Sanjay to produce film for Salman

Their chemistry and intense friendship was apparent ever since their Saajan days. This was further reiterated when they were hosting Big Boss – Season 5. And now, there are reports that Sanjay Dutt is going to produce a feature film for one of his closest buddies in Bollywood,Salman Khan.

A recent media report quoted Sanjay as saying that Salman and he have been the best of friends for almost all their lives but have rarely worked together. He went ahead to state his desire to produce a movie with his “bhai” (Salman) in a leading role. Sanjay, it seems, is looking out for a subject and script at present. Since the movie is supposedly dedicated to Salman, Sanjay wants to go with a script which suits the super-hit Khan. The movie’s genre is also not decided yet.

What’s more, Sanjay might not even act in the movie as an actor. Right now all he cares about is Salman liking the project and once that is done he will go ahead with finalizing other details like music, lead actress, etc.

Now this is one bhai-giri we all love!

Sahara part ways with BCCI, IPL

Sahara have pulled out of the IPL and ended Team India's sponsorship in a major blow to the BCCI.

Sahara, who joined the tournament last year with Pune Warriors withdrew from the T20 tournament minutes ahead of the auctions to be held in Bangalore today.

Here is Sahara's statement in full:
Our association with Team India was primarily emotional and all along, the journey was indeed, a privileged one for the entire Sahara India Pariwar. In 2001, cricket was not as rich but had become a religion in our country. We had requested the then BCCI President, Shri Jagmohan Dalmia to go for an open auction, for the Indian team’s sponsorship inviting only interested Indian Corporates, since it was not right that it should go to some MNC. But for obvious, unavoidable reasons, BCCI did not accept that.

After 03 months, one fine morning, our Hon’ble Chairman was told that the sponsorship had gone to an MNC. Immediately, our Chairman called Shri Dalmiaji and expressed his desire to take up the sponsorship. He responded quite positively and requested for a 10% increase in the price, which our Hon’ble Chairman immediately accepted.

Now after a 11-year journey as sponsors, we can say with surety that cricket has become very rich. Many rich people are there to support cricket with a strong will to do so. So, with absolute peace of mind we can exit from cricket under BCCI and are now exiting with a heavy heart. It was an emotional decision for us to start this sponsorship but our emotions were never appreciated and many genuine situations, were not given due consideration at all.

Our first entry into IPL was thwarted in 2008 when we were disqualified, owing to a small technicality on the whims and fancies of BCCI. Yet our Bid was not opened.

Last year, Sahara entered the IPL on the basis of information in the media and everywhere else that 94 matches will be played among 10 teams. The bid price was accordingly calculated, but only 74 matches were played. We are still pursuing continuously with the BCCI to refund the extra bid money proportionately. It has been denied on the basis of strict rules

In the interest of the tournament, we repeatedly tried our best to pursue the BCCI for open auction of all players so that we achieve level playing field and all teams are equally balanced from the quality players’ point of view. Again, as per BCCI’s strict rules it was denied and again, we were deprived of natural justice. 12 of the best players were retained by the existing teams then.

The two new teams then requested for allowing us at least one extra foreign player but that too was denied, quoting rules.

Once during a World Cup tournament, Sahara’s name was not allowed because there was a clash of our Airline with a South African airline. In two major tournaments, the team had to play without the ‘SAHARA’ logo. It was ICC’s decision so we could realize that it was for no fault of BCCI and we also did not want the players to suffer. As per the rules, we were not supposed to pay sponsorship money for those matches but we still paid the players share of the amount in entirety. Sadly, we never found BCCI believing in genuine give and take.

Furthermore, Shri Yuvraj Singh, who is truly like one of our family members, is, quite unfortunately, passing through a bad phase health wise, undergoing treatment for critical illness, overseas. Out of enthusiasm, he may like to come out on the ground after a few months. But any well-wisher who truly loves him, would never desire that he be allowed to play for the oncoming months. Our duty is to take care of him, so Sahara has decided to pay him his full fee this year with condition as a Guardian that his priority should be health care and he should not play till he has fully trecovered.

We requested the BCCI on the basis of the fact that we have only one Indian marquee player, that we be allowed to add price of Shri Yuvraj Singh in our auction purse, during the 4th February auction because we had later taken Shri Sourav Ganguly at 0.4 million. Again, we have been denied on the basis of the rule book. Yet again, a case of being denied natural justice.

We think this peculiar situation of Shri Yuvraj Singh is silent in the rule book because it probably talks only about players who are temporarily injured.

