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Cops detain 1000 Sainiks ahead of MNIK release
Feb 10th
By Agencies (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 10, 2010)
In a crackdown against Shiv Sena, over 1000 of its activists have been detained ahead of the release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name is Khan after the party stepped up its protest against the film over the actor’s remarks favouring inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in IPL.
“In the last 24 hours, a total of 1,023 Sainiks have been arrested. While 955 were picked up under the preventive action, the rest were put behind bars for different cases, including for protesting outside the theatre, vandalising screens among others,” police said.
Tight security has been provided to 63 theatres across the city where the movie is scheduled to be released on February 12, they said.
Guidelines have also been issued to all police stations by the city police chief regarding security arrangements.
Cinema halls have stopped advance bookings for My Name Is Khan following violent protests by Shiv Sena activists. Multiplex chains like PVR and Cinemax withdrew their advance bookings for the film, as did single-screen theatres like Mehul in Mulund and Shreyas in Ghatkopar, their officials said. “We have shut the advance bookings for the film as of now. It may open around 4pm today but nothing is certain at present,” Girish Wankhede, deputy general manager (corporate communication) of Cinemax, said.
Pramod Madhve, an official from Mehul Theatre, said: “Nothing about the film’s release is fixed yet. We hope to receive updates by tomorrow. But the advance bookings have been shut for now.” A Shreyas Theatre official said: “Bookings have been closed as of now, we should be in a position to tell you about the release by tomorrow.”
According to TV channels, major multiplexes like PVR, Big Cinemas, Adlabs and Fun Cinemas too have closed their advance booking windows for the movie.
The Sena has renewed its threat not to allow the release of “My Name…” unless the Bollywood star retracts his statement favouring inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL-3.
“We will not allow the movie to be released. Shah Rukh should first apologise to Balasaheb (Thackeray) and then only we can talk with him,” Sena leader Manohar Joshi said yesterday.
In wake of the Sena intensifying protests against Khan, leaves of the city’s policemen have been cancelled to ensure their full presence. To further strengthen security, personnel from State Reserve Police Force and Home Guards will be deployed at the 63 theatres that will screen the film here.
Karan Johar, director and co-producer of the film, on Tuesday met police commissioner D Sivanandhan to discuss security issues ahead of the movie’s release.
Multiplexes in Mumbai stop MNIK bookings
Feb 10th
Despite halls being vandalised, and threat of Sena protests, Shah Rukh and Karan Johar say… Khan WILL release this week
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 10, 2010)
With the Shiv Sena going on the rampage against the theatres screening My Name Is Khan, the sudden and violent change of stance after indicating a truce has shocked the film industry.
Several Sena dominated pockets of the city including Mulund, Kanjurmarg, Ghatkopar and Chembur witnessed attacks on theatres planning to screen My Name Is Khan. Huma Adlabs, Shreyas, Ashish and Metro were among the theatres attacked.
Yesterday, the film’s producer Karan Johar met up with Police Commissioner D Sivanandan to discuss the situation. While the police has warned of strict action against troublemakers and over 200 arrests were made on Tuesday, the situation remains volatile. And bearing the brunt are the theatres.
“We are waiting to hear from the distributors (Fox Cinemas) to take an official stand on whether or not to go ahead with the release of My Name Is Khan. It is as much their decision as ours,” said Shunali Shroff of Fame Big Cinemas, adding, “Hopefully, by Wednesday morning, things should get resolved.”
Devang Sampat, GM Marketing, Cinemax said, “We are yet to take a call on this. I have still to speak to the operation team since this is more of an operation call.”
Meanwhile, in an interview to a television channel, Shah Rukh Khan said that while he has had a warm relationship with Bal Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, he didn’t feel there was anything he had said which he should apologise for. He also said that he had not sought any appointment with them to sort out the issue.
It may be recalled that the Shiv Senas had taken an objection to Shah Rukh’s comment that Pakistani cricket players should be allowed to play in the IPL.
At the time of going to press, representatives from all the multiplexes were in a meeting with Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to find a solution to the impasse.
