Snippets - 2002

AT MTS PREMIERE! - Mid-day: January 31, 2002

Salman Khan and Malaika Arora Khan at the premiere of Maa Tujhe Salaam at Maratha Mandir. Arbaaz Khan was the hero of the event. Of course, Arbaaz was being showered with compliments for his parallel lead role. Conspicuous by their absence at the premiere were the lead pair Sunny Deol and Tabu, making it look as if they wanted only Arbaaz to hog the limelight.

AT SCREEN AWARDS! - Screen: January 25, 2002

Salman surprising entry was greeted with a flurry of excitement from the assembled lensers. It was surprising because we had kept it a secret. Salman who huns all shows had agreed, again surprisingly easily, to come to ours and on stage he was a revelation, saluting the “man with a heart with a straight-from-the-heart speech”. “Don’t give me any lines because I get nervous when on a public platform,” he had requested and told us that he would say what he wanted. “I may not even say anything but I’ll be there,” he had reassured us. He kept his word and on stage insisted that the award should be for Lifetime Achievements and not just Lifetime Achievement because Shammiji was a man who was constantly growing and so had become a role model for him. It is interesting that Neela Devi sees a reflection of the younger Shammi Kapoor in Salman today, and never misses any of his films. She’s there at the theatre on the day a Salman Khan film releases, first day, first show. And it was this confession from the dear lady that had made us think of Salman to present the award to Shammiji, and changed Salman’ mind about attending an awards show. However, he did make one call to Shammiji to try and persuade him not to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award because “your life is not over yet”. That’s Salman!

SALMAN SPEAKS TO PRESS! - Rediff: January 22, 2002

Salman & Shah Rukh After being in the making for more than six years, the music of Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam was officially released at a function in Holiday Inn, Mumbai, on January 21. The films has six composers: Nadeem-Shravan, Bhappi Lahiri, Nikhil-Vinay, Jaideep and Daboo Malik.

The entire starcast was present at the audio release function. Shah Rukh Khan walked in first, dapper in black shirt, black trousers and black tie. Salman Khan strode in a few minutes later with hisbrother-in-law Atul Agnihotri. The Khans plopped themselves in the front row.

Madhuri, the female lead, was delayed thanks to a prior commitment and walked in late. The audio release happened in her absence. Apparently, Govinda was to do the honours but he did not attend the function. Amrish Puri, who has been associated with a lot of K C Bokadia films, obliged instead. Madhuri

Shah Rukh Khan was quite co-operative with the media. But it was Salman Khan who surprised everyone by agreeing to talk: "I am okay with the media but it doesn't take me time to be myself at the next moment," he said, implying his mood fluctuations were not in his control. Though before Madhuri Dixit walked in after the star duo left the function. Dressed in a red bandani sari with lots of gold, she looked like a bride. She was accompanied by her parents and her secretary, Rikku Rakeshnath. She graced the function for ten minutes. Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam sees Madhuri playing a housewife.
It was a big day for director K S Adiyaman though the film has been in the making for six years. "It will not look jaded and stale. But it is for you to judge," he says. Though he said he hadn't made many changes from the original Tamil film, he said, "I have made changes to match the star's image."Going by the promos, however, the film seems similar to Aap Ki Kasam, with Shah Rukh playing Rajesh Khanna, Salman playing Sanjeev Kumar and Madhuri playing Mumtaz.

PANKAJ ON SALMAN & TNBP! - Mid-day: January 15, 2002

Parashar does not stop extolling Salman Khan's virtues. "Salman's performance is the film's USP, " insists Parashar. "The film explores is real potential as an actor and he has done very well. Contrary to what one hears about him, he was very cooperative. He has been very involved with the film. He has cycled to and forth from the studio to his house and still reached on time. He would gleefully show his watch and show that he was ready 15 minutes before time."
Probe him more on the movie and Parashar comes up with a blinder: "Expect the unexpected from this film, just when you are thinking, you know what will happen, the film will undergo a twist," he smiles. And Pankaj Twister proceeds to give a thumbnail sketch of his movie. "It is about Salman Khan who is a Thakur's son and he falls in love with a Thakur's daughter Diya Mirza and then suddenly he loses his memory. He now has some memories which he believes are from a past life. How the unravels the mystery is the story."
And there is Sushmita Sen. A love triangle? "No. But I am not telling you anything." Parashar stops at that and begins to discuss the fate of another film at the box-office.