Incidentally, once during the Champion’s League tournament, one of the Indian IPL teams had a lot of injured players so they were rightly, out of natural justice, allowed to break the rules and take one extra foreign player. We appreciated this natural justice

We really feel such one-sided emotional relationship cannot be dragged any further. We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI/ However, we don’t want to give any problem to the BCCI and we also feel that the players should not suffer. BCCI will definitely take 2-4 months to get a new sponsor and we will continue paying the sponsorship money till then. All other IPL team players, coaches and other such associates will definitely get their due this year, in case they do not get a chance to play.

For this, our humble request once again to the BCCI is that through the right process and with strict rules/regulations, they should pass on our team to some other interested party immediately. We expect at least this much of our humble request will kindly be accepted after 12 years of our productive relationship with the BCCI.

We however, pray to the Almighty and sincerely hope & wish that Indian cricket attains greater heights of achievement & glory in the years ahead.

BCCI's statement:

We understand that Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has issued a statement in which it indicates an intention to withdraw from its involvement in Indian cricket, including as regards the Indian Premier League. We intend to contact Sahara Adventure Sports Limited as soon as practicable to clarify its intentions.

If we understand Sahara Adventure Sports Limited’s statement, it intends not to participate in the 2012 IPL Auction or in the 2012 IPL Season. During the last few days, Sahara Adventure Sports Limited has requested that IPL vary its Player Regulations by allowing it to increase its Auction Purse from $1.6m to $3.4m in light of Yuvraj Singh’s unfortunate illness. Whilst all within IPL and BCCI have a huge amount of sympathy for Yuvraj Singh and wish him all the best for a speedy recovery, it is unable to vary the Player Regulations.

The rules are very clear and are consistent with previous seasons: Sahara Adventure Sports Limited may take a replacement following the 2012 Auction. Additionally, the Trading Window will re-open on 6th February and Sahara Adventure Sports Limited will then have a further opportunity to take new players. In the first four seasons of IPL, other franchises have been obliged to cope with the periods of unavailability of their players and have taken replacements as per the regulations.

The BCCI cherishes its relationship with all the IPL Franchises. The rules are applicable to all of them.

Guardiola leaps to Messi defence

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has defended Lionel Messi's recent performances, insisting he is happy with his striker's form.

Messi missed a vital penalty in Wednesday's 1-1 Copa del Rey semi-final draw with Valencia, and has now gone three games without scoring since his hat-trick in a La Liga match against Malaga.

Despite still being one of the most dangerous players in Spain, many feel Messi is not playing at his best at the moment, a possible reason why Barca are currently trailing Real Madrid by seven points in the league.

However, Guardiola insists he has no concerns over the Argentinean's form, insisting he is still better than most even when he's not playing at his peak.

"Leo is always fine, he is very competitive," Guardiola said. "He has experienced many things and he always plays well, you already know my opinion.

"Without being at his best, he is superior to other players. He sometimes takes responsibilities without having to."

Guardiola also defended his star over the penalty miss on Wednesday which would have seen Barca take a potentially decisive lead into next week's second leg at the Nou Camp.

"When it comes to penalties, he is amazing," Guardiola added. "I hope that when he retires, he will [have kept up] his good record.

"What happens is that he spoils us. We are all here to help him, while knowing he needs little help. We are all more comfortable when Messi is on the pitch."

The Barca coach also dismissed suggestions they are currently undergoing a crisis, and is backing his players to assert their title credentials against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

"It is very hard to know what the team is missing. I have to be happy with what I have right now.

"Against Valencia we did not field Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [David] Villa or [Dani] Alves, players who are the soul of this team.

"[Still], we played in an exemplary way. Soon we will be fine.

"There is only one message, which is our match [against Sociedad]. Tomorrow [Saturday] we are playing and we have to win our match.

"We know ourselves and we know where we are. It is not necessary to say every week that the match we are going to play is important.

"We will be in trouble if we step onto the pitch wondering if the other clubs are losing. We will do our job and then we will see what the others do."

Barca also have a UEFA Champions League knockout round clash against Bayer Leverkusen to look forward to later this month.

Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn

Robin van Persie smashed a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed 10-man Blackburn to win in the Barclays Premier League for the first time this year.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also scored twice as Arsene Wenger saw his team close to just two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

Dutchman Van Persie fired the Gunners ahead inside two minutes, but a fine free-kick from Morten Gamst Pedersen brought Blackburn level.

Arsenal were soon back in front through skipper Van Persie, before Oxlade-Chamberlain extended the lead.

Gael Givet saw red for a two-footed challenge on Van Persie, and there was no way back for Rovers.

Arsenal dominated the second half, as Mikel Arteta and the impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain were both on target with Van Persie collecting the matchball following a neat near-post finish just after the hour.

