A bullet for Madhuri Dixit Nene

A Pakistani man, while illegally sneaking through the Wagah border, was shot by the Indian security forces (BSF) on Thursday said reports.

He was reportedly shot once according to Pakistani security officials who rushed him to the military Services Hospital near the border on the Pakistani side. Shafiq (the man who was shot) later told the Pakistani media there that he was crossing the border because he wanted to meet actor Madhuri Dixit Nene once before he dies. Though 30-odd year old Shafiq is seriously injured, he is reportedly stable.

“I wanted to meet Madhuri once before I die. Since I am poor, there is no chance that I can fly down to Mumbai to meet her. I wanted to cross the border and I had papers with me. Yet I was shot at,” laments the youth. Sources in the BSF confirmed the incident but revealed that the youth did not have any valid papers on him. “Primarily investigation suggested that the youth had crossed the border to meet Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit. That is all we know about him right now,” says a source.

Apparently, the BSF will refer the youth’s case to their seniors who will try contacting Madhuri in Mumbai to convince her if she can meet the fan who was ready to risk his life to meet her.

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Shah Rukh Khan, brand ambassador of West Bengal?

Murmurs have started in the literary circles of Kolkata over the appointment ofactor Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador of West Bengal. Online forums and closed literary circles are outraged over the fact that an actor born in Delhi and based in Mumbai have been chosen to represent the state which really doesn’t have any dearth of either talent or celebrities.

“It was in the green room that I got to know that the chief minister (Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal) is having a closed door meeting with him over representing West Bengal. Apparently Shah Rukh said that he is not going to charge any money for this although an honorarium was discussed. The deal was sealed soon after,” says an actor who was also there at the Kolkata film festival inauguration function where SRK took to the stage before being declared as the brand ambassador of the state.

The opposition party in the state is planning to take this matter up according to sources. “There is no dearth of talent in West Bengal that Shah Rukh has to represent us. Apart from a cricket team (which is a private business company), he really doesn’t have any connection with the state. And Bengal might not have Shah Rukh but it cannot be starved when it comes to the talent pool,” says an opposition leader.

However, blissfully unaware of the opposition voices gaining ground, Shah Rukh said that he was waiting for an offer like this.“I have told Chief Minister sahiba that I am available for her anytime of the year. I will come any time you guys want me to. I have always had an connection here and I am glad that I will be more involved with the beautiful people here,” said Shah Rukh.

SRK went as far to state that Kolkata produces the best of Indian cinema and is the country’s cultural and literary hub. “Kolkata is always known for its rich culture and heritage. Despite of new, high multi-storeyed buildings and industrial sectors, Kolkata has still sustained its age-old rich background of arts and literature. I really believe in the cinema of Bengal. We have some of the best cinema coming in from this part of the country,” he added.

Shah Rukh also said that he is trying to learn Bengali. “I have been visiting Kolkata regularly for the last four-five years. Now I am even trying to learn its language and read more books from here. I believe that the history of our arts, literature, poetry and films cannot be written, or ever begin without the state of West Bengal,” he said among other things during an interaction with the media.

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Black Sabbath announce new album, 2012 world tour

Veteran British rock band Black Sabbath announced on Friday they are reuniting in their original four man line-up for their first new album in 33 years and a 2012 world tour.

Singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bass player Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward told a news conference at legendary Sunset Strip club Whiskey a Go Go they would perform at the Download Festival in England in June 2012, and then embark on a world tour.

The band, which first got together under the Black Sabbath name in 1969, said they were working on new material for the album for release in the fall of 2012. There is no title as yet but it will be produced by Rick Rubin.

"It's now or never. We are getting along great. Everything's really good," Iommi told reporters at the club where Black Sabbath played their first show in Los Angeles exactly 41 years ago.

"It's like putting on an old glove. It's fantastic," Iommi added.

The four musicians, now all in their 60s, released their last studio album of all original material in 1978 with "Never Say Never."

