3 Idiots or Idiots, well that's the dilemma director Raj Kumar Hirani is going through in the run-up to the release of his movie this Christmas. The director is now in two minds whether to drop the prefix '3' from the title of his upcoming Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor starer based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. Hirani had always wanted to title the movie Idiots but this was registered by filmmaker Deepak Shivdasani.

Hirani tried to get the title from Shivdasani but the little known director demanded a whopping Rs 25 lakhs to let go of it. Shivdasani felt it was just considering the magnitude of the film with a cast like Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Hirani had tried his best to convince Shivdasani but he did not give up on his demand and meanwhile Hirani shot the movie with the 3 Idiots title.

Deepak Shivdasani finally seems to have realised that just with a title he would never be able to match up with 3 Idiots and has offered the title to Hirani. The director is now what having second thoughts about reverting to his original title, Idiots. Aamir however wants to continue with 3 Idiots as the title has become a brand in itself as even the posters for the movie are out. He has spoken about this to Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

The much-talked-about film 3 Idiots is in trouble if the latest news is any indication. The news is spreading like wildfire that Aamir Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani are at loggerheads over the promos of the film.

Sources said that Aamir and Hirani got along very well during the shooting of the film but differences cropped up due to disagreement over the promos of 3 Idiots. It was a sort of ego clash, as both of them sticked to their views and refused to compromise.

It is said that all hell broke loose while selecting one amongst the three promos prepared, which is to be incorporated with the release of London Dreams on October 30. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Hirani and Aamir reject one promo outright. However, Aamir didn't like the promo chosen by Hirani. He liked to show the film as it is while the director wants to showcase its spirit.

The duo avoided a verbal fight though. Aamir dropped the issue after failing to convince his director in spite of discussing for over half an hour. Angry over it, Aamir left the scene quietly. Now, he is unavailable to the unit of the film. It is not sure if he will take part in the promotional event on October 29 to unveil the first look of the film.

Let's hope this piece of news turns out to be just a rumour.

In what could be a case of another online identity theft in Bollywood, one Facebook ID is generating big buzz on the internet. There is speculation that a Facebook profile called 'Pucca Idiott' is really Aamir Khan and the actor is making friends with people under this pseudonym.

The information reads that he is Akash Malhotra (his character's name in Dil Chahta Hai) and lives in Bandra in Mumbai. His interests are badminton and tennis and Calvin and Hobbes is his favorite comic. These details are indicators that it may be Bollywood's very own perfectionist, Aamir Khan himself.

The profile is very active and Pucca Idiott has been interacting with people as a Facebook pro and already has 918 friends at the last count. The posts are coming at odd hours but very regularly, which include those ranging from the polite and adulating to the most bizarre ones. Sample this: "aamir diid u read my interesting story, reply plz?"

More evidence is in the form of pictures that are posted on the profile include that of a European destination. Are these pictures of the recent holiday that Aamir had gone to with Kiran Rao? Who is this Pucca Idiott?

Pucca Idiott needs to answer.

A lot has been said about the Raj Kumar Hirani movie 3 Idiots being based on Chetan Bhagat's first novel Five Point Someone but now it is emerging that the movie is completely different from the book. Sources close to the movie reveal that although the book served as an inspiration to the original plot Raj Kumar Hirani has given the entire movie a new touch. The source adds that the campus and the classroom setting are the only thing common between the movie and the book.

Although producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had bought the rights to the book before the movie began Chetan Bhagat had denied being part of the scripting process. The plot has two friends embarking on a request for a lost buddy. On this journey they encounter a long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash and a funeral that goes impossibly out of control. 3 Idiots stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and Madhvan and is one of the most awaited movies of the year.

Rakeysh Mehra and Aamir Khan have joined up to fight against the falling rate of tourists coming to India. They have done a short film together for the Ministry of Tourism to encourage foreigners to visit India for the retreat was before sexual crimes against women increased.

Aamir and Rakeysh had done a film last year too which produced good results because of which the tourism industry approached them again this year. Aamir feels that the tourism industry must have powerful names standing up for it. He is doing the Atithee Devo Bhava (guest is god) campaign very seriously.

