintained that he has no issues working with Kareena.

The two superstars were caught in a war of words on the July 16 party that Salman threw for current girlfriend Katrina, which later turned ugly.

Salman was reportedly instigating Shah Rukh from the beginning of the party by speaking about their reality shows - 'Dus Ka Dum' and 'Kya aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?' respectively. Salman claimed that his show 'Dus Ka Dum' had garnered more TRPs than Shah Rukh's, said sources.

Salman scoffed at Shah Rukh by saying that in spite of being a super star he could not make his show a hit.

Shah Rukh initially did not pay any heed to Salman's comments. The final blow came when Shah Rukh made a comment on Salman's ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai, inviting a furious retaliation from Salman.

The incident occurred late in the night, when many of the guests had left.

Though Aamir Khan tried his best to resolve the dispute that arose between Salman and Shah Rukh on Katrina's birthday party, the two are not in a mood for compromise as both have got the support from their well wishers in the industry.

Salman, who is known for his loyalty towards friends, got supportive calls from old time friends like Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Khanna, said sources.

Fardeen Khan and Zayed Khan also showed their concern for the actor by calling him.

Ranbir Kapoor, who worked with Salman in 'Saawariya', was the only newcomer to jump into the camp fight by calling him to express his sympathy, sources added.

If Salman had his supporters, so did King Khan. Veterans like Yash Chopra and Javed Akhtar called Shah Rukh to enquire about the incident. Besides, Karan Johar, Sajid Khan and Farhan Akhtar once again proved their loyalty towards the actor by offering their support.

Kunal Kohli also called the actor to know about his well being.

'While Salman has the support of actors, Shah Rukh has the support of the directors. It's an advantage for Shah Rukh,' remarked an industry watcher.

The star-studded birthday party of Katrina Kaif was attended by Bollywood bigwigs like Aamir, Kareena, Saif Ali Khan, Karan Johar, Rajkumar Santoshi, Kunal Kohli, Salim Khan, Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Nikhil Advani, Prakash Jha, David Dhawan, Anees Bazmee, and Manmohan Shetty, among others.

Salman Khan, whose go out with long term girlfriend Katrina Kaif has been much speculated by media, finally gave rest to all the rumors by proposing Katrina on her birthday bash. The party was thrown by the actor and had all the hot shots of the bollywood.

Sallu, also had told the DJ to play Mujhse Shadi Karogi, before dropping to his knees to propose girlfriend Katrina!!The actress was too shocked to answer, but her smile said it all.

Bollyood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has done the voiceover for his friend Aziz Mirza's 'Kismet Konnection' starring Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan. SRK, who returned from UK recently, completed the dubbing in a matter of few hours. 'Kismet Konnection' releases on July 18.

Director Mirza said: 'Shah Rukh had just returned from London when I called him to tell that I wanted him to do the voiceover. Any other person would have made an excuse of jet lag and told me that he wanted to go home. But, Shah Rukh's car took the road that led to the dubbing studio at 1.30 AM. He saw to it that he completed the voiceover for my film that very night,' Mirza added.

Interestingly, it was Juhi Chawla who was to do the voiceover initially. 'Juhi plays a crystal ball reader and since her character talks about life and relationships. I thought she was apt to do the voiceover. But, Juhi felt that the film's content was too strong and a female voice in the background will not be able to do justice to it,' Mirza said.

Aziz said with Shah Rukh having lent his voice to the film, the circle was complete. It may be recalled that SRK, Juhi and Mirza are business partners and their banner 'dreamz unlimited' made films like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Asoka, One two ka four, Chalte Chalte.

Bollywood star Aamir Khan had promised his fans that he will stop smoking after the release of his home production 'Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na'. The movie has been released and is declared a hit, but he is not able to keep himself away from smoking.

Aamir made a honest confession on his blog that he has begun smoking again and wrote: 'Bear with me folks, I'll give up once 'Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na' releases.'

Aamir posted this on his blog site www.aamirkhan.com June 18.

'Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na', debut vehicle of Amair's nephew Imran Khan, hit the marquee on July 4 and got overwhelming response at the ticket window. But the star has failed to keep his promise.

