Maharashtra police today said it would take at least 15 days to decide whether to keep actor Sanjay Dutt in the high security Arthur Road jail here where he is presently lodged or to shift him elsewhere. Dutt is currently lodged in the 'anda' (egg-shaped) cell after he was brought to the Arthur Road jail last week to serve his sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The actor has been restless at nights, reading religious books, police said. "We will take some more time to take a call on whether to shift Dutt or not. He will not be shifted anywhere in the near future," Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Meera Borwankar told. Another jail official said dilemma to shift the actor or not will continue for at least another 15 days. Reasons attributed for this were that the prison department has been gathering information such as number of convicts, security conditions, presence of inmates linked to underworld in various jails in the state like those located in Taloja (Navi Mumbai), Yerwada (Pune), Thane, Nagpur and Nashik.
"The authorities are studying various aspects, particularly security ground before taking any decision on the actor's shifting," the jail official added.
Though there are some convicts lodged in the city jail, usually it is used to house undertrials. Dutt has to serve 42 more months in jail following his conviction in the 1993 bomb blast case being upheld by the Supreme Court, which, however, reduced his sentence by one year (to five years from six) in March this year. He has already served 18 months of his sentence.
Animal lover for ages, Priyanka wanted to do her bit to protect the endangered species of catsFor a while now, Priyanka Chopra has lent her name to the cause of environmental conservation A while back, the actress adopted a tigress called Durga and a lioness called Sundari from Ranchi's Birsa Munda Zoo. The big cat Sundari, for whom PC had earlier paid Rs 2 lakh, recently delivered a female cub. The actress has now adopted this cub as well.A source says, ` She has been an animal lover for ages and wanted to do her bit to protect the endangered species.` Those close to the actress also say that recently she extended her support for an organisation that works for the protection of rhesus monkeys. She is also said to be providing some financial aid to the group to help carry on their work.
Saddened by the current situation in the country, actress-businesswoman Preity Zinta is "thiking" about joining "politics" as she wants to be part of a movement to bring positive changes in India.Currently busy promoting her first production venture "Ishkq in Paris", Preity said: "Off late, I have been thinking that I will join politics because it's so sad what is happening to our country.""I really want to be somehow involved in positively changing our country... One fine day (I) am going to come out and say vote for me,` she said on "Star Speak" on UTV Stars.She has even made an imaginary picture of Priety Zinta, the politician. She said: "I will be a very glamorous politician. I will have nice hair, nice clothes, and I will not be corrupt. But I think it's important we start thinking about our country also because it's really sad what is happening to our country. How much do you genuinely need to eat? 'Khaane ke liye aap biscuit hi khaate ho, gold biscuit to nahi khaate ho'. So, survival is limited to one point. How much more do you want?"
Having said that, she hopes that "people like me don't have to get into a political future, because there are good people. There are lots of good politicians. Don't get me wrong, but they are eclipsed by all the corruption. And the only way to make India shine is if all this stops. Because who is the one that suffers...it is always the man on the street and that breaks my heart."
The 38-year-old actress is also the co-owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team King's XI Punjab. The show will be aired Monday.
Sherlyn Chopra had some high-octane gyration to do with the local crowd going berserk in Kerala for the upcoming season of a dating reality showThe sex siren, who is also co-hosting the show with Nikhil Chinapa, performed to the Aa Ante Amalapuram track. In typical South attire, the boys got on the stage to showcase their talent in the task given to them. A fun evening.
ccording to the trade, Arjun Kapoor film fails to live up to expectations in its opening weekend at the box officeSome would say it's a bit odd that some of the most hyped films of this year have failed to make a mark at the box office. While two Hollywood biggies The Great Gatsby and The Reluctant Fundamentalist released last Friday apart from animation film Epic, Bollywood was represented by Arjun Kapoor's Aurangzeb. The trade says that the last releases including Go Goa Gone and Aashiqui 2 have been the saving grace at the ticket windows. Exhibitor Girish Wankhede says, `It has been a bit of a disappointment at the box office as none of the four films have been able to live up to their expectations. Aurangzeb showed 35 to 40 per cent occupancy, Epic stood at 35 per cent while the others commanded only 30 per cent. In fact, Go Goa Gone was holding stronger with 40-45 per cent occupancy. Aashiqui 2 too also had 45 per cent occupancy. A lot was expected from Aurangzeb but somehow the audience didn't find much excitement in the film.`
Distributor Sunny Khanna elaborates, `Aurangzeb raked in just Rs 3.83 cr on Friday, saw a marginal drop on Saturday with Rs 3.76 cr and on Sunday saw a rise with Rs 4.58cr, so that makes it Rs 12.17crore over the weekend. But if you compare the film with Arjun's first release Ishaqzaade, it had a Rs 14-15 cr weekend.`
Khanna feels a lot of factor went against the film including its music and the title. He adds, `From the posters, the film looked straight out of '90s. For Go Goa Gone, despite a limited number of screens, the film still managed to hold good. Shootout at Wadala has collected about Rs 50 crore at the box office and Aashiqui 2 is sitting pretty at Rs 62 crore.` A trade expert and distributor Suniel Wadhwa informs us, `Aurangzeb clearly lacks music and face value and a proper female lead.The film cashed in around Rs 12 and half crore at the box office over the weekend but it looks difficult for the film to sustain in the coming week. Even in its fourth week Aashiqui 2 is raking in the money. It has collected approximately Rs 3 crore last week. In fact this 'U' certificate film from the Bhatts has earned much more than the banner's typical 'A' certificate films, in terms of cost versus revenue.`
Television actress Sara Khan, known for her show "Dhoond Legi Manzil", who will be seen in comedy films "Aman Ki Asha" and "Maaya, Vanilla and Strawberries", says while she enjoys the genre, she would like to play a serious role as well. "Comedy is an interesting genre. I have finished two comedy films. I enjoyed it. But I want to take up something very challenging and play a very serious character," she told."Aman Ki Asha" has been directed by Neeraj Pandey and stars Ali Zafar and Yami Gautam. Sara Khan said that she plays Yami's sister in the film."I was in Singapore and someone called me saying that that I am apt (for playing) Yami's sister. I told them that I don't play character artists. But they said I could call it a parallel lead. I found the character very interesting. It is a Neeraj Pandey story and I said that I would try it," she said.The film has been shot in London, which is the actress's hometown. This made it more enjoyable for her. "I was brought up in London and the entire shoot was in London. We were there for a month. I loved the experience. We finished our schedule in 22 days. We faced a lot of challenges. But it was a very good experience," she said.
