Page 107 - Entertainment Culture
Oman author Joka Alharthi wins Booker International Prize
An author from Oman has won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for "Celestial Bodies", the story of three sisters and of a desert country confronting its slave-owning past and a complex modern world. Jokha Alharthi, the first Arabic-language writer to take the prize, will split the 50,000 pound (USD64,000) purse with her UK-based translator, Marilyn Booth. Historian Bettany Hughes, who led the judging panel, said Tuesday that the winning novel was "a book to win over the head and the heart in equal measure." "Celestial Bodies" beat five other finalists from Europe and South America, including last year's winner, Poland's Olga Tokarczuk. The prize is a counterpart to the Man Booker Prize for English-language novels and is open to books in any language that have been translated into English.
Web series on Modi returns after elections
'Modi: Journey Of A Common Man', the web series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi is live again, a month after the Election Commission banned its streaming in favour of a level-playing field during the Lok Sabha elections.
George R R Martin hints at different 'Game of Thrones' ending
"Game of Thrones" fans have been dissecting the series finale -- and complaining about it -- for two days now, but they may get another shot at elation, or disappointment. Author George R R Martin has suggested the ending could be very different from the one seen worldwide when he finally publishes the final two books in the saga. HBO showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were forced to come up with their own climax to the blood-spattered tale of noble families vying for the Iron Throne when Martin stalled on his publishing. Though they had some guidance from Martin's advice, fans revolted over the eighth and final season of the Emmy-winning series, with nearly 1.4 million signing a petition asking for a do-over as of Tuesday. Fans have been waiting for the next book, "The Winds of Winter," for years. Martin says he's still writing it. After that, the final book will be called "A Dream of Spring." "I'm writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago... and so it is. THE WINDS OF ...
Instagram quietly overhauls IGTV interface to take on TikTok, Snapchat
The battle of the best between Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat continues to intensify. In its latest effort at keeping user interest alive, Facebook-owned Instagram has quietly redesigned IGTV's interface inside of the main app.The new design is more immersive and allows users to see the breadth of videos in IGTV instead of showing the horizontal scrolling interface that previously existed, TechCrunch reported.The redesigned IGTV now shows one central feed of algorithmically suggested videos based on user behaviour, instead of showing dedicated tabs, similar to how TikTok and Snapchat show content in their feed.
Official trailer of 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood' is out
The official trailer for Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood' is out and it is exactly what a trailer of a film that stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie should be, awesome!Set in the backdrop of 1969 Los Angeles, the trailer features DiCaprio and Pitt as fading TV star Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth, respectively, and follows them as they make their way through a changing film industry, and fight to reclaim their former fame.The 2.34-minute-long video opens with introducing Al Pacino's Marvin Shwarz followed by a scene of Leonardo DiCaprio's character torching Nazis in a movie. From there, we see DiCaprio's Rick Dalton during his fall from grace of Hollywood royalty.According to The Hollywood Reporter, explaining the plot of the film, Tarantino asserted that it is an "a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood."The future looks bleak for Dalton until he meets his next-door neighbour Sharon Tate, ...
Mumbai Mahila Congress seeks FIR against Vivek Oberoi for insulting women's modesty
Mumbai Mahila Congress on Tuesday wrote to police seeking to lodge an FIR against actor Vivek Oberoi for his 'obnoxious statement on women in a meme which has insulted the modesty of women.'The committee has demanded police to lodge an FIR under Section 509 (gestures or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Act against Oberoi."This is to bring to your attention that actor Vivek Oberoi has insulted women modesty by his statement. Being an artist his political interference needs limitations. Now, he has disrespected womanhood for which he should be punished. Mumbai Mahila Congress workers demand an FIR under Section 509 of IPC Act. Therefore, please consider the issue and take serious action and do the needful," Mumbai Mahila Congress president Ajantaa R Yadav said in its letter.On Monday, Vivek had tweeted a collage of three images featuring him, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, her husband Abhishek Bachchan, their daughter Aaradhya and superstar Salman .
