Apex court gives breathing space to Madhur Bhandarkar in rape case!

Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Victim Preeti Jain

The Supreme Court Monday stayed criminal proceedings against filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar in a rape charge leveled against him by actress Priti Jain.

While staying the proceedings, an apex court bench of Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice C. K. Prasad issued notice to the Maharashtra government and Jain on Bhandarkar's plea seeking that the case against him be abolished.

Bhandarkar had challenged the Bombay High Court order asking him to face trial in the alleged rape case.

In July 2004, Jain had lodged a complaint alleging that Bhandarkar had raped her several times between 1999 and 2004 under the pretext of marrying her and casting her as actress in his movies.

Even though the Mumbai police in its report had told that the allegations against Bhandarkar were 'maliciously false', the Mumbai metropolitan court in September last year did not accept it and held that there was substance in Jain's complaint, and issued process against Bhandarkar, directing him to face the trial.

The magistrate's court in November last year had granted anticipatory bail to the Bollywood filmmaker.

Bhandarkar had challenged the lower court's order before the high court which too had rejected his plea.

Manisha Koirala is the inspiration for Madhur behind film Heroine!

Manisha Koirala

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, Kareena Kapoor

Director Madhur Bhandarkar always seems to be inspired by real life and real people and that’s clearly seen in his films. Now the latest gossip is that his upcoming film ‘Heroine’ is inspired from the life of actress Manisha Koirala.

There was a time, the early 90′s, when Manisha Koirala ruled the silver screen. Without prior notice, the beautiful actress vanished. Her personal life destroyed her professional career. She got into a string of relationships. She was also into alcohol. She was hardly seen making public appearances. If buzz is to be believed, her life post wedding is also a big disaster.

Well, Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine’ is very similar to Manisha’s real life story. In the upcoming film, Kareena Kapoor plays an actress who becomes the victim of her own success.

But, director Madhur Bhandarkar denied that his film is based on a real life character. He instead says that the movie takes inspirations from a lot of people yet none in particular.

Kareena is ready for a bed scene with her ‘Heroine’ co-star Arjun Rampal!

Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal

Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal

Kareena Kapoor has always been against lovemaking scenes with her co-stars, obviously except with Saif Ali Khan. But this time, the actress is making an expectation. She is ready for a bed scene with her ‘Heroine’ co-star, Arjun Rampal.

Well, all thanks to the director, Madhur Bhandarkar, for persuading Kareena to agree for the scene. In the lovemaking scene, Kareena’s character ends up with Arjun, after drowning a few drinks down.

Bhandakar assured Kareena that the scene will be shot aesthetically and that only a few selected crew members will take part in the shoot. The clip will be shot on the 20th of March at a five-star hotel in Mumbai.

Kareena’s act will be a shocker for her fans in Heroine!

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor, Film Heroine, Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Kareena Kapoor, Film Heroine, Director Madhur Bhandarkar, Arjun Rampal

Looks like filmmaker Madhur Bhndarkar is super thrilled with his forthcoming movie ‘Heroine’ and his leading lady Kareena Kapoor’s act in the movie. He tells that the film and her performance will not only be wonderful, but also a shocker for her fans.

“Her character Mahi Arora is very contemporary, very edgy, very hard-hitting and very real like my other cinema. Kareena will absolutely be a shock element to the people because of the way she has worked in the film,” the 43-year-old producer-director told.

“I am looking at the film because I know the story, I know the screenplay, I know the dialogues. She will be fabulous,” he included.

“Heroine’ is 25 percent over. The next schedule is in February, March and April and the picture will release in September. The way you people are waiting for the film, so am I. I hope it finishes really soon,” he told.

At last, we get to hear something good about the movie.

Madhur Bhandarkar summoned on Nov 14 in Preeti Jain rape case!

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, Preeti Jain

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, President

Director Madhur Bhandarkar

A Mumbai court directed National Award-winning film director Madhur Bhandarkar to appear before it Nov 14 in connection with a 2004 rape case filed by Pretti Jaiin, a forthcoming celebrity, her lawyer told.

'He failed to appear before the court at the scheduled hearing. We don't know where he is. Now, he is required to appear Nov 14,' Jaiin's lawyer S. Kunjuraman said.

