Shahrukh Khan in bid to secure Indian Cricket League franchise

The Khans, Shahrukh and Farah, have had to apologise to Manoj Kumar for making fun of him in one of the most hilarious scenes in Om Shanti Om.

“Mr Bharat”, as he is known for playing a string of national heroes in films like Upkar, Shaheed, Kranti and Purab Aur Paschim, felt insulted and humiliated, as “the soul of a patriotic Indian had been hurt”.

SRK called him and apologised for hurting his feelings and not inviting him to the preview. Farah offered to edit the scene, but Kumar asked her not to. Meanwhile, OSO continues to rock the box office. The demand for tickets was so great that, in its second week, 80 additional shows were arranged in Mumbai alone.

Did you know that Deepika Padukone is a product of Anupam Kher’s acting school, Actor Prepares? Kher says she was part of his June-August 2005 intake and remembers her as a “diligent learner who arrived with the reputation of being a successful model, yet did not have any airs about herself”.

Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan are firm believers in the adage “The family that prays together stays together”. Their latest high-profile prayer was offered at the Pedda Dargah near the town of Kadapa, about 400km from Hyderabad. Jaya Bachchan and family friend Amar Singh, who leads the Samajwadi Party, joined them on the helicopter trip from Bangalore.

Raykesh Mehra is finalising plans for his first musical, Bhairavi, which will bring together Amitabh, Jaya and Abhishek Bachchan in their real-life roles of husband, wife and son. Set against the background of classical music, it will focus on their internal strife owing to competitive creativity. Amitabh and Jaya previously explored a similar theme in the outstanding 1973 film Abhimaan. Father and son have already given the project the go-ahead, and Mehra has threatened to go on a hunger strike in front of their Juhu home if Jaya does not sign up. Mehra has a daughter named Bhairavi.

Property troubles for Rani Mukherjee: an Ahmednagar judge has issued a notice asking her to prove that she is of farming stock, a prerequisite for owning land in the district. A state bylaw prohibits agricultural land from being transferred outright to non-farmers. Mukherjee bought the property near Ahmednagar, where she regularly attends prayers at the Shirdi Sai Baba mandir. Amitabh Bachchan has a similar case pending against him.

After the release of Saawariya, Ranbir Kapoor has realised a dream of sharing the screen with his parents, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor. They star together in a short movie to promote safe sex, with father and son engaging in a chat about the birds and the bees.

Ajay Devgan is one of Bollywood’s leading pranksters, as his Halla Bol co-star, Vidya Balan, will testify. After joining director Raj Kumar Santoshi in praising one of the songs on the soundtrack, Devgan asked Balan if she would like to listen to it. When she plugged in his iPod earphones, she experienced a mild shock, and Devgan and Santoshi burst into howls of laughter. The impression of a brooding, serious actor is actually just good acting.

Sports lover Shahrukh Khan is among some 90 bidders for one of eight franchises in the soon-to-be-launched Indian Premier Cricket League, which has already attracted some of the world’s top players, including Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis.Sachin Tendulkar is also on the list of bidders, along with Kingfisher tycoon Vijay Mallya, Anil Ambani and Hollywood actor Russel Crowe, a cousin of former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe.

The bidding is expected to start at 50-million a franchise. The IPL is a guaranteed money-spinner that will feature 20/20 matches played under floodlights across India.

As predicted in this column two weeks ago, Madhuri Dixit has made herself available to promote her comeback film, Aaja Nachle, which is to be released on Friday. It had been said that she would not make herself available because she was not happy with the end product. Now Mads is leading the publicity blitz for this Yash Raj movie, set against the background of dance.

Farhan Akhtar has denied that he plans to produce a sequel to his best film yet, Dil Chahta Hai, but he has said that his next movie is of a similar genre. He plays the lead in this film, to be directed by rookie Abhishek Kapoor. Arjun Rampal is also in the cast. Javed Akhtar’s son, who first starred in The Fakir of Venice, says he enjoys acting, but directing is his first love.

The countdown to the release of Vijay’s Azhagiya Thamizh Magan in South Africa has begun. The soundtrack by AR Rahmaan has been well received and it is only the second time that Rahmaan has scored music for a Vijay movie, the first being the unmemorable Udhaya. But this time Rahmaan has struck gold.In India, ticket sales for ATM took a dip after its opening weekend. This was a reaction to the film’s story and Vijay’s character, which is vastly different from the image he has projected in all his films since Friends. However, once Vijay’s fans had accepted his new image, ticket sales again accelerated. Now there’s a four-film race at the box office, with Soorya’s Vel, Prithviraj’s Kanaamoochi Yenadaa and Dhanush’s Pollaadhavan almost neck and neck with ATM.