Cannes 2019: Sonam means business in white tuxedo with a twist
And this is how it's done! Sonam Kapoor made her first red carpet appearance at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and this time she is slaying it like a boss in a white tuxedo with a unique twist.Trust Sonam to pull off the most stunning and out-of-the-box outfits and she never fails to impress. After raising the temperature in a gold Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla couture, which she wore for the Chopard party on Monday, the actor went for something more formal for the red carpet.Dressed in a Ralph & Russo couture tuxedo with a long train like extension attached to her jacket, Sonam looks like she means business.The Bollywood actor completed the look with a set of stunning Chopard jewellery and white stilettoes. Her hair, tied into a neat bun, beautifully complemented her overall look.So far, white has been the most opted colour by B-Town beauties during this year's Cannes film festival. Right from Deepika Padukone to Aishwarya Rai, everyone has trusted the colour for at least one of ..
Court quashes sexual assault FIR against actor Jeetendra
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR against veteran Bollywood actor Jeetendra, alleging that he sexually assaulted his cousin 48 years ago. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel Monday dismissed the FIR lodged on February 16 last year under section Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC. The offence is punishable with maximum imprisonment of two years. In his 26-page judgment, Justice Goel found credible the actor's contention that the the FIR was "mala fide" as the woman's daughter had been rejected in an audition by Balaji Motion Pictures Limited run by the Jeetendra's family. The judge said the contents of the FIR do not provide ground to proceed against the accused, as they appear to be "vague" and inherently absurd. In the FIR, Jeetendra's cousin alleged that the assault took place in 1971 when the actor took her to a room at a hotel in Shimla. The room had two separate beds. While she was sleeping, he allegedly joined the
First Modi will come to power and then 'PM Narendra Modi' in theatres: Vivek Oberoi
When the whole nation is waiting for the final verdict of 2019 Lok Sabha elections, actor Vivek Oberoi is awaiting the release of his film - 'PM Narendra Modi' -- which is scheduled for release a day after the results will be announced.Expressing his excitement during an interaction with media persons here on Tuesday, Oberoi said: "First on May 23, Modi will come to power and then on 24th he (PM Narendra Modi) will come in theatres."The Election Commission of India (ECI) on April 10 had stayed the release of the biopic, a day ahead of its original scheduled release date on April 11, which coincided with the first phase polling of the Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel had said the film disturbs the level-playing field.With a bright smile on his face, the actor asserted that they had organised a special screening of the film in Delhi and Mumbai and got a very positive response from the audience."The special screenings that took place in Delhi and Mumbai saw an excitement among the ...
Special screening of Modi biopic held in Guj on Tue
A special screening of the biopic 'PM Narendra Modi' was held on Tuesday at PVR Acropolis here with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in attendance. The film, which did the rounds of the courts and poll authorities for a release date, was postponed earlier by the Election Commission in view of the Lok Sabha polls. The Omung Kumar-directed film, in which actor Vivek Oberoi is playing the eponymous role, is now scheduled for a May 24 release. Speaking at the screening, Oberoi exuded confidence that Modi and the NDA would win a second term and asked people to see his film to "celebrate" the poll victory. "I am fortunate to land the role. Our friendship started from Gujarat...People said you are making him (Modi) a hero, I said he is already a hero," Oberoi told reporters.
Prasar Bharati joins hands with Google for dedicated livestream of poll results on YouTube
Prasar Bharati and Google have joined hands for the election results day on May 23, providing for a dedicated live stream of the verdict of the Lok Sabha and state polls on YouTube. Google and Prasar Bharati will celebrate the biggest festival of democracy on May 23 by creating a dedicated live stream of the results on YouTube, Prasar Bharati officials said. "What is going to happen is whenever anybody accesses YouTube from anywhere in India either through the website of Youtube or through the YouTube App, the first thing that they will see on top will be a news stream from DD News updating the results," Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati said. "It will be a sort of a landing screen. Once you click on that it will be a live YouTube channel of DD news. Apart from that, the window will also have the option of live stream of 14 other DD regional stations of different languages," he said. This will give a lot of visibility to the public broadcaster in terms of the vote count which is .
