Mind Boggling: Transistor in 'pk' to be sold for Rs 1.5 crore?

After inspiring jokes on social media, the transistor in 'pk' gets a Rs 1.5 crore offer

In the build up to the release of film 'pk', the poster of Aamir Khan in the nude posing with a transistor did get the attention of fans and the moral police alike. The latest news is that an online auction site offered Rs 1.5 crore for the transistor which was purchased for a mere Rs 227 from Mumbai's Chor Bazaar!

A spokesperson cautiously confirmed the news without divulging the financial details, "We have been offered a lot of money for the transistor."

However, the actor is unconvinced by his marketing team's opinion for arranging to sell the transistor. "Aamir feels that something so integral and important to his character shouldn't be given away," adds the source.

While the marketing team continues to coax Mr Perfectionist to reconsider his decision, Anushka Sharma is said to have made a personal request with Aamir andd director Raju Hirani to allow her to keep the transistor as a memento.

It'd be interesting to see in whose house the transistor finally ends up.

Sona doesn't want to follow her dad?

Sonakshi Sinha says she likes discussing politics with her actor-politician father Shatrughan Sinha but has no intent of trying her luck in it.

The 27-year-old 'Rowdy Rathore' star said politics is not her cup of tea and she would like to concentrate on films only.

"I will never join politics. There is no possibility for me to join politics. I am a creative person and I always want to do something creative in my life," Sonakshi told PTI.

The 'Action Jackson' actress, however, said off late she has started taking interest in political affairs.

"My interest started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government came at the center. I often talk to my father about this because everyone wants to know what our PM and government are doing and I also have interest in this," she said.


Shatrughan is the sitting MP from Patna Saheb. His daughter was here to attend the inaugural event of Kabaddi World Cup. She even owns a Kabaddi team United Singhs in the World Kabaddi League.

Sonakshi will be next seen in Arjun Kapoor-starrer 'Tevar', which is scheduled for release on January 9, 2015.

The Dirty Picture: When Sexual Offences Came Haunting the Bollywooders

With no offences to anyone, I guess there is no denying the fact that controversies and scams are two such evils prevailing under this sky who are most unbiased. We are saying so because we have witnessed, even the repute of some of the biggest names of showbiz getting dented because of their direct or indirect association with the scandalous happenings.

And in the recent past a new unholy trend has started picking up in tinsel town where names of some of our much adored showbiz icons have started surfacing in sex related offences. So after seeing the frequent surfacing or rather re-surfacing of the names of our tinsel towners in sex relating offences we guess even Indian showbiz is not controversy-proof. With the latest incident which took place in tinsel town where PC's name made it to headline because of a sex racket on her property and Shweta Basu's acquittal from the flesh trade racket, here we bring for some of the instances when SEX-RELATING OFFENCES came haunting the Bollywooders. So have a look...
Priyanka Chopra

Though there is no direct or indirect association of Piggy Chops with this recently surfaced flesh trade scam, but as it has taken place on the property which she owns, therefore she has to bear the brunt, courtesy her tenant Manik Soni to whom she leased out the premise to run a spa.
Shweta Basu

Albeit finally court has acquitted Shweta from the charges pertaining to her alleged involvement in flesh trade racket due to lack of evidences against this National award winning actress. But when her name surfaced in the scandal in the recent past it literally left everyone dumbstruck. And what further added fuel to the fire was a derelict rumor claiming actress' accepting her being into this flesh trade morass due to some financial calamities and her making a revelation about the involvement of some big names in this dirty game.
Misti Mukherjee

Probably her small cine stints in movie like Main Krishna Hoon, Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi wouldn't have brought that much of fame for Mishti which the reports of her alleged involvement in a pornographic CD scandal fetched. Mishti's family holiday in Goa literally turned into a nightmare for her and her entire family when Mumbai cops raided her rented accommodation in January this year and recovered more than 250,000 pornographic CDs.