The actor was allegedly seen smoking while he was in the capital for a live-dial on Hindi news channel. The actor went out to an adjacent office complex to smoke since smoking was not allowed within the premises.

'Aamir was here to talk about his film 'Jaane Tu...' and went outside to smoke since it was not allowed within the office area,' a well-placed source said.

Shooting of 'Puli' directed by SJ Surya and produced by Singanamala Rameshbabu on the banner of Kanakaratnam Movies Pvt Ltd with Pawan Kalyan, Hansika and Parvati Melton in the lead is progressing well at Talakona forest area.

Presently some action scenes are being choreographed there. Even the regular shooting of the film was launched with the canning of some action scenes at Victoria School in Dilsukh Nagar of Hyderabad recently for about four days involving over 1000 junior artistes under the direction fight master Vijay.

The most interesting aspect in this film is that AR Rahman is scoring music for the film after a long gap in Telugu film industry.

A life jacket from the doomed transatlantic cruise ship 'Titanic', which struck an iceberg in 1912 and sank, fetched 68,500 dollars at auction at Christie's in New York late Wednesday.

It is one of only six life jackets still known to exist from the Titanic and had been kept in a trunk by a Canadian family. Some 1,500 passengers and crew aboard the Titanic died when the White Star line luxury ship sank in the frigid northern Atlantic ocean on its maiden voyage.

About 700 people are believed to have survived the sinking, one of the worst maritime disasters ever.Christie's said earlier that a similar life vest sold in London in 2007 for 119,000 dollars, and put the value of the vest at between 60,000 and 80,000 dollars.

It is the first Titanic life-jacket to go on sale in the United States, and Christie's says the ties have not been cut, meaning it was probably not taken from a body but found on an isolated beach after the disaster.

The Christie's auction, dedicated to the history of transatlantic ocean liners, included 257 lots of items that included dish sets, maps, ship logs and various objects related to navigation.

A 1935 lithograph of the French passenger ship 'Normandie' by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre was sold for 22,500 dollars. A 1935 scale model of the 'Normandie' went for 10,625 dollars, while a pair of lamps from the deck of the ocean liner' France' went for 625 dollars.

Big B was there at the event, at producer Vipul Shah's behest and was supposed to do the honours of releasing the music. The film's hero Akshay Kumar was absent from the event as he is busy shooting in Australia. As the proceeding began, it is believed that the Big B suddenly decided to get up and walk out of the programme, much to everyone's surprise.

Then, as if on, cue, actor Salman Khan made his entry with girlfriend Katrina Kaif, the film's heroine. The honours were then taken care of by Sallu bhai and the film's music was released. It will be remembered that Salman was originally also part of the Unforgettables world tour but was dropped at the last minute due to the embarrassment it could cause if both Ash and Salman came face to face. Anyway, the Big B managed to avoid that and got away well in time.

The Nagarjuna-starrer 'King' directed by Sreenu Vaitla and produced by D Sivaprasad Reddy on the banner of Kamakshi Kala Movies is progressing at a fast pace.

Producer says, 'We launched the regular shooting of our film on June 6 and it would continue till October without any break. We will take up post-production works in November. Many of Nagarjuna's films like 'Manmadhudu', 'Mass' and 'Don' proved hits as they were released in December. In order to keep the sentiment alive, we are also making efforts to release the film on December 18. Earlier I produced 'Vicky Dada, Allari Alludu, Sitaramaraju and Nenunnanu' with Nagarjuna and I was quite satisfied as they were big hits. We can confidently say that this movie would be in the same range.'

Director Sreenu Vaitla says, 'This is my first combination with Nagarjuna. I am trying to inject all kinds of commercial elements to satisfy all classes of audiences in general and Nagarjuna's fans in particular.'

The speciality of the film is that Trisha for the first time pairing up with Nagarjuna, while Srihari is appearing in a special role.

Brahmanandam, Sunil, Venumadhav, MS Narayana besides 40 other prominent artistes are playing key roles in the movie.

Story is by Gopi-Mohan, Kona Venkat and Ravi, music is by Devisri Prasad, camera is by Prasad Murella, editing is by MR Varma, action is by Ram-Lakshman, art is by AS Prakash, while screenplay and direction are by Sreenu Vaitla.

