SRK-Salman avoid each other on flight

On Saturday, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan flew back on the same flight from London to Mumbai. SRK was in UK for the last couple of days on some work and Salman had gone there to promote his latest film, London Dreams. While Salman was with his younger brother Sohail, SRK was by himself. When the Khan brothers walked in, Sohail (who, along with wife Seema, is on good terms with SRK and Gauri) went up to Shahrukh, they chatted for sometime after which he went and joined his brother.This was the third in the series of the jab-they-met encounters. The first time they were at the same place at the same time post their infamous feud was last year at Amrita Arora’s sangeet ceremony.The second was this year at Ramesh Taurani’s wedding anniversary bash. Other than that, the two actors have been going to great lengths to avoid bumping into each other.

So what happened when they came face-to-face with each other? Says an eyewitness, “Both Shahrukh and Salman boarded the flight without the slightest knowledge that both were going to share nine hours of airspace together! Shahrukh saw Sallu first. He appeared stunned, then he quietly went to his seat and sat down.”Both were seated a few seats away from each other but Salman was talking loudly and making sure that his dushman could overhear everything he was saying. Sallu was apparently in great spirits and kept behaving like a naughty child, reveals the source, “He kept pulling the airhostess’s legs and behaving as if he was ready to go and brawl it out with the other Khan.” After some reading, SRK went off to sleep. He didn’t wake up for his meal. He woke up only when it was time to land.Throughout the flight, it was obvious Shahrukh had decided to completely ignore Salman while he was itching for a fight.When Sallu saw SRK wasn’t reacting to his verbal salvos, he too went off to sleep.

“While deplaning, Sohail and SRK bid goodbye to each other. Salman and Shahrukh (who had walked ahead) again didn’t even look at each other.At the luggage unloading section, the two actors stood at two corners, picked up their respective luggage and strode off in two opposite directions — as if they couldn’t wait to get away from each other. Though the airline sources confirmed that both Salman and Shahrukh were on the same flight on Saturday they were tight-lipped about divulging further details on grounds of client confidentiality. Shahrukh and Salman remained unavailable for comment.

Aamir tried to restore peace between SRK and Salman

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan has disclosed that he had tried to broker a peace deal between Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan after their infamous spat last year. In an interview with a magazine Aamir said that he had gone to Shahrukh’s residence for the first time in his life to make him patch up with Salman. Aamir added that very early in his talks with the two he had realised that he wouldn’t succeed.

A dejected Aamir later became closer to Salman and the two of them are now taking on Shahrukh and his camp. Aamir recently walked the ramp for the first time for Salman’s charity Being Human. He concluded the interview saying that although he had tried his best and failed he hoped that the two superstars would patch up. He added that this is not just effecting their Bollywood careers but their personal lives too.

It may be recalled that during Katrina Kaif’s birthday bash last year Shahrukh Khan and Salman had a spat. The fallout of this was that the entire Bollywood became divided into two camps. Since then the two stars have regularly avoided each other at public events and tinsel town parties. They also haven’t missed any opportunity of taking digs at each other. It remains to be seen if any other celebrity can succeed where Aamir failed.

Heat on SRK was Because of scanner on Bollywood shows

The US Customs and Border Protection's extra scrutiny of megastar Shah Rukh Khan was triggered by Bollywood's showbiz having come
under the scanner of law enforcement authorities and intelligence agencies for dodgy financial transactions and alleged underworld links.

Khan was questioned closely by CBP agents on his arrival at Newark's Liberty International Airport last week with emphasis on ascertaining his local US contacts and engagements, an episode that caused an uproar in India, mainly in elite circles. It transpires that Khan was visiting the US primarily for Bollywood shows in Chicago and Houston promoted by brothers Farhath Hussain and Altaf Hussain, with few other local promoters, some of whom are on the radar of authorities in UK, US and India.

Although there was no red flag against Shah Rukh Khan's name itself, it was his local contacts which triggered off the alert, accorded to sources who asked not to be identified. The situation was compounded by the non-arrival of his baggage from London, a particularly sensitive station in American eyes.

US intelligence agencies have long been leery of a possible terrorist attack by Islamist extremists from a city dubbed Londonistan, particularly since British passport holders do not need a visa to enter the United States.

Farhath Hussain is a London-based businessman who modestly describes himself as the "world's Number One promoter of Bollywood shows, a showbiz impresario extraordinaire." His brother Altaf Hussain is a Chicago-based businessman in the gas station industry who founded the Lake County South Asian Entertainment Inc. to tap into the Bollywood showbiz market in US after the eclipse of Vijay Taneja, a former Indian partner whose founded a company called Elite Entertainment.

According to an industry insider, Farhath Hussain and Vijay Taneja had divvied up Bollywood shows in Europe and the US between then for many years. Both had promoted shows featuring Shah Rukh Khan and a number of other Bollywood stars. But Taneja was convicted in a massive mortgage fraud in the Washington DC area last year and sentence to seven years in the clink, allowing brothers Hussain to capture US territory.

