Saif Ali Khan looks forward to spy thriller, 'Race 2'

With a Padma Shri and quite a few hits tucked under his belt, Saif Ali Khan is set to launch his second production venture and spy thriller Agent Vinod 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," Saif, 39, told IANS in an interview.

After Love Aaj Kal, this will be his second production, Agent Vinod. It will be directed by Sriram Raghavan.

"Meanwhile, 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."

Taking a trip down memory lane, he said it was superhit Hum Tum that bailed him out during trying times.

"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. Hum Tum was a solo hit and had the momentum going for me," Saif told IANS.

"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," added Saif who is one of the top actors today and a successful producer also.

Success came to him after a lean patch where nothing seemed to be working for him. With many of his films belonging to diverse genres failing at the box office, Saif was pretty much looking at the bottom of the barrel.

If one goes into flashback mode and takes a journey back in time, it wasn't too far back when he was dancing to the tune of Main hoon aashiq awara (Aashiq Awara) and Ole, Ole (Yeh Dillagi). Today, with Saif named for a Padma Sri, he has come a long way.

"Yeah, it was a disastrous patch and this is where Hum Saath Saath Hai came in handy. There were also Kachche Dhaage and Kya Kehna which were decent successes and then of course Dil Chahta Hai which was another landmark film," said Saif.

Is there any other film that he believes brought a complete turnaround in the way he was looked at as an actor?

"Other than the aforementioned films like Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste and Kal Ho Naa Ho, diverse films like Parineeta and Ek Haseena Thi brought in further recognition.

" 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."

Padmanabham is no more

Yesteryear Telugu comedian and director Padmanabha Rao, popularly known as Padmanabham, died at his residence in Chennai on on February 20 due to heart attack.
The actor suffered a massive heart attack at 08:30 a.m. at his Rangarajapuram residence while reading the newspaper, family sources said. He is survived by his wife, two sons and five daughters.
Born in Simhadripuram (Kadapa dist) on 20 August 1931, Padmanabham entered films in 1943 and acted in over 400 movies, including Maya Lokam and Pathala Bhairavi. His directorial ventures are Kathanayika Molla and Sri Rama Katha.
He produced four movies: Kathanayika Molla, Shri Rama Katha, Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, Potti Pleader and Devatha. Galatta.com offers their condolences to the bereaved family.

‘Maro Charitra’ to hit the screens on March 26th

Varun Sandesh’s ‘Maro Charitra’ will be hitting the theatres on March 26^th. The audio of the film is planned to release on February 14^th. Ravi Yadav, cinematographer turned director is directing this film and Dil Raju is producing it under the banner Matinee Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Micky J Meyer is scoring the music for the film and editing is by Marthand K. Venkatesh.

Anitha, a new comer is playing the female lead in the film while Shraddha Das is the second heroine. The movie is the remake of Kamal Haasan, Sarika’s sensational hit Maro Charitra which was directed by K.Bala Chandar.

Other cast includes Pratap Pothan, Yami Gautam, Kota Srinivas Rao, Urvashi, Naresh, Thalaivasal Vijay, Sandhya Janak and Aadarsh.

Heathrow denies SRK’s body-scan autograph claim

Britain’s airport authorities have dismissed as “simply not true” claims by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan that he autographed printouts of his body-scan for female security staff at Heathrow airport.

BAA, which owns and operates British airports, said SRK’s claims made last week on the popular ‘Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’ television show were “completely factually incorrect”.
The subject of Khan’s body scan came up while he was telling Jonathan Ross how his new film, ‘My Name is Khan’, is all about a Muslim named Khan who wants to inform the US president that he is not a terrorist.
“I’m always stopped by the security, because of the name. And I think it’s okay: the western world is a little bit worried, paranoid and touchy, I guess – and feely when they’re frisking you,” Khan told his celebrity chat show host.
“I was in London recently going through the airport and these new machines have come up, the body scans. You’ve got to see them. It makes you embarrassed – if you’re not well endowed.
“You walk into the machine and everything – the whole outline of your body – comes out.”
Khan said he did not know that the body-scans – installed in the wake of last year’s abortive Christmas Day attempt to bomb a transatlantic flight over Detroit – showed up every little detail of the body.
“I was a little scared. Something happens [inside the scans], and I came out.
“Then I saw these girls – they had these printouts. I looked at them. I thought they were some forms you had to fill. I said ‘give them to me’ – and you could see everything inside.
“So I autographed them for them.”
But a BAA spokeswoman said body-scanning machines at Heathrow could not store or print images in any form.
She said there would be no investigation into SRK’s claims because they “simply could not be true”.
Recent moves to install full-body scanners in airports have caused a furore in the West with civil rights campaigners saying they are worried about invasion of privacy. They say there are no guarantees that images of naked bodies will not be stored or distributed