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| NATIONAL
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updated : WEDNESDAY
31 DECEMBER
2008 |
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India, China to hold new round
of boundary talks: Mukherjee
New Delhi, Dec
30: India and China will hold
a new round of negotiations
on the vexed border issue which
is an area of “differences
and divergences” despite
bilateral relations having witnessed
“visible” improvement,
External Affairs Minister Pranab
Mukherjee said today.
“Of course there are areas
of concern...Not concern, but
areas of differences and divergences
with regard to the border dispute,”
Mukherjee told PTI when asked
about the future of Sino-Indian
relationship.
He said both countries have
an established mechanism at
the level of special representatives
to deal with the border issue
at the political level. “They
have completed 12 rounds of
talks. More rounds of talks
are to take place,” he
added without specifying any
exact timeframe for the talks.
The last round of talks was
held in Beijing between National
Security Advisor M K Narayanan
and Chinese State Counselor
Dai Bingguo in September.
Unable to find a negotiated
settlement through the diplomatic
channels, India and China appointed
Special Representatives in June
2003 to address the border issue
from a political perspective
of the overall bilateral relations.
India says China is illegally
occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu
and Kashmir including 5,180
sq km illegally ceded to Beijing
by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan
boundary agreement in 1963.
On the other hand, China accuses
India of possessing some 90,000
sq km of Chinese territory,
mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.
Mukherjee said India has reiterated
the 'one China' policy on Taiwan
and has also helped in the smooth
passage of the (Beijing) Olympic
torch peacefully. The External
Affairs Minister said both the
countries have been in touch
with each other after the Mumbai
terror attacks, adding that
he had a telephonic conversation
with the Chinese Foreign Minister
Yang Jiechi. “Therefore
on the whole improvement, in
relationship and in different
aspects this improvement is
visible,” he said.
Reviewing high-level bilateral
exchanges during the year, Mukherjee
said Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh had visited China twice
in 2008-- once bilaterally and
the second time to attend the
ASEM summit.
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi
also visited the communist country
during the Olympics. "I
myself visited China on a bilateral
visit and my counterpart visited
India," he said.
On the trade front, he said,
relationship with China was
improving substantially. “I
think this year our bilateral
trade crossed USD 50 billion”.
The figure this year is likely
to reach between USD 55 and
56 billion, but Mukherjee was
confident that it will cross
the USD 60 billion target, which
was to be achieved by 2010.
(PTI) |
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Amicus
curiae could be a way out to
conduct Ajmal’s trial
Mumbai, Dec 30: The deadlock
over appointment of a lawyer
for Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman,
the lone surviving terrorist
of November 26 attacks here,
could be solved by appointment
of amicus curiae, going by the
Bombay High Court's recent judgment.
So far, Ajmal has no lawyer
of his own. The one appointed
by the Magistrate's court --advocate
Dinesh Mota -- refused take
up his brief.
Ajmal has sought legal aid from
Pakistan High Commission but
to no avail. The Supreme Court,
in earlier cases, has held that
if an accused goes undefended,
the trial has to be set aside.
“In such a situation,
Amicus Curiae could be a solution,”
chief public prosecutor of the
Bombay High Court Satish Borulkar
told PTI.
In fact, in one of the cases
where advocate Borulkar appeared
for the state, the Bombay High
Court has said that if the accused
did not engage a lawyer, it
is trial court's duty to appoint
an amicus curiae.
Amicus curiae, which is a Latin
term, literally means ‘friend
of the court’. He/she
who does not represent any of
the sides but assists the court.
Earlier this year, a murder
case in which two women have
been convicted and sentenced
to death landed up in the High
Court for confirmation of the
death sentences.
Leena Deosthali and her daughter
Deepti Deosthali were accused
of abducting and killing one
Dr Deepak Mahajan in July 2006.
