Five years ago when Karan Johar made My Name Is Khan, he found the movie being targeted by a Hindu rightwing political party called Shiv Sena only because they had a grouse with Shah Rukh Khan that was completely unconnected to movies. Shah Rukh has a club cricket team and he had spoken in favour of allowing Pakistani players to play in the Indian Premier League. Activists of the party vandalised posters of the movie and they threatened to disrupt screenings. Courageously, Shah Rukh had refused to be cowed down or apologise for his views as had been demanded by them. The movie went on to be a hit but the experience must still have left a bad taste in Karan.
It is therefore, unfortunate that he once again finds a movie of his being targeted because of politics. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, directed by him, is set to release the end of this month. It is an ambitious project which has Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Anushka Sharma.
But the reason why another Mumbai-based political party called Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is targeting it is because the Pakistani actor Fawad Khan has a small role in it. Fawad was last seen in Kapoor & Sons and he has developed quite a good fan base in India, too, now. But with India and Pakistan having a major confrontation going on at the border following a terror attack on an Indian army camp, the MNS is demanding that Karan remove all scenes of Fawad from the movie otherwise they would disrupt its screening.
It is not a demand that any filmmaker can comply with since it would mean practically changing the script and shooting large parts of the movie again. And there is also the fact that it is not right to give in to such threats given that Pakistani artistes in India have nothing do with what is happening on the border or the tension between the two countries. So far Karan has not given any indication that he will accede but it is definitely a stressful time. Violent disruptions even by a handful of people is enough for theatre owners to pull a movie out due to fear. Hopefully, like My Name Is Khan, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil will also sail through.

A real ‘filmy’ parting
Strange are the quirks of fate, especially when it comes to relationships. It was half a decade ago that Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif began dating and just when it was speculated that they could be entering into something more permanent, came news that the two had split. They had been with each other for their birthdays as all lovers are, but last week when Ranbir celebrated his 34th birthday, the first since their break up, it was a different story.
Last year, on his birthday, he had been in London working and Katrina had flown in just to be by his side on the day. It is ironical that this time he was shooting again for Jagga Jasoos, a movie which also stars Katrina, and that, too, in Mumbai but while the entire crew of the movie got together to celebrate his birthday, the one important person missing was Katrina, who went for some other engagement.
Obviously, she did not want to be part of it given that the only reason the two are working together is because it was a movie they signed on before their split and it would have been very unprofessional with huge financial implications if they had backed out of it. Later that night, Ranbir’s parents and family threw a bash for him where many film stars attended. Once again, predictably, Katrina was not seen.

Golmaal Again hits a bump with female ‘support’ cast
It would have been hard to see anyone not wanting to do a Rohit Shetty movie a year ago, but then there was the debacle of Dilwale. Rohit is now making Golmaal Again. The first three Golmaals were big hits and it seems like a safe strategy to revert to a tried and tested product to get another hit under his belt and re-bolster his reputation. But, Kareena Kapoor who has been the lead actress in two of the earlier Golmaals is now pregnant and unable to be part of it. According to rumours, Shetty offered the role to Alia Bhatt, who seemed to be favourably inclined, but at one point abruptly backed out citing date issues. There could be two reasons for it — the Golmaal movies are mindless comedies and heroines have little to do in it and so Alia, who has built a reputation for doing performance driven roles, might just have thought it not interesting enough. Or, it is said, that she might be influenced by the Karan Johar and Ajay Devgn spat over their two movies Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay releasing on the same day. Ajay has always been the hero of the Golmaal movies while Karan is Alia’s mentor of sorts having given her a break in Student of The Year.

Dad hints Hrithik may yet nail Kangana spat with a ‘shocker’
After fireworks a few months ago, the bizarre public spat between Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut seemed to have died down. It began with Kangana hinting that Hrithik got her dropped from a movie because he was an ex-lover and Hrithik denying that they ever had an affair. While no names were being taken in the beginning, the lid blew off the scandal when lawyers’ notices were leaked to the press. But then wiser counsel seems to have prevailed and both beat a hasty retreat. But it seems like the truce is only temporary, going by the words of Hrithik’s father Rakesh Roshan to a newspaper. He is making the fourth edition of the superhero flick Krrish and it was in this context that the interview was being done when a question was slipped in about his response to the Hrithik-Kangana dispute.
He said that Hrithik did not speak against Kangana in public despite the lies being spread because his son chose to be dignified and that when he does speak people will be shocked. And not just that, he added that Hrithik might just put his version out after he finishes the movie he is working on.

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