Substitute Thierry Henry swept home goal number seven in stoppage time to cap a memorable afternoon at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners, who are up into fifth place, will be hoping for a Manchester United win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to improve their Champions League prospects for next season.

On Saturday, Wenger's side took just one minute and 19 seconds to move ahead.

Theo Walcott was played into the right side of the penalty area by Francis Coquelin after a cross was only half cleared.

The England winger, frequently maligned for his poor choice of final ball, played a low centre through the six-yard box to Van Persie who tapped in his 121st Arsenal goal to overtake Dennis Bergkamp on the all-time list.

The match had been brought forward to a 1pm start because of disruptions to the London Underground network, and there were plenty of empty seats around Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal, who had not recorded a league win in 2012, continued to press as the visitors, unbeaten in three away games including a shock win at Old Trafford, defended deep with two banks of four.

Paul Robinson turned a curling effort from Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky around the post.

But after 31 minutes, Laurent Koscielny bundled over Anthony Modeste just outside the Arsenal penalty area.

It proved a costly foul as Gamst Pedersen whipped the resulting free-kick over the wall and into the top-left corner, a shot which Wojciech Szczesny got a hand to but could not keep out.

After the restart, there was a stoppage when Blackburn's Jason Lowe went over on his ankle in a sliding challenge from Rosicky, and the midfielder was replaced by Bradley Orr to make his debut.

Arsenal were ahead again after 38 minutes, and again it was Walcott who was the provider.

Following patient build-up, Alex Song slipped the England man away down the right again, and he sprinted to cut the ball back from the goalline right into the path of Van Persie, who again made no mistake from a yard out.

Before Rovers could regroup, it was 3-1.

Walcott and Van Persie combined again, this time to release Oxlade-Chamberlain into the Blackburn penalty area, where he skipped around Robinson and slotted home his first Premier League goal five minutes from half-time.

The afternoon got worse for the visitors after 43 minutes when Givet was shown a straight red card by referee Andre Marriner for jumping in with two feet on Van Persie.

Rovers made an immediate tactical change as midfielder David Dunn was replaced by defender Grant Hanley.

The hosts went close again when Thomas Vermaelen crashed the ball against the far post from Arteta's floated cross.

Arsenal further extended their lead after 51 minutes.

Blackburn only half cleared a corner to the edge of the area, from where Spaniard midfielder Arteta drilled the ball back into the bottom left corner.

Rovers, who had beaten the Gunners 4-3 at Ewood Park in September, were over-run again after 54 minutes when Walcott's mazy dribble through the penalty area took him past five defenders before slipping in Oxlade-Chamberlain, who turned his marker and rolled the ball past Robinson.

It was now very much a case of damage limitation for the visitors, manager Steve Kean pensively looking on from the dugout.

Van Persie, who twice struck the woodwork in Wednesday night's frustrating goalless draw at Bolton, completed his hat-trick after 62 minutes when he clipped home a cross from Coquelin at the near post.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was replaced by Henry for the final 23 minutes, which could not finish soon enough for Blackburn.

To round the scoring off, Henry - on loan from New York Red Bulls - swept home number seven in stoppage time, with the aid of a deflection.

Genelia D’Souza weds Riteish Deshmukh, as film and politics mingle

A beaming Genelia D’Souza was dressed as a Maharashtrian bride in a red-golden designer sari and dupatta while the groom Riteish Deshmukh donned a cream sherwani for their wedding here Friday.

The traditional Maharashtrian style ceremony was attended by the ‘Who is Who’ of showbiz and politics.

Genelia, who belongs to a Mangalorean Catholic family, not only wore Nav-vari (nine yard sari), the traditional sari created by Neeta Lulla, she also sported a nose ring and tied the mundawali – a decorative strings of pearls – around her forehead.

Riteish, the younger son of former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, too sported a typical Marathi groom’s attire – the sherwani, red turban and mundawali.

The lavish wedding was organised at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Santa Cruz and Bollywood stars and politicians turned up in large numbers to bless the couple. The ‘bidai’ is at 5.30 in the evening.

Designer Niska Lulla tweeted: “My sweetest @geneliad makes a gorgeous bride in @neeta_lulla wedding sari and styled by me.”

Ken Ghosh posted a picture of the couple on Twitter and wrote: “These two are one! @Riteishd and @geneliad God bless … oho Genelia doesn’t need to change her twitter handle.

