Hum Tum Shabana

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is set to appear on the big screen once again, thanks to a cameo in Sagar Ballary's 'Hum Tum Shabana'.

Bhandarkar, who made a special appearance in his 2008 directorial 'Fashion', will be seen walking the ramp as part of the grand finale of a beauty pageant in the film, which features Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade and Minissha Lamba.

'It (the scene) is a grand finale of Glamarama Beauty Pageant organised by Tusshar and Shreyas, who play rival event managers in the film. Madhur plays a celebrated film director who is the special chief guest of the evening. He walks the ramp as well along with Minissha and Pia Trivedi in the film,' producer Sunil Chainani of Horseshoe Pictures said in a statement.

'Hum Tum Shabana' is co-produced by Horseshoe Pictures and Alliance Entertainment Ltd. It will release Sep 23.

Action Against Om Puri

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said Monday that she was considering a privilege motion against actor Om Puri for his 'derogatory and defamatory' remarks against MPs during a rally in Ramlila Maidan last week.

'The matter is under my consideration. I have received notices on the question of privilege,' the speaker said in the Lok Sabha as the actor apologised for his comments in which called politicians 'uneducated' and 'incompetent'.
Congress MPs Praveen Singh Aron, Jagdambika Pal, Vinay Pandey, Harsh Vardhan, P.L. Punia and Kamal Kishor, as also Mirza Mehboob Beg (National Conference) and Ramashankar Rajbhar (Bahujan Samaj Party) have given notices against Puri for using 'derogatory and defamatory words against members of parliament and also casting reflections on the house'.
The Samajwadi Party's Premdas Katheria and Shailendra Kumar have also given notices against the Bollywood actor, known for his roles in films as varied as 'Ardh Satya', 'West is West' and 'Chachi 420'.
Puri apologised and said he wasn't drunk as some people had said, just emotionally charged.
'I respect the parliament and the costitutional body. I am very proud to be an Indian. It was wrong on my part to use such terms. I wasn't drunk, I was just emotionally charged, such things do come from mouth.....even our politicians at times, in a fit of anger, use such things,' Om told CNN-IBN.
'I would love to be there (in the parliament) to explain my emotions... the forum which leaders like Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru have been a part of. If they (parliament) are still angry with me I will take whatever punishment they give me,' the actor added.
The 60-year-old actor created a stir Friday with his speech attacking politicians. He told the thousands gathered that he feels 'ashamed when an IAS or IPS officer salutes a ganwar (illiterate) who is a neta (political leader)'.
'Yeh anpadh hain, inka kya background hai? Aadhe se zyaada MP ganwaar hain...,' the well known actor said.

Pandit says Citigroup now 'a different company

Aug 10 (IANS) Citigroup's Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit has reassured employees that notwithstanding the decline in its stock price, the bank was healthier than it was before the 2008 meltdown and its fundamentals were in good shape.

'Although the decline is difficult to watch and naturally reminds all of us of what happened several years ago, there is little similarity between now and then in both drivers and implications,' Pandit told senior managers in a voice mail.
Similar comments came from the Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan as shares of the two giants and other US financial firms bounced back Tuesday from their biggest single-day drop in two years.
Citigroup plunged 16 percent Monday to trade at half its book value, but gained back nearly 14 percent Tuesday. BofA shares too jumped 17 percent after Monday's 20 percent drop.
'Not only is it a fundamentally different time, but we are a fundamentally different company,' Pandit said in his message, adding that the bank has been profitable for six quarters, is making investments in every region, has derisked its balance sheet and shed $519 billion in non-core assets.
'These actions have contributed to the unquestionable financial strength Citi has built over the past several years,' he said, noting the bank's strong capital ratios and liquidity base.
Pandit said what has changed this time around is that investors are looking for 'return of capital' and not 'increased capital levels.'
'The companies which have fared better relatively are the ones who have announced plans to return capital to shareholders and our goal is still to return capital next year,' said Pandit.
Pandit told staff that the recent sell off was a call to action. 'Call on your clients. Let them know about the unparalleled resources we have to help them navigate through these challenging times. This is the time to remind them that we have been with them for 200 years and will be there for them day in and day out.'
'The most important point to remember is that our company remains financially strong,' Moynihan wrote in his memo to employees. 'We do not know how long this period of uncertainty will continue,' he wrote, 'but we have weathered challenging times before and we will now.'