Tag: Hollywood

  • Hollywood or Pakistan, female entertainers are a troll’s favourite target

    Hollywood or Pakistan, female entertainers are a troll’s favourite target

    Once again, its common knowledge that at the heart of every single celebrity scandal, a woman is targeted with the most blatant misogynist taunts by the public. Over the past two days, two major scandals have broken out in Hollywood. The way publications framed out the narrative to paint the women as scheming shrews who have manipulated the men in their lives proves the public loves nothing more than pushing women down as a public sport.

    Today, news outlets confirmed ‘Jonas Brothers’ singer Joe Jonas has officially filed for divorce from his wife of four years, actress Sophie Turner, and sources representing the actor told TMZ that the breakdown of their marriage happened because Sophie, who was by the way 23 when she married 30 year old Joe, was to be blamed for her extravagant lifestyle:

     “She likes to party, he likes to stay at home. They have very different lifestyles.”

    The source also claimed Joe was the one who was taking care of the couple’s two children while Sophie had been shooting for a project in the UK. We have to ask, why does a man need to be applauded over the fact that he took up the parental responsibility, and a woman is being blamed for working. Suddenly, she’s a bad mom?

    On the other hand, actor Timothee Chalamet and beauty tycoon Kylie Jenner decided to go public with their long-rumored relationship. The two were filmed kissing at a Beyonce concert- but most of the talk on the internet once more was sexist, blaming Kylie for stealing a heartthrob just so that she could get ratings for the reality show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’. Several users have come to Kylie’s defence.

    A few days ago, a now deleted article written by Vogue about Timothee Chalamet and Kylie’s relationship went viral, where the writer expressed that it was difficult for her to believe that the two could be a couple because Kylie’s career was nothing compared to Timothee Chalamet’s as the quote goes:

    What do they do together? Does he hold her makeup brushes while she contours? Does she help him sift through Wes Anderson scripts? Does he give Stormi French lessons?”

    “And how did they end up together, anyway? Legend has it that Kylie’s sister Kendall introduced them, but it’s hard for me not to picture Kris sifting through a laminated binder full of leading men, debating which of the Hollywood Chrises would pair best with Kylie’s latest haircut.”

    The piece was criticized for insensitivity and for diminishing the reality TV star’s achievements, including Kylie Cosmetics, an enterprise worth around $750 million.

    While the rest of the world is angry at the way the two women are being publicly humiliated and blamed for events they weren’t responsible for, we have to reflect on the way this is commonly happening in Pakistan. Female celebrities like Sadaf Kanwal, who married Shahroze Sabzwari, was subjected to brutal trolling on social media for months because it was insinuated that she had played a hand in the break up of her husband’s previous marriage, even though both partners confirmed that their breakup was consensual.

    Similarly, Sanam Saeed was targeted by trolls for being a ‘home wrecker’ and a cheater when she went public with her relationship with actor Mohib Mirza, after his divorce to actor Aminah Sheikh. Or when actress Ayesha Omar had to clarify that she was not a home wrecker, because some modelling shoots between her and cricket player Shoaib Malik fuelled the fire that she was the culprit behind his rumored divorce to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.

    We’d really like to urge our audience to keep their opinions to themselves, especially those about female celebrities. How Kylie and Sophie choose to live, and who they date, is none of our concern because by the end of the day, they’re human beings as well as public figures. It is natural to be a fan of a celebrity and to respect their work- as its understandable since its Timothee Chalamet- but its crossing a line when you’re ranting about the women he dates.

    But most importantly, its necessary now more than ever that women- even female celebrities like Sadaf, Kylie or Taylor Swift- are no longer held responsible for the decisions made by the men in their lives, and we learn to understand the fact that it is not our business to know who they’re dating or not. There are better things on this planet to worry about!

  • Timothee Chalamet, Kylie Jenner are dating, spotted together on Beyonce’s Renaissance tour

    Timothee Chalamet, Kylie Jenner are dating, spotted together on Beyonce’s Renaissance tour

    Hollywood actor Timothee Chalamet seems to have confirmed his relationship with beauty tycoon Kylie Jenner, after the two were spotted cozying together at Beyonce’s Renaissance tour in LA, Pop Base has reported.

    The internet was honestly divided because yeah this is the two most random people in Hollywood who suddenly announced they were a couple.