When Kapil Dev led Indian team lifted the 1983 World Cup at the Lord's balcony, he himself did not know what his team had achieved but 25 years down the line, the legendary all-rounder has finally realised what those 11 boys did, not only for themselves, but also for their future generations.

'In life things happen before you realise. At that time we all were young and as a captain I did not realise what had happened and how it happened. It is now, 25 years later, that we realise our achievement,' Kapil Dev said during the felicitation of his 14-member 1983 World Cup winning team here last night.

BCCI president Sharad Pawar, who does not share the same ideology when it comes to the current state of cricket in India, believes it was the 1983 World Cup win which helped India to emerge as a great administrative and sporting nation in cricket.

'I still remember that night and I believe that it was this team which helped in accelerating the popularity of cricket in India,' Pawar said.

'India's Twenty20 World Cup win followed your achievement and we all hope that the current team will follow your footsteps in the 2011 World Cup which will be jointly hosted by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh,' Pawar added.

Most of the greats and administrators present on the occasion were unanimous in their thoughts and said the current Indian team has every bit of talent which resembles them to the 1983 team.

Ravi Shastri, who was then the youngest member of the World Cup winning team, exuded confidence in the present bunch of boys and said the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side is capable of repeating the history.

'The 2011 World Cup will be played in the Indian sub-continent and I think we have a team in the making who can repeat our feet,' Shastri said.

Pawar further added that during those days the BCCI did not have much money to back their players but the players showed great commitment to inscribe their names in history books.

'It was this team that sowed the seeds of the status that we are enjoying today and we all are grateful to this team,' Pawar said.

As part of its felicitation, the BCCI presented a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh to every member of the World Cup winning team.

Twenty five years may have elapsed ever since India scripted history by winning the World Cup, but legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar says every moment of the triumph is still fresh in his mind.

'Every bit of those momentous victories are still very fresh in my mind. It's all there, the field placing, the fall of wickets, everything. I can still see them through my mind's eyes,' Gavaskar, a key member of 'Kapil's Devils', said here.

'That particular moment when Kapil hoisted the World Cup still brings tears to my eyes,' he said at the sidelines of unveiling of a diamond studded bat as part of silver jubilee celebration of that historic triumph.

Walking down memory lane, Gavaskar vividly remembers that particular moment when the final delivery of Mohinder Amarnath which dismissed West Indies last man Micheal Holding in the final at the Lord's.

'It was Jimmy who was bowling to Holding. The moment his delivery hit Holding on the pads, my first reaction was to save the leg bye but by the time I collected the ball, I realised that he was given out and there was a pandemonium. I ran round the crowd towards the dressing room,' he said

It is that phase of the life of the playback singer, born in a poor family in Amritsar, which will be the focus of a docu-film being made by the Films Division, the premier documentary producer of the country, this year.

To commemorate the diamond jubilee of the organisation, Films Division has started making a film on the legendary singer that would give a comprehensive view of Rafi's life, struggle and accomplishments.

'The film will project Rafi's early days, his penchant for singing, struggle in Lahore and then in Bombay and his ascent to fame,' its chief producer Kuldeep Sinha told PTI.

The film will be of 40 to 50 minutes duration and will be directed by Sinha himself.

'It will be unique work in the sense that we will highlight the troubles and difficulties that came in the making of Rafi. We will also show his major works,' he said.

Rafi, born at Kotla Sultanpur in unidivided Punjab in 1924, had started singing by imitating chants of a 'fakir' at his village. His family later shifted to Lahore, where Rafi learnt Hindustani classical music.

Since I was the only woman among the team owners, I wanted people to take me seriously. I am no barbie doll and such rumours which are normally the order of the day on a film set was very demeaning to me as a woman,' Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab IPL team told reporters here. Describing her experience in the IPL first season, Zinta said hers was a well chosen team which was the crux of its success. The actress said she has invested hugely in the IPL as an individual.

'I was not just a brand ambassador. I worked hard right from bidding, auction and throughout the team's journey, I was present,' she added. She said she was proud of her team's achievements. 'The worst day was the semi-finals where we lost. We have a year to prepare for the second season,' she said.

