Shah Rukh, Ambani pan BCCI over IMG ouster

Indian Premier League franchisees are up in arms against the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s decision to terminate event SRK manager IMG’s contract with the league on Saturday.

Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani, Knight Riders’ Shah Rukh Khan as well as the owners of Team Delhi and Team Jaipur have thrown their weight behind IMG and protested at not being consulted on the decision by shooting off letters to BCCI president Shashank Manohar, former board chief Sharad Pawar and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. Copies of the letters are in TOI’s possession.

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchisees have protested unitedly after the BCCI cancelled IMG’s contract with the League on Saturday. The trouble started when IPL chief Lalit Modi, who also was not in favour of ending IMG’s contract, forwarded the termination letter issued by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan to all IPL team owners. Incidentally, Srinivasan is the owner of Team Chennai.

Sources said that while Modi’s move angered the board, it got the franchisees together in support of IMG. The result is that IPL’s governing council will now meet on September 2 in Mumbai to take a fresh call on the issue and how it can avoid a legal tangle. The meeting would be attended by BCCI president Shashank Manohar, Modi, N Srinivasan, Arun Jaitley, Rajeev Shukla, Niranjan Shah and IS Bindra.

Mumbai Indians’ owner Mukesh Ambani, in his letter to Sharad Pawar, has expressed his vexation at the way the issue has been handled by the BCCI and has asked Pawar to intervene. Ambani writes: ‘‘I am personally shocked at the unilateral decision of doing away with the services of IMG. We are only two seasons old, and we need the continued participation and support of the most capable partners globally to take IPL from strength to strength."

He was also critical of BCCI. ‘‘It is also worrying to me that such a significant decision in relation to IPL has been taken without even so much as consulting the franchisees. I strongly believe that this decision, if taken forward, will destroy substantial value for all the stake holders, especially the franchisees and dilute the success of IPL in the coming years.’’

Even Shah Rukh Khan (Knight Riders) has questioned BCCI’s decision. In a letter to Manohar, he says: ‘‘It’s a matter of sincere concern and anxiety, that IMG, who have been an integral part of the tournament management and it success so far, have been expelled due to failure of commercial negotiations.’’ SRK further wrote: ‘‘We have invested in this league and paid a high price for our franchise with the belief that we are buying into an unique league and world-class event that would break boundaries, not only in India but internationally."

Shah Rukh also drew the example of T20 World Cup in England and said: ‘‘This is evident in the recent ICC World T20 Championships, which took place in England, the delivery of which was nowhere near the quality of IPL. Team Jaipur’s Manoj Badale expressed his reservations against ‘‘the manner in which the decision was made, the basis for the decision, the clarity of metrics surrounding IMG’s evaluation and performance and the absence of clear plan to replace IMG’s services’’.

Farah to bring Shahrukh, Salman closer

Choreographer turned filmmaker Farah Khan is trying to bridge the gap between two Bollywood stars, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. She thinks that the brawl between the two is stretching too long and they should end up fight and become friends now. "I wish I could bridge the gap. I love both of them. It's (the fight) getting longer now," Farah told

Farah Khan who hosts the famous television chat show, ‘Tere Mere Beech Mein’ has invited Salman Khan and his mother Salma Khan in the starting episode and she feels like to end the show with her close friend Shahrukh Khan. "Since Salman had never come on a chat show before and was very candid during the show, we made him the first guest. But Shahrukh will be the last one to keep the audience hooked till the end," she says.

Farah is close to both the rivals, Shahrukh and Salman, professionally and personally. On professional front, if she has made film with Shahrukh Khan ‘Om Shanti Om’ then she had choreographed a song of Salman’s upcoming film ‘Mr and Mrs Khanna’.

Farah wants to play peacemaker between the two friends turned foe.

Shahrukh doesn't miss Salman

It is very unlikely that Salman Khan would finish an interview without being asked about his relationship with friend turned foe Shahrukh Khan. In a recent interview Salman said that he and Shahrukh becoming friends again was out of question as Shahrukh doesn't miss him. Being slightly sarcastic Salman said that Shahrukh was not crying over the issue and was doing well with his professional career.

On the infamous spat on Katrina Kaif's birthday bash last year Salman said that people normally do have fights and settle things the next morning, just that this incident was blown up and taken to a different level the next morning He added that if things were sorted out that night itself the entire scenario could have been different but he felt a patch up was not on Shahrukh's agenda.