    Rumors about the two began when in January, videos showed Kylie and Timothee laughing together at the Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show during Paris Couture Week. In April, reports seemingly confirmed Kylie and Timothee were dating after an insider told Entertainment Today that the couple were keeping things casual and were waiting to see how it goes.

    “They are keeping things casual at this point. It’s not serious, but Kylie is enjoying hanging out with Timothée and seeing where it goes. It’s been really fun for her because it feels a lot different than her past relationships. It’s new and exciting for Kylie and she’s having a lot of fun.”

    Then by August, sources told Us Weekly that the couple were making sure their romance remains low-key, but weren’t spending a lot of time together to ensure their relationship remains secretive.

    “Kylie and Timothée haven’t been spending that much time together recently because they both have very busy schedules. But they’re still communicating on a pretty regular basis and have remained friends despite the fact that they don’t hang out that often.”

  • Royal Family didn’t want Meghan Markle to say this during ‘Suits’ shoot

    Just like a desi susral, the Royal Family had to step in to look over some aspects of Meghan’s professional life.

    According to the show creator Aaron Kosh, the royal family weighed in on some of the dialogues in the show and even omitted one.

    “Not many things, by the way, but a few things that we wanted to do and couldn’t do, and it was a little irritating”, recalled Kosh.

    The particular word that was scrubbed from the show was ‘poppy cock’ and the reason is astounding:

    “My wife’s family, when they have a topic to discuss that might be sensitive, they use the word, ‘poppycock,’” Aaron explained. “Let’s say you wanted to do something that you knew your husband didn’t want to do, but you wanted to at least discuss it, and in just discussing it, you wouldn’t hold him to anything he said, you’d be like, ‘It’s poppycock.’ So, in the episode, Mike and Rachel were going to have a thing, and as a nod to my in-laws, we were going to have her say, ‘My family would say poppycock.’”

    But Aaron explained the Royal Family didn’t want the future Duchess Of Sussex to say this, in fear of someone editing the clip and using the term ‘cock’ so they completely removed it.

    “They didn’t want to put the word ‘poppycock’ in her mouth. I presume because they didn’t want people cutting things together of her saying ‘cock.’ So, we had to change it to ‘b*‘ instead of ‘poppycock,’ and I did not like it because I’d told my in-laws that [poppycock] was going to be in the show. There was maybe one or two more things, but I can’t remember.”

    But here’s the shocking part: Aaron was not the one who gave his scripts to the Royals, and he doesn’t know who did either.

     “I was aware that they were reading them because I got the feedback, but I don’t remember the process by which they got them.”

  • Who ‘run the world’? Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are fuelling the US economy

    This is definitely an un-cruel Summer

    The US economy can thank Taylor Swift and Beyonce for the extra leg up. According to CNBC, Swift’s critically acclaimed Era’s tour is set to make more than $1 billion, making it the highest grossing tour of all time. While Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’ tour, according to CBS, could rack up more than $2 billion from concert shows.

    The anticipation of the tours, as well as the two pop icons, has also reportedly boosted local tourism within America, with brands and small business stores churning out creative ways to captivate fans, greatly boosting their income. According to the New York Times, a survey by the Federal Reserve shows hotel revenues have risen in the Philadelphia region, where Swift has booked stadiums for her tour, and Sweden has already said Beyonce’s tour is to thank for to help recover from inflation.

    Moreover, AirBnB reported that the most popular tourist destinations during the Fourth of July weekend was not Greece or Italy, but Ohio city, where Taylor was hosting a concert.

    Small business owners told The New York Times that their earnings tripled in income since the tours began, as Swifties and the Bey Hive flock to athetize their looks ahead of concerts. Shade Hotel in California spoke to the publication about hosting a Taylor Swift-pre party where guests could wear costumes, sip on the ‘Lavender Haze’ cocktail- boosting their earnings.

    Similarly, the bead industry has also witnessed a revival after a lyric from Taylor’s song ‘Midnights’ album went viral. ‘So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and embrace it’, the lyrics said. Fans began showing up to concerts wearing friendship bracelets, and viral videos on social media show fans exchanging bracelets with each other, with the likes of Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban joining in.

    Speaking to Seattle Times, a staff member of Maple Leaf’s Beadworld said that since the Era’s tour began, they’ve attracted more clients than they can handle.

