Mehdi Hassan hospitalised, critical

NEW DELHI: Ghazal legend Mehdi Hassan has been admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Karachi after he had trouble in breathing, his son Arif Hassan said on Wednesday.

The 84-year-old singer, the voice behind evergreen ghazals like "Ab ke bichade" and "Patta patta boota boota", has also stopped speaking.

Hassan, who has been suffering from lung problems for the past 12 years, was rushed to Karachi's Agha Khan hospital on Tuesday night. Doctors said Hassan is suffering from chest and urine infection.

"He had trouble in breathing last night. We immediately rushed him to the hospital. He is in ICU but there is no positive response from the doctors about his condition," Arif said. "We have been feeding him through tube for the past two years and for the past one month, he has even lost his voice, which mesmerized millions of his fans," he added.

Arif said Hassan always wanted to visit India for treatment. "He wanted to visit India, his birth country, and we were supposed to be there last year but his condition never improved. Now the doctors have strictly said no to any journey," he said.

Singers Hariharan and Hansraj Hans besides Gulzar have enquired about Hassan's health over phone, Arif said. Facing a cash crunch for his treatment, the family of the legendary singer has appealed to the Pakistan government for some help.

"We have to pay Rs 45 lakh to the hospital. Government has publicly promised to bear all the expenses of his treatment and we are relying on them. I am hopeful that people will come forward to help," Arif said.

Hassan was born into a family of traditional musicians in Rajasthan's Luna village in 1927. His family migrated to Pakistan during the Partition.

Hassan, who has a huge following in the subcontinent, cut back on his performances in the late 80s due to illness. The singer last performed in India in 2000.

Justice Katju comes in support of Sunny Leone

Wading into the debate over the appearance of Sunny Leone on reality show Bigg Boss, Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice Markandey Katju on Monday said the American porn star's past should not be held against her if her behaviour in India is "socially acceptable".

Sunny, when she was in America had not broken any American laws and that Indians were broad minded and liberal people who should take the matter in that spirit, he said.

"Sunny Leone was earning her livelihood in USA in a manner acceptable in that country, though it is not acceptable in India. Hence if she conducts herself in India in a manner which is socially acceptable in India and does not breach the social moral code in India, we should not treat her as a social outcast," Katju said in a statement.

The Press Council chairperson also said that he had not been shown anything to suggest that she is indulging in pornography while in India.

Citing historical and religious figures, he said, "Lord Buddha stayed with the courtesan Amrapali and ate food served by her, and she later became his disciple."

"Similarly, Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman (according to the Gospel of Luke as interpreted by Pope Gregory) and Jesus allowed her to wash his feet and she later became his disciple," he noted.

There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future, Katju said.

A complaint over the Broadcast Consumers Complaint Council's (BCCC) inaction over the appearance of Leone which had been sent to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni had been marked to Katju as well, sources said.

Leone's appearance on the Colors Channels show Bigg Boss has been a subject of controversy for quite some time. BCCC had recently directed that Leone does not use the show to promote her pornography business.

The BCCC, however, had not found anything in the content of the show Bigg Boss 5 which by itself was violative of self-regulatory guidelines. As many as 38 complaints had been made to the BCCC regarding Leone's appearance.

Priyanka, SRK's affair rumours?

For the last six months, various stories have appeared in the media about SRK and PC being more than good friends - stories that have upset and irritated the actress.

Apparently, Priyanka discovered that these stories were being spread by Neelam, who is close to Gauri and loves to gossip. PC naturally started discussing this with friends, who promptly told Neelam about it. She didn't want to take it lying down, so Neelam called Priyanka to clarify matters.

PC was in no mood to be soothed, so she gave it back to her and very soon it became a slanging match!"

Rumours plans could be of SRK and Gauri themselves by using Neelam for their publicity stunt for their DON@ which is not doing well, now a days people (mainly celebrities) depend upon anti-publicity (like Rakhi Sawant) by hook or cook !, When the movie of hero-heroin going to be released they spread the rumours of affair between them !, It has happened in 80s,90s, and present decade also, Take AB-Rekha, Shahid-Kareena, Priyanka-Harman Baweja etc. The guys who are taking this column seriously should grow up more and start looking beyond the gossips.

Neelam says, "It's not true. The fight never happened. I share a very cordial relationship with Priyanka. I would never speak about my friend's ( Gauri Khan) husband like that." Priyanka's spokesperson too denied it.

Superstitious Sonakshi Sinha tries to be Salman Khan!

Lootera is set to release on October 26, which is Bakri Eid. And looks like an extremely good day to release the film. Sonakshi Sinha had an outing last year for 'Dabangg' on Eid," producer Vikas Bahl said. 'Lootera' a classic love story set in the 1950s, is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane of 'Udaan' fame.