Rakeysh feels that Aamir needs to show the world that India is a hospitable country and that Indians love taking care of guests. Aamir’s face and personality is well suited for the campaign. Meanwhile, Rakeysh is doing two more films for the tourism industry as he believes promoting tourism promotes the film industry as any kind of cultural exchange helps cinema.

Allaying fears of an online identity theft, Aamir Khan has finally confessed that it is indeed he who was masquerading as 'Pucca Idiott' on the social networking site Facebook.

Late last night, Aamir wrote on his wall, "Ok guys, I give up. I guess its time to drop my defences. Yeh Star News wale bade kamzarf hain, mera bhanda phod diya, yaar. Not that I mind interacting with all of you, don't get me wrong. But I have my blog at www.aamirkhan.com for just that."

And more, "Confession over. Relief..." Aamir also bares his soul, frank as ever, "Here, on Facebook, I was trying to be anonymous so that anyone I interact with treats me like a normal guy. Also I get to know what you folks are really thinking and feeling. Sometimes you might not share everything with me, or might not be totally frank with me, if you know who I am." Is the star feeling lonely at the top?

He further remarked that it felt good to chat up with his Facebook friends and also added some photos of wife Kiran Rao and him on a holiday in Chamonix, as proof for the skeptics.

Salman Khan, the macho Khan of bollywood who plays lead in Vipul Shah’s upcoming flick ‘London Dreams’ opposite southern sizzling hot sexy siren Asin, refused even to greet her at a recent event organized by the makers to promote the film.

The biggest banner in Bollywood Yash Raj Films is all set to take the small screen by storm. Yash Raj Productions is making its debut on the small screen with its show Rishta.com. As like its movies it will have the who's who of Bollywood in it including Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, Uday Chopra among others. But Yash Raj seems to have struck gold with Aamir Khan who has agreed to be a part of the show.

The perfectionist Aamir who is not known to make public appearances agreed to take part in the show as he felt it was very close to his real life. Yash Raj are still silent about the role Aamir will play in the show. The comedy series which will show a matrimony office through which couples meet. It is an interesting move by Aamir as his rival Shahrukh is known to be very close to the banner. It remains to be seen who among Shahrukh and Aamir gathers more eyeballs.

It was reported that Aamir Khan and director Rajkumar Hirani are not in talking terms following disagreement over the selection of 3 Idiots promos. However, another news is doing the rounds that the root cause of the fight between them is Aamir's co-star Sharman Joshi.

Sources said that Joshi, who acted with Aamir in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti, got the lion's share in 3 Idiots. Aamir is fine with him stealing the limelight but he is disappointed because Joshi's part didn't come out the way he had conceived.

The news has it that the actor has asked the director to deal with the problem at the editing table. It's yet to be seen if the director will comply to Aamir's request.

3 Idiots, starring Aamir, Joshi and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles in scheduled for release this Christmas.

Press Trust of India
Thursday, April 29, 2010 (New Delhi)

Superstar Aamir Khan will take time out of a European holiday to meet his fans and has
invited them to join him through his blog.

The actor who is enjoying a peak in his career, thanks to the super-success of 3 Idiots will meet fans in London and Paris.

"I am going to be in Paris on the 2nd of May and would very much like to meet up with those of you who are interested. Will restrict the group to 5. Each one of you can bring one more person with you. If you happen to be below 18 years of age you will have to accompanied by an adult," wrote
the actor in his blog.

The 44-year-old actor apologised to the followers of his blog for not keeping them up to date.

"Please post your contact details so that I can reach you but remember that this is a public space, so only if you are comfortable with putting out that information. My apologies for staying away for so long guys. I think I needed to be silent for some time," wrote Khan.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was Tuesday selected sanitation brand ambassador to promote cleanliness in all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools across India – but not without being mobbed by his young fans. He has been selected as cleanliness brand ambassador by the Government of India to promote cleanliness in all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in the country.
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said after beginning the National School Sanitation Initiative in New Delhi that Aamir would bring about change and make the plan a big success. Aamir said that he would talk about with the HRD and urban development ministries on the matter and reach out to students through CDs and internet.
Sibal had earlier announced that implement sanitation plan in schools through health and wellness clubs. The proposal is undertaken by the HRD ministry and the urban development ministry to supply sanitation facilities to school children.

Bangalore, May 24: Bollywood star Aamir Khan along with his wife Kiran Rao paid a surprise visit to Channarayapatna town here Monday to attend the marriage of his trusted assistant Sudhakar.