From Bollywood, Jaya and Abhishek Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan and Hiroo Johar, Kajol-Ajay Devgn, Sohail Khan, Indra Kumar, Ashutosh Gowarikar and his wife Sunita to Shweta Pandit, Sajid Nadiadwala, Maria Goretti, Jackie Shroff, Sajid Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hussain-Tina, Ashish Chowdhary and his wife Samita Bangargi, Sujoy Ghosh, Asin Thottumkal, and Sophie Choudry came to bless the couple.

Industrialist Anil Ambani’s wife Tina too came for the high profile wedding.

Among the politicians, the guest list included names like the state Congress chief Kripashankar Singh, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan and Aditya Thackeray, son of Shiva Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, along with his wife, and Minister for Public Works and Tourism Chhagan Bhujbal too came for the wedding.

Riteish and Genelia first met while shooting for their debut film “Tujhe Meri Kasam” in 2003. They have been together for years but kept their affairs under wraps till recently.

Post-marriage, they have a new release coming up titled, “Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya”. 

Indian Film industry likely to go on strike

The film industry is likely to go on a strike Feb 23 to protest against the the central government’s proposal to levy service tax of nearly 10.3 percent on the industry. Producer Mukesh Bhatt says nothing is confirmed yet and that an announcement will be made in a week’s time.

The strike, called by the Film Federation of India (FFI), will see a nationwide shutdown of the film industry.

“It is still in the process. Nothing has been confirmed yet. Since it’s a nationwide shut down, it will take a week to make an announcement on this,” Bhatt told IANS.

“We will be in a better position to answer by next week,” he added.

The strike will spell major losses for the industry. Bhatt said: “Yes, it will have a strong impact if we go on strike.”

Producer Kumar Taurani told IANS: “I believe it’ll be a one-day token strike to draw the government attention. It’s a good thing. Let’s see what happens.”

Taurni’s film “Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya” is set for Feb 24 release and he feels his film will not be affected by the strike.

“It’s just a one-day strike and my film is releasing the next day, so I am quite confident that my film will be unaffected,” he said.

Messi misses penalty as Barca held

Lionel Messi had a penalty saved as Barcelona drew 1-1 at Valencia in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at the Mestalla on Wednesday night

The Argentinian wasted the chance to put the visitors in front after Carlos Puyol had cancelled out Jonas' opener for the hosts.

The visitors rode their luck in the first half, though, and might have had goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto sent off inside 20 minutes when a clear handball outside the area went unspotted by the officials.

Barca went into the game on the back of a goalless draw with Villarreal which dropped them seven points behind Real Madrid in the race for La Liga, and struggled early on against Valencia.

They had a let-off when Pinto rushed off his line to close down Roberto Soldado and was out of his area when he stopped the ball with his arm as the striker looked to poke it past him.

The offence went unpunished, though, and the keeper survived another scare when Soldado volleyed powerfully over from an Ever Banega corner.

Alexis Sanchez stabbed horribly wide when through on goal for Barca, but Valencia were on top and went ahead in the 27th minute when Jeremy Mathieu raced down the left and pulled the ball back for Jonas to sidefoot into the top corner.

But Puyol headed Barcelona level in the 35th minute, moments after Alves had brilliantly turned Sanchez's shot round a post.

The Chilean had a goal ruled out for offside three minutes after the break, going a fraction too early as he looked to run out to a Messi through-ball.

The Argentinian's night was not going any better as he saw his penalty saved in the 56th minute.

Thiago Alcantara was clearly tripped in the area, but Messi's weak penalty was a good height for Alves and not close enough to the corner, the keeper diving to his left to push the shot away.

Substitute Dani Alves fired against the far post when he should have scored as the Catalans dominated the second half, but they could not find a winner.

‘Raaz 3′ will be blockbuster, predicts Mahesh Bhatt

After “Raaz” and “Raaz 2″, Mahesh Bhatt is looking forward to the release of the third part of the horror film and is confident that it will set the cash registers ringing.

“Today, a decade ago ‘Raaz’ hit the silver screen and created history. Today, we shoot the interval scene of ‘Raaz 3′. This film is a blockbuster,” the 63-year-old tweeted.

The movie stars Emraan Hashmi and Jacqueline Fernandez along with Bipasha Basu, who is making a comeback in the Bhatt camp after a long gap.

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Roshni gets scuba diving certificate

Actress Roshni Chopra, who was last seen in the movie “Phhir”, has got an official scuba diving certificate.

The 31-year-old took a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) course, while holidaying in Koh Samui in Thaliand.

“At first, it was difficult as you have to learn to breathe from your mouth that too under water. Also, being bitten by jelly fish on the 1st day was the most irritating part and I was quite aggravated with my husband to have taken me on such a vacation. But after the first week training, when we actually did the dive and saw the amazing under water life,” Roshni said in a statement.

