Actor Aditya Pancholi (real name: Nirmal) has been so synonymous with brawls and run-ins with the law that a five-star hotel at Juhu in Mumbai banned him from entering its precincts while another made sure that he didn’t get a membership to its health club.

While his constant presence in the headlines for drunken fisticuffs and roadside drama may have made his family squirm, on most occasions they could be passed off as exaggerations by the media. After all, Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan too have taken refuge in the same media hideout whenever a brush with the law came under the spotlight.

For instance, just before Aditya’s father passed away last year, the actor had hit the headlines for roughing up the hospital staff where his ailing parent had been admitted. But his family had shrugged it off as something Aditya had done under great emotional stress because his dad was so ill!

Unlike Sanju or Sallu, Aditya Pancholi does not even have a booming acting career to occasionally bring him notice for something positive.Additionally, his personal life, dotted with highdecibel philandering, has always kept him in the news for wrong reasons. For example,much after his marriage to actress Zarina Wahab, Aditya had begun to paint the town red with Pooja Bedi, a romance that had ended with a charge of verbal and physical abuse against him.

Wife Zarina Wahab was clear about her approach to his extra-marital misadventures. “When you marry a good looking man much younger than you, you should be ready for his flings and affairs,” she often said. Even if that was rather unsavvy, her clarity helped the marriage which bore two healthy children, a girl named Sana and Suraj, a boy.

Zarina may have faced the emotional upheavals stoically. But daughters are different; they may not be inclined to accept a parent’s wellchronicled fling. Years later,when Aditya Pancholi was having his blatantly open relationship with Kangana Ranaut, his daughter Sana was grown up enough to question her mom about it. Zarina had said,“Whatever your father’s relationship with Kangana may be, that’s between him and me. It’s not for you to question it.”

Zarina maintains that Aditya has been a good provider. He has bought his family a spacious apartment and they have never lacked for anything. But is that alone the definition of good parenting? Obviously, Aditya’s waywardness has taken its toll on Sana, his daughter who has nursed acting ambitions.

Look at life from the young girl’s perspective. Aditya had made Kangana practically a part of the family. At the first trial show of Gangster, Zarina and Sana had watched Kangana make her celluloid debut and had enthusiastically congratulated her after the lights came on. But the film not only marked the arrival of a new actress, her Adityalink also came into the limelight.

In true Aditya-style, the relationship made headlines when Kangana left a party in a rickshaw and her man chased her down a road for a midnight showdown in public. Kangana went to the cops and soon Aditya went to the press declaring that they were practically husband and wife.

Zarina may have her own philosophy to support her but Sana is obviously made of more delicate stuff, especially when her dream of becoming an actress was aborted early. Sana Pancholi had signed Shakalaka Boom Boom with Bobby Deol and had even flown to South Africa to shoot for it when she was unceremoniously sent back home and replaced by — you guessed it — Kangana Ranaut!

Thereafter, little was heard of Aditya’s young daughter until last week,when the cops busted a rave party and Sana Pancholi was one of the kids who tested positive. Do you really blame her for her fling with substance abuse?

Hey, psst!

Poonam Dhillon who has maintained herself extraordinarily well, is back in the studios. She has said ‘yes’ to the prestigious Yashraj banner that had launched her as a heroine three decades ago (Trishul, Noorie).Poonam will make a comeback to films as Anupam Kher’s wife in the Rani Mukherji- Shahid Kapoor film on cricket tentatively titled Hadippa. Poonam’s shoot as Shahid’s mom will begin in a couple of months.

Saif Ali Khan has found a title for his Imtiaz Ali-directed production, co-starring Deepika Padukone. After Imtiaz’s well-received Jab We Met, he’s come up with another Hindi-English mix — the name he is toying with is Love Aaj Kal.

Unbelievably, Javed Akhtar will not be the lyricist of Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan.Karan’s pal Niranjan Iyer penned two songs while the script was being written. Javed,who does not share the lyricist’s credit with anybody for any film, decided not to set a precedent and gracefully bowed out of the project.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor, Movie Mag International