Saif Ali Khan ready with his 2nd production venture, ‘Agent Vinod’

Saif Ali Khan tasted immense success with his debut production venture ‘Love Aaj Kal’ which has left him full of positive energy and hopes. Now, Saif is all geared up for his second project  which happens to be a spy thriller `Agent Vinod` directed by Sriram Raghavan and says the delayed project is very much on.
“A lot has been said about `Agent Vinod`, but we are very much on track. Final touches are being given to the script and at the end of March we should have the film on the floors,” says Saif.
Besides this movie, Saif is also keen to start with ‘Race 2’ and says “I definitely want to work on `Race 2`. To do a romantic comedy is also something that stands high up in my list, but then I am just waiting for a great script to come my way.”
Saif has given quite a few hits in his career and regards some of his movies as the right push for his career. He says, “I would think that `Hum Tum` was a definite milestone film in my career. Yes, there was `Kal Ho Na Ho` which was a good success as well, but then I was a second lead there. Soon followed `Salaam Namaste`, which further set the pace in my career. In the earlier years, `Yeh Dillagi` was definitely a landmark movie. Then came `Main Khiladi Tu Anari`, which again worked quite well for me. There were also `Kachche Dhaage` and `Kya Kehna` which were decent successes and then of course `Dil Chahta Hai` which was another landmark film.”
Saif feels that his career has been good and just the way he wanted. He adds, “Being Cyrus` was nice and offbeat too and then considering the kind of perception that people had for me, `Omkara` turned out to be huge as it showed quite some range. And now as we stand, I have a production like `Love Aaj Kal`. So, yeah, it`s not that bad after all.”

Aamir Khan resigns from the Govt. panel for copyright issues

Things took an ugly turn when media reported that at a recent meeting between producers and writers over the issue of royalties, Aamir Khan said that a song’s popularity depends on the star it was picturised on and not on the lyricist’s efforts. This remark offended renowned writer Javed Akhtar who retorted by saying that the song Papa kehte hain became a hit despite the fact that Aamir was not a star at that time.
Media quoted this incident by saying that Aamir was trying to harm the writers by taking away credit from them. This hurt the perfectionist Khan who has now resigned from the 10-member committee formed by the government to look into the proposed amendments to the Copyright Act.
This is an excerpt from what Aamir wrote on Tuesday to Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
“It seems to me that there is an attempt by certain people to attack me in public by printing lies about me, thereby turning the attention away from a genuine debate about copyright issues.”.
“I am grateful to you for inviting me to be part of a committee to discuss the various issues regarding amendments to the Copyright Act. However in light of these public attacks on me I don’t think I am comfortable to be part of this committee.”
“I take great pride in my honesty and integrity, and attach an enormous amount of value to my sense of justice and fair play. Monetary achievements have never excited me. If they had, I would have acted in many more than one film a year, thereby being financially much richer than I currently am.”
“Had I been driven by monetary achievements I would not have produced films that challenge the mainstream and break new ground, films like Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par and Peepli Live, that most producers would hesitate to produce.
I believe that what I have earned is the love and respect of my colleagues and my audience. And this I have done through my work and through the manner in which I work. This is why such public attacks are most damaging to me emotionally and leave me crippled.”
“In the past 26 years of my involvement with the film industry, I may have made mistakes, but never have I knowingly been dishonest or unfair in my dealings, whether as an assistant director, actor, producer or director.”
“I feel I have a lot to contribute to the ongoing debate but I cannot make any meaningful contribution in this atmosphere. Aggression of this type leaves me feeling very disillusioned and sad and I am unable to function.”
“Therefore I request you to accept my resignation from this committee and please appoint another person in my place.”
“I believe that amendments to the Copyright Act are long overdue and I am so happy that a person like you is spearheading this movement. I believe that the changes that you are bringing about in the sphere of education are so dynamic, progressive and positive, that I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will do the same in the field of copyright.”

Abhi-Ash ranked as the most popular celebrity couple

When we talk about happily married celebrity couples, the couple which leads them all has always been Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, but this time the junior Bachchan couple defeats them by topping the rank as the most popular and favorite Indian celebrity couple in a poll conducted on the occasion of Valentine days by Shaadi.com where more than 3.6 lakh visitors made their choice over the website.
Abhi-Ash won with 32 percent votes followed by SRK and Gauri Khan who bagged in 29 percent votes. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan secured the third rank. Though Aamir is quite popular as an actor, his fans do not seem to have a very high opinion about his family life as Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao achieved fourth rank in the competition with 9 percent votes.
It may be mentioned here that Abhi-Ash had already won the title of ‘Inspiring love story’ in the Oprah Winfrey show.

Imran Khan signs up his first endorsement deal with Coca-cola

Newcomer Imran Khan became a hot favorite and a rage among the girls with his first film itself. Despite his big fan following, the actor surprisingly chose to stay away from endorsements. Finally, she has given an affirmative nod to be the brand ambassador for Coca-Cola which had his mama Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador previously.

“This is actually the first and the only endorsement I have signed over a year and a half since I have joined the film industry. This was the only endorsement that I wanted to sign before they ever came to me,” said Imran.

“I think Aamir has been endorsing Coke for 10 years now and ever since I was a kid, I used to watch his ads. I have always considered Coca-Cola to be synonymous with refreshment and happiness. I am sure everyone will find the new Coca-Cola communication extremely engaging,” he added Talking about the concept of the ad, Imran said, “The entire concept of the film is about how Coke breaks the ice between two characters who might not have been together, if Coke wasn’t there. What is really interesting in the ad is that we have used an imaginary bottle.”

The campaign has been conceptualized by the creative team of McCann Erickson and features Kalki Koechlin of “Dev D” fame next to Imran. The ad is directed by Dibakar Banerjee (”Khosla Ka Ghosla” and “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!”) and is set to be rolled out in the last week of February.