Jiah Khan fights for the safety of birds alongwith PETA

After having the likes of John Abraham, Rakhi Sawant and gang doing their bit towards the prevention of the unethical treatment towards animals, it's the turn of the seductress actress Jiah Khan to do her bit for the same. And what more could be a better occasion that the auspicious festival of Makar Sankranthi. The ad has Jiah Khan dressed as a wounded bird wrapped in kite string and next to the tagline 'Cut the Glass-Coated Manja, Not Birds' Wings". The ad was shot by the ace photographer Farrokh Chothia.

While on one hand, the festival means lots of happiness to one and all, on the other, its really sad news for the birds because when 'manja' falls on trees and electric poles; it cuts through the wings of birds that become entangled in it. While glass coated manja might be effective at cutting an opponent's kite line, it is also deadly for thousands of pigeons, crows, owls and other birds who become entangled in it.

Speaking about the ad, Jiah said "Glass-coated manja is a public health hazard and causes an excruciating death for birds that get entangled in it. We're asking participants in the Makar Sankranthi contests and all kite-flying competitors to immediately stop using glass-coated manja and to conduct their sport in a way that isn't deadly to humans and wildlife."

First Nishabd, then Ghajini and now the supersonic ad for PETA, needless to say that, Jiah girl is surely on a roll and how!

Ghajini is a historic hit

Ghajini is the first Bollywood film to cross the Rs.100 crore mark in one week, leaving Rab Ne… and Singh is Kinng far behind.

Posters across the city read, "Historic Hit in 14 minutes and 52 seconds."

The spokesperson for Ghajini says, "Ghajini has had the biggest box office opening and collections this year. It is the first movie to cross more than 100 crores in a week. The collections, as of 31st December, were Rs. 140 crores and we are still counting."
She further adds, “The poster reads 14 minutes and 52 seconds because Aamir loses his memory every 14 minutes and 52 seconds. The money Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned in 3 weeks, Ghajini took a week to earn."

The cast and crew of Ghajini recently celebrated with a success party on December 30. Ghajini had already made Rs.110 crores by then.

In spite of the unfavourable reviews, Ghajini smashed all previous opening-week records. It earned Rs.90 crores during the Christmas weekend because of all the pre-release hype the film generated. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned 63 crores in its opening weekend. It grossed Rs. 90 crores in its first week. Singh is Kinng earned Rs. 29 crores in its opening weekend and its total earnings are Rs. 128 crores. 2007’s biggest hit Om Shanti Om has earned almost Rs. 156 crores worldwide.

Commenting on the success of the film, Aamir says, "I am very happy that Ghajini has broken so many records. Numbers don't matter to me as people's appreciation is more important. I was really stressed before the release, especially with the case, but everything's going well now."

Regarding who the number one actor is, Shah Rukh or him, he said, "People decide who is number one."

Will Ghajini's playing time of 3 hours be pruned for multiplex purposes

The big Christmas Release Ghajini has a longer story to tell than is considered healthy for the multiplexes. The film's playing time of 3 hours makes it the second-longest film of 2008 after Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa Akbar.

And didn't that click? "Precisely," avers producers Madhu Mantena who also co-produced the superhit Tamil version of Ghajini with Allu Arvind. "It's not the length. It's the performance. You could have a really boring two-hour film. On the other hand, you could've a really gripping film that's three hours long."

Ghajini would have been lengthier by at least 5 minutes. "We were thinking of adding theatrical trailers to the feature. That would've added 5 minutes extra to the playing- time and good 30 minutes lost during the day at the multiplexes," explains Madhu and refutes the charge that the film is ultra-violent. "It's not a tale of violence. It's a tale of retribution. And at the moment after 26/11 everyone wants answers. Films about retribution are always liked."

As for the charge that Ghajini is a remake of Christopher Nolan's Memento, Madhu says, "There are other Hollywood films on same theme of short-term memory loss like Finding Nemo and 50 First Dates. So why single out Memento?"

Ah, foolproof method of avoiding copyright litigation.