    “We were full all day,” Sands said. “Definitely busier than normal.”

    Nail technicians and hair salons can thank the Bey Hive for the tripling their income. Raven Voorhees told The New York Times she spent the entire summer working with clients attending Beyonce’s concerts, requesting colors alligned with the themes of the Renaissance tour.

    “It’s boosting business,” Ms. Voorhees said. “We’re talking about someone who’s paying about $60 max for her service to now $150 because she’s doing a new set, she’s getting the works, all of the nail art and then, even after that, having to come back and having to do it again.”

    It turns out even public transit services can thank Beyonce and Taylor Swift for never going out of style. In Los Angeles buses stayed open late for concert-goers, thanking Swift for the boost.

    “We’re enchanted that Taylor Swift fans have given a big boost to public transit across the United States this year — and we’re looking forward to spending our midnights with many of you very soon,” the city’s metro system punned on its website.

  • Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Lizzo counter-sues backup dancers for ‘malicious prosecution’

    Pop singer Lizzo has been sued by former backup dancers of her troupe for sexual harassment, unprofessionalism and body shaming. In the suit filed earlier this month, Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez detailed instances of being shamed for weight gain, being coerced into touching nude dancers.

    On Wednesday, Lizzo’s lawyer said in a statement sent to The Independent, that the singer was now counter suing the dancers for ‘malicious content’, describing the lawsuit as a sham.

    The statement included photos of the three plaintiffs Davis, Williams and Rodriguez with “the performers after the topless cabaret show at the Crazy Horse cabaret in Paris” on 5 March, 2023. In their lawsuit, the dancers had claimed they were not informed by Lizzo that the dancers performing would be naked, “robbing them of the choice not to participate”.

    The plaintiff’s also described Lizzo pressurising cast members to take turns touching the nude performers “catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas”.

    However, Lizzo’s statement said the images released show the plaintiff’s happily spending time in the club they had complained about in the lawsuit:

    “These images showing the three plaintiffs gleefully revelling backstage after the topless show were taken after their February 2023 visit to Bananenbar in Amsterdam that they complain about in their lawsuit.”

    Neema Rahmani, representing the three dancers in the lawsuit, responded to the images, and said they had previously addressed all the instances where the plaintiff’s appeared to be happy alongside Lizzo, during the time the

    “Of course, they wanted to keep their jobs. They had bills to pay just like everyone else but they finally had enough of the abuse. We stand by every claim in the lawsuit and look forward to trial.

    “We’ve been hearing from other former employees sharing similar stories, and as seen in the Los Angeles Times article today about how Lizzo used intimate footage of her dancers without their approval in the 2022 HBO Max Love Lizzo documentary, we’re seeing even more of a pattern of just how much Lizzo thinks of those who work for her. Clearly, not very much.”

    Furthermore, Rahmani slammed the singer’s statement as an “empty threat” and said they were ready to meet the lawyer and his client in the courtroom because they had no plans of backing down.

    “I’ve handled thousands of cases, including prosecuting drug cartels so we have no plans to back down. Let’s see if Singer can actually try a case in a courtroom instead of the media,” said Rahmani.

  • ‘Pray for forgiveness’: The Nun is taking Warner Bros to court

    ‘Pray for forgiveness’: The Nun is taking Warner Bros to court

    Looks like The Nun doesn’t just haunt abandoned abbeys, she can also become a nightmare for film producers when they neglect to give her fair financial compensation.

    Bonnie Aarons, the actress who played the creepy demonic sister from the horror franchise ‘The Nun’, is taking Warner Bros to court for not providing her with the fair share of earnings from the film’s merchandise.

    According to the lawsuit filed on August 15 in Los Angeles, the contract signed between Aarons and Warner Bros stated she would receive $71,000 from the the film ‘The Nun’ which released in 2018, along with box office bonuses, but the studio missed out on a key part stated in the actor’s contract:  the right to receive “gross receipts from merchandise” featuring her likeness as the demon nun. 

    Aarons had featured in the film ‘The Conjuring’ where she played the demon Valak, then went on to reprise her role in the film ‘The Nun’ which became a box office hit, grossing around $365 million worldwide. A sequel, ‘The Nun 2’, is releasing across theatres in a few weeks.