Salman however denied that he had ever been very close to Shahrukh Khan. He candidly said that he and Shahrukh used to hang out together and did a few films together but they were never close enough to be referred to as buddies. Well Shahrukh did you hear this, perhaps you should start missing Salman and who knows the mother of all Bollywood patch ups could take place.

Sameera gets SRK’s gyaan

Shah Rukh Khan has fans the world over, but the star has also many takers when it comes to his gyaan and fundas on life.

And one ardent fan when it comes to adopting his philosophies in life is Sameera Reddy. The leggy beauty, who’s known the actor long before she entered Bollywood, even considers him her ‘spiritual guru’ and recalls one of her conversations with SRK that made a huge impact on her. “It was during a not-very-pleasant phase in my life, and I had too much on my mind. We were flying back after attending one event in Kolkata, when he realised that I was restless about something. And when I shared it with him, he said, ‘You will be subjected to constant speculation and talks in this industry and you shouldn’t take it seriously. All you got to do is know, accept and embrace yourself.’ And over the time I do realise that the key of happiness does lie in finding peace within oneself,” said Sameera. Well, wonder if that’s the secret to the all new-Sam!

Akram meets Shah Rukh Khan

Cricket legend and former Pakistani Captain Wasim Akram met Kolkata Knight Rider's owner Shah Rukh Khan's residence in Mumbai on Sunday.

Akram is one of the leading contenders for the job of the coach of the Knight Riders. Earlier in the day former India coach Sandip Patil met the Bollywood actor at his residence.

John Wright and Andrew Pybus are also vying for the high profile coaching job of the IPL team.

However former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who wanted Akram to be India's bowling coach during his tenure as skipper was not present at the meeting at Mannat.

Earlier, Akram had expressed his keenness to coach the KKR team.

The former captain said he has received a call from Shah Rukh's secretary, inviting him for a "chat" to discuss a coaching assignment with the Knight Riders on August 30.

"Sunday, I will be there for sure and I am keen. I am ready. Check me out," said Akram, who has emerged as a strong contender for the job.

"I have never done formal coaching before. It is a different skill and is honed over a period of time. It requires a lot of patience and that is something I have acquired over a period of time.

I would love to work with Shah Rukh again: Parzaan Dastur

He popularised the line 'Tussi na jao' (Please don't go) as the cute Sikh kid in Karan Johar's 1998 hit 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hain'. Parzaan Dastur, now 17, plays the protagonist in new film 'Sikandar' and says he would love to take up acting as a career and work with Shah Rukh Khan again.

'Acting is something I have been doing for long. I have loved doing it and enjoyed every moment of it. But that time (during 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hain') it was a hobby. If it turns out to be a career, I will love it because I just enjoy being in front of the camera. I enjoy taking commands from the director, performing and getting the appreciation,' Parzaan told IANS in an interview.

Parzaan wants to act with Shah Rukh and Kajol again. They played the lead in 'Kuch Kuch...'.

'I would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol again. 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' was an experience of a lifetime and I would love to have that again,' said the teenager who is currently studying management in a Mumbai college.

'Apart from that I want to work with a legend like Amitabh Bachchan. Any young aspiring actor would love to work with him simply because you get to learn so many things off the sets from him,' he added.

As a child actor, Parzaan has also featured in other films like 'Mohabbatein', 'Zubeidaa' and 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham'. He was also seen in the award-winning film 'Parzania' (2007), which was about a boy who goes missing during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

His latest 'Sikandar', which released last week, revolves around a boy in the troubled Kashmir Valley who wants to make it big in football, but his life changes when he finds a gun lying on the road.

The film, shot entirely in Kashmir and directed by Piyush Jha, also stars Ayesha Kapoor, Sanjay Suri and R. Madhavan.

Parzaan believes that 'Sikandar' helped him mature as an actor.

'With 'Sikandar' I became more mature. I understood what acting is all about. What does it mean to get into the character and how can one adopt a role. This film took me way ahead as far as acting is concerned,' said the youngster who has also worked in many commercial advertisements.

He has found a good friend in Ayesha who has won awards for her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black' (2005).

'We had 30-35 days in Kashmir, working together. It's been great working with Ayesha. She is a brilliant actress and apart from that she has worked very hard on the film.

'She can't speak Hindi, but she had to speak the language for the movie... so the amount of hard work she has put in to portray the character, to say her lines properly with the correct emotions, is just great. She has become a really good friend,' said Parzaan.