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Sajid Khan, who has delivered two consecutive hits as a director, says nervousness is not part of his dictionary.

“My name is Sajid Khan and I make people nervous, I never get nervous. I have three beliefs which are very strong. I believe in myself, I believe in the almighty and I believe in my audiences and nobody can take that power away from me – no critics, no award functions. Nobody can take it away,” Sajid told IANS.

“Housefull 2″ is scheduled for an April 5 release.

“I have done all things in my own conviction. The day I lose that power, I am finished. I never get nervous but I am anxious,” added the actor-turned director who gave hits like “Heyy Babyy” and “Housefull”

The director, who believes he has made a few mistakes in the past, promises not to repeat them.

“I am 41 now, I am a little more mature now. The mistakes that I have made in my 20s, today I would never do that because I am grown up,” he said.

The star cast of the film is described as the dirty dozen and Akshay Kumar, Asin Thottumkal, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ritesh Deshmukh, Zarine Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Shazahn Padamsee, Mithun Chakraborty, Rishi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and Boman Irani feature in it.

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With the success of Paan Singh Tomar behind him, actor Irrfan deconstructs myths about the Indian actor in a Hollywood film. No formula, only character, he tells Dhamini Ratnam

When we speak to Irrfan (he dropped his surname ‘Khan’ earlier this month), he’s in Himachal Pradesh shooting a film for Switzerland-based director Anup Singh Batla. But the actor, who offers a telephonic rap on our knuckles for getting his age wrong (“it’s not 50, but close”; “it doesn’t matter”; “write whatever you want”), calls this project an Indo-German-Dutch-French collaboration. Called Kissa, the film is in Punjabi, and is aimed at an international audience.

If there’s one actor in Bollywood today, who can pull that off, it’s Irrfan. With several big-budget Hollywood films in the pipeline, including Spider-Man 4 and Life of Pi, he is no stranger to questions like, “How did you crack the code?” His answer: There is none. Excerpts from the interview:

The first question is not going to be about how you cracked the code to land Hollywood films. Good, because there is no formula that made it happen. Some actors manage that with their marketing skills, but I don’t have those. I guess, now it’s also the body of work I’ve done. When Marc Webb, director of Spider- Man 4 approached me, he told me that what he saw in The Namesake (Mira Nair’s 2006 film), he hadn’t seen on screen before. I don’t know what led him to say that, but clearly, my work’s (doing) my PR.

While some look at your Hollywood projects as a sign that you’ve made it big, there are others who’d say, ‘it’s just a bit role. No biggie…’ Hollywood isn’t going to change overnight, where suddenly big directors will write stories with us in mind. What’s interesting is that they are expanding their scope and keen to make films with talent from around the world.

But the Hollywood industry is vast. There is variety in the kind of films being made and the audiences they are targeted at. Woody Allen makes films, big studios make films, independent films are being made too. The style of storytelling is more realistic and the focus is on characters, not stars. George Clooney will be rejected, if he didn’t play his character well, and there are very few exceptions to that. Tom Cruise would be one.

What about the fact that English isn’t your first language? Language is important, but it’s how you play your part that is more important. In The Namesake, I played a Bengali although I’d never spoken the language. I had to adopt the accent. Conversely, what would you make of a slum dweller, who speaks English in a British accent? Fortunately, I have never got a role yet that I couldn’t manage.

Have the roles you receive in Bollywood changed, after your Hollywood projects? My Hollywood career has had no impact on my career in Bollywood. Sure, one feels good about it, but the roles I take on (in Bollywood), need to make a difference here. In India, I have done films sometimes, just to be seen, because I have to survive here. I would never think of shifting base to Los Angeles. In Hollywood, I do films that interest me. For instance, I signed on Slumdog Millionaire for 15 lakh, even though at that time, I was earning 10 times more in Bollywood, simply because I wanted to work for Danny Boyle. I signed on The Namesake, for even lesser, because Mira (Nair) is a brilliant director.

Do you have an agent that takes care of the business for you? Yes, I’ve recently signed on a new agent. I had ICM (International Creative Management) as my agents for the longest time, and the person assigned to me also handled work for Ben Kingsley. I would be given scripts to read, and would later get to know that those roles have gone to Kingsley. Then The Namesake happened, and Hollywood sat up and took notice. Of course, you should know that more than 50 per cent of my fees goes – 30 per cent in taxes, two per cent to my lawyer, a certain percentage to my publicist, and another chunk to my agent.

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LUCKNOW: Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, who faces eight criminal cases and was charged under the now-defunct Pota, will be in charge of Uttar Pradesh’s prison department. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav kept as many as 50 departments to himself as he distributed portfolios among his 47 ministers on Sunday.

Raja Bhaiya also holds charge of food and civil supplies, despite charges of a multi-crore scam under his watch.

The 38-year-old CM kept home, vigilance, power, aviation, finance and excise among other portfolios.

With 50 portfolios under him, Akhilesh Yadav has outdone Mayawati who kept 43 portfolios when she took over in 2007. Akhilesh will hold the charge of tourism, higher, secondary, technical and medical education, sugarcane development, electronics and information technology. It is believed that Akhilesh will offload some of the departments post cabinet expansion.