When the trial began in Pune
seesions court, the accused
wished to conduct their defence
themselves. The trial court
appointed a lawyer for them
but the accused did not allow
him to represent them. At the
end of the trial, both were
found guilty and setenced to
death. When the case came up
before division bench of Justices
Bilal Nazki and Ashutosh Kumbhkoni,
the judges were shocked by the
manner in which trial had proceeded.
“Merely offerring legal
services to both accused was
not enough to meet the requirements
of fair trial,” the judges
observed, eventually directing
the lower court to record testimonies
of some additional witnesses.
Even though Deosthalis had rejected
the legal aid, the “trial
court should have at least appointed
an amicus curiae to find out
the truth,” the High Court
said in the order on October
15 this year. “Trial courts
are not mere spectators or umpires...Courts
have to participate in the proceedings
to find out the truth”,
the High Court has said.
Advocate Borulkar said Ajmal’s
case was quite unprecedented
as in this case the accused
has not rejected legal aid but
a lawyer has refused to aid
him.
“If he himself were to
reject legal aid, it would have
been a different case,”
he said.
A few lawyers have come forward
to defend Ajmal, including former
Additional Advocate General
of the state P Janardhan.
One of them, advocate K Lam,
has even handed over Vakalatnama
to the police to obtain Ajmal’s
signature on it. Lam’s
house in South Mumbai was vandalised
by Shiv Sainiks earlier when
the news of his offer to defend
Ajmal leaked. (PTI) |
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Bollywood unconventional in
2008 with Fashion, Dostana
New Delhi, Dec 30: A guy falling
in love with an older woman
in Bachna Ae Haseeno, a leading
fashion designer in a gay
relationship in Fashion, two
normal men pretending to be
in gay relationship in Dostana
and a man falling in love
with his brothers fiance in
Sorry Bhai complex issues
and taboo subjects hitherto
confined to domain of arthouse
cinema formed backdrop of
many Bollywood films in 2008
.
The year gone by, which saw
the film industry try its
hand at a diverse range of
subjects, from the period
film Jodha Akbar to Taut thrillers
like A Wednesday and Ghajini
to comedies like Singh Is
King and Welcome to Sajjanpur
and horror films like Phoonk
and 1920, also saw it breaking
new grounds with a host of
films delving into unconventional
subjects.
The year began with Ashutosh
Gowarikars Jodha Akbar dealing
with the unconventional and
hitherto untouched romance
between Mughal Emperor Akbatr
and his Rajput Queen Jodhabai.
Though the film created a
furore amongst many Rajput
organisation for its misinterpretation
of history, it hit the bulls
eye at the box office. Made
at a cost of Rs 40 crore,
the film was a big hit across
the country as well as overseas
and turned out to be the only
hit of the first quarter.
Later in the year, Yashraj
Films Bachna Ae Haseeno grabbed
eyeballs with the love story
between Ranbir Kapoor and
a much older Bipasha Basu.
Though Bipasha herself dismissed
the age Difference between
her and Ranbir, her pairing
with Ranbir Kapoor in the
film, dealing with the love
story of this man with three
women in three different stages
of his life, became a talking
point in the media.
With an encouraging public
response, Bachna Ae Haseeno
came as a much needed breather
for Yashraj Films, reeling
under the failure of their
much hyped action film Tashan.
Also hitting the Bulls eye
at the box office was Jaane
Tu Ya Jaane Na, an unconventional
campus romance featuring Aamir
Khans nephew Imran Khan in
the lead. The unconventional
love story between Imran and
Genelia D Souza in the film
and a chartbuster musical
score from the maestro A R
Rahman made this film a winner
at the box office, beating
the much hyped Love Story
2050. Made at a cost of around
Rs 9 crore, the film earned
over Rs 30 crore from theatrical,
satellite and video rights.
Another film making a mark
at the box office despite
its unconventional storyline
was Madhur Bhandarkars Fashion.
The film, which dealt with
the reality behind the glamour
charactersising the world
of fashion, eandeared itself
to the audience despite it
having a track of a leading
fashion designer in a gay
relationship. Made at a budget
of Rs 20 crore, Fashion is
expected to recover its cost.
