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Pak Govt assures security to Lollywood's Meera (Go To Top)

    Islamabad: Pakistani film actress Meera, who has received threat calls from miscreants in her country for featuring on a steamy scene along with an Indian actor in Mahesh Bhatt's 'Nazar', has been assured of security by the Pakistan government. Meera, who was shooting for 'Nazar' in Mumbai, was planning to extend her stay in India after receiving such notorious calls, but has left for her home three days ago when she was assured safety by Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz following the complaints made by her. Interestingly, a petition is pending against her in the Karachi High Court for the "objectionable" scene in the HIndi film. The petitioner alleged that Meera had featured in "immoral scenes" that goes against Pakistan's religious and social values. According to a Pakistani TV channel, the country's Religious Affairs Ministry and Culture and Tourism Ministry are also party to the petition that asks the HC to put a ban on the film and direct Meera from not taking up such kind of roles in future. The court was also asked to ban the showcasing of the film in Pakistan as the controversial scenes were not reflective of their society.

Pak cinema owners pine for Bollywood fare (Go To Top)

     Lahore: Cinema owners in Pakistan have threatened to go on strike for indefinite period from April 2 if the government doesn't allow them to screen Indian movies and ban the telecast of such movies on local cable networks. The Nation quoted owner of Metropole Cinema Shiekh Akhtar as saying that the strike result was the outcome of short of supply of Pakistani movies and delay in the grant of permission for the exhibition of Indian movies. The cinema halls are finding it difficult to survive owing to this double dimension problem of short supply and audience pulling cable networks. Akhtar said that the supply was not meeting the rising demand as only two or three movies had been reaching the market annually during the recent years. Moreover, people have stopped visiting cinemas in the wake of telecasting of movies on cable networks. According to him, while most of the cinemas had been already closed down some were making both ends meet by exhibiting old movies. The association is arguing that the exhibition of Indian movies should be allowed at cinemas as the cable networks were already telecasting the same films. The paper quoted a source as saying that the owners were urging the government to re-impose the entertainment tax on cinemas but allow exhibition of Indian movies.

Michael Jackson on the verge of bankruptcy (Go To Top)

     London: Troubled singer Michael Jackson may be on the verge of bankruptcy with as much as 300 million dollars in debt, prosecutors in his child abuse case claimed. According to the Telegraph, Gordon Auchincloss, the assistant district attorney, told the court yesterday that Jackson could be heavily in debt and might have 400 million dollars in liabilities. His financial troubles "will all come crashing down on him in December of 2005", Mr Auchincloss said. "All we are looking for is a concise snapshot of the defendant's financial condition," he added.

Does Michael Jackson wear a wig? (Go To Top)

     London: After the false nose, now its Michael Jackson's hair that has sparked speculations, with hair experts claiming that he might be wearing a wig. Jackson, who was in the hospital for back trouble, instantly rushed to the court for a hearing, in a dishevelled state revealing a mesh cap with false hair strewn into it. "It is definitely a wig ... and one of the worst I have ever seen," top British hairdresser Feleny Georghiou was quoted by the Sun as saying. "The big giveaway is at the top of the forehead where you can quite clearly see where the hair has been sewn in. It was pristine. Only hair from a wig falls in that way," she added.

Star Wars sequel to be dark and diabolical (Go To Top)

    New York: "Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith" will be dark and disturbing and may warrant for parental guidance for the first time since the series began nearly 30 years ago, revealed director George Lucas. The film, which opens in May, "is much more dark ... more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy," he added. Lucas explained that Anakin Skywalker's transformation from cute good guy into the evil Darth Vader features a scene that could scare little kids. Landing on a volcano-ridden planet called Mustafar, Skywalker makes "a pact with the devil," he says. "The lava at the end ... it ends in hell."