E-pirates mourn at Minonova's clean up act
Dec 2nd
Sharmila Ganesan-Ram | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 2, 2009)
Mumbai: Kurbaan, typed the eager 26-year-old in the search bar of his favourite website. ‘No results found,’ blinked the screen. Santosh Kannan (name changed), who usually reserves his weekends to watch downloaded movies, was aghast. Never before in the history of this techie’s four-year-old affair with the site Mininova had the search for a new movie yielded zilch results. The explanation, that arrived in tiny font on the site’s homepage, soon made Kannan feel like “I had just lost a friend.’’
Mininova, the largest Torrent (a popular file-sharing software) site offering movie and music downloads and the lifeline of numerous online movie pirates like Kannan, announced last week that it will now only share movies that have been uploaded through its content distribution service. This means that all its illicit Torrent movies have been deleted and, in turn, piracy is now impossible on the site. The portal’s founders took the decision after they lost a civil dispute and were ordered to remove all infringing torrents from the site.
This may be reason for distributors to smile as the move is a big blow to online piracy. But for its numerous patrons like Mulund-based Kannan, who banked on the site for its promise of convenient movie downloads, it marks the end of good times. The dejected Kannan even posted a message on Facebook saying, ‘RIP Mininova’. “I had bookmarked this site as one of my favourites. It was safe as, unlike other Torrent sites, Mininova did not contain porn uploads,’’ says Kannan who must have downloaded about 60 to 80 GBs of content, courtesy Mininova so far.
The site was founded in early 2005 by five Dutch students as a hobby project, but soon, it spiralled into a successful business generating millions of dollars. For years, it faced numerous complaints from copyright holders, who saw their intellectual property being shared by users of the site. Earlier this year, the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN decided to take Mininova to court, demanding that the operators proactively filter uploads pointing to copyrighted material.
Final year science student Aditya Kumar, who has set ‘Goodbye Mininova’ as his chat status, says he saw this coming. “A few months ago Mininova had started moderating the Torrent uploads, which was just a sign that they would soon go legal.’’ Though he admits that “piracy is wrong’’, he can’t help but praise the “good quality prints, great download speed and accurate reviews’’ that characterised the website. “It was incredibly well-organized, and easy to navigate. It didn’t require a complex invite procedure to sign and log in,’’ he recalls.
Of course, the site is not totally dead. But “it’s unlikely anyone will use Mininova for legal stuff,’’ predicts Kumar.
Smriti Irani hospitalized
Sep 8th
The 51st show of her play Muktidhaam was cancelled at the last minute after she complained of breathlessness on Saturday evening
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 07, 2009)
Television actress-politician Smriti Irani’s frail health has become a constant source of worry. She was admitted to a hospital in Andheri on Saturday evening when she complained of breathlessness while she was on her way to Mulund for a screening her play Muktidhaam in which she plays the lead role. She was discharged on Sunday morning and has been recuperating at home.
Our source said, “Smriti was on her way to perform for the 51st screening of her play Muktidhaam when she suddenly started feeling quite unwell. She complained of uneasiness and breathlessness and was immediately taken to a hospital in Andheri. The audience was informed about Smriti’s ill health and the play was replaced at the last minute by another one on Saturday evening. Even yesterday’s show at the Sophia auditorium in Breach Candy was cancelled at the last minute and replaced by one of her other productions, Ek Chokri Saav Anokhi. Smriti was discharged on Sunday but has been advised complete bed rest.” Kamlesh Mota, director of Muktidhaam, confirmed the news and said, “Smriti was fine on Saturday morning after our 50th show of Muktidhaam. After the show, Smriti even bought a cake and we had a small celebration at her house. But as she suddenly had a breathing problem, we had to not only cancel the evening show but also all the shows for the next few days.” Incidentally, Smriti has already been hospitalised twice due to exhaustion and overwork. She was also hospitalised in November 2006 after being diagnosed with dengue and typhoid. Despite repeated attempts, Smriti Irani remained unavailable for comment. |