In this connection actress' father and brother were booked under section 292 (sale of obscene material) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66 (A), 67 (A), and 67 (B) of the IT Act, but were later released on bail.
Ankit Tiwari

He mesmerized every one by the spell of his voice when he crooned for Aashiqui 2. But everyone who went gaga over the velvety voice of Anikt was literally shattered when news about this budding singer's raping a woman made it to news arena.

In May this year Ankit along his Ankur was taken into custody by Versova Police after a 28-year-old advertising professional and former's rumored girlfriend filed a police complaint against him alleging rape and criminal intimidation.
Shiney Ahuja

Shiney would have climbed the great heights in Bollywood had he not landed in a legal soup in 2009 for some wrong reasons. In the said year when Shiney's name made it to headlines for raping his maid, it shook the entire film industry.

And this wiggling of showbiz was quite obvious because after seeing Shiney excelling in his debut flicks nobody would have thought it in his or her remotest dreams that some day the name of this otherwise talented actor will surface in such a heinous crime. Soon after the filing of complaint Shiney was arrested and even the medical reports confirmed his involvement in the crime.
Inder Kumar

Well after landing behind the bars possibly Inder would have realized that a "Gahar Ki Dal" is better than "Baahar Ki Biryaani". The actor who shared the screen space with some of the biggest stars of Bollywood like Salman and Akshay Kumar too had a rendezvous with misfortune when his "beer and skittles" endeavor with a budding starlet went awry, and the actress lodged a complaint against Inder for raping her and inducing the physical torture on pretext of giving her a role in the movie.

Even Inder who was booked under article 376 (rape), 324 (causing grievous hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC at the time of interrogation admitted his being into a sort of "Hi And Bye" relationship with the budding actress. He further revealed that he indulged into this taboo because if his ongoing stringent relationship with his wife.
Subhash Kapoor

Even creator of critically acclaimed cinematic gem Subhash Kapoor had to face great embarrassment when journo-turned actress Geetika Tyagi accused him of molestation. In a shocking revelation made to media Geetika alleged that the incident took place May 2012, but then she could not file the complaint due to the lack of evidence and Subhash's wife who begged her to let go the matter as it would not only ruin their lives, but will also impact the future of their son.

Off late in order to expose Subhash, Geetika along with her boyfriend Atul Sabharwal made a confessional video of Subhash and eventually uploaded it to social networking website with the caption `Subhash Kapoor's True Face`.
Dibakar Banerjee

Dibakar may have been one of the most creative director of Bollywood, but once his craving for perfection landed him in a legal tangle when his former friend Payal Rohtagi leveled some serious allegations against him. While revealing what transpired between her and Dibakar, Payal alleged that one night Dibakar dropped by her house and asked her to lift her shirt after raising some concern over her wait gain.

Payal further added that as she refused to do what Dibakar asked, the latter pushed her out of his film, "Shanghai" for which she was earlier shortlisted.

On the other hand, in order to clarify his stance Dibakar released a statement saying that," "I spoke professionally, saying that she would need to shed weight if she wanted the role. There was no demand from anyone that she lift her top.` Eventually this controversy too died a slow death and the two moved ahead in their respective lives.
Madhur Bhandarkar

In 2004 even National award winning director Madhur had a tryst with sleepless nights when a struggling actress Preeti Jain filed a complaint against him accusing him of raping her between 1999 and 2004. In her complaint Preeti alleged that she had sex with Madhur 16 times and in lieu of which Madhur promised to cast her in his next movie. Preeti further alleged that, when she refused to give Madhur the sexual favor as he didn't cast her in his movie, he raped her.

Eventually nothing concrete came out against Madhur and Supreme Court dismissed the rape charges against him.
The Dirty Game of Casting Couch
Besides above mentioned crimes there is another "Evil" in showbiz which has now turned into an inseparable part of it and that is "Casting Couch". And surfacing of some of the renowned names like Shakti Kapoor, Aman Verma et al in last couple of decades in casting couch cases is one of the conspicuous example of the existence of the same.


So now after seeing the rising and the dying down of many controversies pertaining to sex-offences in our tinsel town. We guess such controversies have now become a part and parcel of showbiz, and there are very rare possibilities of their withering away from this glittering world which also has a spectrum of darkness on the hind side.

