Khan detained at US airport on his way to address Yale students

In his super-hit My Name is Khan, Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan continuously delivered the line "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist."

DETAINED

In the past three years, the legendary actor may have recited the line twice in real life when trying to enter the US. Named a Chubb Fellow, Khan was invited by Yale University to give a speech to more than 1500 students. But on arrival he was detained for almost two hours at White Plains Airport, without proper justification. The Indian government has reacted with anger, demanding an apology, and US authorities have expressed regret for the unfortunate incident. In 2009, Khan was detained at Newark Airport as well. Speaking about the incident, Khan joked: "Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always take a trip to America. The immigration guys kicked the star out of stardom." Other Bollywood stars who have been detained in the past include John Abraham and Irfan Khan.

NEW PROJECT

AFTER their successful teaming up in the super-hit Rajneeti, heavyweight director Prakash Jha has again signed Arjun Ramphal for a new project titled Chakravyuh. The remainder of the cast includes Abhay Deol, Manoj Bajpai and Esha Gupta. Music for the movie will be composed by Salim Sulaiman. Jha, who has been associated with meaningful cinema, also made movies such as Aparhan and Aarkashan.

FRIENDS AGAIN

THE friendship between filmmaker Farah Khan and her favourite, Shahrukh Khan, has been cemented after a nasty scuffle early this year between the actor and Farah's husband, Shirish Kunder. Now the big news is that Farah will direct King Khan in Happy New Year, a project she has been working on for quite a while. Farah and Shahrukh have worked together on super-hits such as Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om.

NEW MOM

FORMER beauty-queen-turned-actress Celina Jaitley and her hotelier husband, Peter Haag, had reason to celebrate recently when they became the proud parents of twin boys. The overjoyed father made the announcement by tweeting: "I am so happy to inform you that @celinajaitly and myself have been blessed happy healthy twin boys, Winston and Viraaj. I am over the moon." Jaitley, who starred in movies such as No Entry, Shakalaka Boom Boom and Janasheen, recently made a brief appearance in Will You Marry Me?

FREE PUBLICITY

KODAMBAKKAM is capitalising on a great free way to advertise - YouTube. The official trailer of Ajithkumar's forthcoming film Billa 2 - a prequel to the successful 2007 film Billa - was released on YouTube on Tamil New Year's Day, April 13. There was a phenomenal response to the trailer - all at virtually no cost to the producers. Billa 2 is directed by Chakri Toleti, who was also responsible for Kamalhassan's Unnai Pol Oruvan. It is scheduled for release on June 2.

SUCCESS

IT'S the major league for Dhanush now. His debut in Hindi is eagerly anticipated and his forthcoming Tamil projects have seen distributors clambering for rights even before the films commence. The youngest actor to win the national award for Best Actor, Dhanush appears on the cover of the latest edition of People magazine for the international success of the song Why this Kolaveri di.

DEBUT

AISHWARYA Dhanush's debut as director, in the film 3, was not the success she was hoping for, but she is determined to make a name for herself in that profession. The eldest daughter of superstar Rajnikanth, Aishwarya has already commenced work on her next project, which is rumoured to feature Sivakarthigeyan in the lead role. The TV-presenter-turned-actor was praised for his performance in 3 and is working on a romantic comedy titled Manam Kothi Parravai.

STRIKE

JUST when it looked as if a solution had been found for the crippling strike in Kodambakkam, another blow was struck when a large percentage of the Tamil Film Producers' Council (TFPC) met under the leadership of Ibrahim Rowther and voted to suspend the TFPC president, SA Chandhrasegaran and his close ally, PL Thennappan, for "tamely caving in" to the demands of the Film Employees' Federation of south India and the Tamil Nadu labour minister.

COMEBACK

DIRECTOR Vassanth (Sangamam, Rhythm and Poovellaam Kettupar) is working on his comeback film, Moondru Per Moondru Kaadhal. The film has Arjun, Vimal, director Cherna, Muktha and Surveen in the lead roles.

Immediately after this, Cheran will direct his first film in three years when he takes on an as-yet- untitled project with Sharvanan of Yengeyum Yeppodhum fame in the lead role.