Senior minister Azam Khan, who took oath a second time on Sunday, got parliamentary affairs, urban development, waqf, water supplies and Haj, while Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Shivpal got PWD and irrigation. Both Khan and Shivpal held the same portfolios in the SP’s previous regime.

Mulayam’s other trusted loyalist Ahmad Hasan has again been given medical and family welfare. These two departments were headed by two ministers and made news for the NHRM scam during the BSP regime. Hasan will also take care of the department of women and child welfare.

Earlier on Sunday, Azam Khan took the oath of office and secrecy for the second time after it transpired that he hadn’t take the complete oath on March 15. Four others inducted as ministers of state were elevated and given independent charge: Arvind Singh Gope, Aruna Kori, Rajendra Singh Rana and Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar. They took the oath again along with Azam.

Vaqar Ahmad Shah and Ambika Chaudhary have been given labour and revenue departments while Raja Aridaman Singh will be minister of transport.

Raja Mankapur, Anand Singh, who made a triumphant return to the Samajwadi Party before the elections, has been given agriculture while Balram Yadav will be the minister of Panchayati Raj. Ram Govind Chaudhary will look after basic education, child development and nutrition. Azamgarh MLA Durga Prasad Chaudhary will be minister for stamp and civil defence. Brahma Shankar Tripathi has been allotted the department of home guard and vocational education.

Among the four ministers independent charge, Gope has been allotted the department of rural development. Rajendra Singh Rana and Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar have been given rural engineering and small-scale industries respectively. Aruna Kori on the other hand has been allotted the department of women welfare.

Among the 24 state ministers, former IIM-Ahmedabad professor Abhishek Mishra, considered to be a part of ‘Team Akhilesh’, has been given the protocol department. This way he will remain attached to the chief minister’s office as Akhilesh has kept the department with himself.

Among SP leaders from the western UP, Chitaranjan Swaroop will be Azam Khan’s deputy in parliamentary affairs, Muslim waqf, urban development and Haj departments while Moolchandra Chauhan has been given the charge of the department of tourism. Surendra Singh patel will assist Shivpal in PWD.

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BANGALORE: The DV Sadananda Gowda-led BJP government in Karnataka was on the brink of a crisis with BS Yeddyurappa shepherding 55 loyalist-MLAs to a resort in the outskirts of the city late on Sunday, setting a 48-hour deadline for the party high command to reinstate him as chief minister.

With a dozen ministers among his supporters and half of the state MPs backing him, the victory sign Yeddyurappa flashed as he left for the resort showed his determination. But an unfazed Sadananda Gowda told reporters in Tumkur: “The issue of change in leadership is left to the central party leadership and I will present the budget on March 21. A copy of the budget is already in press.”

Yeddyurappa, who has backtracked after threatening a revolt many times, has chosen to make it clear that he means business this time. Playing the numbers game, he said 15 more MLAs would join him on Monday morning.

He is backed by Lingayat strongman and minister Jagadish Shettar and ministers C M Udasi, Basavaraj Bommai, Shobha Karandlaje and V Somanna among others. What if the high command turns down his demand? “Wait for 48 hours. Everything will be settled,” said a beaming Yeddyurappa.

A report from New Delhi quoted party sources as saying that the BJP may concede both Rajya Sabha seats it can win in the March 30 biennial election to Yeddyurappa nominees to buy peace.

The BJP has 120 MLAs including the Speaker, in the 224-member assembly.

The developments have raised questions about the budget session, which is scheduled to begin on March 20. Yeddyurappa’s supporters gave enough indication about their intentions of walking out of the party if the situation warranted.

“The party high command had promised to reinstate him as CM after he came clean in the mining case. Now that the high court has quashed the FIR against him, he should be made the CM. The party bosses should convene the legislature party meeting within 24 hours and get him elected as the leader,” declared Udasi.

As per the plan, the MLAs will stay in the resort until the party high command makes its stand clear on Yeddyurappa’s reinstatement. They will boycott the budget session if the situation demands. “This is a do or die battle,” declared former minister Hartal Halappa.

Earlier, municipal administration minister Balachandra Jarkiholi, who is identified with the anti-Yeddyurappa camp, announced that a group of 20 MLAs were contemplating resignation, fed up with the party’s internal bickering.

“Some MLAs, about 20 in number, are unhappy with the affairs of the party. I have held discussions with them. If the leadership crisis continues, we are all ready to resign,” Jarkiholi told reporters.

The developments overshadowed the 59th birthday celebrations of CM Sadananda Gowda. Besides celebrating his birthday, he sought the blessings of two powerful pontiffs, Sri Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt and Balagangadharanatha Swamiji of Adi

Chunchanagiri Mutt. Gowda got a shot in the arm, with Balagangadharanatha Swamy backing him. “He is being targeted only because he is a Vokkaliga. The other forces are trying to dethrone a Vokkaliga CM,” he said at a programme in Chikkaballapur district.

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