Madhur Bhandarkar honoured in New York

If you thought that Madhur Bhandarkar was missing from the scene of late, think again as he is back in action and how! Yesterday, he was honoured with the prestigious 'New York Citizen's Achievement Award'. The proclamation was made by Dhyaneshwar Muley, Counsel General of India.

Talking about this 'surprise honour', Madhur, who is presently holidaying in New York, said that he is highly honoured to receive the Citizen's Award. He added that the award makes a filmmaker believe that he or she must be doing something right. He also thanked the people of New York and Dhyaneshwar Muley for finding him a fit for the honour.

Akshay survives truck mishap

It was a miraculous escape for Akshay Kumar on Monday evening during the shooting of Thuppakki remake. A truck passed over his foot while he was filming an action sequence. Luckily he didn't suffer from any major injuries.

"It all happened so suddenly though Akshay managed to get himself out of the truck's way. Unfortunately his foot got caught under the wheels," informs a source, "Though Akshay is a tough man, this was quite painful. He was immediately rushed to the hospital." Doctors too feared the worst as they conducted the X ray. They had all the right reasons to believe that there would be a few broken bones. However they were shocked on seeing that only some tissues were damaged and the bones were all intact.

"His treatment is on but he is back home now", says a close associate of the actor, "This is the second time in last few weeks that he has injured his foot. It is his fitness though which is keeping him going. Anyone else in his place would have been distraught but he is thankful to God that there hasn't been a major incident. With as many as 4 films on floors and over 500 crores riding on him, he can't afford to lie down." No wonder, after a forced break of a day, Akshay plans to resume work even though he is not quite back on his feet.

Varun Dhawan in Sriram Raghavan's next?

Varun Dhawan, who had a jumpstart in Bollywood with Karan Johar's Student Of The Year , is busy preparing for his next film tentatively titled Main Tera Hero, to be directed by his father David Dhawan. Meanwhile, news is that Varun might be signed for another film which will be an action thriller.

The said film which is scheduled to go on floors towards the end of this year will be directed by Sriram Raghavan and produced under Saif Ali Khan's banner Illuminati Films. There's also buzz that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be making her comeback into films post motherhood with this movie.

The official confirmation on the details is awaited.

Abhishek to play gangster in Shootout sequel

Sanjay Gupta's recent release Shootout At Wadala did very well at the box office. Now that the director- producer a successful comeback, he is already contemplating a third installment to the franchise.

In fact Gupta recently stated that he will next be restarting the long overdue Sanjay Dutt starrer film Alibaug , post which he will divert his attention to an 'Epic revenge saga', which turns out to be the third installment in the Shootout franchise. Further Gupta says that he is looking forward to casting Abhishek Bachchan alongside John Abraham in the film.

Though the film is yet to be titled, we hear that Abhishek will be seen playing the character of a real life Hindu gangster while John's character will be based on the real encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar. While Abhi and John take the lead, the rest of the cast will comprise of an ensemble crew.

Sanjay Dutt shifted to Yerwada in Pune

Sanjay Dutt who surrendered last week, post his sentencing by the TADA court, was shifted to Pune's Yerwada prison. He will spend the next 42 months there to complete his jail term.

The 53 year old actor, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case for illegal possession of weapons, has earlier served time twice there. However, unlike earlier when he was incarcerated while under trail, Dutt will now be spending time as a convict. The actor will hence have to wear jail uniform this time; he will be allotted a 'qaidi' or prisoner number soon, which will be prefixed with letter 'C' symbolizing that he is a convict.

The actor is expected to be lodged in what is known as the "Anda cell" at the Pune jail, which is egg-shaped. Half of it is sunk into the ground and is considered one of the most secure cells in the prison.

Salman resumes Mental shoot

Salman Khan's next venture Mental which was recently stalled is all set to commence shooting once again. The shoot of the film which came to a halt post action artistes from south India raised an objection, stating that they were inadequately represented in the film, and that there was a bias in the remuneration between the artists from Mumbai and those from Chennai and Hyderabad.

Following this impasse the disgruntled artistes had approached FEFSI (Film Employees' Federation of South India) but even that hadn't helped, and they had returned to Chennai, abandoning the action schedule mid-way.

Apparently, Salman has now taken a decision to terminate their contracts and continue filming sans their presence. Furthermore, we hear that the actor and his producer brother have decided to do away with the film credits for the said artists since they have hardly shot for the film.

Ranbir Kapoor goes under the knife again

Just last week we reported that Ranbir Kapoor had injured his back while training for his film Bombay Velvet. Now we hear that the Kapoor lad has gone under the knife yet again. However, unlike most celebs who go in for cosmetic enhancements, Ranbir underwent a surgery to extract a cyst from his chest.

While the operation was successfully carried out on May 12, the actor was discharged soon after, and has been skipping around town promoting his film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani . This will be the second time Ranbir has undergone a similar operation, the first being during the shoot of Anurag Basu's Barfi .

Tusshar to launch his own production house

Having created a niche space for himself as an actor in Bollywood, Tusshar Kapoor now ventures into film production and will shortly announce the name of his production house along with the news of his first film.

Talking about his ambitions with the production house, Tusshar says, "My production house will surely carve its own niche in the industry. It won't be just another addition to the list of production houses which already exist. I won't produce anything that is mediocre". Adding further, he says, "I will never make abstract, art house cinema. My films will be offbeat, but will also appeal to a mass audience. A good film eventually becomes commercially viable and that's what I am aiming for as a producer."

While details are tightly being kept under wraps, sources reveal that the actor is in talks and is already in the process of short-listing a script.

Preity calls for legalization of betting in IPL

With the recent IPL spot-fixing scandal rocking the sporting world and the spate of arrests made by the Mumbai police, one voice seems to stand out; and it's none other than the owner of the Punjab Kings XI, Preity Zinta.

In fact Ms. Zinta, who has till now been pretty vocal over the issue of spot-fixing, saying that stern action should be taken against the offender recommended certain solutions to fix the problem.

The change that Preity is currently recommending that can help put an end to such acts of betting, is apparently the legalization of betting. If what we here is true then Preity has recommended putting franchise owners in the IPL governing council, legalizing betting and carrying out random polygraph tests on players to help ascertain their links to the betting world.

Much like the random doping tests that are carried out, Preity suggests that players should also be subject to random polygraph tests to help dissuade errant players.

Box Office

Film Name	Net Gross	Verdict
Aurangzeb	16.71 Cr	-
I Don't Luv U	0.00 Cr	-
Gippi	4.50 Cr	-
Go Goa Gone	23.67 Cr	-
Shootout At Wadala	57.15 Cr	Above Average
Bombay Talkies	8.00 Cr	Above Average
Aashiqui 2	70.25 Cr	Hit
Ek Thi Daayan	26.00 Cr	Above Average
Commando - A One Man Army	21.00 Cr	Above Average
Nautanki Saala!	21.00 Cr	Above Average

Reviews

Film Name	Reviewer Name	Rating	Url
Aurangzeb	Taran Adarsh	2.00	URL
Aurangzeb	Meena Iyer	3.50	URL
Aurangzeb	Sukanya Verma	3.00	URL
Aurangzeb	Mohar Basu	2.50	URL
Aurangzeb	Indo-Asian News	4.00	URL
Aurangzeb	Rohit Vats	2.50	URL
Aurangzeb	Rummana Ahmed	3.00	URL
Aurangzeb	Martin D'Souza	4.00	URL
Aurangzeb	Tushar Joshi	2.50	URL
I Don't Luv U	Renuka Vyavahare	2.50	URL