The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) TV czarina Ekta Kapoor, who is known for her strictness, went fuming when on a surprise visit to the sets of her popular Zee TV show “Pavitra Rishta” she found the crew working mindlessly on the storyline.

Ekta was upset on finding out that her team was busy making her lead protagonists Manav and Archana rehearse for a dance sequence together even though the current track of the show has the two facing difficult times, said a source from the sets.

The dance sequence was being shot for a two-hour Ganesh Chaturthi special episode, to be aired Monday.

Ekta was quick to express displeasure at the dance sequence, and said: “There has to be a thread of continuity and consistency in the plot even if a festive celebration comes up. The current track shows a growing distance between Manav and Archana. I am not about to make things frivolous by throwing in a dance number for the heck of it.”

However, her team explained that the dance act was planned on public demand. Besides, the actors, Sushant Rajput and Ankita Lokhande had spent nearly three days getting the choreography right.

Finally Ekta, who is the head honcho of Balaji Telefilms, agreed to retain the act but brainstormed herself for a twist to fit the dance sequence in the storyline.

“Ekta had a problem with Manav and Archana dancing together, but she suggested that they can always dance in a dream,” said the source.

That wasn’t the only issue faced by the team while shooting the special episode.

Lead actress Ankita created quite a fuss over her costume for the dance sequence.

On the final day of shoot, when her stylist brought in her costume, she felt they weren’t dignified enough for her character Archana – a simple and demure girl.

Her lehenga had an extra-long slit, the blouse was low-cut and the corset revealed her midriff. So, the actress gave her stylist a tough time until she was absolutely comfortable with her dress.

“My character Archana is a role model for thousands of women across the country. She is the ideal wife, daughter and bahu (daughter-in-law). The last thing I would want is for people to see me doing an item number. The clothes brought on the sets were far from aesthetic and tasteful. So I put my foot down and got the changes I needed. If that ruffles somebody’s feathers, too bad,” said Ankita.

The announcement, which we shot, was in Hindi and Tamil. I was always that I know both languages. But Shahid was fighting with the Tamil part of him, so he took me to get help the right language. He did not know all the Tamils, if proved to be the whole exercise as a session of fun, said Asin.
The situation takes a turn when Priyanka when she made a surprise visit to her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor. She grew up on seeing Shahid, a good share ratio pale with Asin.
Priyanka is not very comfortable because Asin and Shahid easy camaraderie, said one source.

The Bachchans may be busy all the way, but the family sure knows how to value and strengthen their bonding. Of late, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have had little time to spend with each other.
It has been quite a long time they had some quality time together for their short anniversary holiday. Then Abhi got busy with the shooting of Abhinay Deo’s ‘Game’ in Greece, while Aishwarya was in India for a stint of ‘Robot’. Then Ash flew to Paris to honor Gustavo Kuerten (retired former World No.1 Brazilian tennis player) for his work with disadvantaged children. She also bonded with Steffi Graf and Mary Pierce at the charity dinner that followed.

So, missing her husband badly, Aishwarya asked her driver to take her to Abhishek as soon as she landed in Mumbai on Thursday. This was for the first time Ash took a liberty to intrude her husband while he was working at the Reliance Web World doing out-of-town press interviews. She not only met him, she also joined impromptu to talk to their fans on radio in Jaipur and Ahmedabad.

Both Abhishek and Aishwarya will be seen together in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’, where Abhi plays the character of an abductor named Veera. He is busy with the promotion of the film these days. Recently, he toured the city with six dancers dressed as characters in one of the song from the movie and he greeted fans from an open bus. He also threw goodies like ‘Raavan’ key chains and T-shirts to his fans.

Check out Aishwarya and Abhishek at a promotional event…..

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 55, who had a liver transplant last year in Tennessee, made a surprise visit to Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital on Friday to promote a new legislative effort to expand the number of California organ donors.

While Steve Jobs described how his life was saved by the liver transplant, and said that patients with less wealth and fame should have the same opportunities, it's clear that can never be the case. Jobs' doctors advised him to enroll in a transplant program in Memphis, TN, where the supply-demand ratio of livers is more favorable than it is in California.

Methodist Hospital in Memphis said Jobs did not receive favoritism, but rather received his transplant because he was the sickest patient on the wait list, with a matching blood type, when a donor organ became available. However, only someone with Jobs' wealth and a private jet could make the cross-country trip to Memphis in four hours, the window necessary for the organ to remain viable. Alternatively, they would have to wait in a nearby home or hotel, which also means abandoning one's life and perhaps job, as well as money for the rental.

That said, the new legislation is designed to increase the number of donors in-state. 98 percent of the organs donated in California come via the DMV. The rest come from the online donor registry. However, of the 26 million drivers in the state, only 6.3 million have signed to be organ and tissue donors. This is among the lowest rates in the nation.

Those fearing the new bill should remain calm: the new bill would not require applicants for a driver's license in California to agree to donation. Rather, it would simply require that they answer the question of whether or not they will agree. Currently, the DMV issues a license regardless of whether the applicant answers that question.

The bill would also create a "California Living Donor Registry." That would connect sick patients with altruistic strangers who are willing to donate a kidney. According to Stanford physicians, kidney donation is relatively safe and does not shorten a donor's life span.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger thanked Jobs for his efforts. Steve Jobs is known to be a very private person. He had not spoken publicly regarding his transplant before this event. Schwarzenegger said:

"Steve Jobs was very instrumental in getting us here today. He put the pressure on us to get this bill going."

The governor also added details on how this all came to pass, when Steve Jobs spoke to Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver last Christmas, and ...

"talked to my wife about his transplant and then my wife talked to me about it, and I talked to him about it, and we had these great phone conversations back and forth and now here it is reality — we are introducing the bill.

"What I like about Steve is, because he is a wealthy man that helped him get the transplant. But he doesn't want that — that only wealthy people can get the transplant and have a plane waiting to take him anywhere he needs to go.

"He wants every human being, if you have no money at all or if you're the richest person in the world, everyone ought to have the right to get a transplant immediately."

That sentiment should be applauded but as noted above, it simply won't be possible: the wealthy will always have better access.

The wealthy will also always have the capability of paying for such a transplant. The United States still is the only industrialized nation without Universal Health Care, and the results of that lack are evident statistically: compare UNICEF's statistics for the U.S. vs. Cuba, which is a third-world country yet has universal health care, to be unpleasantly surprised. Additionally, add in Canada, which prior to instituting its own Universal Health Care system was statistically similar to the U.S.:

Under 5 mortality rate (2008): U.S. 8, Cuba 6, Canada 6
Life expectancy at birth (years), 2008: U.S. 79, Cuba 79, Canada 81

For those concerned about deficits: how much would you be willing to spend to an extra two years of life? How many extra taxes would you be willing to pay to ensure a safety net where you would not go bankrupt because of unexpected medical costs, which causes the most bankruptcies in the U.S. every year?

You can watch video of the press event here.