Roshni made a name for herself in the showbiz by playing Pia in the serial “Kasamh Se” and later featured in shows like “Desi Girls” and “Comedy Circus”.

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Rajeev’s new hairstyle for ‘Will You…’

Usually seen in the usual crew cut, actor Rajeev Khandelwal will sport a new hairstyle in “Will You Marry me”.

The film is a romantic comedy and the actor has decided to look different – he has grown his hair and styled it differently.

The film about beach wedding has been shot at several locations including Dubai and Bangkok. It also stars Shreyas Talpade, Mugdha Godse, Celina Jaitley and Muzamil Ibrahim.

Rajeev, 36, was last seen in “Soundtrack” where he played the role of a musician.

‘Agneepath’ overwhelms Global Box Office, earns $3.2 million

After a record opening in the domestic market, filmmaker Karan Johar’s “Agneepath” has tasted success in the overseas market by earning $3.2 million (Rs.160 million) since it opened Jan 26.

Eros International released the Hrithik Roshan-starrer on 337 screens worldwide. The film, directed by debutant Karan Malhotra, grossed 347,000 pounds in Britain in the first four days. In the US, the four-day collections were $1.3 million and in the UAE, “Agneepath” collected more than $800,000.

“‘Agneepath’ has done extremely well in all the overseas markets making it the first blockbuster of the year. The tremendous response has been very encouraging with all major markets indicating remarkable box office results,” Pranab Kapadia, president, marketing and distribution, Eros International, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, after a record first day opening, the film is on its way to join the Rs.1 billion club as it has already earned Rs.750 million in the five days of its release. If trade experts are to be believed, the film is likely to do better as there is no big release in the coming weekend.

“All of us at Dharma Productions are ecstatic with the collections. It truly is the director Karan Malhotra’s vision that has made it all possible. Revisiting a cult classic is a dating task….and he along with his brilliant cast and crew have helped create box office magic,” said an overwhelmed Karan Johar, the producer.

“Agneepath” is the remake of 1990 film of the same name, but it was not a commercial success. However, Amitabh Bachchan got a national award for his performance. The new version of the movie has Hrithik playing the iconic Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.

Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt are getting rave reviews for their portrayals of Rauf Lala and Kancha Cheena respectively.

Mohammad Amir released from jail

Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan fast bowler, has been released from Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset after serving half of a six-month sentence for his part in a spot-fixing scam.

Amir is expected to spend the next few weeks in London before returning to his native Pakistan. He will meet his lawyers to draw up an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the five-year ban imposed on him by the International Cricket Council.

He has a visa to stay in England until the end of March and there is no suggestion that he risks the threat of deportation.

An ICC tribunal banned Amir for five years in February last year, his team-mate Mohammad Asif was given a seven-year ban, with two years suspended, and the captain, Salman Butt, was banned for ten years, five suspended. Shortly after the decision Amir announced his intent to appeal the decision to the CAS, an arbitration body set up to settle disputes relating to sport.

Amir and his two team-mates were sentenced in November 2011 at Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat at gambling after a plot was uncovered in aNews of the World sting operation to bowl deliberate no-balls in a Test against England in 2010. Amir and Butt lost an appeal against the sentence in November in the Court of Appeal in London.

The judge, Mr Justice Cooke, ruled at Southwark Crown Court that the affair was "so serious that only imprisonment will suffice". Butt was sentenced to two and a half years, Asif was jailed for one year, and Amir for six months. Mazhar Majeed, the players' agent, received a sentence of two years eight months. Under the terms of UK law, all were eligible for release after serving half their sentences.

Majeed had boasted to undercover reporters that he could arrange for Pakistan cricketers to rig elements of games for money. He was surreptitiously filmed accepting £150,000 in cash from a journalist.

Mr Justice Cooke said: "'It's not cricket' was an adage. It is the insidious effect of your actions on professional cricket and the followers of it which make the offences so serious."

Amir apologised through his lawyer for his involvement in spot-fixing, stating: "I want to apologise to all in Pakistan and all others to whom cricket is important. I did the wrong thing. I was trapped, because of my stupidity. I panicked."

The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said in the Court of Appeal that the corruption had been "carefully prepared" and the cricketers had betrayed their team, their country, their sport and the "followers of the game throughout the world". Lord Judge accepted that Amir's guilty plea should be counted in his favour.

Amir seemed to contravene his playing ban last summer by appearing for Addington 1743 Cricket Club in the Surrey League. He insisted that he had been told it was only a friendly and that he had made an innocent mistake. It was later reported that the ICC had decided to let Amir off with a warning.