However, Shah Rukh and Priyadarshan had other plans and as it turned out, BILLU BARBER is the first mainstream commercial film, produced by a big banner, that will have Irrfan Khan enacting the title role, that of the lead protagonist.

Needless to add that Irrfan is very happy and rubbishes rumours that BILLU BARBER is an out-an-out SRK film. May be these rumours had stemmed from the fact that all the promos initially showcased SRK and his item numbers with the top actress of Bollywood. But that was a strategic promotional campaign, so as to highlight the film and popularize the album. The plan has already worked with the music hitting the charts and the film carrying quite a buzz. And we are supremely confident that the charisma of Bollywood’s global super star will succeed in bringing in the audience into the theatres, and the Priyan-Irrfan-SRK combo will do the rest!

MY NAME IS KHAN assumes more importance because the hottest on-screen Bollywood couple of the last fifteen years, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol shot together for a full fledged project after almost 8 years. The momentous day was January 7 2009! And now we have news that SRK and Kajol have finished their Los Angeles schedule and have left the city last week. From March-May they will shoot in Mumbai and complete the Indian portions. They are scheduled to be back in the US (San Francisco) in June to wrap up the last parts. After that the film will go into post production.

A source reveals, “The private screening was attended by Shah Rukh Khan, wife Gauri, kids Suhana and Aryan, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra and debutante Anushka Sharma. All of them really liked the film. Yash Raj Films has had plenty of flops this year so they wanted to check if Rab Ne Band Di Jodi had turned out well or not.”

Even the main actor, SRK thinks the same, adding, “Adi is making a film after years… It’s the story of a normal person. I am sometimes Raj or Rahul or Om before people but here is a character of a very simple person. This is very different to that. I want every girl, every girlfriend, and every wife to look at their loved one and say that this is how I love him. And it’s very different from what I have done till today as Raj or Rahul. You know talking about this film makes me smile always.”

However, Kajol is not paired with SRK in RNBDJ, she’s only doing a song. It was director Aditya Chopra’s idea to rope in Kajol.

The song will be shot in Mumbai. And Kajol will appear in one of the verses of a song filmed on Shah Rukh and newcomer Anushka Sharma. The setting of the song will be a Punjabi folk event, and Kajol appears seconds before the song ends.

Aamir may be a part of Shahrukh’s Temptations show in Germany. Shahrukh has invited Aamir to join him during the show as he has not been able to rope in any other big name other than himself.

The other stars who are expected to join Shahrukh Khan are Priyanka Chopra and SRK’s good old friend Arjun Rampal.

Kumar had filed an application in the court through his lawyer Ashok Sarogi seeking an injunction on the telecast of film. Kumar said he objected to the manner in which he was portrayed in the film. He said a scene in the film, where an actor depicting the veteran star is driven away from a theatre and beaten with sticks, had undermined his public image.

In a suit filed before a metropolitan court, Kumar claimed that scenes mimicking him were not deleted to defame him. “A legal suit under sections 420 (cheating), 499 (defamation) and 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Indian Penal Code has been filed today before the metropolitan court against actor Shah Rukh Khan, Gauri Khan and Farah Khan,” said Kumar’s lawyer Ashok Sarogi.

Manoj Kumar has demanded only Re 1 as damages from Shah Rukh Khan, his wife and film producer Gauri Khan and director Farah Khan for failing to delete certain scenes from the film before its television telecast.

The scene is a comic tribute to the 70’s in Bollywood.

The issue was considered resolved when a sessions court imposed a conditional stay on the telecast of the film till the objectionable scenes were deleted.

The defamation suit will come up for hearing before the Dindoshi sessions court on August 18, while the cheating case will be heard on August 22.

Responding to a petition filed by veteran actor Manoj Kumar, a city civil court ordered actor Shah Rukh Khan and director Farah Khan to ensure that their film,  Om Shanti Om  , was aired on television only after the deletion of certain scenes to which Manoj Kumar had objected.

Manoj Kumar’s plea in court said he had taken offence to the manner in which he had been mimicked in the film, especially in a scene where a character, representing him, was shown trying to enter the premiere of a movie; the character was shooed away by guards and “even beaten with a stick”, Manoj Kumar had said.

The court ordered that the screening of the movie, slated for Sunday by Sony Entertainment Television , would be allowed only if the objectionable scene was deleted. The order also said all copies and screenings of the movie in future should be done without this scene.

Manoj Kumar said that just after the film had been released, he had objected to his depiction and Yash Chopra, who was mediating between director Farah Khan and Kumar, had apologized and assured him the scenes would be deleted. Manoj Kumar said the film’s telecast on television would further harm his reputation as more people would watch it at home than in theatres.

The court has also ordered that the objectionable scenes be deleted from all CDs and DVDs, the rights for which are with Eros International. SET Max said it would abide by the ruling. “We will completely abide by the court order and delete the scenes,” said Sneha Rajani, executive vice-president & business head of SET Max.

‘Billoo Barber’ will see SRK coming together with the desirable Deepika Padukone once again for a special song that will be choreographed by none other than best friend, Farah Khan.

Director Priyadarshan is bringing together the successful trio of Farah Khan, Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan in hopes of repeating an ‘Om Shanti Om’ at the BO.

Hmmm… sounds like just the perfect thing to do, with Deepika hitting it big time with the audience, this is the least she can do for her mentor, isn’t it?

There’s a kidnapping scene in Singh is Kinng where Akshay Kumar and his gang cover their face with masks to hide their identity. In this particular scene the gang wears the masks of Bollywood superstars including all the above mentioned names. Apparently it happens to be one of the most hilarious scenes from the film. It is heard that the scene is so funny that not just the Indian team but even the Aussie crew almost fell down laughing, though they had no clue about the language.