Sneak peek of the partition sequences from 'Bharat'
Giving a glimpse of what went into the creation of Salman Khan starrer 'Bharat', the makers of the film shared behind the scene video that shows intricate details the team looked into while creating the partition scene and refugee camps in the movie.Keeping the audience on their toes, director of 'Bharat' Ali Abbas Zafar, has yet again shared a video and wrote, "Experience the magnificence of the 1940s with Bharat!"The short clip starts Pt Jawaharlal Nehru iconic speech 'Tryst with Destiny': "At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom"; featuring the period of the partition of India in 1947.Revealing the details that were considered while creating the period, Zafar said, " Whenever you try to attempt something which is that magnanimous and historical. You need to be careful to do it with a sensible eye. So we got a lot of picture references of that time and frame in our research work."The production designer, Rajnish Hedao added: ...
'Game of Thrones' finale sets viewership record
"Game of Thrones" ended its run with yet another record. The final episode of the fantasy series brought in a series record of 19.3 million viewers for HBO in the US.
Vivek Oberoi apologises for tweet on Aishwarya, dropped from charity fund-raising event
Actor Vivek Oberoi on Tuesday apologised for sharing a meme on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's personal life after severe criticism on social media and elsewhere, but that cut little ice with a charity organisation that dropped him from a fund-raising event. Oberoi, who received a notice from the National Commission for Women asking for an explanation for sharing the "insulting" and "misogynistic" tweet, also deleted the controversial post. The actor on Monday shared a meme with three panels, one featuring him, another with Salman Khan and a third with Aishwarya's husband Abhishek and daughter Aaradhya. The meme was a take on the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the results of which will be declared on Thursday. "Sometimes what appears to be funny and harmless at first glance to one, may not be so to others. I have spent the last 10 years empowering more than 2000 underprivileged girls. I can't even think of being disrespectful to any woman ever," he tweeted. "Even if one woman is offended by my ...
Big B inspired Adil Hussain to get into acting
Assamese actor Adil Hussain, who is honoured to have Amitabh Bachchan as his Twitter follower, says it was the megastar who inspired him to get into the world of acting.
Will not be a part of cringe-worthy project: Tanuj Virwani
Actor Tanuj Virwani gives precedence to stories, but says he will not be part of a project which makes one cringe.
Proud of your achievements: Priyanka tells Hina
Actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas has said she is proud of the achievements of TV actress Hina Khan, whose appearance at the Cannes Film Festival has been widely spoken about in the Indian media.
Naveen Kasturia got new challenge with 'Thinkistan'
Actor Naveen Kasturia learnt a new dialect for the series "Thinkistan", and it was not an easy task.
Sunny Pawar wins 'Best Child Actor' at DFW South Asian Film Festival
After a big win at the New York Indian Film Festival, 'Lion' fame Sunny Pawar won the 'Best Child Actor' award for 'Chippa' at the 5th DFW South Asian Film Festival in Dallas on Sunday.DFW SAFF took place from May 16 to 19, showcasing scores of feature, short films and documentaries. The festival also focuses on a wide range of films promoting the perspectives and voices of the South Asian community.The 11-year-old, who hails from a slum in Kunchi Kurve Nagar in Mumbai, shot to fame with Australian director Garth Davis' acclaimed 2016 film 'Lion' for which he won an AACTA award.Sunny was chosen the final winner under the 'Best Child Actor' category amongst two other nominees who acted in different films which were also showcased at the festival.'Chippa' got screenings at a number of festivals including MAMI 2018, DFW, SAFF, NIFF along with Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, Mipcom and others.Written and directed by Safdar Rahman, 'Chippa' is a coming of age film about a 10-year-old .
Amazon Studios returns rights to Woody Allen's movie
Amazon Studios has returned the domestic rights to film "A Rainy Day in New York" back to its director and producer Woody Allen.