HINDI CINEMA NEWS

Shahrukh Khan's 20 year old secret out in open

Now this was one dead secret that Shahrukh Khan would have hoped that it was buried forever. However that hasn't really turned out to be the case, what with the makers of his long-in-the-making 'Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke' deciding to unleash the film on the audience. Though they were unsuccessful in releasing the film properly in theatres a few years back, they have now flooded the stands with the DVDs.

"It's a clear case of mischief," says an insider, "Those behind the DVD launch are trying to take advantage of Shahrukh's 'Don 2' that has just released. Looking at the kind of excitement that the film has managed to create amongst the audience, they have cleverly released the DVD of 'Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke' as well. Since Shahrukh is in news, they would be hoping for better sales prospects since the film by itself is a terrible product."

With Raveena Tandon as a co-star, 'Yeh Lamhe Judaai Ke' is a film that Shahrukh had signed around 20 years ago when he was just starting off in Bollywood. It is apparent that he realised very soon that the film wasn't going anywhere. Its production was also halted for years and though Shahrukh did shoot for some scenes a few years later, the film was by and large left incomplete. Later around 2004 the film was resumed when some newcomers were added to the cast and the storyline altered completely.

"Neither of the original starcast was interested in the film anymore and Shahrukh, Raveena as well as Mohnish Behl stayed away from any further shoot. They didn't even dub for the film and the end result was so embarrassing that no one went on record to talk about it all," the source adds.

Resultantly when the film saw a very poor theatrical release and was taken off within days of it's arrival. However for Shahrukh it is pretty much akin to the return of a ghost from the past since the DVDs have arrived on a good label and finding a prominent slot in the stands.

Says the owner of a major DVD store, "Shahrukh sells and even though we know that the movie is bad and hardly features him for more than an hour, customers are making enquiries around it. If they are interested in checking out this largely unknown film, why would we mind?"

Well, guess Shahrukh would mind for sure.

B-town salute Mumbai Police at 'Umang 2012'

'Umang' is one big event where Bollywood's who's who comes together under one roof to make the day special for the city's powerful khaki organization - The Mumbai Police. The annual police function is held with a view to honour and entertain the cops who give their sweat and soul, working day and night to protect the Mumbaiyas.

The gala extravaganza, which was held in Mumbai on Saturday (07 Jan), witnessed several celebrities taking away the limelight with their remarkable performances - among which were B-town Badshah Shah Rukh Khan, 'Dabangg' Salman Khan "Dhak Dhak" beauty Madhuri Dixit, 'Munni' Malaika Arora Khan, 'Jalebi Bai' Mallika Sherawat and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

While several other noted personalities turned up to cheer and support the Colors 'Umang 2012' show - namely Yash Chopra, Dharmendra, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Rani Mukherjee, Sushmita Sen, Govinda, Kangna Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Sharman Joshi, R. Madhavan, Madhur Bhandarkar and many many more.

Sharing about the event, SRK wrote on his twitter page - "Umang...Mumbai police function...they r such a lovely set of hosts. Bless them...had a great time...met farhan...abhay...ritesh..ranbir."

While Ms. Dixit-Nene wrote, "Just finished performing for Umang. It was a pleasure to support the cause and entertain those who take care of us!"

Summarizing the purpose of the event, megastar Amitabh Bachchan gave a thoughtful tweet - "The yearly function UMANG for the families of the police force, when we pay tribute and entertain them for their dedication." Referring Mumbai police force as the best in the world, Big B further wrote, "Give them opportunity and trust and they turn up trumps."

Shah Rukh-Katrina-Anushka starrer on the roll

The much talked Yash Raj Films' untitled film, which brings together Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif for the first time, is starting its shoot from today.

The project marks the comeback of B-town's king of romantic films and ace filmmaker Yash Chopra after seven years to direction front. The muhurat of the film took place yesterday, a fact that was revealed by the director's son and actor Uday Chopra on his microblogging site, thus - "Launching my dad's film today with a little pooja at YRF...shoot starts tomorrow with @iamsrk and Katrina Kaif..Dad directing after 'Veer-Zaara'."

The new romance venture boasts to be exciting package with SRK, Katrina along with Anushka Sharma in the lead cast and A.R. Rahman and Gulzar handling the music and lyrics respectively.

Now let's wait for the film's naamkaran (read naming ceremony)....