The great Bachchan Dilemma

The sudden deterioration in Amar Singh's health has put a cloud over the Bachchans' presence at an upcoming film awards event.

It's an emergencyThe ailing politician was flown to Singapore late last night for an emergency operation. What started as an intestinal disorder could now claim his kidneys. It is learnt that the Samajwadi leader will undergo a kidney transplant in Singapore.

He was rushed to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri in a serious condition at around 2 pm yesterday.

The entire Bachchan family Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya, accompanied the ailing politician to the hospital.

Health disaster

Amar Singh's condition took a turn for the worse in the last few days. Apparently 70 per cent of his large intenstine has been damaged leading to kidney failure. About 60 per cent of his kidneys have already stopped functioning.

Says a source, "The Ambani hospital was a beehive of activity yesterday. Several Bollywood stars and politicians visited the hospital. Amar Singh's favourite star-campaigner, Sanjay Dutt, flew down last night from Goa, where he was shooting for All The Best."

'Star' attraction
It's common knowledge that every member of the Bachchan parivar dotes on him. And no glamour event in Bollywood is complete without Amar Singh accompany- ing the Bachchans.

Kareena Kapoor skips awards show to attend ICC T20 in England With Saif

After announcing that she was going to learn belly dancing under Shiamak Davar ('Bips didn't korbo, now it's belly Bebo'; HiTLIST, May 21) for her act at an upcoming film awards function, Kareena Kapoor has now backed out!

Tu chal, main aayi

Instead, Bebo will accompany boyfriend Saif Ali Khan to England where he will attend the T20 World Cup matches. T20 has a promotional tie-up with Saif's home production, Love Aaj Kal. The actress is slated to leave for London tomorrow.All in vain

Says a source, "Initially, Kareena was very excited to perform as not only was she being paid a whopper but also this would've been her third consecutive performance at the same awards. Kareena was pulling out all the stops for her act and had rehearsed on her song Marjani from Billu. She'd even decided on her costume. But now all those plans have gone to waste.

The negotiations fell through because the actress wanted to either be the opening act or the grand finale but the organisers refused to concede to her demands. Kareena was unhappy when the organisers refused to budge. The finale might be performed by the Bachchans Amitabh, Aishwarya and Abhishek.

That wasn't all, insists a source, "Shahid Kapoor is performing. Initially Priyanka Chopra was also to perform but now she is not. Anyways Bebo has decided not to perform at the event altogether."

Contract issues

Kareena's business manager says, "It's true that Kareena is no longer performing at the awards event. There were certain contractual issues which didn't work out and we are not at liberty to say what those issues were. They're basic nitty-gritties that didn't work out in time."

Money factor

When asked if it was anything to do with the price she was offered, she said, "No, the event organisers have always been good to us where Bebo's remuneration is concerned. As far as Aishwarya is concerned, we always knew that she was supposed to perform."

Fact
Saif Ali Khan was to take his production Love Aaj Kal to the awards event too and have a press conference for the international media but now even he has backed out