At Preity Zinta’s grand wedding reception in Mumbai, as always, Salman Khan stood out. But it was not his charisma alone. It was also because he had by his side Iulia Vantur, long time speculated to be his girlfriend but with whom he has rarely been seen in public. 
That the two came together more or less confirmed that they are in a relationship. So, have they now decided that it was time to make it public? And then there were the inevitable murmurs that the message was even more sensational — perhaps they were going to marry soon. For about three decades, India has been waiting for Salman to tie to the knot. A legion of female fans would go into sorrow but the vast masses expect someone they love to settle down like a member of the family. 
Unfortunately Salman has never made good on this expectation. But he is now over 50 and it is probably just about time. So when he walked in with Iulia at the reception, it was not surprising that tongues got wagging. But the man who unexpectedly found himself getting dragged into a controversy because of this was Salman’s younger brother Sohail Khan. He was coming out of a club with his father, Salim, late at night when two television reporters asked the latter about Salman’s marriage plans. 
Salim made a light humorous comment and moved on but something seemed to have snapped in Sohail who returned to the reporters and let off a flurry of abuse, castigating them for thrusting a mike against his father’s face. It was all on camera and found its way online too becoming a big issue about his rude behaviour. Obviously there was now firefighting needed to be done to salvage the situation and Sohail offered a qualified apology saying that he was only doing his duty as a son. 
Salman himself was asked about the incident at an event and reiterated what Sohail had said. He said that it was alright if mikes were thrust against him or his brother because they were young but his father was aged and Sohail would naturally be concerned when something like this happened. And that it was absurd that someone should be doing this at 11 o clock in the night to ask a question about his marriage. There is obviously an exaggeration there about the danger that a mike represents but the point about privacy should be well taken by the media.


Missing lady


Nargis Fakhri is one of the actresses of Housefull 3, the third edition of the slapstick comedy franchise. The movie is set to release soon and promotions are on. But Nargis is missing from the action and instead is said to have gone to New York. 
The touted reason was that she was undergoing through a spell of ill health and wanted to recover. But apparently, there is more to it than that. A gossip website said that she had been asked to stay away from the promotions because a dance reality TV show’s producers had blacklisted her because she had been rude and non-participatory when present there to promote Azhar, her last recent release. 
But that might be idle speculation because it is hard to see the makers of Housefull 3 banning her over such a flimsy reason. Instead, the more plausible explanation is the recent break-up that is said to have happened with her rumoured boyfriend Uday Chopra. Something painful like that does make one stay away from the public eye. 


Ash again


Last week saw the return of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan once again to the big screen in the movie Sarabjit, playing the sister of a man who is accused of espionage and terrorism in Pakistan but who his family insists was just a farmer who strayed by mistake when drunk over a porous border. 
This is her second movie following a comeback last year after a long post-motherhood hiatus. But Jazbaa had flopped badly and so Aishwarya has much resting on Sarabjit. Like Jazbaa, this is also a heroine-centric movie, which meant that the movie revolves around Aishwarya’s character.  
But the problem with being at the centre is that you get the responsibility both for the movie becoming a hit as well as a flop. While it is too early to say how Sarabjit will fare, many movie critics haven’t exactly raved about Aishwarya’s acting in it, finding it shrill and over the top in many places. 
As it is, a movie like this has a very limited probability of being a big hit, so even if the acting falls short then Aishwarya will see her demand somewhat reduced. Off the screen however she continues to retain her allure. Like when she went to the Cannes Film Festival and after she walked the red carpet, the newspapers were full of how she had put on purple lipstick. 
In some ways Aishwarya continues to have a magnetic attraction to the media, a mystique that helped considerably in making her the leading actress of Bollywood for a long time despite not having too many blockbusters to show for it. 


Loose talk


It can be problematic to give an honest opinion if you are in Bollywood. Even someone like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who generally speaks his heart, can end up in a tangle. Recently, in an interview he was asked about Indian actors making it in Hollywood. He replied that to make it in Hollywood what one needed more than talent was a good agent. The statement was interpreted as him making a snide comment on the success of Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, who have both had some pretty good Hollywood projects. 
Nawazuddin was forced to issue a clarification that that was not his intention and obviously talent was necessary to get breaks in Hollywood but a strong agent was also needed. There is also a possibility that his jibe was in fact meant for Irrfan Khan who has done many Hollywood movies. It is rumoured that Nawazuddin and Irrfan have a rivalry going on even though they are probably the two best actors of Bollywood. 


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