Rumours of a possible reunion of the English metal band, regarded as one of the pioneers of heavy metal with hits like "Iron Man" and War Pigs," had been swirling for months.

"It's just time," Osbourne said, noting that the four had tried in the past to work together again.

"This time, for some magical reason, we have written about seven or eight songs."

Nothing has been recorded yet and no dates were announced on Friday for the world tour.

Frontman Osbourne was fired from the band in 1979, leading to a revolving line-up for a number of years. The original foursome reunited for the 1998 release "Reunion" and played again together sporadically for shows in the early 2000s.

Black Sabbath was inducted to the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.

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Men didn't find young Madonna attractive

Pop diva Madonna says that straight men didn't find her attractive when she was young.

"(Girls) were told to wear our skirts to our knees, turtlenecks, cover ourselves and not wear makeup, and not do anything that would draw attention," Madonna, who had a strict Catholic-Italian upbringing, told Harper's Bazaar.

"Straight men did not find me attractive. I think they were scared of me because I was different," said Madonna who rebelled with unshaved armpits and wacky hairstyles.

The 53-year-old, who is dating 24-year-old French dancer Brahim Zaibat, is slowly including him in outings with her kids - Lourdes, 15, Rocco, 11, David, 6, and Mercy, 5, reports Usmagazine.com.

"(My sons) need a male role model as well. So I need to keep this in mind: What is this person modeling to my sons, what kind of man is he, what values does he have, what energy is he giving off?" she said.

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Rockstar released; Anurag Basu's Barfee can now take off

No one would be happier than director Anurag Basu to see the release of Ranbir Kapoor's Rockstar as he can now start shooting for his Barfee.

Imtiaz Ali-directed Rockstar has opened with lots of praise for Ranbir's peformance.

"Ab bas ho gaya. Rockstar releases on Friday and then my last big schedule for Barfee will start from November 15 in Kerala and Ooty. I don't mind waiting. Ranbir had very clearly told me he'd need time off in October and November to promote Rockstar. The film is worth all the delays in the Barfee schedule. And it isn't as if we've been making Barfee forever," said Basu.

To be produce by UTV, Barfee also stars Priyanka Chopra.

Murder, Gangster - A Love Story and Life in a...Metro are some of the well-known films made by Basu who didn't watch Rockstar preview.

"I'm superstitious about watching any film before release. I recently saw two films before their release that I loved. I thought they would be sure hits. On release they bombed. I've decided to stay away from Rockstar...," said the director who plans to watch the film now.

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George Clooney considered suicide due to spinal injury

George Clooney has revealed that he was in so much pain once that he contemplated committing suicide.

According to the Rolling Stone magazine, the 50-year-old actor had suffered spinal injury in 2005 while filming the thriller ‘Syriana’ after which he was bedridden for a month.

“I was at a point where I thought, ‘I can’t exist like this. I can’t actually live’,” the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

“I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm, unable to move, having these headaches where it feels like you’re having a stroke and, for a short three-week period, I started to think, ‘I may have to do something drastic about this’. You start to think in terms of, you don’t want to leave a mess, so go in the garage, go in the car, start the engine.

“It seems the nicest way to do it, but I never thought I’d get there. See, I was in a place where I was trying to figure out how to survive.

“I was at a point where I thought, ‘I can’t exist like this. I can’t actually live’,” he added.

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Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber win big in Bambi Awards

Justin Bieber
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Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber took away the most prestigious awards at the 2011 Bambi Awards in Germany.

The ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker was named Best International Pop Artist and received the award from fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld before performing a medley of her hits. Contactmusic reported.

Bieber was also a big winner at the ceremony at the Rhein-Main-Hallen venue in Wiesbaden, collecting the Entertainment Bambi Award from Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow. He then performed his new song ‘Under the Mistletoe’.

“Had an amazing night at the Bambi Awards here in Germany tonight. Got to meet some great fans too. Thank u for the honour,” the ‘Baby’ hitmaker tweeted after the event.

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