SHINNING WITH STARS! - Filmstrip: January 11, 2002

Salman Khan is back again in the news and this time not with Aishwarya Rai! He’s had the maximum number and record-breaking figureof being the actor who has featured with all the beauty queens who are in the Film industry till date. From starring with Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen & Namrata Shirodkar audiences will now get to see him with young and pretty Diya Mirza. ‘Tumko na Bhool Payenge’ is the film in which the duo star together, trailers and snippets of which, are already on our TV sets ! Not only that glam-doll Sush is back too in the same film. Quite a spicy lil trio we have – hope the film is worth the wait.

JODI IS OFFICIAL! - Filmfare Online: January 09, 2002

It had to happen again folks. The Salman-Aishwarya on-screen pairing, is what we're talking about. After Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' which drew in audiences in hordes, somebody was bound to think of a project starring the duo together again. And this time it's inhouse too. Apparently, Salman's brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri, who is casting the two together, feels that it is better to delay the project. Why? Because Salman recently hurt his hand which is all bandaged up - certainly a no-no where shooting is concerned since the character requires the actor to be in great shape. The film which is titled 'Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha' will also star another hero in the lead - the most likely candidate for the same being Sohail Khan. Should make great viewing, eh?

HAND INJURY! - India FM: January 08, 2002

You may find this hard to believe, but fitness conscious Salman Khan won’ be touching weights for another six weeks due to an injury on his hand. This has resulted in the slight postponement of the launch of brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri’s directorial debut DIL NE JISE APNA KAHA, which was to have taken off now. “Since Salman has been advised against working out, we have had to postpone the launch by a couple of weeks. His role in my film demands that he look fit and in shape,” Atul tells me.
Meanwhile, there is speculation about the second hero of the film. More recently, there was talk that Arjun Rampal has consented to play the second lead, but the grapevine is abuzz that Sohail Khan will eventually essay the role. “Things had never reached the stage where we finalised Arjun. The options are still open,” Atul states.
Aishwarya Rai is the leading lady of the project that tells the story of two army officers falling in love with the same girl. The story is akin to the 2000 hit PEARL HARBOUR, I ask. “That’s what some people think. But if you recall, I’d briefly mentioned the story idea to you much before PEARL HARBOUR had released. There are bound to be comparisons since my film also tells the story of two army officers,” he elucidates.

GETS PERMISSION! - Chalomumbai: January 08, 2002

Film star Salman Khan, facing trial in black buck poaching case, has been allowed by local courts of Jodhpur go abroad. Two lower courts headed by Chief Judicial Magistrate S K Mathur and Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ajay Kumar Ojha respectively, yesterday permitted him to go abroad and ordered release of his passport seized during his arrest on charges of poaching of protected wild animals. Khan had applied before the two courts for grant of permission for taking part in a shooting in Malayasia. The cases against Khan and others were registered in 1993.

LOW KEY BIRTHDAY! - Filmfare Online: January 07, 2002

It was the best-kept secret affair of the month. Salman for reason best known to him decided to play down his birthday celebration this time. So the turn out was a low- key affair with only his family and immediate neighbours invited. Unlike previous year the list this time was short and included only his Bandra (suburb where he lives) neighbours like Chunky Pandey and Shah Rukh Khan.

HIGH..BYE! - Filmfare: January,2002

Yeah, so of all the bashes, do's, mehfils and mini- melas, the post-midnight revelry hosted by Salman Khan... with Aishwarya Rai in tow natch... was the talk of showtown. The Khan khaana-peena was tops as usual. But the turn-out was quite impressive maybe 'coz everyone seemed to be in the mood to feel high as skyscrapers. Ash, quite curiously, stuck to Diya Mirza, yakking wethinks about everything from hunky men to cosmetics. Arbaaz and his biwi Malaika stuck to each other like Siamese twins. Fardeen Khan avoided too much familiarity with Amrita Arora... in public. And Shah Rukh Khan fetched up with beta Aryan... and left pronto. Sanjay Dutt came solo... and umm... quite sloshed already. Interestingly, Salman didn't touch a drop of whisky, Bacardi because he's gone on the wagon for the Ramzan month. Better late than never!

SNIPPETS 2002