Gwen Stefani tops the leggy poll (Go To Top)

     Washington: Singer and actress Gwen Stefani has the best celebrity legs, according to an In Touch magazine poll. The Aviator star beat Uma Thurman, Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz to come out on the top, reports RatetheMusic. Evergreen Tina Turner's name features in the list at number six , surprisingly ahead of names like Britney Spears, Anna Kournikova and Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

      The best legs as per the poll: 1. Gwen Stefani 2. Uma Thurman 3. Jennifer Lopez 4. Cameron Diaz 5. Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) 6. Tina Turner 7. Britney Spears 8. Anna Kournikova 9. Hilary Swank 10. Liz Hurley

Travolta does not drink Heineken (Go To Top)

     London: John Travolta has said that he is a teetotaler and that he gave up drinking alcohol forever after getting drunk just once. Just two days after launching a major beer promotion campaign for Heineken , Travolta has told a Serbian magazine that he turned a teetotaller after getting drunk just once. "After that, I realised alcohol was not for me.I drink water even with my lunch and dinner. Occasionally I drink some tea, but mostly I drink just water", Fox TV quoted Travolta as saying. Beer giant Heineken which has spent millions, jointly with MGM and Twentieth Century Fox, on the world-wide promotional campaign for Be Cool, the sequel to Travolta's Get Shorty declined to comment on whether the ads would be dropped and also whether Travolta drank coloured water in the ads.

Martha Stewart out of jail but still in chains (Go To Top)

    New York: Martha Stewart, the billionaire lifestyle expert who was recently released from prison, now, has a new accessory, an anklet, which is actually an electronic monitoring device that links her to the U.S. Probation Department for the next five months while she's under home confinement. Stewart had been in prison for the past five months on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Now the anklet will help the police to keep a tab on her, which will set off an alarm to probation officials if she strays from her itinerary, according to the New York Daily News.

Next Star Trek movie to move back in time (Go To Top)

     London: The next Star Trek movie will move back 160 years before the birth of Captain Kirk. While the original Star Trek - featuring Kirk, Spock, Sulu and Scotty - was set in the 2260s, Erik Jendreson, who is writing the 11th movie has revealed , he's setting this one only 100 years from now. "We're going 160-odd years before Kirk is born. It's an earlier time, and I think it would be really refreshing to feel something in the course of telling this tale, instead of being wowed by special effects, or presenting another crew in jeopardy where, in the end, the captain does something brilliant, and all's right with the world", syfyportal quoted Erik as saying. Erik also stressed that the movie would not be a spin-off of the recently cancelled TV series Enterprise. "There is a lot of misinformation out there, negative speculation and ill-will.Everybody just needs to just take a Romulan chill pill and have some faith.Everything that has gone down over the last few years has not been lost on the gentlemen involved in this effort.I think it would be wonderful to bring a whole new generation into this world", The Sun quoted him as saying.

David Beckham to open his first soccer school in London (Go To Top)

    London: Soccer star, David Beckham who has been planing to launch a chain of soccer training centres around the world, is all set to start the first of his soccer schools in London. The 29-year-old Real Madrid star, who was inspired by the Bobby Charlton soccer school as a youngster, feels, that his school, that initiates a network of youth coaching academies, would be the first of its kind. "David will be revealing the details of his plans, but this is just the first school", a spokesperson was quoted by Mirror as saying. "The next will be opened in Los Angeles and eventually he hopes to offer training to kids from every school in Britain", the spokesperson added.

Naomi Campell nets Samba sex symbol (Go To Top)

    London: Fiery supermodel, Naomi Campbell may have found her 'Mr. Right', in the Brazilian actor, Sergio Marone, who is 10 years younger to her. The duo have been reportedly dating since one month, after they met in the last month's Rio carnival, and are getting on well with each other despite the glaring differences in age and language. "It's early days but they've been getting on brilliantly. They enjoyed a very intimate lunch together at the posh Porcao steakhouse in Ipanema", the Mirror quoted one of the sources as saying. "They've been on a few dates now and Naomi seems really keen. We just hope the language barrier won't prove too much of a problem", the source added. "Sergio's a real catch," says our mole, "In Brazil he's a sex symbol and has loads of girls after him", the Mirror quoted one of the sources as saying. "He's a real laid-back guy and has a very different temperament to Naomi. Obviously opposites attract", the source added. Naomi has previously dated movie legend Robert De Niro, U2 bassist Adam Clayton and was widely expected to wed Formula One boss Flavio Briatore after a three year on-off romance.

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