The coming of age film for
Bollywood in terms of tackling
the taboo subject of gay relationships
was undoubtedly Dostana which
had Abhishek Bachchan and
John Abraham play two normal
guys pretending to be in a
gay relationship in order
to get a house on rent. The
film had the cinegoers turning
out in large numbers to the
cinema halls despite its liberal
use of the gay terminology
and gay mannerisms by both
Abhishek and John. Dostana
was perhaps the first film
in Hindi cinema where a mother
was shown to accept the relationship
of her son with another man.(UNI)
|
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New Year gift: India repatriates
66 Pakistanis despite tension
Attari Border (Punjab), Dec
30: Discounting the war threat
rhetoric, India on Tuesday
repatriated 66 Pakistani prisoners
to their home country as a
goodwill gesture on the eve
of the New Year.
The Pakistanis, including
28 women and four children,
were lodged in various jails
in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Amritsar
(Punjab) and Delhi. Most of
them were put behind bars
for entering or staying in
India with forged or expired
travel documents.
This is the first release
of prisoners from here after
the Nov 26 Mumbai terror attack
for which India has blamed
terrorist elements in Pakistan.
Among those released was Mohammad
Asif who was arrested in Delhi
for overstaying in India.
Asif, who is married to an
Indian woman and has three
children from her, said he
was returning to Pakistan
to complete formalities to
take his wife there. He was
lodged in Tihar jail for three
years. “I am glad to
be freed. I will complete
the formalities to be united
with my family again,”
Asif said before leaving.
Majority of the prisoners
were thankful to the Indian
side for repatriating them
despite the growing tension
between India and Pakistan
after the Mumbai terror attack.
They regretted that terror
attack and said that if anyone
from Pakistan was involved,
he should be punished. “This
repatriation is the best new
year’s gift for me.
I am happy to be going back
home,” Karachi resident
Shehzad, who was lodged in
the Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan,
told reporters here before
leaving.
“The repatriation of
these prisoners is a New Year’s
gift from India,” a
Border Security Force (BSF)
official told IANS here as
the prisoners walked to the
Pakistan side on Tuesday evening.
Naif Ahmed, who was to arrive
from a Mumbai prison, could
not reach here on time and
is likely to be sent home
later this week.
Out of the 66 repatriated
prisoners, 51 were from jails
in Rajasthan and Gujarat while
14 were lodged in Amritsar
jail. Some of them said that
they had been duped by travel
agents in Pakistan who gave
them forged documents to come
here. “The Mumbai attack
was a horrible thing. Both
countries should resolve issues
before them. They should refrain
from going to war as people
will suffer,” Amir Ali
said.(IANS)
India
asks Israel to observe ‘utmost
restraint’
New Delhi, Dec 30: Condemning
the “unwarranted use
of force” by Israel
in the Gaza Strip that has
killed over 300 Palestinians,
India has expressed “disappointment”
at continuing military strikes
and asked Tel Aviv to observe
"utmost restraint".
“The government of India
had hoped that military action
by Israel against targets
in the Gaza Strip would abate,”
external affairs ministry
spokesperson Vishnu Prakash
said in a statement here Monday
night.
“It is disappointing
to note that the use of disproportionate
force is resulting in a large
number of civilian casualties
on the one hand and the escalating
violence on the other,”
the spokesperson said.
“This continued use
of indiscriminate force is
unwarranted and condemnable,”
Prakash underlined.
“The government of India
urges utmost restraint so
as to give peace a chance
as the peace process may well
get derailed irreversibly
by Israel's attack in the
Gaza Strip and continued violence,”
he said.
Israel Tuesday rejected any
truce with Hamas Islamists
in the Gaza Strip before cross-border
rocket fire ceased and said
its air strikes heralded “long
weeks of military action”.
Around 350 people have died
and more than 800 wounded
since Israel launched its
attacks on Saturday.
This is the second statement
by India in less than three
days asking Israel to end
the use of force against Palestinian
civilians.
