Mallika Chopra: August 2009 Archives

Here's my favorite celebrity encounter story. As residents of LA, on average we see one or two recognizable celebrities a week, most often in the Wholefoods down the street or the Starbucks a few blocks from our house. There are certain A-listers who if you time it right, you can catch them dropping their kids off at the school down the street or picking up their dry-cleaining at the same place we go.

As I also work in the "industry," I also collaborate or have worked/met with some of the biggest of the big. I mean the guys who draw $20 million a film. My wife and I get invited to big movie premieres and the occasional after-party where we talk shop with the aforementioned movie star. But here's the truth, my wife and I don't really get starstruck. Not sure if it's we're just used to it, or know some of these people too well to idolize them, or are immune to it because of the way so many people go gaga over my dad. Whatever.

Still there was one time i'll never forget when my wife abasolutely swooned in the presence of a movie star. I mean knees buckling, voice stammering, eyes-batting, could not hold her @#$% together starstruck. Not Brad Pitt, not George Clooney, not Tom Cruise, Denzel, Bruce Wayne, Gladiator, or any of the other usual suspects. No we're talking the BIGGEST movie star in the world ladies and gents, Bollywood sensation SHAH RUKH KHAN.

Yeah, the same guy Newark New Jersey Customs officials detained yesterday for several hours on account of Shah Rukh having the same last name as some dude on a terror watchlist somewhere.

Quickly, first the story.

Continue Reading SHAH RUKH SHAME on Intent.com

Gotham Chopra blogs regularly at Intent.com

Watching Laura Ling and Euna Lee step off the plane this morning seemed like a scene from a movie.  It had all the drama – two young girls, after 140 days in captivity in the rogue nation of North Korea, rescued by President Clinton, running into the warm embraces and tears of their families.  Two women looking at their husbands with soulful gratitude and endearing love, holding their tearful parents, a little girl hugging her mom to welcome her home.

In mid March, when my brother called me to say that it seemed that Laura, one of his dearest friends, had been captured in N. Korea while shooting a documentary, he sounded despondent.  There were very few details, but Lisa Ling, Laura’s sister and also a close friend of Gotham’s, had a dreaded sense of panic.  Days, weeks, then months passed with little news and no contact.  Then a meeting with the Swedish Ambassador, a letter, a phone call - an agonizing and painful process that tortured the girl’s families.

Despite my blogs about them, I have to admit that I am personally not close to Laura Ling or Euna Lee.  However, my brother’s deep-rooted friendship with Laura has seen each other through work, weddings, and life changes.  Through the years, whenever I have met either Laura or Lisa, and as I have watched their stories and heard about their passion and compassion from my brother, I have developed a sense of respect for the Ling sisters, two girls who have the heart, the brains and the courage to tell hard stories.

What jolted me to Laura’s plight in N. Korea though was watching the agony of a family try to survive without any knowledge or contact with their loved ones, and feeling helpless as world politics beyond their control – nuclear testing and a succession plan in N. Koreans – doomed them. 

CONTINUE READING ON INTENT.COM

Related Articles about Laura Ling and Euna Lee

• Thank You - Laura Ling and Euna Lee Pardoned
• Families Torn Apart - Euna Lee's Message to Her Husband
  
• These (agonizing) Days
  
• Courage Is Contagious. What we can gain from Natalia, Rebiya, Laura and Euna.
  
• Euna Lee – Still A Mom In Captivity
  
• What Have You Done in the Last 114 Days?
  
• Michael Jackson and Kim Jong Il
  
• Dear North Korea: Free Laura and Euna (Now)
  
• Laura Ling & Euna Lee - A Foreign Policy Crisis
  
• Intend the Return of Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• Obama and North Korea – Not Too Much to Ask
  
• Sign the Petition to Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• What You Can Do For Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• What the Captured American Journalists in North Korea Could Mean for Diplomacy
  
• You can help Roxanne Saberi, Euna Lee, and Laura Ling

For the last few months, along with a few committed friends and supporters, I have attempted through blogs and articles to keep attention on the situation regarding my close friend Laura Ling and her colleague Euna Lee who were imprisoned in North Korea for the last 4.5 months. Today because of the efforts of many people including the thousands of activists, supporters, and well-wishers on channels like this one, Laura and Euna were pardoned and are currently on their way home to their families with former President Bill Clinton.

On behalf of the many committed advocates for Laura and Euna's safe return home, both those who published blogs and articles on channels like this one and those that supported us and spread the word, I'd like to thank everyone who signed the petition seeking their amnesty, tweeted, commented, or even said a prayer on Laura and Euna's behalf. We - their friends - are very grateful for all of your efforts and ask for your continued thoughts and prayers as the girls return home, reunite with their families, and heal from this unfathomable experience.

- Gotham Chopra

Related Articles about Laura Ling and Euna Lee

• Families Torn Apart - Euna Lee's Message to Her Husband
  
• These (agonizing) Days
  
• Courage Is Contagious. What we can gain from Natalia, Rebiya, Laura and Euna.
  
• Euna Lee – Still A Mom In Captivity
  
• What Have You Done in the Last 114 Days?
  
• Michael Jackson and Kim Jong Il
  
• Dear North Korea: Free Laura and Euna (Now)
  
• Laura Ling & Euna Lee - A Foreign Policy Crisis
  
• Intend the Return of Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• Obama and North Korea – Not Too Much to Ask
  
• Sign the Petition to Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• What You Can Do For Laura Ling and Euna Lee
  
• What the Captured American Journalists in North Korea Could Mean for Diplomacy
  
• You can help Roxanne Saberi, Euna Lee, and Laura Ling

Gotham Chopra regularly blogs at www.intent.com