Bhandarkar, 44, had sought an exemption from the court hearing Tuesday through his lawyer Shrikant Shivade. He previously told that he would challenge the rape case against him in a higher court.

Magistrate B.B. Pantawane, of

Andheri Railway Mobile Court

, Sep 19 issued summons asking Bhandarkar to appear before it and file his statement in the case, Kunjuraman told.

Police in 2006 requested the court to dismiss the case against Bhandarkar as during their investigations they found Pretti's allegations false.

In July 2004, Pretti, living in Malad suburb of north Mumbai, created a sensation after she accused Bhandarkar of rape on the pretext of giving her a lead role in his movie.

Pretti alleged that she slept with Bhandarkar from 1999-2004 as he promised her a role in his movies and wedding.

In a statement later, Pretti, in her early 30s, alleged, 'We had sex 16 times and Madhur made promises of giving me a lead role in his movies. However, he didn't offer me a lead role in any of his movies. At times when I refused, he raped me.'

In September 2005, Pretti was arrested after she seemingly hired a contract killer for Rs.70,000 to murder Bhandarkar.

Bhandarkar, is credited with making sensitive, critically acclaimed and box-office hit movies like 'Chandni Bar', 'Page 3', 'Traffic Signal', 'Corporate' and 'Fashion', among others.

Madhur Bhandarkar is in legal trouble due to rape case with model Pretti Jain!

Pretti Jain

Pretti Jain

Madhur Bhandarkar

Madhur Bhandarkar

National Award-winning film director Madhur Bhandarkar is in legal trouble as a court in Mumbai, issued summons against him in a rape that took place in the year 2004. The case was filed by an forthcoming star.

“The magistrate,

Andheri Railway Mobile Court

, today issued summons asking Madhur Bhandarkar to appear before it Oct 18 and file his statement in the case,” advocate S. Kunjuraman, lawyer for the alleged victim, Pretti Jain, said a magazine.

The case was asked to be dismissed by the police as the victim’s allegations proved to be false, during the investigation.

In the year 2004, news had it that Bhandarkar was involved in a rape case. Pretti alleged that she slept with Bhandarkar from 1999-2004 as he promised her a lead role in his movies and wedding.

In a later statement, Pretti alleged, “We had sex 16 times and Madhur made promises of giving me a lead role in his movies. However, he didn’t offer me a lead role in any of his movies. At times when I refused, he raped me.”

In September 2005, Pretti was arrested after she allegedly hired a contract killer for Rs.70,000 to murder Bhandarkar.

In January 2006, police requested the court to sack the case against Bhandarkar as they had found Pretti’s allegations to be false.

Aishwarya Rai issues a legal notice, not using her photos for film Heroine promotion!

It is buzz; we had reported that Aishwarya Rai had returned the cheque she had taken as a signing amount for Heroine. Now the hottest we hear is that the actress has sent a legal notice to UTV and Madhur Bhandarkar, warning the producers against leaking her photo-shoot to promote Heroine.

The actress has sent a letter through her lawyers that she will seek damages if the pictures that she has shot for the movie previously, gets leaked out.

“Ash is fed up of the entire thing. She’s been ethical and professional about the matter. But, considering the way things ended on a sour note with Bhandarkar, she does not want him to use any of the stills or scenes that she had already shot at any point in the future,” the source revealed.

A source further added, “Ash has already returned her acting fees, so there’s nothing that makes her liable to her director or producer. She is still upset with the way Madhur wrote a huge blog against her which basically called her a liar. She always wanted to come back and complete the movie, but the way things turned out, has left a bad taste in her mouth.”

But, a source from the production house tells, “Madhur was not planning to use those stills, but we guess Ash didn’t trust us. The photo-shoots that we have done with her for the promotions are really great pictures. We are sorry that these pictures won’t be revealed ever to the world. Aishwarya is looking just remarkable in the pictures. We are putting it in our safety vaults where it won’t come out ever.”

Madhur flies Hyderabad to pursue Kareena for ‘Heroine’!