The first statement December
27 took note of “immediate
cross-border provocations
resulting from rocket attacks
particularly against targets
in southern Israel”
- a reference to Hamas using
rocket attacks to target southern
Israel which was cited by
Tel Aviv as a reason for attacking
the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The statement was seen as
mild by some political parties
in India.
In a statement Sunday, the
Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) came down heavily
on the "savage and horrific
wave of air strikes by the
Israeli government”,
and accused the Israeli government
of "policies of colonial
repression” in Gaza
and the West Bank.
The CPI-M politburo said it
demands that the Manmohan
Singh government come out
strongly against the Israeli
government for this massacre.
“Its shameful policy
of promoting security and
military collaboration with
the Israeli state even while
Israel continues its occupation
and war against the Palestinians
will harm India's image among
the countries of West Asia
and damage India’s own
interests,” the party
said.
The CPI-M demanded that the
Congress-led government stops
its security and military
ties with Israel.
India’s ties with Israel
have grown steadily in recent
years with Tel Aviv emerging
as an important source of
military hardware. (IANS)
BJP
says UPA govt weak in fighting
terror due to vote politics
Shimla, Dec 30: The BJP today
accused the UPA government
of being weak in fighting
terrorism due to its vote
bank politics and also sought
clarity on how it will deal
with Pakistan following the
Mumbai terror attacks.
The saffron party asked Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh to
clearly state how his government
intended to deal with Pakistan
in the wake of its links with
the Mumbai terror attacks
emerging. “The people
of India have a right to know
this,” it said. “The
Union government did a good
thing by bringing in anti-terror
bills after years of repealing
POTA...But its fight against
terrorism is weak because
of continued practice of vote
bank politics," BJP's
prime ministerial candidate
L K Advani said addressing
the “Vijay Sankalp rally”
at ridge maidan here on completion
of one year of the BJP government
in Himachal Pradesh. In a
lighter vein, he said the
“UPA government took
a U-turn by bringing in an
anti-terror law by realising
its mistake of repealing a
tough law like POTA, but when
will it take a U-turn on vote-bank
politics”.
Advani referred to the government's
failure to execute Afzal Guru
and initiate action against
lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants. “Despite
a clear-cut verdict of the
Supreme Court on the two issues
why Manmohan Singh government
is not acting on them? How
can you (UPA govt) fight terrorism
practicing vote-bank politics?”
he questioned. Advani said
after the terror attacks in
Mumbai, the UPA government
has been sending confusing
signals both to people and
the international community.
“Those at responsible
positions in government and
Congress are talking in different
tongues often contradicting
each other.” (PTI)
In 2008, corruption dented
Indian judiciary’s image
New Delhi, Dec 30: Hit by
at least three scandals involving
judges, the halo around India's
higher judiciary dimmed a
little in 2008. But, led by
its first Dalit chief justice
known for his no-nonsense
approach to issues of public
importance, the institution
also demonstrated its resolve
to weed out corrupt elements
from it.
“Because of so many
scandals, the judiciary has
lost its tag of being a holy
cow,” Prashant Bhushan,
senior lawyer, told IANS.
One of the worst scandals
involved the siphoning off
of millions of rupees worth
of social security funds of
lower grade court employees
in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh
for the benefit of the high
priests of judiciary. The
case is being investigated
by the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI).
The judges who allegedly benefited
from the fraudulently withdrawn
fund of Rs.230 million from
Ghaziabad district treasury
since 2000 included one of
the Supreme Court besides
around a dozen judges of the
Allahabad High Court and several
others of the Uttar Pradesh
subordinate judiciary. The
scam tumbled out of the closet
at a time when the Supreme
Court was already contending
with a question mark over
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan's
decision to confirm the services
of Madras High Court's Additional
Judge Ashok Kumar despite
having adverse intelligence
inputs against his integrity.
In a lawsuit filed in the
apex court in 2007 itself,
the chief justice had additionally
been accused of confirming
Justice Kumar's services without
the mandatory consultation
with his two seniormost colleagues
in the apex court.