Emraan Hashmi: Always felt like an outsider in the industry

In a freewheeling interview, Emraan Hashmi talks about ego wars, box office duds, why rom-coms totally turn him off and why he feels he doesn't fit into Bollywood

Despite having spent over a decade in the industry, Emraan Hashmi still feels he doesn't fit into Bollywood and he might never do.
Why were you the only one promoting your film Ungli? Randeep Hooda and Kangana Ranaut didn't seem too keen...
I have no idea. Everyone has their own professional ethics and I don't question or judge them. I do what I do. I don't make my decisions the way they make their decisions. There's a reason why they do it. I have my reasons to promote it.
You okay dealing with other people's egos and problems by now?
I am used to it. I have been used to it for a while now. I haven't done any ensemble films so I don't know how it works - how ego walks in, what goes wrong, what goes right and why people promote it or don't promote it. It's very simple - I do a film, I allot days to shooting, I assign days to promotions. I am okay with most things so when I am not okay with something, I am not okay with it. I give out adequate days to the producers. I am in on this job as an actor. I see it as a profession.
What do you look for in a script when it's offered to you?
I look for an interesting journey for me as an actor and character - a film which would challenge me. There are two kinds of films - one that satiates the artistic and creative need and the other, one does for the box office. I look for a film that solves both the purposes. This rarely happens because in our cinema, a few things are fixed. The guy gets the girl; the guy bashes the villain... the boring stuff. We have to do the boring stuff.
How do you deal with box office failure?
I didn't even care if the film did great at the box office. For me, it was always just doing the job. I don't like flying too high and I don't like getting demoralised. I have seen enough criticism in my career. In fact, I am my worst critic. Thankfully, I didn't get the dream start in the industry, so such stuff does not bother me. I had people tell me that I would never make it as this place wasn't for me. People say such stuff when films don't fare well. But when you are sure of your film's integrity, the only way to go is up. Yes, the last one and a half years haven't been that great. There have been good films that haven't worked, which is kind of scary.
There are stars who disown the film if they don't do well.
I don't do that. That's why I've always felt like an outsider in the industry-I don't function the same way. I get emotionally attached but detach myself as much as I can when the movie hits the theatres. I keep my flops closer than my hits - I cherish my failures, they make me stronger. Hits on the other hand, make you complacent. I don't see mistakes as a bad thing. I would encourage my son to make mistakes. You've got to make 10 mistakes to know what that one right is.

Isn't it a setback when there are a string of flops?
We are in an industry in which 80 per cent movies don't do well. I give my 100 per cent to every film. After that, nothing matters. I would feel bad if I disowned things. I wouldn't probably sleep at night.
Any particular way in which you think you've changed since your first film?
I've made mistakes; I've had successful films. That's the brilliant thing with this industry - you're always learning along the way. Things tend to get easier, but then that's scary because you stop testing yourself. You always do films that test you as person and as an actor. You always seem to set the clock back to zero, somehow. I am being paid more...that's changed!
What kind of films you want to produce?
For starters, I'd need a good script. I know what I won't do. I won't do a typical rom-com. I can't stand those! They're extremely misleading. Love in real life is not that way. I don't like Hugh Grant and I don't like the kind of movies he stars in. I'd rather do an intense love story that is closer to reality.
The kisser tag is difficult to brush off even now?>
That was one crappy trend to start. But Aamir was doing it before I was!

On a serious note, I didn't choose films that way. I was being offered films that went with my bold image one after the other and then Bollywood took a new turn. Now, 10 years later, you have this new bunch of kids taking it a step further.
Alia Bhatt said she'd give you competition now.
Bring it on, man! (breaks into a chuckle)

Bollywood's dark horses that stole the show this year

We highlight some performances in 2014 which left a lasting impact in the audiences' mind, even though the actors were not playing the lead...