Responding to a question about IPL leading to commercialisation of cricket, the actress said more than commercialisation, passion was more important to her. 'We created an atmosphere of friendship among all the players,' she added

Johnny Depp makes a promise to a twelve year old. The boy wanted the fedora and ask the actor if he could have it. Depp, 45, said Taylor could, once the movie was finished.

Johnny Depp who is playing 1930's bank robber John Dillinger – American's Most Wanted at the time – for his upcoming movie Public Enemies, Depp was shooting on location in Wisconsin in April when he was observed on the set by local boy Jack Taylor, who especially admired Depp/Dillinger's hat.

Now Taylor is at work on a thank-you note. His parents are helping.

The actor's fans took to streets and burnt effigies of Marketing Minister M. Mareppa at Eluru in West Godavari district, Nizamabad, Tirupati and other towns. They demanded an apology from the minister for his remarks.

Mareppa said Friday that Chiranjeevi, who is likely to launch a new political party in August, has no mass appeal like Chief Minister Reddy. The minister remarked that the actor had neither made any sacrifices for the people nor did he know the people's pulse.

'Chiranjeevi may be a good cine actor, but is not clear on his political agenda and is not open to meeting people,' he said in Guntur. 'What are his sacrifices for the people? Has he ever taken up padyatra (walkathon) like Rajasekhara Reddy to know people's problems?' Mareppa asked.

The minister said the money spent on people's welfare by Chiranjeevi was also very little and blood and eye bank initiatives would not change his fortunes.

The actor's fans condemned Mareppa's reported remark that Chiranjeevi was selling the blood. They said the actor's social services were known to people all over the state.

The actor's aide G. Ramchandra Rao also took strong exception to the minister's remarks and warned that if he made the statement on behalf of the Congress party it would have to pay a heavy price.

Chiranjeevi's brother Nagendra Babu and brother-in-law Allu Arvind recently stated that the actor would launch the party in August. The actor's brothers and close aides were busy firming up plans for his entry into politics.

He had a nationwide shocking break up with Kareena but he didn't utter a word, he was paired with Amrita Rao still he stood numb but now even though his pairing with Vidya was much on speculation, this time the chocolate boy Shahid Kapoor could not bear this and has opened his mouth for the first time. Too hot to resist!

The romance between Shahid and Vidya blossomed on the sets of Kismat Konnection (maybe the film was, tough unintentionally, named to suggest both reel and real life star connection). But see the kismet! Shahid is not ready to accept the fact behind the fiction. He says that both of them are just good friends! Well, we may consider the friendship as the fist step towards love. But Shahid has problem with that also. 'I am single now so everyone will link me with anyone,' Shahid gets little indignant.

People have been talking about his and Vidya's love connection from the very beginning of the schedule of this film. They both spent 15 days together in Toronto on the shoot and came close to one another as because they had no other choice. Think again. Firstly, the break up between Kareena and Shahid, then followed the Amrita episode which also flopped miserably and see, now Shahid is with cool Kerala beau Vidya. That's how kismet draws people to their connections. Shahid, are you still looking for more clues?

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has excavated antique sculptures dating back to the ninth-century Chandela dynasty near the famous Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh.

According to the Archaeological Survey, idols of Hindu Gods and Goddess including that of Goddess Laxmi (of wealth), Lord Vishu (the creator), Vaman (incarnation of Lord Vishnu), Lord Shiva (the God of destruction) and his consort Parvati have been recovered.

The priceless sculptures were unearthed during the de-silting of Nigaura pond near the temple.

'De-silting of the lake resulted in this excavation of these idols. We have recovered an idol of the local deity and other idols of Uma Maheshwar (Shiv-Parvati). We have preserved them and only after a detailed study can we tell you the exact date. But yes, these idols date back to the 9th century of the Chandela era,' said ASI Conservator, Rahul Tiwari.

Residents said that the excavation work is continuing at the lake and many idols that have been recovered have been taken into custody by ASI.
'They are digging out the lake, they have found many idols. We have got to know that the idols have been taken by them to their office,' said Naresh Kumar, a resident.