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has once again approached Kareena Kapoor for his dream venture Heroine. If buzz is to be assumed, Madhur Bhandarkar flew all the way to Hyderabad to narrate the script to Kareena Kapoor.

A source close to the director tells, “The production house, UTV, has a major hand in the move. They’ve spent Rs 50cr on the film’s publicity and aren’t willing to shelve it. Both Madhur and UTV spoke to Bebo and she agreed to a narration.”

It’s a well known fact that Kareena was Madhur’s original choice. However, things didn’t work out for either of them as there were creative differences between the two. The script didn’t go down well with Kareena as it resembled her real life romantic linkup with Saif.

UTV however states, “There is nothing concrete to talk about, yet”.

Big B is angry over monetary loss allegation of Madhur and UTV due to Aish pregnancy!

Pregnant Aishwarya

Big B in Ajmer

Madhur Bhandarkar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ronnie Screwvala

With each passing day, a new controversy sprouts up surrounding actor Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan’s pregnancy and the movie Heroine she was slated to do. The newest has filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar blaming Aishwarya telling that she ‘hid the truth’ about her pregnancy.

The Bachchans are actually annoyed with reports that Ash’s backing out of Heroine has resulted in financial losses to the production house to the tune of Rs 18 crore. He told that all such reports are false.

“Whatever has happened between Aishwarya, Madhur (Bhandarkar, co-producer) and UTV (co-producer) is between them. I know that the rumours going around are not true. I hope that the truth comes out soon,” told actor Amitabh Bachchan on his way back from Ajmer Dargah.

According to Bachchan, all rumors of a huge monetary loss (which was also hinted at by Madhur) are false. “Everybody knew that Aishwarya was married when she signed the film. So you mean to say that actors can’t get married or have children? I don’t think this can be a part of any contract that you cannot get married or have children if you working in a project,” includes Bachchan.

Bachchan is disturb with the banner, UTV too. “I had completed Shoe Bite long back. I had also invested my time into it and completed the film which was based on Johnny Walker. I have never indulged in this kind of talk even though the film has not been released till now and I have no word about when it will be released,” tells Bachchan.

Though Aishwarya is in fact not ready to react to Madhur’s allegation, a friend of the actress said DNA saying that she has not accepted any compensation for the movie.

“They have not paid her anything for the movie. All this hue and cry about losses is false as they had only shot for seven to 10 days, out of which the first few days were spent in photo-shoots and location shoots. The actual film shooting hadn’t even begun. Ash is very upset with the fact that she’s being targeted for being pregnant — a time when people should be happy for her,” tells the source adding that besides Shoebite, other complete movies like David Dhawan’s Hook Ya Crook (John Abraham- Genelia D’ Souza starrer) too are lying in the cans.

Sudhir Mishra ridicules Bhandarkar's pregnancy clause contract!

Director Sudhir Mishra

Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Director Sudhir Mishra, who has made some of the most critically much-admired films in the film industry rubbed the proverbial salt in fellow director Madhur Bhandarkar's wound when he declared that films cannot be made through contracts.

Speaking at a book launch event in suburban Andheri, Mishra told, "Filmmaking is a process where people come together as a family to make movies. One cannot make movies by entering in contracts. This is life. Tomorrow, one of my actors might suffer a serious injury or fall ill," he told.

This statement was made in response to queries from media persons when they asked him to comment on the Madhur Bhandarkar-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan pregnancy clause contract.

Bhandarkar's much talked about movie Heroine was shelved after producers learnt that the lead actress, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was pregnant by five months.

Madhur Bhandarkar was seemingly quite shocked following the producer's decision to pull the plug on the project.

Mishra also scoffed at the Censor Board for their selective censoring. "It is quite weird that a man can be shown bashing in someone's head five times to kill him but a man cannot be shown kissing his wife," he told.

Madhur Bhandarkar is angry over no intimation in advance about pregnancy by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan!

Madhur Bhandarkar

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Madhur Bhandarkar at last gives his side of the story about the ‘Heroine’ hullabaloo.

Just a few days into the shooting of his dream venture Heroine, Madhur got to know the news of its lead actress Aishwarya Rai’s pregnancy, that too, not directly but from the media.

