Page 699 - Entertainment Culture

#METoo campaign: Kollywood body to set up panel

Amid #MeToo sexual harassment charges against some film personalities, a body of actors here Sunday said it would focus on ensuring an atmosphere free of stress and fear for all its members at work places. "The association will give intense focus to ensure that the atmosphere at TV and film shoot places remained conducive for the artistes irrespective of their gender to perform with self-respect and without stress or fear," South Indian Artistes' Association President and actor M Nasser said. In a terse release, he also said a committee would be formed to implement its decision. The association move comes days after several women have levelled sexual harassment charges against some film personalities, including veteran lyricist Vairamuthu, as part of the #MeToo movement. Singer Chimayi Sripaada has accused Vairamuthu of sexually harassing here while on a foreign tour some years ago. Vairamuthu has, however, rejected the charges as false and said he was ready to face them

Actor Arjun made unwanted advances, claims Kannada actress Sruthi

Kannada actor Sruthi Hariharan on Sunday alleged that she was subjected to "unwanted advances" by south Indian multi-lingual actor Arjun Sarja.

Ayushmann, Rajkummar deserve all the glory: Tiwari

Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari has praised actors Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khuranna. She said the two "talented" actors deserve all the glory.

'Kosha' breaks the norm for me: Prachi Desai

Actress Prachi Desai says she has essayed the role of a "good girl" for too long and wants to try something different. She adds that her upcoming project titled "Kosha" breaks the norm for her.

#MeToo: Artist Binoy Varghese named anonymously, painter denies

Artist Binoy Varghese was named in an anonymous #MeToo post on Instagram on Saturday night. Varghese has denied knowing the woman.

Veteran Telugu actor Vizag Prasad dies of heart attack

Telugu film actor Vizag Prasad died here Sunday due to heart attack, hospital sources said. He was 75. Prasad suffered a heart attack and was rushed to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead, they said. Prasad, who started his film career in the 1980s has also acted in television serials. He is remembered for his role in 'Nuvvu Nenu' and 'Idi Ma Prema Katha,' 'Neerajanam' among many others.

Deepika, Ranveer to marry in November

Bollywood actors Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone on Sunday announced that they are set to tie the knot on November 14-15.

'The Playboy...' is like 'Sholay' of short films: Siddiqui

Director Tariq Naved Siddiqui, who is gearing up for the release of "The Playboy Mr. Sawhney", says the short film is like "Sholay" of short films which has a big budget and numerous actors.

Tanushree gave me courage to come out with my story: Rahul Raj

Actor Rahul Raj Singh has alleged sexual harassment by writer Mushtaq Sheikh. He says actress Tanushree Dutta, who spoke about her harassment, gave him the courage to address his "demon".

Rami Malek met with car accident because of billboard

Actor Rami Malek's initial experience of fame was short-lived after he crashed his car upon spotting his first "Mr. Robot" billboard.

Matthew Broderick to star in Netflix's 'Daybreak'

Actor Matthew Broderick has been roped in to star in Netflix's dramedy "Daybreak". According to the Hollywood Reporter, the postapocalyptic 10-episode series is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Brian Ralph. The story revolves around 17-year-old high school outcast Josh as he searches for his missing girlfriend Sam in postapocalyptic Glendale, California. Joined by a ragtag group of misfits including a pyromaniac 12-year-old, Angelica, and Josh's former high school bully, Wesley, now turned pacifist samurai Josh tries to stay alive among the horde of Mad Max-style gangs, zombie-like creatures called Ghoulies and everything else this brave new world throws at him. Broderick will play Principal Burr. Aron Eli Coleite has co-created the series and serves as showrunner. He is also serving as the executive producer alongside fellow co-creator Brad Peyton and his ASAP Entertainment partner, Jeff Fierson.

Akanksha Bhandari making new version of 'Tere liye'

Singer Akanksha Bhandari, who sang "Tere liye" with Pakistani singer Atif Aslam for the film "Namaste England", is working on another version of the song.

Claire Foy dislikes 'strong women' term

Claire Foy says she dislikes the term "strong women" as it inadvertently drives women to be seen through a "more acceptable" lens in a male world. "The Crown" star said she was not interested in playing the roles that other people deemed as strong. "I have absolutely no interest in portraying what other people think of as strong. It's a way of making women more acceptable in a male world. "I am just not on board with that. I don't think women are crying out to see strong women. I think we know we are all strong but we're just crying out to see women on screen at all!" Foy told Sydney Morning Herald. The actor's latest release is "First Man", in which she played Janet Shearon, astronaut Neil Armstrong's first wife.

