FAMOUS DIRECTOR, RAJ KANWAR PASSES AWAY THIS FRIDAY(03-02-2012)

Eminent filmmaker Raj Kanwar (53) passed away on Friday morning in Singapore. Kanwar who has been suffering from kidney ailment since the past year had gone there for a kidney transplant but breathed his last even before the operation happened. The film industry was in a state of shock over the untimely demise of this prolific filmmaker.

Bollywood stars expressed their sadness via micro-blogging site.

Shahrukh Khan: My friend raj kanwarji passed away.The impermanence of life,makes one feel so helpless. May his soul rest in peace.Aisi Deewangi..miss u sir

Akshay Kumar: Deeply saddened to know, Raj Kanwar, one of our finest directors passed away. He'd directed two of my personal favourite films of my career, Andaaz and Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye. My thoughts and prayers with his family. RIP.

Priyanka Chopra: Saddens me so much,my 1st director Raj Kanwar passed away..RIP Rajji..U believed in me when even I didn't.Andaaz taught me everything I know I'll miss u Rajji..had just met him at my trial for don 2..he always encouraged me..till date

Abhishek Bachchan: Terribly saddened by the passing of Raj Kanwar. Was the 1st person to sign me after Refuggee. He made Aishwarya and my 1st film together. Dhai Akshar Prem Ke. Was a lovely man, always happy, smiling and joking. Have wonderful wonderful memories of him. Now no more. Thank you so much Raj ji for the memories. I will miss you.

Madhur Bhandarkar: Sad to hear about director Raj Kanwar's demise. RIP

Arjun Rampal: Just heard the saddest news of Mr Raj Kanwar's demise, had the opportunity of interacting with him.Pray for his soul and strength to family.

Kunal Kohli: Just heard the sad news about Raj Kanwar. RIP

Lara Dutta Bhupathi: R.I.P. Raj ji. Friend,director and guide.Bid goodbye with a very heavy heart! :-(. We lost a kind, gentle, positive man.

Shreya Ghoshal: Just saw tweets abt Raj Kanwar ji's untimely demise.. R.I.P. Had worked with him only once. He was such a gentle humble man. Saddened.

Tanuj Garg: RIP Raj Kanwar.

Anubhav Sinha: Just heard of the demise of a Bollywood Director. Someone please deny..

SHAHRUKH AND ANUBHAV - LOOKING 200 CRORES MARK FOR "RA.ONE"

'Records are meant to be broken' - This could well be the mantra of Shahrukh Khan and Anubhav Sinha this Diwali. Someone who was busy creating one record after another before he embarked upon RA.ONE, spent close to two years in its making, pumped in over 150 crores and saw other Khans churn out 100, 150 and 200 crore blockbusters in the interim, the stage is pretty much set for Shahrukh to create a new record with his sci-fi superhero action thriller.

"Shahrukh certainly knows about these facts and figures and though he is claiming that when it comes to matters of heart, box office collections and subsequently hits and facts take a back seat, fact is that he is pretty much on the job to make RA.ONE as the biggest grosser ever," says a close associate.

This was evident from the music launch which took place early this week at Mumbai which was a lavish affair and first of its kind. Also, a fortune was spent at this event which saw each of the stars performing live.

"This is nothing, wait for a lot more to come in next 40 days," says a marketing guru, "Let's not forget that he has been in the industry for two decades and also has a very sharp business mind. This mega launch was just a beginning. There would be a much more elaborate and well spread out campaign right till the week's release. Entire planning has been done well in advance and now it's time for execution."

Few steps taken in this direction are dubbing the film in Tamil and Telugu with likelihood of German and Chinese version as well. While it is given that the print count would be biggest ever for a Bollywood release, the 3D version would further add on to the momentum.

Says a trade veteran, "Given the pace that RA.ONE has picked up, it won't be surprising for this Anubhav Sinha film to not just break the first week record currently held by Salman's BODYGUARD but also topple 200 crores plus lifetime collections of Aamir Khan's 3 IDIOTS."