“Sujoy came to me with a script, which I didn’t like. Then he said I will bring to you one idea after another till you like it. I thought he was just saying it. But he actually came with a lot of ideas to me and I liked this one a lot and asked him to develop it and that we will see. But till the time the script was not complete, I didn’t say yes,” the 33-year-old said while promoting “Kahaani” at Radio Mirchi.

Releasing March 9, “Kahaani” tells the story of a pregnant woman who comes to Kolkata in search of her missing husband.

“He patiently waited for me and thank god he did that because it has been a great experience. I have been associated with this film in different capacities besides acting. After ‘Parineeta’, this is the film with which I feel so associated in terms of the process – from scripting to locations,” she said.

Vidya admits she takes her own sweet time before selecting a script.

“I take time in saying yes to a script only because I want to be completely sure that this is the film I want to do,” said Vidya, who has been picking up all the awards for her portrayal of southern siren ‘Silk’ in “The Dirty Picture”. – IANS

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Tourism Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the reach of Incredible India through cinema with the aim of increasing inbound flow of tourists by five million over the next four years.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni and Minister for Tourism Subodh Kant Sahai.

The MoU will provide an impetus to frame policies and guidelines for facilitating shooting of international films in India and promote the country as a destination for filming movies.

“Movies have played a big role in making destinations known… We will work with states for single-window permission so that movie makers find it easy to get permissions for shooting,” Sahai said.

Tourism ministry official said that the MoU is expected to increase foreign tourists footfall in the country from 0.6 percent to one percent by the end of 12th Five Year plan and that India can register 11.37 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2016 compared to 6.29 million in 2011.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived Islamabad on Thursday while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also arrived separately for the two-day summit being hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad.

The three presidents are due to conduct two sessions.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad unveiled new strides in its nuclear programme in a defiant blow to US and EU sanctions designed to rein in its atomic activities.

“I don’t think so,” a senior Pakistani government official told AFP when asked if mounting tensions between Iran and Israel, and the showdown over Iran’s nuclear programme, would dominate the summit.

“The trilateral summit will discuss cooperation on counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime including drug and human trafficking and border management,” the official said.

The talks also come with stepped up efforts to kickstart peace talks with the Taliban designed to end 10 years of war in Afghanistan

On this occasion, IIUI Acting President Dr. Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman organised a meeting that was attended by heads of all departments, deans, and a large number of staff members.

Dr. Sajidur Rehman said the university is fortunate to have a towering literary figure like Professor Malik as its rector for an extended period of time who has a distinguished position in the world of literature. Officers Welfare Association (OWA) President Raja Munir congratulated Prof. Malik upon extension of his tenure as rector of the university.

He hoped that Prof. Malik, keeping up to his stance for welfare and well being of the university staffers, would continue taking the university towards meeting its targets. Academic Staff Association (ASA) President Dr. Muhammad Bashir said teachers of the university are united under the leadership of Prof. Malik.

“Madame Tussauds unveiling on March 7, 2012. See you then,” tweeted Madhuri, who has moved here from Denver to play a new innings in Bollywood.

Known for her natural acting talent and graceful dancing, the 44-year-old is the latest Indian film star to join the A-list line up at the Madame Tussauds wax museum, which also houses statues of Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.

Madhuri’s wax statue has reportedly cost 150,000 pounds and it was completed in four months by a team of sculptors and experts in hair, makeup and wardrobe.

The actress is remembered for her performances in “Tezaab”, “Ram Lakhan”, “Sajan”, “Beta”, “Dil”, “Hum Aapke Hain Koun!”, “Dil Toh Pagal Hai” and “Devdas”.

After playing a successful long innings and reigning filmdom, she bowed out of Bollywood in 2002 when she married US-based doctor Shriram Madhav Nene. Post-marriage, the actress moved to Denver and got busy with her husband and later two sons.

After marriage, her only release was “Aaja Nachle”, but it didn’t do well at the box office, however, the dancing queen struck the right chord with her fans when she appeared on the small screen as the judge of dance reality show “Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa 5″.

She is currently working on her official website and plans to launch it soon. – IANS