• Facing a storm of disapproval for his “saanvli” (dark complexioned) remarks on Indian women, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav stood his ground and turned to classic Hindi film song in defiance on Monday. He brought up Gulzar's ‘Mera gora rang lai le, mohe shyaam rang dei de' for Bandini to insist he had said nothing wrong during a debate in the Rajya Sabha last week. • Sonakshi Sinha has just set a hat-trick record. For three years in a row, the Dabangg girl has won the Worst Actor (female) at the Golden Kela Awards. This year she won the quirky award for Action Jackson. Joining her were other big bill stars, like Arjun Kapoor, who won the Worst Actor (male) for Gunday and Prabhu Deva, who jiggled his way into the Worst Director title with his latest caper Action Jackson. Unsurprisingly,Humshakals was the undisputed winner in the Worst Film category. • Farhan Akhtar, a Bollywood superstar--actor, singer and filmmaker--recently became the first male ambassador for U.N. Women, an agency that focuses on gender equality. He's also an advocate for the U.N.'s HeForShe campaign, designed to encourage men to stand up for gender equality. • It was ‘the' moment for “Bigg Boss 6” winner Gautam Gulati when he signed his first Bollywood film a few days ago. The “Diya Aur Baati hum” actor, who has charmed many with his incredible taste in fashion and unique ways of entertaining the audience, confirmed the news on Twitter. • The International Indian Film Academy will this year travel to Kuala Lumpur for the 16th edition of its annual awards show, and will take place during the first weekend of June.The peripatetic event was last year held in Tampa Bay, Florida, and included appearances from John Travolta and Kevin Spacey. The awards weekend, which ranges from fashion shows and screenings to community outreach events and a televised awards and variety show, aims to connect existing and potential audiences with Bollywood cinema and Bollywood stars. The events are run by Wizcraft Entertainment. • Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer is angry over some Bollywood producers “stealing” his work without making any compensation and wants the government to rein in such elements. According to the 74-year-old author, his novel Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less was made into the rom-com Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and Kane and Abel into Khudgarz without his permission. “I am naturally unhappy that Bollywood producers steal my work and make no attempt to make any compensation. It's very disappointing that the Indian government allows them to get away with it. They should of course contact my agent, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown in London,” Mr Archer, who was in India last week to promote Mightier than the Sword, the fifth book in the The Clifton Chronicles series, told PTI. • Top Bollywood producers, including veteran Ramesh Sippy, Gulzar and Mukesh Bhatt, met Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore here on Monday to demand the removal of Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani. The others present during the meeting were Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Anushka Sharma, Anurag Kashyap, Riteish Deshmukh, Vidya Balan, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Piyush Mishra, Karan Johar, Vishal Bhardwaj and Raj Kumar Hirani. Compiled by Mariam Nihal
