"These serials are against Afghan culture. They are anti-Islamic and bad for the Afghan people," says Abdul Qadir, a 20 year-old student, on the government decision to ban the wildly popular Indian soap operas that have come to dominate Afghan TV during prime time. "People aren't working, they aren't studying, because of these serials." Yes, but Qadir freely admits he that for the past year, he has watched every nightly episode of Tulsi, the tale of an Indian housewife and mother more properly known as The Mother-in-Law Was Once a Daughter-in-Law Too. And now he supports the government closing down his show because he thinks he could be using his time better. Couldn't he just turn off the television? Qadir shrugs. "If there is TV, we will watch it. We do have self control, but..." He can't finish the thought. Nasrullah Mohammadi, a 23-year-old police officer, is more succinct. "It's like an addiction," he says. "It's the government's duty to stop this."

An informal poll of some three dozen men conducted on a Friday afternoon in Kabul's Shar-e-Naw Park found that all watched Tulsi, and all supported the government ban. That discrepancy, says Shoib Yaqoobi, a 20-year-old student who also works at a restaurant patronized by foreigners, is a sign of the immaturity of Afghan democracy. "No one knows what democracy is. They think it is wearing sexy clothes, watching TV, having fun and wasting time. But democracy is not just doing whatever you like. It is educating yourself to make choices. So now, the government needs to stop the serials in order to help the people."

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Ms Bligh's 20-year-old son Joe will move to Mumbai in June as part of his degree in film and television, the premier said today.

"He's a film and television student, he's halfway through his degree and he's been accepted to do his second semester as an international student at one of the studios there, at one of the colleges," Ms Bligh told ABC Radio.

The budding film maker is keen to learn about editing, post-production and special effects, she said.

While she encouraged young people to pursue opportunities around the world, Ms Bligh admitted she was a little nervous about her son living in India.

"It's very exciting for him,"

Shah Rukh and success have become quite synonymous with time proving the winning mettle of the King Khan in Bollywood.

The star has now become an ideal for youth struggling for winning a place not only in the film industry but also in other sectors. Let us know about the recipe of success from the King Khan himself. Is it ‘luck’ or ‘hard work’ that is required for attaining success?

“See, success, with me, looks easy as I always prefer to stay smiling. Actually, while pursuing success, one always has to keep in mind the negative outcome of his effort.

Now, take for example a bad guy. While he does something for his business, does he think of it as executing bad things? Not at all. Actually, he looks out for his justification and then never feels bad for anything he does.

In the same way we also can do anything keeping in mind the positive aspects of the matter but at the same time we cannot forget the disarraying aspects the project can lead us to. You must witness the increment in your confidence while you convince yourself for something positive.

Being so positive, you do perform better, too. We always try to make things better in our lives despite knowing the fact that we all are going to die one day. Every morning we get up from the bed thinking about getting better things, then, can’t we follow the same process in our job also?

If we can do something with this intensity success will never be a far cry. As far as the role of luck is involved, I would like to say that hard work is needed to satisfy luck, also” explains Shah Rukh.

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Vivah Amrita Rao was looking for that role which would take her beyond the old-world elegance of Sooraj Barjatya's imagination.

She has at last found the right project.

"When I got a call from Shyam Benegal's office saying he wanted to meet him I was over the moon. He has always been on my wish list.

And when that call came I pinched myself. I didn't ask any questions. I immediately said yes. He has told me nothing much about my character and the script.

After I saw what he did with Karisma Kapoor in Zubeida I just felt I should be directed by him. I'm very excited. For a while I was traveling. When I returned I met him, and we were on."

Amrita loved subject. "I play a village girl and the film entitled Mahadev was shot in Hyderabad. My co-star is Shreyas Talpade. I saw his work in Dor. And I absolutely adored him. "

Shyam Benegal hasn't seen Amrita in any film, not even Vivah. "What really excites me is that I get to do a workshop. With Soorajji there was no workshop. But he did all the homework for the actors.

We'll start workshop every shortly. And for me who's had no formal training in acting this is a like an all-new avenue opening up."

Amrita's last release was E Niwas' My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves "It was a very cute script…Now I have Anil Kapoor's Short Cut with Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi. I've worked with Akshaye in Deewaar. Arshad was there in Wah Life Ho To Aisi. But we didn't have any scenes together. They're such versatile actors."

Amrita has done a wacked-out comedy Masti. "Short Cut isn't an out-and-out comedy. But Arshad has the funniest part since Circuit in Munnabhai."

She's almost completed a Telugu film with Mahesh Babu.

Any regrets? "I couldn't shoot the all-star guest song for Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om. I was shooting for my Telugu film in Austria. But I did participate in the item song in Farah's brother Sajid's Hey Babby. For Farah, anytime."

Prakash Jha's next directorial venture Rajniti is going to be the most expensive film he as ever produced.

In it he blends contemporary Indian politics with chapters from the Mahabharat in a mix that promises to be the avant-garde director's headiest yet.

And Prakash has accumulated a formidable cast of actors. "There's Ajay Devgan who will play a modern-day Karn. And believe it or not, Nana Patekar who was fantastic as the corrupt politician in Apharan,has been cast as Krishna!"

Also in the cast are Viveik Oberoi and Manoj Bajpai in pivotal roles. "These are actors I've not worked with before. I'm looking forward to directing them. Ajay and Nana are old friends. We share a fantastic comfort level."