Many theories floated around but the director chose to stay out of the media glare and stay silent. However, now the filmmaker has determined to break his silence.

He tells, “Today I am sitting alone in my office after the plugs being pulled off. No which way would I have trampled my dream project on which I have given my sweat and blood for almost one and a half years. This was going to be my most ambitious project.”

“My inherent belief is that motherhood is pious. I salute every woman who chooses to work in this delicate state but I would never knowingly put a woman in harm’s way knowing the delicate nature of her health.”

“The lead actress is the main protagonist of Heroine. We need to state this is no normal movie. The movie entails a huge canvas of around 40 locations in which heavy-duty scenes involving huge crowds are to be shot.”

He adds further, ‘Scenes of the actress being mobbed… adult content… heavy-duty scenes involving physical exertion. One of the days amongst the eight days shoot… one of my associate directors tripped and injured himself… the terrain was rocky.’

‘Today, when I know the condition of my then lead actress, I shudder at the thought… what if she would have been injured; I would have suffered a major guilt throughout my life.’

“The whole event would not have taken place if at the beginning the actress had informed of an awaiting maternity. The truth was hidden from us,” Bhandarkar told.

Now that the movie has been shelved, a loss has been suffered by not just the producer but also the crew who was associated with the movie. Worst, Bhandarkar’s hard work of one-and-a-half years on Heroine has come to zero.

'Heroine' delayed, Priyanka doesn’t want to replace Ashwarya!

The shooting of Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Heroine' has been postponed because of Aishwarya Rai's pregnancy, but Priyanka Chopra has denied that she wants to swap Ash.

Aishwarya, 37, plays the lead role in 'Heroine'.

'At this point, nothing is more important than Aishwarya's well being and good health,' producers UTV told.

'We have all agreed that the best step would be to avoid shooting further, rather than proceeding with an incredibly demanding schedule over the coming months,' it told.

In the meantime, Priyanka has rubbished news that she might replace Aishwarya in 'Heroine'.

'Read some stupid article about how i wanna do Madhur Bhandarkar's film HEROINE... I think Madhur is an amazing director and. It'll be amazing to work together again but GUYS this one aint it!!! I wish him and Aishwarya lots of luck with the film,' the Bollywood star posted on her blog.

'I also wish that journos would actually do some journalism rather than scriptwriting and stop deciding my next moves!!!' she included.

The project, also starring Arjun Rampal, was announced during the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Displeased Aishwarya will Sue Madhur Bhandarkar?

One Heroine is extremely annoyed. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, that is. Amid speculation that UTV, Siddharth Roy Kapur and director Madhur Bhandarkar will face losses to the tune of Rs. 6 crore if Heroine is shelved, arrives the news that Aishwarya has been rather stunned with the "demands" that Madhur has come up with. Word has it that in addition to the smoking and waterfall drenched sequences, Madhur now insists that she perform "two item numbers" too for his film.

A source close to the Bachchans reveals, "Aishwarya has never done a waterfall drenched sequence in her career until now. Why would she agree to do one now? Besides, after the whole smoking controversy over Guzaarish, Aishwarya had made it very clear to Madhur that she won't be doing any smoking sequences in Heroine. Moreover, Aishwarya's grouse that the two 'item number songs' that Madhur mentions now, was never discussed with her when the script narration was done."

There is also tittle-tattle that Aishwarya is being dropped because she's pregnant and Madhur felt that she should have confided in him earlier. As per "reliable sources" the actress is considering taking legal action against Madhur and UTV on the grounds of "gender discrimination" and is reportedly "clueless about whether she's been dropped from Heroine or the film has been shelved altogether."

As per insiders, Aishwarya is more hurt since she had already commenced filming for Heroine.

In the meantime, buzz abounds that Priyanka Chopra has envisaged interest in showcasing Heroine when she learnt that Aishwarya was seemingly ousted from the project.

An insider tells, "Priyanka shares a great equation with Madhur Bhandarkar after working with him in Fashion . She's sent him an SMS message showing her interest in accepting Heroine and has no qualms over the smoking, drinking and intimate scenes required for the film. She's strongly urged him not to scrap the film and Madhur will take a call on this issue in the next few days."