Hrithik’s dilemma

With Dhoom II Hrithik Roshan has become a member of the much sought-after Yash Chopra camp. But this seems to have put him in a spot. The problem began with a spat between film maker Akbar Khan and Yash Chopra, with Khan accusing Chopra of ignoring the news of his film Taj Mahal being released in Pakistan on April 26. He apparently called Chopra a pygmy as Veer-Zaara could not make it to Pakistan. Khan also said his nephew Fardeen Khan and niece Suzanne’s husband Hrithik would attend Taj Mahal’s premiere in Pakistan. This is being promoted as a historic event since the last Indian film was released there 40 years ago. Chopra, it is learnt, is sulking. Clearly, he won’t be happy to see a member of his camp attending the function. But Hrithik has to make a choice.

The Beeb’s hunt

First you had Indian media companies rushing to get a piece of the TV news channel action in India. Now the international media are following suit. CNN already has a joint venture with Raghav Bahl’s Global Broadcast News, as has Reuters with Times Now. The latest to look at the TV news business here is the BBC. The buzz is that the BBC top brass has already sat through several presentations on the economics of the Indian news channel industry. The Beeb needs an Indian partner to roll out its channel. The Hindustan Times is apparently a strong contender. Yet Bennett, Coleman & Co, with which the BBC has a magazine joint venture, can’t be ruled out either.