She will also be seen in "Maaya, Vanilla and Strawberries", which stars "Fukrey" actor Ali Fazal and has been directed by Ravi Rai.
Talking about the kind of roles she would want to play in her future films, Khan said she is looking for performance-oriented characters."In movies, I would like to go for something like "Devdas" or "Dor". That is something challenging. Everyone does glamorous roles. It is tough to get something which is completely acting-oriented. Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi used to play these roles so beautifully," she said.
Marathi actress sighted with Sreesanth when he was nabbed, was his collection agent, suspect copsCops suspect the woman who was in Kerala cricketer's car when he was nabbed had gone to his hotel room a few days earlier to deliver paymentTurns out the Marathi actress spotted with now-ousted Rajasthan Royals cricketer S Sreesanth at the time of his arrest by Delhi police may have been doing more than adding a touch of razzle-dazzle to the proceedings. According to sources, the starlet was acting as a courier - collecting money from bookies and delivering it to the medium pacer.Sources also informed that the actress, who was seen at the cricketer's hotel room in the western suburbs a couple of days before the police action, would collect money on his behalf during his absence in Mumbai.Sources say that she may have gone to Sreesanth's room to tender some of the payout. City police officials reportedly recovered Rs 75,000 in cash during the raid conducted at Sreesanth's room in Sofitel Hotel on Friday night. `Though we don't have substantial evidence against her yet, she is indeed under surveillance,` added a police source. Both Sreesanth and the Marathi actress - who has done several television soaps and also acted in Bollywood films - partied at the Original Gourmet (Or-G) pub in Bandra after which Sreesanth walked into Royalty, the club, for some socialising. Cops have also established that the cricketer and his friends spent thousands of rupees in that one night before getting arrested. Meanwhile, in CCTV footage retrieved from Sofitel Hotel in BKC, Crime Branch has spotted two other models and a casting director entering the rooms booked by Sreesanth. `The girls entered around 6 am a day before the bowler was arrested, and they were seen emerging from the room around 10 pm.
Based on the videos, Crime Branch sleuths traced the casting director who mediated between Sreesanth and the models, and he was interrogated.
`He (the casting director) revealed that he had referred the girls to Sreesanth for endorsement campaigns of a t-shirt company named S36 Enterprises, which is owned by Sreesanth and a Hyderabad-based filmmaker,` a Crime Branch official said on the condition of anonymity.During Friday night's raid, cops had found Sreesanth's laptop and iPad in his room. The laptop had photos of several models. According to cops, so far they have not come across any concrete leads towards establishing that the casting director was supplying models to Sreesanth. During questioning, the director in fact told investigators that he had never let the girls interact with Sreesanth directly, as this would have impeded his chances of getting a cut from the endorsement deal.Meanwhile, taking the first step towards ending their lack of coordination ('Delhi police vs Mumbai Crime Branch may help fixers', May 20, MiD DAY), a team of Delhi police's Special Squad on Monday met Mumbai's joint commissioner of police, Crime Branch, Himanshu Roy, asking him to share information in the spot-fixing case. Cops here yesterday produced arrested bookies Ramesh Vyas (52), Pandurang Kadam (41) and Ashok Vyas (41) in a court that remanded them to police custody till May 22. Cracking the bookie code - Crime Branch is now searching for bookies code-named P Jaipur, Bunty Jaipur, Lokesh Delhi, Master Jaipur, Kothari, Bablu, Ketan, K P Badri, Vickey, A A, Shoban, Paresh, Lotus, Rakesh Jaipur, Sanjay Jaipur, Nokka Jaipur, Tinku Delhi, Jatin Gujarat, Lambu Gujarat, Kishore Pune and Shrimurthi. Rs 75K - The amount reportedly recovered from Sreesanth's hotel room during the raid by Crime Branch