In fact recently Marathi Manoos Nana and Bihari Bhai Prakash took part in a passionate debate on the oust-Biharis-from-Maharashtra campaign on NDTV.

After the debate Raj Thackeray apparently rang up Prakash for presenting a balanced view.

Says Prakash, "Raj is a friend and an intelligent educated man. I truly believe artistes need to rise above politics. I make cinema on politics. But I'd never be part of it. Likewise Nana who was so stunning as a wily politician in Apharan will I'm sure be equally adept playing Krishna in my Rajniti"

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Parakh Madan, the shy girl of Star One’s Saathi Re…, has managed a big leap in her career with her lead in Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D, a spoof on repeatedly experimented film Devdas. The talent beautified, Parakh, spent few of her precious moments with us, sharing her thought on Dev D, unveiling her true being and a little more…

Q. What's Dev D all about?
A. Dev D, as the name suggests, is the short form of Devdas and it's a modern take on the classic love story of Devdas. I won’t say it is completely similar to Devdas, but then the basic story line and the basic characterization is the same.

Adding to that, there are other modern elements like the character I play in the film, which was never there in the original Devdas. Basically you can call it a new and modern version of Devdas.

Q. Making a spoof is a common practice in Hollywood. Do you think this formula can work in Bollywood too?
A. Today, in Bollywood, no one can predict whether a spoof or re-make will work or not. It completely depends on how you treat your story, how real you can make it and ultimately how well you can connect your story with your audiences.

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Akshay Kumar and John Abraham -- the combo that featured in the Priyadarshan hit Garam Masala -- are expected to share the screen space yet again. This time, the project will be produced by Studio 18 and directed by Anees Bazmee. Although the production house hasn't signed the stars yet, there's a strong possibility that the two actors might feature in the film.

"Right now, we've signed Anees Bazmee for the project in question. We've also locked the concept. But we haven't confirmed the star cast yet," Preeti Shahani of Studio 18 sets the record straight, "Once the script is okayed, we will we move on to the next level -- of finalizing the cast. Things should be crystal clear once Singh Is Kinng is released."
Well, there's a strong possibility that Anees and Akshay, the winning combination of Welcome and the soon-to-be-released Singh Is Kinng, will team up for the third time.

It is very much true that affairs don’t die easily in Bollywood and rumours about many haunt our stars even decades after they first surfaced.

This could definitely win them the title of ‘ghostly affairs’ but today, we are not referring to those romances that refuse to die down even after being hushed under the carpet several times. In fact, we are talking about stars who have dared to give away their sophisticated sides and got all hysterical as they played ghosts or ordinary mortals under the spell of super natural spirits. Here’s a countdown...

If you’re a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) fan, the name will surely bring a string of images to your mind. Like a 6’2” huge, muscular bodybuilder. Doing his now-famous move, the Stone Cold Stunner.

Then guzzling beer, slamming two cans together, and ending his act by pouring beer over his face. Initially termed the ‘Ringmaster’, Steve Austin then came to be known as ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin’. This six-time WWE champion challenged most of the WWE greats, from Ric Flair to his sworn enemy Bret Hart to The Rock, and is the only man in WWE history to win the Royal Rumble Championship thrice!

Now semi-retired (not surprisingly due to neck, ankle and knee injuries), Stone Cold is presently concentrating on his acting career. He featured in The Longest Yard along with The Great Khali, The Rock and Goldberg, and has recently played the role of convict Jack Conrad in the action thriller The Condemned, DVDs of which will be released in India in English and Hindi.

Not to mention the television series and home videos he’s shot for as well. Being an out-and-out outdoors person, Steve had a “wonderful” time shooting for the film on outdoor locations in Australia. “I liked the story; it’s a heavy-duty, hardcore action flick. It was a role my WWE fans would expect of me, and would like to see me in,” says the self-confessed action movie fan. Over to where all the action is...

Wrestling is not a common profession. What inspired you to take up the sport professionally?

Through school and college, I was into sports, especially football and baseball, and I’ve been a fan of wrestling since I was eight. Not just matches on TV, I even used to catch the local matches live. Then one day during my college years, I saw this commercial on TV on a wrestling school. Instantly, I knew that this was what I wanted to be.

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A press conference usually expected to be dull and sombre today witnessed a hypnotic and breathtaking performance of Akshay Kumar, who appeared not with a pleasant persona but as a Khiladi with a new definition of fear to the audience.

The actor made an entry on his sports bike by breaking a glass and later carried a snake around his neck.

Akhsay is going to be at the helm of affairs of the programme called 'khatron ke khiladi' which can be described as based on the most popular show in Europe 'Fear Factor' which is running in 72 countries in the world.

The show will come on the soon to be launched channel Colours in which 13 bollywood beauties would spent one month in South Africa.

The show will be the main attraction on the channel Colours, announced today by India's leading multi-media entertainment powerhouse, Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd. The channel will touch the spectrum of emotions of Indian viewers from July.

Interrupting the Khiladi during his breathtaking performance, a scribe asked what fear means to him. The actor bent under a table and took out a snake from a bag and said, ''this is fear'.

He carried the scary reptile around his neck for the entire programme.

Akshay said, ''fear is in everyone but I think women are stronger than men to tackle it. I have always believed that women are stronger than men, Men, who believe that they are stronger than women, are no better than pigs.

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