Incidentally, the Chicago-based Altaf Hussain bears the same name as the London-based leader of Pakistan's Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party, another possible trigger for the CBP red flag. That Altaf Hussain, a key player in Pakistani politics who is frequently accused of sectarian violence (most notably by Imran Khan) was a cab-driver in Chicago before he eventually returned to Pakistan to found MQM to represent Mohajir interests.

Taneja invested some of his ill-gotten wealth in Bollywood extravaganzas, including producing a movie starring Himmesh Reshammiya titled "Aap ka Suroor." He was $ 77 million in debt when he declared bankruptcy, a step which led to an investigation into his financial shenanigans which destroyed the lives of many home-owners in suburban Washington.

Taneja is currently in prison outside Philadelphia, serving out his sentence even as the Hussain brothers are taking over Bollywood tours in US. Farhath Hussain was till recently managed Shilpa Shetty's engagements in UK but they are now said to have fallen out, but showbiz insiders credit him with widespread connections in the industry, including with many financiers, which enable him to attract top stars for his US road shows. They said Shah Rukh Khan himself was above board, being a mere pawn in the game, even though he was an acknowledged top draw commanding high fees.

US officials declined to go into the specifics of the Shah Rukh Khan episode citing law enforcement sensitivities. "A lot of stuff we discuss with passenger we can't reveal because of privacy rules," CBP spokesman Elmer Camacho told ToI, while maintaining that the actor was treated with due professional courtesy and the process had not taken two hours as claimed.

Comacho also pointed out the actor himself had reeled back from some of the initial comments and acknowledged that the CBP was following a laid-down procedure. Phone numbers listed for brothers Hussain and other promoters of the "South Asia Carnival" went to mailboxes which were full. Messages left to their associate Monty Syed were not returned.

Meanwhile, sources who spoke to ToI described a complex web of financial transactions around Bollywood shows in the west, involving layers of players. At the top of the rung are promoters in Mumbai, who sold shows to overseas players such as Farhath Hussain and Vijay Taneja. These guys in turn sold the shows to local promoters in European and US cities, who banked on ticket sales and retail advertisers to recoup the money they spent to bid for the shows.

Bollywood-starved NRIs pony up anywhere from $ 25 to $ 500 (for the priciest tickets) to see their favorite stars. Top stars, especially a crowd puller like SRK, could command as much as $ 50,000 per show. One source spoke of an actor who was paid $ 900,000 for an 18-city tour that went from Fort Lauderdale in Florida to Los Angeles, California couple of years back.

"Many of these transactions are unreported...you can understand why the business is on the scanner of authorities especially because of the shadow of the underworld on the Bollywood showbiz," he said.

Obama, invite Shah Rukh for beer: Shekhar

Shekhar Kapur slams Ambika Soni for comments on
Shah Rukh Khan

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has criticised Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni's remarks to give a 'tit-for-tat' treatment to the Americans after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was detained at a US airport for two hours.

Giving the example of former president A.P.J. Kalam, who was also frisked in April at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here as he was boarding a flight of US carrier Continental Airlines, Kapur wrote on his blog: "I believe what happened to Shah Rukh was a huge blunder, but what happened to our Abdul Kalam was far, far worse. It happened on Indian soil."

"But I admired the calmness with which Abdul Kalam dealt with the issue himself and displayed so much humility. I expect Shah Rukh to do the same as I am sure he will. Only he can defuse the situation," Kapur posted on his blog www.shekharkapur.com/blog Sunday.

"Unlike our Cabinet Minister Ambica Soni, who said we should respond with a 'tit for tat'. What are you going to do, Ms Soni? Interrogate every American citizen arriving at our shores for an hour and a half? Or wait for Brad Pitt to arrive here? Cabinet ministers need to make more considered statements," he wrote.

Shah Rukh was on his way to Chicago to attend a function to mark India's Independence Day and was detained for two hours at the Newark airport after US immigration officials spotted the 'Khan' in his name.

Reacting to it, Soni had said: "I have always felt - even when I was frisked there (the US) - that the way they frisk us we should do the same for them here."

Kapoor says to make up, US President Obama should invite Shah Rukh Khan for dinner.

"What happened to Shah Rukh is a minor incident which we should protest about, yes. Ensure that this doesn't happen to an Indian public figure like him again and move on," Kapoor said.

"And President Obama, adept as he is diplomatically and politically, should invite Shah Rukh to a family dinner over beer and (view) one of his Bollywood films," he added.

SRK is vacationing in house he Bought in most Expensive locality in UK

Shah Rukh Khan after wrapping up the shoot for Karan Johar's My Name is Khan in the States has been in London on a vacation with his family.

This time, the actor stayed at a house he bought earlier this year in one of the most expensive area codes in the world (Park Lane, Central London). A source reveals, "The actor has always said that London is one of his most favourite places to relax and unwind.

Every year, during the kids' vacations, the family of four heads off to the Queen's country. He has been spotted spending evenings with Aryan and Suhana at Hyde Park, a stone's throw away from Park Lane."

The source continues, "On one of his walks, the actor saw a 'To Let' sign on his apartment building on the Park Lane Street and started to make enquiries about the house from his local friends.

Any normal apartment in this area comes in a range of 2 million pounds to 8 million pounds. Khan, it seems, has bought one that's close to 7 million pounds and it is apparently, a five-bedroom apartment."