Apart from the idols of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses, the workers, who are carrying out the de-silting work, have also uncovered other rare pieces of art.

Chandelas, a Rajput warrior clan dynasty, ruled much of the Bundelkhand region for long periods between the 10th to the 13th centuries AD.
The Chandela dynasty is famous in the Indian history for King Vidyadhar who not only repulsed the attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni but also for his love for sculptures evident in the world famed temples of Khajuraho and Kalinjar fort.

It as released its new version of series in the .com email service. The release of ymail is an effort to increase its profile portfolio and make itself an attractive solution. The email offering Yahoo is poised to launch is a @ymail.com extension.

This will free up millions of usernames for those frustrated at being john23145@yahoo.com. The new version is a competitor to the Gmail series offered by Google.

According to Yahoo Inc officials, users who take up an @ymail.com address will be treated to the same slick system enjoyed by all current Yahoo customers with drag and drop functionality and 'Unlimited' storage as well as an integrated instant messenger (compatible with Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger), spam filter and virus checker.

The statements were made by Yahoo! GM of Communication and Community Products, George Hadjigeorgiou.

The officials further state that 'After ten years, the huge popularity of Yahoo! Mail has meant personalized email addresses are in great demand,' George added that 'The launch of ymail.com allows more people the chance to get the email addresses they really want and to provide them with a brilliant starting point for their daily online experience.'

Ymail addresses will hit the road on 20 June and over 260m Yahoo users globally will experience an immense change and shift in Yahoo's corporate and infrastructure profile.

The new version of the Firefox browser was downloaded over eight million times in its first 24 hours of release in what organisers claimed was a world record. But the success was tempered by reports from a software security company that Firefox 3.0 contained a serious security flaw that potentially lets an attacker take over a PC if a user clicks on a booby-trapped link.

According to the Mozilla foundation that released the new browser, the software was downloaded 8.3 million times in its first 24 hours of release starting Tuesday morning.

The downloads were so popular that they initially crashed the servers running the operation.

At their busiest, the servers were handling more than 9,000 downloads per minute and within five hours had surpassed the initial daily download of 1.6 million set by Firefox 2.0 in October 2006.

DV Labs/Tipping Point did not release details of the security flaw except to Mozilla, but news of the glitch was damaging to the browser which had claimed to be much more secure than the previous version.

Firefox 3.0 offers faster web browsing than the previous versions, along with lower memory use and nifty features like a built-in search application that automatically combs your web history.

Tech critics greeted the new browser and recommended users to adopt it.

'Firefox 3 is the best Web browser I've ever seen. And I've been using the Web since before there were Web browsers,' said ComputerWorld's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols.

Firefox has been rapidly attracting users since its 2004 launch and now has approximately 18 percent of the market, compared to the 72 percent share enjoyed by Internet Explorer which has the advantage of being pre-installed on the vast majority of computers.

Firefox is mainly downloaded by individual users and as of February 2008 it had been downloaded over 500 million times. However, since one user may download the software several times, the best estimate for regular Firefox users is around 140 million.

Good news for coffeeholics: Drinking up to six cups a day of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee everyday wont reduce your life span, according to a new research.

Whats more, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption is associated with a somewhat smaller rate of death from heart disease.

AS Coffee consumption has been linked to various beneficial and detrimental health effects, but data on its relation with death were lacking,as says Esther Lopez-Garcia, PhD, the study's lead author.

AS Coffee consumption was not associated with a higher risk of mortality in middle-aged men and women. The possibility of a modest benefit of coffee consumption on heart disease, cancer, and other causes of death needs to be further investigated, Lopez-Garcia added.

Women consuming two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease during the follow-up period (which lasted from 1980 to 2004 and involved 84,214 women) as compared with non-consumers, and an 18 percent lower risk of death caused by something other than cancer or heart disease as compared with non-consumers during follow-up.

For men, this level of consumption was associated with neither a higher nor a lower risk of death during the follow-up period (which lasted from 1986 to 2004 and involved 41,736 men).

The researchers analyzed data of 84,214 women who had participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and 41,736 men who had participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. To be in the current study, participants had to have been free of cancer and heart disease at the start of those larger studies.

