Subdued Eid celebrations in Bollywood

Id-ul-Zuha (Bakri Eid) celebrations were a low-key affair in Bollywood with biggies like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan preferring to stay away from festivities.

Many actors including Aamir, Zayed, Farhan Akhtar, Sajid Khan, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar wore black bands to protest against the terror attack on Mumbai.

Salman immersed himself in shooting for 'Veer', a film he has scripted, at Film City and exchanged Eid greetings with the cast and crew of the film.

His family is known to celebrate all festivals with family and friends in a big way but they have refrained from doing so this time.

Shah Rukh and Aamir are preparing for the release of their eagerly-awaited films 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' and 'Ghajini' respectively, but are not promoting them in a very lavish manner.

Aamir wore a black band to protest against the "life of terror which people have been forced to lead", while greeting people on the occasion.

Saif Ali Khan is out of the country shooting for his upcoming film and Katrina Kaif is away from Mumbai shooting for Rajkumar Santoshi's 'Aajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani' with Ranbir Kapoor.

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah wondered why Muslims felt obliged to take up token gestures to distance themselves from the 26/11 terror attack.

"Why are Indian Muslims perpetually required to prove their patriotism?," he asked.

Actor Irrfan Khan said the need of the hour was to prevent misuse of religion in the name of terror. He felt the need for all Muslims to come together to fight terrorism.

Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar said Indians must fight for their own safety.

Shabana Azmi was of the view that the Mumbai attack had brought the nation closer.

Actress Dia Mirza said that sporting black bands would give out signals against polarisation while Sajid Khan said people could not be terrorised in the name of God.

Naseeruddin Shah plays Mumbai blast mastermind in new movie

Subhash K. Jha: Guess who is playing the mastermind of the terror bombings that rocked Mumbai’s suburban trains on July 11, 2006, in director Neeraj Pandey’s take on the incident? The hugely talented Naseeruddin Shah.
Pandey, a newcomer to the industry, has almost completed his film titled “Wednesday”.
The movie features Anupam Kher as a policeman investigating the bombings.
The makers of “Wednesday” plan to release the movie on Independence Day, Aug 15.
For Naseeruddin, the character is a challenge. It is not something he has done before. “I took on this role because I’ve never played anything like this before,” says Naseer, who will soon fly to London to shoot for Jagmohan Mundhra’s “Shoot On Sight”.
In “Shoot On Sight”, Naseeruddin plays a Muslim policeman, whose 30 years of loyal service to the British police force is questioned after the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings in London’s underground railway.
The two back-to-back reality movies give the actor a chance to explore terrorism from both ends. And it also proves the industry’s growing interest in exploring the anatomy of global terror.
Earlier, Anurag Kashyap set his movie “Black Friday” on the 1992 Mumbai serial blasts.