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15 Unrepentant Maya Khan fired! g
Morning show host refuses to apologise for chasing dating couples in Karachi LAHORE
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aYa kHan, a morning show host who earned the ire of people across the country when she accosted ''immoral'' couples dating in karachi's parks has been fired by her channel, samaa tV. the channel acted against Maya khan after she failed to offer an unconditional apology for her show that was criticised by ordinary Pakistanis and media analysts. scores of people signed petitions asking samaa to take action against her for harassing dating couples on her show "subha savera Maya khan ke saath". in response to numerous complaints against khan over the week, samaa's chairman Zafar siddiqi wrote in an email: "We asked Maya to apologise unconditionally which she did not. the CEO asked her to do that on Friday which she refused". siddiqi, also the founder of CnBC africa and CnBC Pakistan, said khan and her team would "receive termination notices" on January 30 and her show would be stopped the same day. khan initially refused to apologise for her show against dating, in which she was seen asking couples to prove they were married by showing their 'nikahnama'
MUMBAI: Vidya Balan poses during the promotion of her new movie ‘Kahaani’. AFP
deepika-Sidhartha heading towards spiltsville? MUMBAI zeeneWS
Wajiha and Sana
Shafqat Amanat Ali
‘Barfi!’ turns to B-schools for
help
by the media as saying that the "elite" who do not watch her show were the ones objecting to it. Media analysts said khan's actions were probably driven by the race for ratings among Pakistan's dozens of tV channels. some nGOs highlighted the lack of media regulations and said they intended to approach the courts to take action against samaa tV. khan invited the wrath of hundreds of Pakistanis when she and her team tried to drill moral sense into young couples dating in parks. she chased couples along with a posse of young and not-soyoung women and two "analysts" who gave insight into the dating behaviour of couples and commented on their body language. While most couples made good their escape seeing a horde of women approach them, some countered them bravely. "Do your parents know that you are here?" Maya khan asked a couple perched on a bench. "Do you know what people think of couples who date like this? Do you know how bad it is for the reputation of girls to be seen like this?" she charged. samaa chairman siddiqi said he hoped the action taken by his channel against khan would settle the issue. But media analysts said the episode had only highlighted the need for self-regulation by Pakistan's news and entertainment channels.
STaff RePORT
Reports about the growing closeness between Deepika Padukone and Ranbir kapoor have been coming in as the former lovers signed up for ayan Mukherjee’s next and have become quite the bum chums off late. so much so that Ranbir is wooing his ex girlfriend back with lavish gifts. the new found friendship has definitely given a blow to the Deepikasidhartha Mallya relationship. the couple who were seen in every event hand in hand till last year have suddenly been making solo appearances at events. a source said, “since august 2010, they have made several appearances together. they have been strangely cold and aloof while talking about their relationship.” apparently, cracks started appearing when Deepika started talking to Ranbir again. sidhartha has apparently confided to some of his close pals that “the relationship is not working and heading nowhere.” While Deepika refused to comment, it seems the actress hasn’t even been in touch with sid for a significant amount of time.
or marriage certificate. samaa subsequently aired a formal apology for the show and beamed a short clip in which khan said she had never intended to hurt anyone. Many noted that khan had shown no remorse for her actions. she was also quoted
Ammar Aziz: A progressive Pakistani voice
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NEWS DESK
documentary, made by a film-maker and activist ammar aziz has been selected at the talent Campus of the Berlin international Film Festival 2012 which is one of the world’s leading film-related events. aziz, the only filmmaker to be selected from Pakistan, was chosen from over 4300 applicants from 137 countries.
Vidya-the ‘other woman’ in
Shah Rukh-Priyanka’s life? MUMBai: the Badshah of Bollywood seems to be losing out on his friends and fans of late. Rumours are abuzz that Vidya Balan, a huge fan of Shah Rukh till a few days ago, has now begun to talk about Salman Khan over him. the actress was heard saying that Salman is the ‘biggest star and my dad’s favourite too’. Speculations abound as to what might have been the reason behind Vidya’s dramatic change of track regarding favourites. now, the rivalry between Shah Rukh and Salman being a fact almost cast in concrete, Vidya talking about Salman being her ‘favourite’ might actually offer one an insight into what might have been the issue behind the scenes. word has it that Shah Rukh has been paying too much attention to actress Priyanka Chopra recently, and thereby sidelining Vidya at awards events. the latter is obviously not very happy with being ignored by Shah Rukh, and hence she has taken to talking about Salman over Shah Rukh. An alleged affair and rehearsals at 3am in the morning down the line, Shah Rukh and Priyanka have had a tough time wading through rumours and speculations. Speaking to a daily an insider said, “It’s clearly a Vidya vs PC face-
off as far as awards this year for the Best Actress go. But while Priyanka’s ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ flopped, Vidya’s ‘the dirty Picture’ is a superhit. not only that, even the industry is unanimous in their choice of who’s proven to be a better actress this year. But apparently this hasn’t gone down too well with Shah Rukh, who’s been trying to pitch PC over her at every occasion possible.” Vidya or Priyanka – that seems to be the question for Shah Rukh now. And on the other side, Shah Rukh or Salman- is the question for Vidya. will the two make it up in time? or will their relation too, turn into something sour? zeeneWS
the documentary, ‘Rise of the Oppressed’ is a strikingly realistic portrayal of the life and struggle of the power-loom workers of Faisalabad which takes us into their dark lives. Produced by a non-government labour organisation, Labour Education Foundation, it reflects the miseries, oppression and exploitation of the working class while it also celebrates their hopes and struggle for a society free of exploitation. the film was also screened in Brussels, Belgium at an event of sOLiDaR, a European network of 52 nGOs, where the Labour Education Foundation was awarded with the silver Rose award for 2011. to his credit, ammar aziz has made various documentaries on social issues which have been screened at various film and cause-related events all over the world. His interests include music and he contributed to Laal band’s recent hit ‘inqalab’ as a composer, vocalist and director. the 23 year old film-maker was recently included in the international Christian science Monitor’s ’30 under 30’ people from all over the world for his art and activism. ammar will be representing Pakistan’s leftist cultural activists in the Berlin international Film Festival which is going to take place in Germany’s capital from 11th- 17th February.