In the current scenario, it's a given for the stars of a given film to steal all the available thunder. And nobody complains much, either. However, cinema is a collaborative process and it's not just the leading roles that lend a film its character. Many a times, smaller but significant roles gleam like gems and get noticed due to their talent. 2014 hasn't been short in this particular department as hitlist takes you on a walk through some of the performances by actors who did not really helm the film but certainly left an edible mark on audience's mind...
Lisa Haydon

Film: 'Queen'
Director: Vikas Bahl
Highlight of the performance: Lisa portrayed an Indian girl who is based in Paris. She's not only a single mother but also a remarkably carefree person. It was a tailor-made role for Lisa and it helped her gain loads of attention from the critics as well as audience. Though the story focused on Kangna Ranaut's pivotal character, Lisa provided the much-needed relief factor.
Tahir Raj Bhasin

Film: 'Mardaani'
Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Highlight of the performance: Unlike a lot of his peer, Tahir took intensive training in acting before stepping on the big screen. And it clearly showed! After smaller roles here and there, the actor struck gold with 'Mardaani' where he played a negative role. Though the film was all about female cop and human trafficking, Tahir's mean act attracted rave attention, even from the likes of Aamir Khan.
Ali Fazal

Film: 'Bobby Jasoos'
Director: Samar Shaikh
Highlight of the performance: Ali proved his mettle in films like '3 Idiots', 'Fukrey' and so on. Even if 'Bobby Jasoos' was basically about a female detective's rather strained relationship with her father and how she solved a case, Ali was impeccable as her prospective groom. What was interesting to note was his comfortable graph in front of an established actress.
Inaamulhaq

Film: 'Filmistaan'
Director: Nitin Kakkar
Highlight of the performance: He has worked as a scriptwriter and dialogue-writer before facing the camera but it was hard to see the difference between his behind-the-scene skills and in front of it. Playing a pirated CD vendor, he appeared more than just convincing in a role which was all about mistaken identity. The film was accentuated with his performance.
Neha Dhupia

Film: 'Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami'
Director: Ravindra Gautam
Highlight of the performance: Neha's role in this political satire was indeed interesting. Playing an astute mistress of a beleaguered politician, her only aim is to gain money as well as from his association. But the way her character invites pity as well as laughter merits a mention. The comic touch to her nautanki-laced dialogues came as a dose of relief in the film.
Aamna Sharif

Film: 'Ek Villain'
Director: Mohit Suri
Highlight of the performance: While throughout the film, every character seemed to be trying very hard to be cunning and intense, Aamna's role was simple and realistic. The charming actress played a nagging wife to Riteish Deshmukh's ambiguous man and her transition from argumentative middle class woman to a dutiful wife was intriguing to say the least.
Govinda

Film: 'Kill Dil'
Director: Shaad Ali
Highlight of the performance: After playing a sort of light-hearted major in 'Holiday', it was a refreshing change to witness the ever-colourful Govinda as a head of gang. It was one of those strong roles that the actor has shied away from in his heydays. Coming back to his role, he was not exactly mean but it was a delight to see him stepping out of his comfort zone.
Abhishek Bachchan

Film: 'Happy New Year'
Director: Farah Khan
Highlight of the performance: Often it is said that in multi-starrer films of Bollywood, the actors don't get their said due - either commercially or critically. However Abhi's role in this film not only stood out but he pleasantly surprised everyone with his ease with the quirky language, mannerism as well as comic timing. He played both his character of tapori and dreaded villain with ease.
Tabu

Film: 'Haider'
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Highlight of the performance: After playing a forgettable role in 'Jai Ho', Tabu made a comeback with a bang in 'Haider'. Known for her measured performance, the seasoned actress simply killed it - in a good way, of course - as a conflicted woman. With her work in the Kashmir-based film, one can forgive her for being so choosy about her roles.
Seema Pahwa

Film: 'Ankhon Dekhi'
Director: Rajat Kapoor
Highlight of the performance: Seema Pahwa's character in the film is as subtle as she gets boisterous. Playing Sanjay Mishra's wife, she comes across the voice of reasoning as well as impatience. Although Mishra is the undoubted star of the low-budget film but she makes her presence felt with her overwhelming dialogues. We'd love to see more of her.