The study participants completed questionnaires every two to four years that included questions about how frequently they drank coffee, other diet habits, smoking, and health conditions.

The researchers then compared the frequency of death from any cause, death due to heart disease, and death due to cancer among people with different coffee-drinking habits.

Among women, 2,368 deaths were due to heart disease, 5,011 were due to cancer, and 3,716 were due to another cause. Among men, 2,049 deaths were due to heart disease, 2,491 were due to cancer, and 2,348 were due to another cause.

While accounting for other risk factors, such as body size, smoking, diet, and specific diseases, the researchers found that people who drank more coffee were less likely to die during the follow-up period. This was mainly because of lower risk for heart disease deaths among coffee drinkers.

The researchers found no association between coffee drinking and cancer deaths. These relationships did not seem to be related to caffeine because people who drank decaffeinated coffee also had lower death rates than people who did not drink coffee.

The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

A diamond-studded handbag, worth 1 million pounds has been unveiled in London.

The worlds most expensive bag comes with a detachable diamond strap, which can also be worn as a necklace or bracelet.

The bag created by Japenese designer Ginza Tanaka, is made up of platinum and has over 2,000 diamonds, totalling 208 carats, attached to it.

It also features an eight-carat pear-shaped diamond that can be worn separately as a brooch, reports the Telegraph.

It costs more than 1 million pounds and is the showpiece of London Jewellery Week.

The bag will go on display at a number of stores across the capital before being sold, but organisers have not disclosed which shops will get the honour of hosting the handbag.

Asif has been in detention after being caught with a small quantity of contraband drugs at the Dubai International Airport on June 1.

Lawson said Pakistani players might be busy celebrating their ODI tri-series win over India but they are equally concerned about their detained teammate.

'We are praying and hoping for his early release and I would love to see Asif back in the side,' Lawson told reporters after reaching Lahore from Dhaka.

'Everyone in the team has been talking about him not only as a cricketer but also as a person as well,' he added.

Although impressed with Sohail Tanvir and Wahab Riaz, who spearheaded the Pakistani attack in Asif's absence, Lawson said the two needed more time before rising to Asif's stature.

'They are good but I would still love to see Asif back in the side,' he stated.

Asif's case is being heard by the Dubai Attorney General and is expected to take another 10 to 12 days before it is decided if the pacer would be charged or released.

Lawson said Pakistan's defeat to India in the tri-series group match was due to the fact that in the last few months Shoaib Malik's men had been playing weak oppositions in Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

'I think switching from the twenty20 format to one-dayers took some time for the players and that led to our big defeat,' he said.

Bollywood's hottest on-screen couple is back after seven years. Kajol has finally agreed to do Karan Johar's next titled 'My Name Is Khan' and feature as Shah Rukh Khan's wife in the film about an Indian couple living in the US. The two were last seen as couple in Karan's 2001 family saga 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'.

When the media reported the news of her being considered for the role in 'My Name Is Khan' early last month, the straightforward actress had retorted by saying that without reading the script she would not give consent to work in a movie even made by her husband, leave alone Karan Johar or anybody else.

According to a source close to the production house, soon after that she went on a holiday with her family and there was a lull on 'My Name Is Khan' front. Now it is learnt that she has given the green signal to the movie to be directed by Karan.

Though the movie is scheduled to be launched in December, a buzz has already started that Karan has a winner in his. Not only because it has a hit pair heading the cast, but also because the composer trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, has scored some 'outstanding' tunes for the movie.

Those who have heard some of the tunes composed with dummy lyrics say that one of the highlights of 'My Name Is Khan' will certainly be its music, as it always is in a Karan Johar production.

The launch of 'My Name is Khan' has been deferred till December because at present Karan is busy with Dharma Productions' other movies, including Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham starrer 'Dostana'. The film is due for release later this year.

One of the costliest films ever made in the country - Kamal Haassan's Dasavatharam, released this Friday. It, as the name suggests, features 10 characters - and each of them is played by Kamal Haassan.

With an ambitious storyline Dasavatharam mixes the past and the present, starting with Shaivite and Vaishnavite clashes in the 12th century.