Vijay’s fan following is said to be second only to Rajnikanth’s, and it will be interesting to see whether ATM can match the 100day run of Sivaji in South Africa.

After a break of six months, Vinay, the handsome model-turned-actor, has begun his second film. Titled Jeyam Kondaan, it was written and is being directed by Kannan, a long-time assistant to Manirathinam.The film was launched amid much fanfare a fortnight ago by producer Sathyajothi Thyagarajan, who agreed to back it on the recommendation of Manirathinam.

Vinay’s debut film, Unnaale Unnaale, directed by the late Jeeva, was a huge hit. He is hoping Jayam Kondaan will follow suit.

After several false reports about Vishnu Varadhan’s Sarvam, the director announced that Arjun and Aarya would head the cast of this new action thriller, to be produced by London-based Ayngaran International. This put to an end to rumours that Soorya had been signed to play the lead role.Soorya was approached to play the role but declined the offer. Whether that was due to callsheet problems or a disagreement over the script (the gossip-mongers’ favourite) is unclear.

Soorya, meanwhile, is shooting for Goutham Vasudeva Menon’s Varanam Aayiram and will soon launch his next movie, an action thriller by KV Anand to be produced by AVM, the producers of Sivaji.Anand was the cinematographer in Sivaji and has one film to his credit as a director, the romantic thriller Kanaa Kanndain, in which Shrikanth and Gopika played the lead roles. It marked the Tamil debut of Prithviraj and received critical acclaim.

Fans of the tragic 1980s sex siren Silk Smitha will be delighted to learn that her last movie, Thanga Thaamarai, is ready for release almost a decade after she committed suicide. Her fan club is still in existence.

Nalbandian completes Kooyong Classic field

MELBOURNE  - Argentina’s David Nalbandian has been confirmed as the final entrant for the Kooyong Classic tennis tournament, a traditional warm-up event for the Australian Open.

Nalbandian will join world number one Roger Federer for the invitational tournament, where each of the eight-man field plays three matches in a promotion/relegation format.

The Argentine beat Federer and world number two Rafel Nadal twice each in winning successive Masters Cup events in Madrid and Paris towards the end of the season, sending him back into the world’s top-10 after suffering knee and back injuries in the first half of the year.

Kooyong champion Andy Roddick, who defeated Federer in the final, has already confirmed along with Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez, Britain’s Andy Murray, Germany’s Tommy Haas, Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic and Russia’s Marat Safin.

The Kooyong tournament runs from Jan. 9-12, with the Australian Open beginning on Jan. 14.

Ferrero, Almagro join Ferrer at Auckland tournament

WELLINGTON – Former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero has been confirmed for next year’s Auckland Open tournament, organisers said on Sunday.

Spaniard Ferrero has been joined in the draw by compatriots Nicolas Almagro and beaten Masters Cup finalist and 2007 Auckland champion David Ferrer.

“Juan Carlos is a popular player returning to Auckland for the fourth time,” tournament director Graham Pearce told the New Zealand Press Association.

“He continues to show he’s one of the more competitive and consistent players around. His result at Wimbledon this year also proves he’s more than comfortable on all surfaces.

“Both Juan Carlos and Nicolas compliment the fact we have David Ferrer heading the field.”

Ferrero is currently ranked 24th in the world and made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year.

World number five Ferrer is the highest-ranked player for the tournament. He finished runner-up to world number one Roger Federer in the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai earlier this month.

The Auckland tournament, which is one of the traditional warm-up events for the Australian Open grand slam that begins on Jan 14, will be held from Jan 7.

Liverpool’s Benitez at odds with owners

LONDON – Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has raised further doubts about his reportedly strained relationship with the club’s American owners, questioning their grasp of the European transfer system.

“It’s not a draft system. We have free players available now,” he said. “I’m not talking about players that cost money.

“We need to talk to the agents now, if not we will lose targets. In the summer, the players will be more expensive. I have not been talking about spending but doing the opposite.

“We had a meeting on the day of the Arsenal game which was really positive. After this, something changed.

