Ekta Kapoor blames Shah Rukh Khan for OUATIMD failure

August 21, 2013

Shah_Rukh_KhanWith her biggest release of the year, 'Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara' opening to a tepid box office response, Ekta Kapoor is not in a good mood these days. And the Balaji head honcho holds SRK responsible for the debacle. It was reported that Ekta had refused SRK's request for a screening of her film at Mannat and TOI has the details of the fallout.

Trouble started when SRK announced that Chennai Express will release on August 8 despite the fact that Ekta had already called dibs on Eid for the release of her ambitious project OUATIMD.

Ekta tried her best to outwit SRK in this battle, even calling in a favour from MNS (TOI report dated August 2) to make the star tow the line.

Then began a long series of negotiations between her and Chennai Express's producers, UTV Motion Pictures and Red Chillies Entertainment. Ekta finally agreed on the other big public holiday, August 15.

According to a source close to Ekta, she was assured by the production houses that they will withdraw their film on August 15 to make way for OUATIMD in at least 2000 halls across the country.

"Ekta relented because she was promised something in return. And the bait was the promise that Chennai Express wouldn't come in the way of the big release she had planned for OUATIMD on Independence Day," said the source. But given that Chennai Express set the cash registers ringing, the film's producers decided that making way for OUATIMD will not be profitable. When Ekta learnt about it early last week, she was left fuming. TOI has it that Shobha Kapoor called up UTV to enquire about the apparent volte face and was told that "it was SRK's decision".

Things got worse when Jeetendra stepped in. He tried to reach SRK, who did not answer the calls, alleged a source close to Ekta. "While most of his calls went unanswered, finally an unrecognisable person picked up to say, 'Shah Rukh sir is busy with interviews'," added the source. The end result was that OUATIMD ended up opening on just 1600 screens; a limited release for a movie which was reportedly made at a budget of Rs 85 crore. "If UTV had lived up to its promise, OUATIMD could have raked in about Rs 10 crore more on its opening day which in turn might have had a Domino effect on its subsequent collections. To add to Balaji's woes the halls they were given were small ones which in turn must have had an adverse effect on their opening day collection," said a source from the industry.

When contacted, Ekta said, "Whatever has happened is extremely disgusting. I am very angry." Though SRK's production house did not provide a statement, a source from the organisation told us, "Chennai Express released on August 9 and it is illogical to expect that the film will be voluntarily pulled out from theatres in its first crucial week."This was corroborated by a source close to Siddharth Roy Kapur, the other producer of the film.

An official from a leading multiplex in Andheri West, on request of anonymity said, "It's a producer's prerogative to withdraw a film to aid the release of the next one. But we did not receive any such requests from the producers of Chennai Express because it was doing very well. But please note that a producer can only ask for withdrawal, the number of shows we gave to OUATIMD on the first day were decided as per our discretion."

Another multiplex from Juhu said that the producers of Chennai Express had "pressurised" theatres not to withdraw the film.

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News Network
July 26,2020

Washington, Jul 26: Regis Philbin, the iconic television personality best-known for his hosting duties on 'Live!' with co-hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa, and 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,' has died. The beloved star was 88.

According to People Magazine, the longtime television host died on July 24. His family shared a statement on Saturday, "We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,"
"His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him - for his warmth, his legendary sense of humour, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about. 

We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss," the Philbin family says.

Philbin began his iconic career in 1988, as the host of 'Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee' alongside TV presenter Kathie Lee Gifford. After 15 years, Gifford left the ABC show but the pair remained close after her departure.

In 2001, the franchise became 'Live! with Regis and Kelly', co-starring Kelly Ripa before he left in 2011 after 23 years on-air.

From 1999 to 2002, Philbin also served as the original host of the widely popular game show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.' In addition, the New York City native's hosting credits include 'Million Dollar Password', the first season of 'America's Got Talent', as well as a reoccurring co-host seat on 'Rachael Ray'.

Born on August 25, 1931, Philbin was raised in the Bronx and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in 1949 before attending the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a sociology degree in 1953.

After serving in the Navy, Philbin began his career in show business as a writer and made his way in front of the camera in 1961 with a local talk show in San Diego called 'The Regis Philbin Show'. Then in 1967, he became widely known as Joey Bishop's sidekick on 'The Joey Bishop Show'.

After a string of local talk shows, including 'A.M. Los Angeles' and 'Regis Philbin's Saturday Night in St. Louis', the star moved to New York in 1983 to host 'The Morning Show', which was renamed three years later as 'Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee'.

His accolades include Daytime Emmy Awards for outstanding talk show host for 'Live!' in 2001 and 2011 as well as an outstanding game show host for 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. He also received a Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2008.

Throughout his career, Philbin had various health issues. He underwent an angioplasty in 1993, followed by triple bypass surgery due to plaque in his arteries in March 2007. In December 2009, the television personality had his hip replaced.

Married twice, Philbin is survived by daughters J.J. Philbin and Joanna Philbin, whom he shared with his wife of 50 years, Joy Philbin. He was also father to daughter Amy Philbin, whom he shared with his first wife Catherine Faylen. Philbin and Faylen had another child, son Daniel Philbin, who died in 2014.

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News Network
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: With more than 50 movies under her credits and being one of the few actors from Bollywood to make a strong imprint in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra started it all by winning Miss India 2000 pageant.

Chopra who is currently celebrating the completion of 20 years in the entertainment industry, on Friday looked back and reacted to the video where she was crowned as Miss India.
The' Fashion' actor shared a video on Instagram, where she is seen watching the throwback video. The 'Dostana' actor recalled winning the title and joked about her sense of style and poses back then.

Sharing the reaction video, she wrote: "Alright guys, we're doing this! I'm watching footage from my Miss India pageant in 2000! This is where it all began... If you've never seen these before, you are in for quite a treat. #20in2020 @feminamissindia."

Throughout the video, the 'Gunday' actor is seen casually commenting on her hairstyle, enacting her own movement on stage, and also recalled her luscious hair, which she now wonders where it all got lost.

However, she took a moment to appreciate the "clever and profound" answer she gave for the question that won her the crown.

While watching the winning moment, the 'Don' star noted how she never expected to win it. She explained that she had a train booked as she was to go back and take her board exams.

Going through the old photographs that run parallel to the video, she says: "These pictures are hard to look at." Pausing at a particular photograph, she laughs and says, "I don't even know how to do that pose."

"Well, this is where everything started. These are the pictures that sent me to Tinseltown," said the actor towards the end of the video.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Chennai, Mar 28: Chennai City Corporation personnel stuck a home quarantine sticker at the office of actor-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam office on Saturday, leading to speculation that the matinee star was quarantined for the coronavirus.

While there was speculation if Kamal Haasan was quarantined, the Greater Chennai Corporation said their staffers pasted the sticker on the premises because actress Gautami Tadimalli "returned from Dubai recently and her passport has this address (Eldams Road in upscale Alwarpet)."

The present residence of the actress was not known immediately.

The sticker read, "We are in home quarantine to safeguard ourselves and Chennai from the coronavirus." It was removed soon, an official said, declining to elaborate.

Kamal Haasan clarified in a statement that he was not quarantined.

"Based on the notice stuck outside my house, news has been spread saying that I have been quarantined. But most of you already know that I have not been living there for the past few years and the Makkal Needhi Maiam party office has been functioning from there," he said.

Further, the actor said, the news that he has been quarantined "is not true."

As a precautionary measure, he has been maintaining social distancing, he said.

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