Kiran was seen participating in several events of the marriage. The fact that Aamir Khan came all the way from Mumbai to Channarayapatna, 160 km away from Bangalore, had even the media persons in the town surprised.

Most of the TV channel reporters were caught unawares and had to rush to the marriage hall to shoot the couple. Fans were thrilled to see the top Bollywood star blessing his assistant.

Sudhakar, who hails from Channarayapatna town of Hassan district, has been working in Aamir Khan's office for more than 15 years along with his father Kushe Gowda. Sources said that Aamir and his family members were impressed with Kushe Gowda and Sudhakar's honesty, integrity and dedication to work.

Aamir and Kiran Rao, who hails from Bangalore, did not want to miss out attending the marriage. They flew from Mumbai Sunday evening and stayed at Hassan Sunday night. They reached Channarayapatna at noon Monday and went straight to the marriage hall. The people of the small town were thrilled to see Aamir Khan and his wife.

Sudhakar and his wife Mamatha were very happy to have them at the function. Sources said Aamir Khan has donated a car valued at Rs.15 lakh to Sudhakar. Kushe Gowda, who is also working in Aamir Khan's office, revealed to media persons attending the function that the actor had even financed the construction of a house for his son.

Mumbai: The much-hyped Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer ‘Lajjo’, which was initially shelved due to budget constraints, will be revived. The film that revolves around times of the partition is one of the most ambitious projects by filmmaker Mani Ratnam.

Earlier set aside over money issues, the filmmakers are keen to revive the project after watching the audiences’ response to the sizzling chemistry between Aamir-Kareena in ‘3 Idiots’.

As per reports, the project had kicked off on a large scale after songs had been written by Gulzar and composed by AR Rahman. But after the filmmakers ascertained the budget for a partition film, they realised the film was going to be way more expensive than they had initially planned.

However, now Mani Ratnam is much too excited about the project and has decided to go ahead with it before he begins his film with Ranbir Kapoor.

Talking about her role in the film, Kareena said, “I will be too happy. Giggly, girlie, Barbie doll roles don’t bring out the actor in me. I want to be challenged. I can’t play the singing, dancing mannequin any more. I’ve realised that as an actor, playing varied roles is what I enjoy the most. I’m starving for good roles. My characters in Ra.One and Saif’s home production Agent Vinod are powerful roles.”

Mumbai: After having Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan heighten the previous seasons of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ as hosts, rumours were rife that Aamir Khan would become the next celebrity host of India’s popular reality game show. However, the latest reports claim that Aamir was apparently never approached for ‘KBC -4’.

A few days back, there were reports suggesting that Aamir was being offered the highest price to host the forthcoming season of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. And many also said that the superstar had turned down the show because he’s busy with his upcoming flick ‘Peepli Live’.

However, according to the latest buzz, there can’t be a question of Aamir not agreeing to the plum offer, because the actor was never approached for the same. The television circuit has revealed that Aamir hadn’t been approached at all for the TV quiz show, according to sources.

The latest news has clearly refuted the previous reports which claimed that Aamir was offered a lot more than Shah Rukh (Rs 75 lakh per episode) for the next season of ‘KBC’.

Mumbai: Actor-producer Aamir Khan showcased an exclusive cut of his forthcoming home production `Peepli Live` to one of his favourite actors Roger Moore, best known for playing British secret service agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985.

The meeting took place Berlin over the weekend where the two were attending a fund raising event `Burda Live 2010`.

Moore expressed his desire to watch the entire film. Aamir said that he would love to show him the film but was apologetic as he was not carrying a print. Aamir then promised Moore that he would send a print of `Peepli Live` to Moore as soon as possible.

"Aamir did meet Roger Moore and they spoke about `Peepli Live`. Aamir has promised Moore that he will arrange a screening of `Peepli Live` for him at the earliest," a spokesperson of Aamir Khan Production said.

Aamir was the only Indian actor at the event on Saturday. He was accompanied by his wife Kiran Rao.

The event was a fund raiser for South African kids suffering from AIDS. There was a gala dinner where celebrities like Moore, Karl Largerfeld, Nick Nolte, Keira Chaplin and Sean Hepburn Ferrer were also present.