    The suit has argued that Warner Bros exploited Aarons by refusing to give her the complete amount they had made from the merchandise of ‘The Nun’:

    “Instead of accounting and paying in a transparent fashion, Warner Bros. obscures and hides the true amount of Ms. Aarons’ rightful share of merchandising revenues, all while continuing to exploit her,” the suit reads.

    It noted that Aarons had not relied on prosthetics to don the role of the terrifying creature, but it was the actor’s particular features that boosted merchandise. A significant portion of the merchandise alludes to Valak, as she’s the most popular character from The Conjuring cinematic universe.

    The shocking revelations of actors exploited by studios has arrived in the light of the SAG-AFTRA strikes currently happening across Hollywood, as actors and writers have together protested against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers regarding contracts and low residuals offered despite how popular franchises had gotten. Actor Mara Wilson, who had been the lead of the popular movie ‘Matilda’ and then ‘Mrs Doubtfire’, took to Twitter to reveal she was never able to make enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.

    “I haven’t acted much as an adult, but I WAS on a recurring character on one of the most critically acclaimed animated shows of all time, as well playing an actual Disney villain. But thanks to streaming, I have never once made enough to qualify for SAG-AFTRA healthcare.”

    Actress Mandy Moore, who starred in the critically acclaimed series ‘This Is Us’ shocked social media users when she revealed her residuals amounted up to 81 cents only.

  • ‘I wish her the best’: Sam Asghari confirms divorce from Britney Spears

    ‘I wish her the best’: Sam Asghari confirms divorce from Britney Spears

    Model and former dancer Sam Asghari has confirmed the rumors that he is separating from pop singer Britney Spears after being in a relationship for six years, and married for 14 months. In a post on his Instagram account, Asghari said that the two will hold on to the love and respect they have for each other, and requested everyone in the media to be kind and thoughtful.

    ‘After 6 years of of love and commitment to each other my wife and I have decided to end our journey together. We will hold on to the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always. S*** happens. Asking for privacy seems ridiculous so I will just ask everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful.”

    Troubled pop singer Britney Spears and her husband Sam Asghari are divorcing after 14 months of marriage, TMZ has reported. The split comes after allegations of cheating emerged, the outlet has stated, adding that the couple, who got married in 2022 after being in a relationship since 2016, have been having heated arguments. Sam has reportedly moved out and is living in a place of his own.

    Another insider told Page Six that a source of their conflict has been Britney’s prenup which was filed before her marriage and protects all her assets and finances, however, a source has confirmed that the 29-year-old model threatened to go public with the 41-year-old pop-star’s secrets in an attempt to negotiate what the prenup provides.

    The two had announced their engagement to the with both Britney and Sam sharing pictures of the engagement ring, right after she won a legal battle to remove her father as her conservator, a binding agreement that the singer had been placed in since 2008.

    The ‘One More Time’ singer has publicly slammed both her father and sister in multiple Instagram posts for bullying her. In a now-deleted post put up in 2022, Spears slammed her sister and mom, revealing how she had been made to work to earn a living for the family while her younger sister Jamie, indulged her interests:

    “I flew home to Jamie Lynn on the couch watching her TV shows right after Justin [Timberlake] and I broke up… I was a ghost there! I had worked my whole life and I didn’t know how to be served by Mamma, sit there and get served the chocolate milkshakes with the perfectly crushed ice with the secret chunky sugar.

    “Meanwhile Jamie Lynn is 12, she indulges with the TV for hours then goes to lay out on a raft at the pool. I’m in shock because this was never my life!”

    “Justin’s family was all I knew for many years. Things were different now and Jamie Lynn had a new Nickelodeon show. All I remember saying was ‘DAMN! How the hell does a 12 year old land a Nickelodeon show?

    “… I’m grown up right! But then maybe I might need a little support. It was a People Magazine cover…”

  • Rise of the machines: AI spells danger for Hollywood stunt workers

    Rise of the machines: AI spells danger for Hollywood stunt workers

    By Andrew MARSZAL

    Hollywood’s striking actors fear that artificial intelligence is coming for their jobs — but for many stunt performers, that dystopian danger is already a reality.

    From “Game of Thrones” to the latest Marvel superhero movies, cost-slashing studios have long used computer-generated background figures to reduce the number of actors needed for battle scenes.

    Now, the rise of AI means cheaper and more powerful techniques are being explored to create highly elaborate action sequences such as car chases and shootouts — without those pesky (and expensive) humans.