“They told me to be focused on coaching and training because Rick Parry will be looking after signing players. It’s clear Mr Hicks wants the best for the club. So do I.”

In a statement from George Gillett and Tom Hicks later on Sunday, they attempted to smooth the waters.

“Despite speculation in today’s newspapers, there is nothing new to say,” the statement said.

“We had a good win yesterday and have got some very important games coming up starting with Porto on Wednesday, followed by Bolton and Reading, before Marseille and Manchester United in a few weeks.

“Both of us, together with chief executive Rick Parry, plan to meet with Rafa when we come over mid December to make decisions on the team’s requirements at that time.”

Sampras upstages Federer in exhibition

LONDON  – Pete Sampras proved his serve and volley tactics were still razor sharp when he stunned world number one Roger Federer 7-6 6-4 in an exhibition match in Macau on Saturday.

The American might have turned his back on professional tennis more than five years ago but that did not stop him from upstaging Federer, who failed to win even a break point during the contest on a fast carpet surface.

The win allowed Sampras to finally taste victory against Federer.

The American lost their only competitive match, at Wimbledon in 2001, and was also beaten twice last week during their Asian exhibition series.

Sampras, the holder of a record 14 grand slam titles, kept the victory in perspective.

“Let’s not get carried away,” the 36-year-old said as he dismissed talk of a comeback.

Two days ago, Federer said Sampras would still be ranked in the top five if he had continued playing and the Swiss did not seem too bothered by the defeat.

“It’s been tough beating my idol the last two times,” said Federer, who is two grand slam titles from equalling Samrpas’s record.

“I’m happy that he got me at least once. I hope we can do it again in the future. I’d like to get him back.”

England meet Croatia again in World Cup

DURBAN – England, humiliated at Wembley just four days ago, were drawn to face their tormentors Croatia once again when the preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup was made on Sunday.

Croatia beat England 3-2 on Wednesday to knock the game’s founders out of Euro 2008 and also beat them 2-0 in an earlier group qualifying game. The pairing was the highlight of the draw among four continental confederations for a qualifying competition which will produce 31 finalists to join hosts South Africa.

There were gasps in the audience at Durban’s International Convention Centre when the two were paired in European Group 6, which also includes Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra. The winners of each of nine European groups qualify while the eight best runners-up compete in playoffs for four places in the finals.

World champions Italy were drawn in Group 8 with their main rivals Bulgaria and Ireland. France, losing finalists last year at the World Cup in Germany, face Romania and Serbia in Group 7. Italian federation president Giancarlo Abete said he was happy with the draw.

“It’s a very good draw for us. It’s a group we should win as we are world champions.”

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He said he was sitting next to the English delegation when Croatia were announced in their group. “I looked across and they looked a little afraid to me,” he said.

The draw, attended by South African president Thabo Mbeki and a host of soccer dignitaries, was staged as part of a 90-minute television spectacular beamed to more than 170 countries worldwide. Unusually, the hosts were included in the draw as the African section doubles as a qualifying competition for the 2010 Africa Nations Cup.

There were further gasps when the much-feared Nigeria were drawn in the same group as South Africa, along with Equatorial Guinea and Sierre Leone. But South Africa are guaranteed their place in the World Cup finals even if they fail to get out of their group.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Africa deserved to host its first finals. “This is justice to a continent that has given so much to football,” he said. “We wanted to give something back to Africa”.

KOREAS PAIRED

Political and ideological rivals North and South Korea were drawn together in the Asian section. South Korea are top seeds in Group 3 which also includes Jordan and Turkmenistan. Two teams from each group go into the final Asian qualifying stage.

The two Koreas have met three times in the past with South Korea winning on each occasion, including two World Cup qualifiers. Australia, playing in the Asian section for the first time since switching from Oceania, meet China, Iraq and Qatar in Group 1.

Australia and China have met seven times in friendlies since 1975 with Australia winning five times, one match drawn and China winning once, in 1988. South America did not feature in the draw as all 10 continental teams take part in one group from which four teams qualify for the finals with a fifth going into an inter-confederation playoff.

Europe provides 13 teams for the finals, Africa six, including the hosts, Asia and South America four and CONCACAF, the North and Central America and Caribbean confederation, three.

There are two playoff places, one between the fifth-placed team in Asia and the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, which has already started, and the other between the fifth-placed team in South America and the fourth best from