Akshay’s new film similar to Shoaib-Sania affair

Coincidences do happen but this one has to top the list. Just when Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik was accused of bigamy on the eve of his wedding to Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, Sajid Khan’s ‘Housefull’ also busted into the scene. Surprisingly the film bears a marking resemblance to the "Shoaib-Sania affair".

In the comedy, Akshay Kumar’s wedding to Deepika Padukone is interrupted by a woman, played by Jiah Khan who claimed to be his wife.

Commenting on the similarity, Akshay Kumar said: "I never thought of it. Now that you’ve pointed it out I guess there’s a resemblance. Actually I’ve three women claiming to be my wife in the film." But the actual sequence where Akshay’s wedding to Deepika is interrupted is too close to the happenings in the life of the Shoaib and Sania to be a coincidence.

Director Sajid Khan said: "What can I say, except that this is a case of life imitating art? We do have a sequence where Akshay’s wedding is interrupted by a woman claiming to be his wife. Compounding the similarities with the real life situation which are grabbing headlines is the fact that the first wife’s claims are not as simple as they seem. But I repeat the similarities are coincidental. I wrote my script two years ago."

Be as it may, the similarity between Shoaib Malik’s and Akshay Kumar’s respective predicaments seem to be a case of perfect timing.

Bal Thackeray abuses Sania Mirza

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today abused tennis star Sania Mirza for deciding to marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. He claims that Sania is no longer an Indian. Bal Thackeray said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ''Saamana'' that if Sania been truly Indian at heart she would not have chosen a Pakistani.

Sania Mirza, who is the most successful woman tennis player from the sub-continent, has announced her marriage to the 28-year-old former Pakistan skipper on April 15 in Hyderabad.

Thackeray warned Sania to marry an Indian if she wishes to play for India. He further said that more than victories on tennis court, Sania became famous for her tight clothes, fashion and love affairs. "More than her play, people's attention was on her mannerisms," Bal Thackeray claimed.

The Sena supremo alleged that "For Shoaib, India is an enemy, not only in sports arena but also in the battlefield. We have heard that Shoaib has many affairs in India and has promised many girls he will marry them".

Sayali caught in Love

Pakistan’s cricket captain, the dashing Shoaib Malik, is dating former Miss India and Bollywood actress Sayali Bhagat. This reporter bumped into them at a South Mumbai hotel where Shoaib was staying when they ventured into a beauty parlour in the lobby. Sayali, of course, is instantly recognisable; but Shoaib pretended to be somebody else! When he realised that he had been well caught, the Pakistani cricketer gamely signed autographs for hotel staff.

Sayali, who made her debut opposite Emran Hashmi in The Train, had hoped to keep their relationship under wraps. “We need more time because we are just getting to know each other,” she explained. Shoaib, meanwhile, could not have started off on a more sticky wicket: he was recently in the news when a Hyderabadi family claimed that he had married their daughter. Sayali defended her man, “This was a marriage proposal that he said no to. Those allegations have been legally proved baseless. Shoaib was always single!”

They met at a store opening in Delhi last year and since then, kept in touch via email and occasional phone calls. “It’s not easy, especially when he is in Pakistan,” admitted the former beauty queen. But she’s bowled over by Shoaib’s effort to make things work. “It’s so flattering, he makes special trips just for me and showers me with attention. I am in love, I guess,” Sayali said of her cricketer boyfriend who faces the tricky task of answering the Pakistan media’s questions on her.

She’s hoping this will be a Jodhaa-Akbar kind of story and said, “Our religion is not an issue, I am more concerned about the distance between us.” But, Sayali accepts that their romance might face political interference. “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I believe when you want something from the heart — the whole universe conspires to get it for you. I hope that happens for us,” she said. Meanwhile, films continue to happen for her and cricket for him. He’s “cool” about her work but sometimes expresses insecurity over her hot Bollywood’s male co-stars! And she, having heard all the stories about how cricketers score off the field, hates to think of him on long tours. “I keep imagining all kinds of things when I cannot reach him,” Sayali said wistfully.