Mamta Kharab, the experienced woman forward is livid for having been overlooked by Hockey India for the upcoming Asian Games. She is livid that they have ignored her past achievements and her fitness certificate.

She was astonished that she had not made it to the team even though she was fully fit to play the games at Guangzhou.

“The attitude of Hockey India has surprised me. I was told by the federation that I need some more time to recover despite being fully fit. I had on October 22 submitted the fitness certificate to Hockey India and informed them that I am ready for the Asian Games. But they ruled me out of the event on the pretext that there was no place in the team to make changes. No doctor from Sports Authority of India ever checked or visited me. How can you rule me out of any event without considering my form and fitness,” Mamta said.

She had missed out on the Commonwealth Games as the selection panel had retained that same team that had represented the country for the World Cup.

She said “During the Commonwealth Games, I had informed both HI President Vidya Stokes and General Secretary Narinder Batra about my fitness. I had not participated in selection trial for World Cup because I was not fit at that time. Later on, I was informed that the same squad, which participated in the World Cup, will play in the Commonwealth Games also”.

Mamta added “I was told by the federation that a separate selection trial would be conducted for the Asian Games and I prepared myself both physically and mentally for that. When I enquired about the Asian Games trial after the CWG, they told me there was no place in the team to make any changes”.

Even though there were two changes made in the squad, Mamta had been overlooked and she said “I am deeply hurt by the apathy shown by HI. Despite playing international hockey for almost 10 years, I have been treated like this”.

Mamta was the star player and the one responsible for the gold medal win in the Manchester Commonwealth Games held in 2002.

“People make tall claims of promoting Indian hockey but the reality is quite gloomy,” she said.

However, she had decided not to give up and would try to make a comeback after the Asian games.

Mamta had suffered a knee injury at a training camp in Bhopal and underwent a major surgery in Mumbai in March. She missed the World Cup in Argentina and also the CWG due to that injury.

Talented Gautam Gambhir has expressed his option that Gary Kristen’s contract should be renewed as the coach of the Indian team once it expires at the end of next year after the World Cup.

Gambir has stated “Gary is the best coach India has ever had. I have often said that and I keep on stressing that we need Gary. I don’t need to speak much about him. His fabulous record speaks for itself. He has been a great man-manager. So I believe that he should be retained after the World Cup also”.

Gautam Gambhir is just one of the few Indian cricketers who has requested that Gary Kristen be retained especially after reports surfaced saying that Cricket south Africa was planning to hire him once his contract with the Indian team expires.

Kristen’s idea of sending top batsmen to South Africa seven days in advance in order to get the batsmen adjusted to the bounce and pace of wickets in South Africa was openly supported by Gautam.

“We haven’t played much cricket in South Africa of late. So it will be a great idea if we go there a bit early to get used to the conditions. If such a thing happens, it may just work in our favour,” Gambhir said.

He also stated that there is bound to be ups and downs and that one cannot continue his blazing form for the rest of his life.

“Right now I am coming back from injury. It’s always a difficult thing when you come back from injury. Only when you spend considerable time out there in the middle, you get to know how it’s shaping up for you,” he said.

He also stated that just because New Zealand was whipped by Bangladesh cricket team 0-4 in the one day international series, it does not indicate that the match would be an easy one for the Indians when they would play against the Black Caps on November 4^th 2010.

“You can never take any international opposition lightly. Just because Bangladesh beat them 4-0 doesn’t mean that we can take it easy against the New Zealanders. Their team consists of some proven match-winners who can turn a match head on. So we need to be very careful and can’t take things for granted,” Gambhir said.

David Dhawan has put an end to all the speculation on the status of Salman – Govinda relationship much to the surprise of the entertainment industry. Dhawan has worked with both the super stars in the maximum number of films and he is now in the process of bringing them back together to recreate the magic once again for Partner 2.

The stories about the actor’s real life rift have been taking a toll on David and he has decided to take things in his control and solve the issue. The famous director is also planning to host a party in order to celebrate the long lasting friendship of Salman and Govinda.

David says “And why just the Salman-Govinda friendship? It will be to celebrate the Salman-Govinda-David friendship. I get very disturbed when I hear about their so-called rift. Arrey yaar, both are far above such bickering. Look at Govinda’s track-record. He has been at the top for decades. As for Salman, with ‘Dabangg’ he has proved he is beyond all competition. I hate to see people talking about two of my closest friends in this negative way. So yes a party celebrating Salman and Govinda’s friendship and my friendship with them seems a good idea”.

He also added “I’m committed to direct a film ‘Rascals’ for Sanjay Dutt Productions from next month. Dutt is one of my oldest and closest friends. The first film I directed had Sanju in it. Then I’m committed to directing ‘Partner 2′ for Salman Khan and Govinda. So my career is devoted to friends.”

Meanwhile Karan Johar has taken the initiative to launch David’s younger son Varun in the leading role in his movie. When quizzed about this development David says, “All I can tell you at the moment is that my elder son Rohit is directing his first film ‘Desi Boyz’ and my younger son Varun is going to be an actor. I’d have liked to launch both in their respective careers. But I am committed to making films with my friends.”

David will be working with one of his oldest friends Ajay Devgan and Kangna Ranaut in Rascals which will again be a typical David Dahwan comedy movie.

Argues David, “Why not? Why open the car bonnet to check the motor when the vehicle is running just fine? When others are copying my style why should I move away from it?”

Javed Akthar, the veteran lyricist has translated Vande Mataram to Hindi for the forth coming film ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’, directed by Aushutosh Gowariker.

The 65 year old lyricist told us when asked if he found this task easy or difficult “I think if you are inspired, if you have that high energy created by the original text then it becomes easier for a writer to do something. So I won’t say it was difficult although I was obviously and terribly over-awed by the responsibility. But somehow it happened very quickly and to the satisfaction of the music director (Sohail Sen) and the director”.

This brand movie is all set to hit the screens on Dec 3^rd 2010 and the story of ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ revolves around the true life story of series of attacks executed on April 18^th 1930 on the British empire, in Chittagong. The move starts Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles

On Wednesday, the music of the film was launches and celebrities like Aishwarya Rai, Jaya Bachchan, Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher were part of the launch. However, Jr Bachchan was not present.

As the story developed in a part of Bengal, Javed Akhtar said that he had to keep certain things in mind while penning the lyrics. He said “When you take the background of a film, which is in a way alien to Hindi and Urdu – you have to still write the songs in Hindi or Urdu only, but it should somehow put the impression that perhaps this song has come from that language or that state or that era. “There are many words which cannot be used and there are many words that will help you create that literary illusion. In this film, the characters are Bengali, if I use chaste Urdu with them that will sound false. So it should sound as if it has just been translated from Bengali. That effect should come in the album and that’s what we have taken care of”.

Javed Akhtar has previously worked with Gowariker in popular movies such as Lagaan, What’s your Rashee?, Swades and Jodha Akbar.