“Surely, the year was
pretty bad for Indian judiciary,”
said senior advocate K.K.
Venugopal. The year also saw
the bizarre episode of erstwhile
Haryana additional advocate
general Sanjiv Bansal's clerk
delivering a bagful of cash
worth Rs.1.5 million at the
residence of Justice Nirmaljit
Singh Kaur of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court in Chandigarh
in August. Justice Kaur reported
the matter to police and the
initial probe revealed that
the cash was meant for another
woman judge of the same high
court, Justice Nirmal Yadav,
allegedly to finance some
of her corrupt deals. This
case too is being probed by
the CBI.
There was more discomfort
for the judiciary.
Barely a month later, it transpired
that the apex court was unsuccessfully
trying to get rid of a Calcutta
High Court judge, Justice
Soumitra Sen, who had misappropriated
Rs.58 million of the high
court's fund in the mid-1980s,
nearly two decades before
he was appointed a judge in
December 2003.
Justice Sen had misappropriated
the court's fund, accruing
to it as suit properties,
on two occasions - first in
1984 and then again in 1997.
The startling revelations
about criminal misappropriation
of the court's fund by Justice
Sen came to the public domain
after Chief Justice Balakrishnan
wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, recommending ouster
of the erring judge through
impeachment. The CJI had sought
Justice Sen's ouster after
he ignored the apex court's
advice to quit. The government
is yet to move parliament
for his impeachment. But despite
more than one scandal denting
the judiciary's image during
the year, Chief Justice Balakrishnan
never sought to shield it.
“He has a no-nonsense
approach to issues of public
importance, owing to his firsthand
awareness of ground realities,”
a top Supreme Court official
said. Balakrishnan didn't
just allow a probe by police
and CBI into various instances
of judicial misconduct and
corruption, but also formed
high level judicial panels
for independent scrutiny of
the truth behind the allegations.
In the process, the chief
justice also allowed full
legal scrutiny of his own
administrative decisions,
like his move to confirm the
services of Justice Ashok
Kumar of the Madras High Court.
Similarly, he also allowed
legal scrutiny of his decision
to see the vetting of questions
to be posed by police before
high court and Supreme Court
judges, suspected to be beneficiaries
in the fraudulent withdrawal
of funds from Ghaziabad’s
treasury.(IANS)
No build-up of troops
on border: Indian Army
New Delhi/Islamabad, Dec 30:
The Indian Army Tuesday denied
there was a build-up of troops
on the border and said they
were only on alert after Pakistan
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood
Qureshi asked New Delhi to
“relocate forces to
peacetime locations”.
A senior Indian Army officer,
who said he was reflecting
the official position but
could not be identified, said:
“We have not deployed
any troops along the border.
It was Pakistan that whipped
up war rhetoric and not us.
“Our forces are only
on alert so that they can
be pressed into operations
if need arises,” the
official said, asked about
remarks by Qureshi asking
India to “de-escalate
tensions” in the wake
of the Mumbai carnage. “India
should deactivate forward
air bases and relocate forces
to the peacetime locations,"
Qureshi said on state-run
Pakistan Television (PTV)
on Tuesday.
He said: “Positive developments
have taken place in the last
48 hours and we welcome (Indian
External Affairs Minister
Pranab) Mukherjee’s
denial of a war ultimatum.”
He said Pakistan would positively
take action against those
found involved in terrorism,
if evidence was provided against
them by the Indian authorities.
Also on Tuesday, Pakistan’s
National Security Adviser
Mahmud Ali Durrani called
for the resumption of dialogue
between the two nations to
resolve issues arising out
of the Mumbai attacks for
which India has blamed Pakistan-based
terrorists. “The media
has created unnecessary hype.
We have to remove mistrust.
We have to talk,”Durrani
told CNN-IBN news channel
from Islamabad.