    Stunt work, a time-honored Hollywood tradition that has spanned from silent epics through to Tom Cruise’s latest “Mission Impossible,” is at risk of rapidly shrinking.

    “The technology is exponentially getting faster and better,” said Freddy Bouciegues, stunt coordinator for movies like “Free Guy” and “Terminator: Dark Fate.”

    “It’s really a scary time right now.”

    Studios are already requiring stunt and background performers to take part in high-tech 3D “body scans” on set, often without explaining how or when the images will be used.

    Advancements in AI mean these likenesses could be used to create detailed, eerily realistic “digital replicas,” which can perform any action or speak any dialogue its creators wish.

    Bouciegues fears producers could use these virtual avatars to replace “nondescript” stunt performers — such as those playing pedestrians leaping out of the way of a car chase.

    “There could be a world where they said, ‘No, we don’t want to bring these 10 guys in… we’ll just add them in later via effects and AI. Now those guys are out of the job.”

    But according to director Neill Blomkamp, whose new film “Gran Turismo” hits theaters August 25, even that scenario only scratches the surface.

    The role AI will soon play in generating images from scratch is “hard to compute,” he told AFP.

    “Gran Turismo” primarily uses stunt performers driving real cars on actual racetracks, with some computer-generated effects added on top for one particularly complex and dangerous scene.

    But Blomkamp predicts that, in as soon as six or 12 months, AI will reach a point where it can generate photo-realistic footage like high-speed crashes based on a director’s instructions alone.

    At that point, “you take all of your CG (computer graphics) and VFX (visual effects) computers and throw them out the window, and you get rid of stunts, and you get rid of cameras, and you don’t go to the racetrack,” he told AFP.

    “It’s that different.”

    – The human element –

    The lack of guarantees over the future use of AI is one of the major factors at stake in the ongoing strike by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and Hollywood’s writers, who have been on the picket lines 100 days.

    SAG-AFTRA last month warned that studios intend to create realistic digital replicas of performers, to use “for the rest of eternity, in any project they want” — all for the payment of one day’s work.

    The studios dispute this, and say they have offered rules including informed consent and compensation.

    But as well as the potential implications for thousands of lost jobs, Bouciegues warns that no matter how good the technology has become, “the audience can still tell” when the wool is being pulled over their eyes by computer-generated VFX.

    Even if AI can perfectly replicate a battle, explosion or crash, it cannot supplant the human element that is vital to any successful action film, he said, pointing to Cruise’s recent “Top Gun” and “Mission Impossible” sequels.

    “He uses real stunt people, and he does real stunts, and you can see it on the screen. For me, I feel like it subconsciously affects the viewer,” said Bouciegues.

    Current AI technology still gives “slightly unpredictable results,” agreed Blomkamp, who began his career in VFX, and directed Oscar-nominated “District 9.”

    “But it’s coming… It’s going to fundamentally change society, let alone Hollywood. The world is going to be different.”

    For stunt workers like Bouciegues, the best outcome now is to blend the use of human performers with VFX and AI to pull off sequences that would be too dangerous with old-fashioned techniques alone.

    “I don’t think this job will ever just cease to be,” said Bouciegues, of stunt work. “It just definitely is going to get smaller and more precise.”

    But even that is a sobering reality for stunt performers who are currently standing on picket lines outside Hollywood studios.

    “Every stunt guy is the alpha male type, and everybody wants to say, ‘Oh, we’re good,’” said Bouciegues.

    “But I personally have spoken to a lot of people that are freaked out and nervous.”

  • Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Hollywood A-listers donated $1 million to the SAG-AFTRA strikes

    Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Hollywood A-listers donated $1 million to the SAG-AFTRA strikes

    The SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood has reached its 21st day of protests against studios paying low residuals, poor working conditions as well as the use of A.I to replicate images of background actors. Studios like Warner Bros, Netflix and Disney have reportedly refused to negotiate with the union, with sources revealing the studios were planning to prolonge the protest till most of the actors become broke, according to ‘The Bear’ staff writer Alex O’Keefe.

    In the midst of the protests, multiple A-list celebrities have come forward to offer donations to keep the movement going. Variety reports that some of the A-list celebrities who contributed to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Emergency Financial Assistance Program were Meryl Streep, Dwyane Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amal and George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey.