John Abraham starts shooting for 'Batla House'

Bollywood actor John Abraham, who is all set to don the cop's hat in Nikkhil Advani's 'Batla House', has finally started shooting for the upcoming thriller drama.Advani took to his official Instagram account and announced the news of the shoot with a picture of the cast of the film.The post read, "With great power comes great responsibility!" Grateful to #RiteshShah for knocking at my door and thinking I could be entrusted to tell this story. To all those who have chosen to walk this journey with me... Here we go!!!"The flick is inspired by the real Batla House encounter that took place almost a decade ago on September 19, 2008, which is officially known as Operation Batla House. The incident took place against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi.The 'Parmanu' actor will be seen essaying the role of Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, who spearheaded the encounter. As the tagline suggests 'The story of India's Most Decorated/Controversial Cop', the case ...

Ahwaan Kumar joins 'Kaal Bhairav Rahasya 2'

After being part of the first season of "Kaal Bhairav Rahasya", actor Ahwaan Kumar has now joined the cast of the show's second season.

Mumbai to host 2 auctions on modern art, automobiles on Oct 26

Artworks of masters like M F Husain, S H Raza and F N Souza and memorabilia related to India's finest vintage and classic automobiles will go under the hammer at two auctions here later this week. Osian's auctions - Indian Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts; and Automobilia: the Art of the Historical Vehicle - will take place on October 26. Among the 67 lots to be auctioned at the Indian Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts Sale are Ganesh Pyne's "The Night Watch"; Nicholas Roerich's "Maitreya Series"; Husain's "Elephant in Town", "Kashmir" and "Ahmedabad Series"; Raza's "Paysage Corse Series", Jamini Roy's "Cat and Lobster", "Landscape" and "King on a Tiger"; Jehangir Sabavala's "Still Life with Fruit" and Souza's "Townscape". The automobilia auction will see the sale of select paintings of vintage and classic automobiles and carriages; Hollywood and Indian cinema publicity material related to cars; posters, postcards and letters with an automobile connection. The opening preview for

'Harold & Kumar' director Danny Leiner dies at 57

Danny Leiner, best known for directing films like "Dude, Where's My Car" and "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle", has died at the age of 57. Leiner's frequent collaborator Ross Putman confirmed his death in a Facebook post, and described its cause as a long illness. "If there's one thing I can say about Danny the professional, it's that he refused to let us settle for anything less than our best. "He pushed us to do what he knew we were capable of. Danny the person was sardonic, sharp, and savvy, with a love for culture and comedy of all kinds. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but the world has lost a good one," Putman wrote. "Harold & Kumar" stars John Cho and Kal Penn also remembered Leiner. "Danny was so sharp, so funny, and a great dinner companion. To his friends and family, my deepest condolences," wrote Cho. "He was such a funny, thoughtful, encouraging person," Penn tweeted. Leiner made his directorial debut with 1996 film "Layin' Low", starring Jeremy Piven and Edie ...

Nobody knew what to do after Spacey's firing: Robin Wright

Robin Wright says in the initial days after Kevin Spacey's sacking from "House of Cards", things had come to a standstill as nobody knew how to get the show back on track. In the aftermath of the sexual assault allegations against Spacey, the Netflix series was almost on the verge of going off air. "It was a collective decision. All of us on board, all of the producers just said, 'Yes, we need to be sensitive to the climate,' because it was very heightened at the time. Nobody really knew what to do. "And this is our final season, and I think we all mulled it over and said, 'Why are we going to let down the fans, let's finish it off the way we always intended, contractually'," Wright said on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert". The actor, who leads the sixth and final season of the show after Spacey was axed, said she urged the makers to end the political drama on a high note without collateral damage. "First and foremost, we would have put 2,500 people out of employment. And I said, .

#Metoo: NCW urges I&B min to direct print, publishing houses to form internal probe panel

The National Commission for Women has urged the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to direct print, publication and production houses houses to form internal committee to probe complaints of sexual harassment at workplace. An NCW official said that in the past few days, the women rights body has received a number of complaints of sexual harassment at workplace against persons in both traditional print organisations as well as digital media. "We have informed the Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that the NCW has received a number of such complaints," the official said. He said the NCW has requested Secretary to issue directions to ensure that organisations such as printing/publishing, production houses involved in TV/film production put in place an effective mechanism for addressing such complaints including constituting Internal Committees in terms of the PoSH Act, 2013, she said. The NCW said perpetrators of such crimes need to be punished as per law. The NCW

After #Metoo allegations Anu Malik no longer part of 'Indian Idol'

Singer, music composer, Anu Malik will no longer judge the reality show 'Indian Idol' owing to sexual harassment allegations levelled against him, said Sony TV in a statement.Sony Entertainment Television released an official statement saying that -'Anu Mallik is no longer a part of the Indian Idol jury panel. The show will continue according to its planned schedule and we will invite some of the biggest names in Indian music as guests to join Vishal Dadlani and Neha Kakkar to judge the extraordinary talent of Indian Idol season 10.'Following the #MeToo movement, Anu Malik was recently accused of sexual harassment by Shweta Pandit and Sona Mohapatra following which two more survivors opened up on their horrific experiences with the Bollywood singer.The movement gained momentum in India after Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta accused Nata Patekar of allegedly misbehaving with her during a film shoot in 2008.Since then, scores of women have come out to speak about their ordeals on social .