India sees the orchestration
of war hysteria by the establishment
in Pakistan as an attempt
to shift focus away from the
core issue of taking action
against elements in Pakistan
suspected of having a hand
in the Mumbai mayhem, government
sources said.
Last week, Pranab Mukherjee
had cautioned Pakistan against
war hysteria and asked Islamabad
to address the key issue of
terrorism emanating from Pakistani
territory.
Relations between India and
Pakistan went into a tailspin
following the Nov 26 terror
strikes in Mumbai that left
over 170 people dead, including
26 foreigners. India has been
maintaining that the 10 terrorists
who ravaged the financial
and entertainment capital
of India had come from Pakistan
and were members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba
terror outfit based in Muridke,
near Lahore.(IANS)
Shobha
De is a ‘porn writer’:
Sonam Kapoor
MUMBAI, Dec 30: Saawariya
girl Sonam Kapoor has lashed
out at writer Shobha De by
calling her a ‘porn
writer’. In an interview
with a newspaper, Sonam said,
“for a 60-something
porn writer, I am sure she
(Shobha) knows what she’s
talking about.”
Shobha had earlier commented
on Sonam Kapoor and Deepika
Padukone in her blog and reffering
to Sonam’s airbrushed
photo-op in which she is posed
in lingerie. Shobha wrote,
“Sonam just doesn’t
cut it in the sex appeal stakes.”
Shobha had also commented
about Deepika after she won
Maxim’s Sexiest Woman
title. She had written, “Deepika
P is the ‘sexiest woman
on earth? Are they kidding
me? She would not win a Miss
Dombivali contest. I mean,
look at her closely. Go on:
jawline? Too wide. Eyes?Bulging.
Hair line? Untidey. Speech?
Verni.” The only silver
lining in the otherwise controversy
is that Sonam Kapoor defended
not only herself but her foe-turned
friend Deepika Padukone saying,
“if she (Shobha) thinks
Deepika is ordinary then she
sure needs to wear glasses.
Her eyesight is failing her.”
Who said two women who love
the same man can’t be
friends even if one is ex-flame
and the other—current.(Agencies)
‘Food security
can be achieved only by agri,
rural development’
Hyderabad, Dec 30: The important
goal of food security can
be achieved only through rapid
agricultural growth and multi-dimensional
rural development, President
Pratibha Patil said here today.
“Food security is an
important goal, particularly
in the contemporary world,
which faced a serious global
food crisis earlier this year.
This can only be achieved
through rapid agricultural
growth and multi-dimensional
rural development,”
she said, while delivering
the golden jubilee address
at the National Institute
of Rural Development (NIRD).
To enhance agricultural productivity,
land development and irrigation
are necessary, she said.
She, however, said there should
be optimum utilisation of
land as land is a scarce resource.
Efforts must also be made
to improve land quality and
to restore soil health, Patil
said. Encouraging farmers
to adopt improved agricultural
practices, she said making
innovative farm implements
available to them would go
a long way in improving farm
productivity.
Stressing on the need for
providing irrigation facilities,
the President favoured building
small structures like farm
ponds, village tanks, nallah
bunds, besides de-silting
of existing water bodies to
improve their water storage
capacity. “Apart from
government programmes, these
activities can also be undertaken
through ‘shramdaan’
by motivating people,”
she said. (PTI)
I’ve always
wanted to work with Hrithik:
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Mumbai, Dec 30: Filmmaker
Sanjay Leela Bhansali says
he always wanted to work with
Hrithik Roshan and he's doing
exactly that in his new venture
that also stars his favourite
actress - Aishwarya Rai. The
two have already created wonders
together in Dhoom-2 and Jodhaa
Akbar.
“Hrithik and I wanted
to work together for a very
long time. I’ve always
been impressed by his sincerity
as an actor. I was waiting
for the right opportunity
to sign him. Working with
Hrithik would be a new and
rewarding experience,"
Bhansali told IANS in an interview.
The director admits that Aishwarya
is “special”,
after having worked with her
in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
and Devdas.
“Aishwarya is very special
to me. She suits the role
in my new film to perfection.