The actress, who made her acting debut with Dabbangg, now wants history to repeat itself, and has requested the producers of Lootera to schedule the film's release for Eid.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha seems to have become superstitious.

Now, the producers of Lootera find this to be tough competition and have informed Sonakshi that they'll try and release the movie on Bakri Id and not along with Salman Khan's film.

Well, you can't push the 'Tiger'. You simply move away from him, right?

Oprah Winfrey will visit Big B home

Oprah Winfrey will visit Mumbai after attending the Jaipur Literary Festival on January 21-22.

Oprah is visiting India to meet spiritual guru Deepak Chopra for her upcoming new show .

On her first-ever trip to India, Oprah will visit Aishwarya and Abhishek at their home and meet the newborn baby girl.

Abhishek Bachchan will fly to Jaipur to escort Oprah to Mumbai.

Oprah is said to be trying to fit in a quick visit to Mumbai amidst all this. She tweeted last week, "Never been to India, it's been on my vision board forever."

Aishwarya has been a guest on Oprah's show twice and her second time was with Abhishek after their wedding.

Aishwarya has been in touch with Oprah even during her international tours, and the Bachchans are keen to have her home.

They plan to keep it as low key as possible by hosting a very private dinner between January 23 and 24, says a report.

When Ash-Abhi were on their show in 2009, it was for the first time they spoke on a public platform about their relationship.

SRK Set To Romance Katrina

Uday Chopra, the younger son of Yash Chopra confirmed on twitter, ‘launching my dad's film today with a little pooja at YRF... shoot starts tomorrow with @ iamsrk and Katrina Kaif.. Dad directing after Veer- Zaara (sic).’

Shah Rukh Khan set to romance for the first time Katrina Kaif, the reigning box office queen in a film to be directed by the doyen of Indian cinema Yash Chopra.

The film is going on the floors this week and the production house as well others are excited about the event, mainly because Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan’s ex, is going to romance SRK, the friend-turned-foe of Salman.

The excitement in the production house is palpable as Yashraj Films have not seen directing the veteran filmmaker for last seven years after he was done with ‘VeerZara’.

Music for the film is being composed by A R Rahman and lyrics will be penned by Gulzar.

Anushka Sharma, who had made her debut with SRK in an earlier Yashraj f lick, will be playing an important role in the movie.

Sources from the set of the Yashraj flick reveal that Shah Rukh Khan, being not in mood to get into any trouble, asked Katrina directly this question about Salman Khan.

When Katrina explained to him that Sallu was only a good friend and did not have any say in her professional life that SRK was convinced about the whole issue and could ready himself to shoot with the firang babe.

With superhero films like Ra.One and Don 2 failing to make a big impact on the box office, it's back to square one for SRK to do romance films now.

Priyanka Mobbed by fans, Shahid kapoor Comes To Rescue

Shahid Kapoor came to the rescue of Priyanka Chopra when thousands of excited fans turned up to have a glimpse of the stars. during the shoot of Kunal Kohli's Teri Meri Kahaani in Aurangabad , says a media report.

There were nearly 8,000 to 10,000 people on the sets. and crowd became uncontrollable and it led to a stampede like situation.

On the last day the stars were shooting at the lake, which was surrounded by hills, While shooting at Daulatabad Fort, over 30,000 people bought tickets to visit the place.

Some people tried to get too close to Priyanka and that's when Shahid came forward and took her aside", says a source.

Kunal Kohli feigned ignorance about the incident.

"I am not sure because I was busy with the directorial team. They both were pretty cool and took a break every two hours to wave to the people who had come all the way to see them. Shahid even said it would have been depressing if no one had come to see them."

Kunal denies that a near-stampede took place, "No, that's not true. There were no untoward incidents. Fortunately, we had the support of the local police and we had our own security. We definitely had to tighten the security to manage the crowds."

Thieves back £2.75 million Magritte painting after it fails to sell on black market

The work, titled "Olympia" and depicting the artist's wife nude with a giant shell lying on her stomach, was stolen in September 2009 by two armed gunmen from Magritte's former house, which is open as a museum by appointment only.

Thieves have given Rene Magritte's Olympia back after they failed to sell it on the black market.

But this week they contacted art expert Janpiet Callens to hand back the piece, which depicts the artist's wife Georgette, which no-one would buy.

It means the 1948 painting can now be returned to the tiny gallery, in the north-east suburb of Jette, which is open as a museum by appointment only.

On the day of the theft, the venue had only been open for 10 minutes when a man rang the doorbell asking if visiting hours had started.

He put a gun to the concierge's temple and ushered his accomplice inside.