Angry Bachchans threaten to skip Filmfare awards

Angry Bachchans threaten to skip Filmfare awards

New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) A furious Bachchan family has threatened to skip the prestigious Filmfare awards Saturday evening unless the Mumbai Mirror publishes a formal apology for spreading "false" news aboutAishwarya Rai health.

The Mumbai Mirror and Filmfare both belong to the Times Group. Aishwarya Rai, who was supposed to perform at the event, has decided to pull out.

The Bachchans have also sent a legal notice to the editor of Mumbai Mirror, seeking a retraction and apology.

"We have informed Filmfare that neither will Aishwarya be performing at the event, for which all preparations had been made and neither shall any of us be attending," Amitabh Bachchan posted on his blog, bigb.bigadda.com.

The family is angry that the paper has not published a formal apology for the article stating that Aishwarya is suffering from stomach tuberculosis and cannot conceive, a news branded as "completely false" by father-in-law Amitabh.

"Suffice to say for the moment that despite a few personal apologies from management and owners, no public apology has taken place. You cannot abuse me in public and then come and say sorry to me in private.

"So, even though we have great relations with the family in ownership and despite the fact that we have continuously responded to their needs whenever desired, unstintingly - the lawyers notice has been delivered to the editor of Mumbai Mirror, seeking on a legal plane retraction and apology," he added.

The Bachchans are not alone in their stand. Director R. Balakrishnan, who helmed the Amitabh and Abishek-starrer "Paa", has also decided to stay away from the event to show his support to the Big B.

"Balki, the director of the film, even when 'Paa' has been nominated in five categories for the evening, (is not attending). No coercion, just a voluntary decision of solidarity. Thank you Balki," said Amitabh.

The Filmfare awards will be held in Mumbai Saturday evening.

How about some teen patti with Big B

How about some 'teen patti' with Big B?

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) Superstar Amitabh Bachchan is trying to connect with his fans by gambling with them one on one in the age-old game of 'teen patti'.

His latest film "Teen Patti" is about greed and deception with the background of high-stake gambling.

A social game - Teen Patti - on ibibo.com is similar to poker but is a fast-paced game. One can win money a lot quicker in this game and also lose it in a jiffy. The game uses a standard 52-card deck with Aces ranking highest and two's the lowest.

"Amitabhji is doing very well with his fans, he is playing very well. Anybody can be a part of the game. People ranging from those who know nothing about the game and are just there to be with Amitabhji to those who are experts in this game, are playing," Rahul Razdan, vice president of ibibo told IANS over the phone.

"The response has been remarkable - reason could be the love for the game or an opportunity to know Big B's fun side," he added.

The uniqueness of the game is that one not only plays with live multiple players and earns money but can chat with friends while playing. Players can invite their friends to play the game or try their luck with others across India.

The film "Teen Patti" stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Raima Sen, R. Madhavan and Saira Mohan in important roles, apart from Amitabh in the lead.

The film also introduces four newcomers - Siddharth Kher, Vaibhav Talwar, Dhruv Ganesh and Shakti Kapoor's daughter Shraddha Kapoor.