When she read the script she
was deeply moved,”he
said.
Bhansali also rubbished reports
that he had signed on Pakistani
actor Imran Abbas for his
next venture.
“I haven’t signed
anyone called Imran Abbas.
I’m not making Heera
Mandi right now...I met him
almost a year ago, but I immediately
realised he wasn't the actor
I was looking for. Just because
I don’t speak out, people
take advantage of my silence.”
He also maintains that he
is still proud of his Saawariya,
which flopped.
“It’s my rarest
work in terms of treatment.”
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. You seem to have quietly
signed a Pakistani actor called
Imran Abbas for Heera Mandi.
A. So quietly that even I
don’t know about it.
I haven't signed anyone called
Imran Abbas. I’m not
making Heera Mandi right now.
It may happen much later.
I’m now directing another
film with Hrithik Roshan and
Aishwarya Rai. I’m very
excited about the film, and
so are they.
Q. You continue to be fearless
in spite of Saawariya?
A. This is the time when filmmakers
need to be fearless and experiment
with themes. Fearlessness
is my biggest asset as a filmmaker.
I will continue to make films
that come from deep within
me. My very first film Khamoshi:
The Musical didn’t do
well at all. A lot of people
think it’s my best work.
Q. So are you as proud of
Saawariya as the rest of your
films?
A. Of course. Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam or Devdas can be made
again, but Saawariya cannot.
It’s my rarest work
in terms of treatment. It
had beautiful performances
and visuals. I tried to put
a stage-play on film. Of course
at the end of the day the
audience decides what it likes.
Q. So have you met Pakistani
actor Imran?
A. Moin Beg, who has written
Heera Mandi, wanted me to
meet Imran. So I met him almost
a year ago, but I immediately
realised he wasn't the actor
I was looking for. Just because
I don't speak out, people
take advantage of my silence.
Q. Why don’t you clarify
the misconceptions when they
occur?
A. I can’t bring myself
to become the master of sound
bytes. But beyond a point
silence is construed as a
sign of acceptance. I don't
even meet new actors, musicians
or lyricists. I’ve already
decided whom to work with
in my next project. And why
go to Pakistan to get actors?
We’ve very talented
people in our own country.
Q. There were reports that
some actors, including Ranbir
Kapoor, didn’t want
to work with you?
A. People are writing tragic
tales about me every day.
They are even deciding what
film I'm making and also casting
actresses in them... Maybe
stories about me sell. But
when the misrepresentations
go beyond my tolerance, it's
time to speak up. The truth
is Ranbir and Sonam would
be there for me whenever I
need them. However, at the
moment I'm making a film with
Hrithik and Aishwarya.
Q. What prompted you to sign
Hrithik?
A. Hrithik and I wanted to
work together for a very long
time. I've always been impressed
by his sincerity as an actor.
I was waiting for the right
opportunity to sign him. Working
with Hrithik would be a new
and rewarding experience.
Q. You and Aishwarya created
magic in Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam and Devdas. Time for
a hattrick?
A. Aishwarya is very special
to me. She suits the role
in my new film to perfection.
When she read the script she
was deeply moved. Of course
the true friend that she is,
she told me she would've agreed
to work with me even if I
didn't send her the script.
Q. Will this Hrithik-Aishwarya
film be your first for an
international market in English?
A. But Black was also in English.
It's important for me to make
my films for our market. But
we must take our cinema to
the remotest corner of the
world. Today the spoken language
is no barrier. The spoken
language in our country is
as much Hindi as English.
I want to capture that feeling
of everyday conversations.
Q. 2008 was a great year for
you. It was the year when
an Indian director was invited
for the first time to direct
an opera in Paris.
A. Yes, I had a wonderful
time. I loved directing the
opera. It was an exceptional
honour and an unforgettable
experience. I managed to write
the script that I wanted to
and got the cast I wanted.
It’s been a year of
hard and fruitful work. And
2009 will mean even harder
work.(IANS)
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