    “Thanks to the support of some of Hollywood’s top-earning stars, the Foundation is preparing to bring aid and hope to thousands of journeymen actors facing tremendous economic hardship,” the foundation said in a statement released a few days ago.

    In a statement sent to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to end the strike and pay fair residuals to writers and actors, Meryl Streep recalled how she began her career working as a waitress and struggled to make ends meet:

    “I remember my days as a waiter, cleaner, typist, even my time on the unemployment line,” Streep said in a statement. “In this strike action, I am lucky to be able to support those who will struggle in a long action to sustain against Goliath. We will stand strong together against these powerful corporations who are bent on taking the humanity, the human dignity, even the human out of our profession. I am proudest of my fellow actors who have immediately offered to fund the Emergency Financial Assistance Program.”

    “We stand ready to get back to the table and make a fair deal with the AMPTP,” George Clooney said. “Until then, I’m proud to be able to support the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and my fellow actors who may be struggling in this historic moment. We’ve stood on the shoulders of the likes of Bette Davis and Jimmy Cagney and it’s time for our generation to give something back. I can’t thank Courtney enough for his determination in putting this effort together by shedding light on the human toll happening right now, and how we can work together to alleviate some of the pain and suffering.”

  • When we almost had Shah Rukh Khan and Leonardo Dicpario in the same movie

    When we almost had Shah Rukh Khan and Leonardo Dicpario in the same movie

    Forget about Avengers Endgame or Barbie, the biggest movie ever….never got made. Two of the greatest actors this generation has seen, Shah Rukh Khan and Leonardo DiCaprio, were once about to come together to give us the most incredible thriller film of our lives.

    Back in 2011, the Bollywood Badshah had signed on the film ‘Xtreme City’. A picture, purportedly a fan-made poster, broke the internet. Featuring Khan, DiCaprio, Karan Johar, the film was supposed to be produced by the legendary Martin Scorsese with Paul Schrader directing, and Mushtaq Sheikh writing. The film was suppose to pit Khan and DiCaprio against each other.

    Sheikh gushed about the once-in-a-lifetime powerful collaboration with NDTV, calling it “the best news I’ve heard in a long time”.

    “We are all elated. This is the best news I have heard in a long time. Martin loved the script and it meant the world to me as the writer of the film along with Paul Schrader. But when he comes in as the producer of the project, then I am thrilled as it takes the film to another level completely. Inshaallah, all goes well from here onwards. Fingers and all parts of the body crossed.”

    In a 2011 interview with Press Trust of India, Sheikh described the plot of the film as one where “both Indian and American protagonists are balanced human beings”:

    “It’s a different kind of film, one where both Indian and American protagonists are balanced human beings and the story treats them in their full complexity without either culture being diminished or taken for granted. It’s a cross-cultural thriller designed for both Bollywood and Hollywood. And if we get it right, this will be an attempt at true global entertainment.”

    However the project couldnt take off because both actors weren’t as committed to the project to continue it, and in an interview with Open Magazine, Schrader revealed that Shah Rukh wasn’t comfortable with doing a film he couldn’t control:

    “Well, in the end, I don’t think Shah Rukh wanted to make it. It was really up to him, and I just got the feeling that he was never going to be comfortable doing an international film that he didn’t control. You know that everything SRK does, he has total control over? So if he did something like this at an international level, he wouldn’t have that control.”

     “I think in the end he wasn’t that comfortable not being a hundred per cent in control. We did have a script, which was a hundred per cent paid for. We also had a meeting with SRK and Leo in Berlin, but neither of them actually ever committed. There was a lot of waiting—maybe they were waiting for each other to commit, but it never quite happened.”

    Shah Rukh Khan has also candidly discussed why he chose not to follow the path of other actors like Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, to star in a Hollywood movie, while speaking in 2008 at the Berlin Film Festival.

     “My English is not good, if they give me a role of a dumb person who doesn’t speak, maybe then there’s a possibility. I am not trying to be modest, I am 42 years old. I am a little brown. I don’t have any USP as an actor, I don’t have any specialty. I don’t know Kung Fu, I don’t dance salsa, and I am not tall enough…I have seen the recent European films, there is no place for me there, no space for me. I don’t think am talented enough. Instead, I would like to continue working in India and take Indian cinema to the world.”