Scriptwriter Kamal has sprinkled a generous dose of contemporary concerns such as the environment, science and faith. Dasavatharam has a lot of Al Gore in it, and also Ramanujar from the 12th century. Over one thousand prints of the film will be screened the world over.

Kamal Haassan's magnum opus directed by K S Ravi Kumar and produced by Oscar Ravichandran has brought audiences flocking to the screens for a first glance, and the movie opened to packed houses in almost all theatres down south.

When there is history and mythology involved, can controversy be far behind.

It was left to the Supreme Court to clear the screening on Thursday, with the apex court dismissing pleas by a sect that the film would hurt religious sentiments.

That scare may be over, but this ten-in-one is Kamal Haassan's biggest box office gamble so far, even for a star who revels in pushing boundaries all the time.

Chiranjeevi the living god of Tollywood gave another reason for his die hard fans to get crazy thinking about their favourite film star entering politics.

And presumably when a film star with such mass undivided appeal among the people of Andhra Pradesh enters into the political sphere, he is expected one day to sit in the chair of the Chief Minister just like the legendry actor NTR who is considered as one of the best leaders ever produced by the state.

Over the past several months a lot of discussions, debates and speculations about whether Chiru as he is fondly called will really float his own political party or not.

Now the rabbit has finally got out of the gunny bag and started to run.

In several parts of the Hyderabad city the posters of Chiranjeevi's soon to be fully active political party have begun to be seen.

Allu Aravind has also confirmed the forming of the megastar's political party and has also revealed that the official launch of the political outfit will be either on 15th 22nd of August.

The posters carry the pictures of Gandhi, Bhagath Sigh, Nehru, Mother Theresa and other legendary personalities of India.

In Chiranjeevi's Blood Bank situated at Jubilee Hills also the posters are to be seen.

Most of the people of Andhra Pradesh and even the NRI's from the state believe that the actor deserves to occupy the most powerful seat in the state and that he will make a progressive leader who will deliver the best in terms of his ability for the goodwill of the people.

Chiru has achieved the maximum an aspiring leading man entering into Tollywood hopes and dreams of.

He has contributed his share for Tollywood and do not have any more challenging territories to conquer.

Now the politics is the new battlefield for the Megastar.

Deepika is not quite happy with Ranbir these days. After she was successful in keeping her boyfriend away from his debut film's beauty, Sonam Kapoor, the possesive Deepika has another girl to bother. And this time it's Ranbir's ex-girlfriend Avantika Malik. Ranbir Kapoor and model Avantika Malik were said to be dating before Ranbir made it to films.

However, things didn't turnout well and they broke up. But even now, when Avantika is dating Aamir's nephew Imraan, she and Ranbir are still in contact. This isn't quite approved by Deepika, and made her upset.

Bollywood star Salman Khan, who is gearing up for his television debut with reality game show 'Dus Ka Dum', starting June 6, says he is not the type to rehearse for his roles. 'I don't like to rehearse too much. I have never prepared myself for my roles,' Salman wrote in his blog.

He also said that he is neither aware of the number of acting schools that exist nor does he belong to any acting school. But he believes in the concept of a method school.

'Where actors go to the places and watch people whom they have to portray,' said the actor who gave hits like, 'Maine Pyar Kiya', 'Saajan', 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and 'Partner'.

He added: 'They do this and all kinds of things to get into the skin of the character. According to the thumb rule of this school, I should have spent months in a lunatic asylum to portray my role in 'Tere Naam'.'

Salman wrote that he may not be a great actor, but what gives him satisfaction is that he has never copied any established school of acting.

'Dilip Kumar saab has influenced all actors and I do admire him immensely. But I haven't copied him even while performing the role of a loser in love. In 'Tere Naam', I portrayed agony as I feel it. It comes naturally to me. These reflections just reconfirm my faith that I should and would only be myself.'

Salman also promises to be his true self in 'Dus Ka Dum'.

Along with his schedule for the television show, Salman is also busy shooting for Boney Kapoor's 'Wanted' and Subhash Ghai's 'Yuvraaj'.

It was earlier reported that Saif's over-protective attitude had angered Kareena and her mother Babita. However, the bold actress assured that she would surely marry her beau Saif after three years. She rubbishes off the rumours that Saif is feeling insecure.