i didn't expect ‘Harry Potter’ to get an Oscar nomination: daniel Radcliffe TORONTO agencieS
Muggles the world over were upset and dismayed by the lack of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ Best Picture Oscar nomination this year, but it seems the film’s star, Daniel Radcliffe, isn’t that disappointed. in toronto promoting ‘the Woman in Black,’ Radcliffe seemed positively Zen about the lack of academy recognition. “i didn't expect it to be nominated for Best Picture, and no, it doesn’t faze us,” Radcliffe told Moviefone. not surprisingly, Radcliffe doesn’t really place a lot of weight on the academy awards as a whole and sits on the fence when it comes to winning one as an individual. “i have mixed feelings about awards for actors in general,” he said. “Obviously it's a lovely thing to be recognised by the public or by your peers, but it’s all very selfcongratulatory.” as for some British press talk of him winning an Oscar for ‘Woman in Black’? “that's very kind, but very insane.”
Sarah jessica Parker to star in ‘lovelace’ LOS ANGELES cBS
Filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman confirmed to Entertainment Weekly on Friday that the ‘sex and the City’ star will portray feminist icon Gloria steinem in the film. Demi Moore, who had been roped in to play steinem, pulled out of the film on tuesday, after she was hospitalised following a 911 call from her home the night before. the actress’ rep said she was being treated for “exhaustion” and to “improve her overall health.” Moore split from husband ashton kutcher in november. EW reports that Parker will begin shooting scenes for ‘Lovelace’ on Monday in new York. the film stars amanda seyfried as Xrated actress Linda Lovelace, who became famous for her role in the 1972 film ‘Deep throat.’ the cast also includes Peter sarsgaard, James Franco and Chloe sevingy.
Ghanta awards to ‘celebrate’ Bollywood’s worst MUMBai: Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Anurag Kashyap are among the nominees for this year's ghanta and golden Kela Awards, which are India's version of the Razzies. Salman and Shah Rukh have been nominated in the worst actor categories at the ghantas while ‘don 2’ has been nominated in the ‘worst Rip-off’ category for imitating “every hollywood action film”. Anurag Kashyap tweeted he would collect his ghanta award in person if his film, ‘that girl in yellow Boots’, wins in the “holierthan-thou” films category. here are some of the other nominations:worst Film: ‘Ra.one’, ‘Bodyguard’ ‘Ready’, ‘Mausam’. worst holier-than-thou Movie: ‘dhobi ghat’, ‘no one Killed Jessica’, ‘that girl in yellow Boots’, ‘Memories in March’, ‘Shaitan’. worst Actor: Salman Khan – ‘Bodyguard’, ‘Ready’, Shah Rukh Khan – ‘Ra.one’, ‘don 2’, Ajay devgn – ‘Rascals’, ‘Singham’, ‘dil toh Baccha hai Ji’, Sanjay dutt – ‘Ra.one’, ‘Rascals’, ‘Chatur Singh 2 Star’, ‘double dhamaal’, ‘desi Boyz’, Vinay Pathak –‘Utt Patang’, ‘tere Mere Phere’, ‘Chalo dilli’, ‘Bheja Fry 2’. worst Actress:
Kangna Ranaut- ‘game’, ‘Miley na Miley hum’, ‘double dhamaal’, ‘tanu weds Manu’, ‘Ready’, ‘Rascals’, nargis Fakhri- ‘Rockstar’, Jacqueline Fernandez – ‘Murder 2’, gul Panag‘turning 30’, Bipasha Basu- ‘dum Maaro dum’. worst Song: ‘dhinka Chika’, ‘Jalebi Bai’, ‘Bodyguard’ title track, ‘dum Maaro dum’, ‘Chammak Challo’. wtF was that: Akshay Kumar going to oxford University in desi Boyz, ghost Rape in haunted 3d, the unexplained science behind the science fiction part of ‘Ra.one’. how Sonam Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor don’t manage to exchange a measly phone number over 10 years in Mausam. thats Anything But Sexy: 3 girls conned by Ranveer Singh’s looks and acting abilities. Ram gopal Verma’s camera angles in ‘not A love Story’. Anything involving Kangana Ranaut in ‘Rascals’. Akshay Kumar as london’s most in-demand male escort in ‘desi Boyz’. Any time Shahrukh Khan says “Junglee Billi” in ‘don 2’. agencieS