Says a source, 'Arbaaz held a trial on Thursday for the Khan family at 12.30 in the afternoon at Ketnav theatre in Bandra where everyone from Alvira and Atul Agnihotri, Salim and Salma Khan to Salman was present. After the trial, Salman drove off to his Panvel farmhouse in the evening. But the real reason that Salman and Salim Khan didn't go for the premier, which was such an important event for Arbaaz was

because Salim Khan and Salman wanted to avoid the Bachchan family. Recently, Salim Khan had made certain disparaging remarks against Amitabh Bachchan and it would have made an awkward moment for both if they had come face-to-face.'

Apparently, Salman also wasn't keen on coming. The source clarifies, 'Though Salman shares a cordial relationship with Abhishek and a warm and affectionate relationship with the Big B, it would have made for another awkward moment if Aishwarya, the Bachchan bahu and he bumped into each other at the premier. Rather than have so many uncomfortable moments the Khan family decided to skip the premier.'

Arbaaz, however, says, 'Salman has just returned from a long and hectic schedule of Main Aur Mrs Khanna in Australia so he couldn't make it to the premier. But dad and him and the rest of the family saw it at the trial at Ketnav. Also he's currently very busy preparing for his TV show, 10 Ka Dum, which airs next week on June 6. We have seen the first episode and Salman is simply brilliant!'

Arbaaz is thrilled with the response he's got for his performance in Woodstock Villa, where he plays Neha Uberoi's husband. Arbaaz's 'biggest critic', his father, Salim Khan has also liked his performance. 'Dad never gets over-enthusiastic in his praise so when he says it's good it means a lot. He's liked the film and my performance. It was a challenging role to play where I had to convey a lot silently through my expressions. Many have said that it's one of my best performances in recent times.'

'It's definitely a lovely relationship!' said the lass. When quizzed about her reluctance in admitting her relationship with Harman in public, she laughed and said, 'But, I am talking about him right now!'

Priyanka said that ever since her return from Miami, she has been so busy with shooting that she did not have the time to go out at all. Harman's kitty is also full and he is shooting three films back-to-back. How does she react to Harman being constantly compared with Hrithik? Reportedly, she was very irritated at comparison.

Priyanka denied the story and said, 'I think every actor is compared with someone or the other. When Hrithik made his debut, he was compared to Shah Rukh Khan while SRK himself was compared to Dilip Kumar. We have to accept it and move on. Eventually, we all make our own space. I'm sure Harman will as well.'

Sameera has had a split with her former boyfriend Shamshul Lalani recently and also has been seen in the crowd, cheering for KKR. The actress and Ishant also seem to be in constant touch through phone calls and text messages.

With Kim Sharma being rejected by Yuvi's mom, is Sameera ready to impress Ishant's mummy first?

Kareena Kapoor says she is overworked and exhausted. 'I've five films in various stages of production. Then I've nine endorsements for which I've to shoot ads round the year. Plus I've all these stage shows that require rehearsals. I can't seem to find the time to do anything properly,' Kareena told.

She has, in fact, agreed to perform at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards on June 8 in Bangkok and is rehearsing for it.

'I'm performing a medley of my songs from 'Jab We Met' and 'Tashan'. Gone are the days when I'd go on stage with just a little practice. Now I want to be my best in every stage performance.

'Here in Melbourne I'm rehearsing for IIFA at nights and shooting during the day. Am I overworked? I'm exhausted. But what choice do I have? I've decided to take my live performances as seriously as my movies and endorsements,' she said.

After Melbourne and the IIFA performance, Kareena will spend some time with her beau Saif Ali Khan in London and then move to Los Angeles for a 40-day shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala's 'Kambakht Ishq'.

'I'll be away from home for more than three months at a stretch. I miss home. I miss my family. I've never been so much out of Mumbai. I'll finish shooting here, then head to perform at the IIFA. In fact, I'm working so hard that I hardly get proper sleep. I feel like I haven't slept for ages.'

She'll join Saif in London from June 20. Saif will be shooting in the city for his first home production to be directed by Imtiaz Ali and Deepika Padukone is playing the female lead in it.