Page 731 - Entertainment Culture
I didn't take name of Modi or BJP, clarifies Gadkari
A day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of making tall promises to come to power -- as shown in a purported video -- Union Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadakari on Wednesday described it as a baseless report. He said he did not take BJP's, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name or "about Rs 15 lakh promise".
#MeToo stories are heartbreaking: Shweta Bachchan Nanda
Shweta Bachchan Nanda has joined the long list of celebrities who have voiced their support for the women survivors of the #MeToo movement.Terming their stories as 'heartbreaking', the 44-year-old told ANI, "I am a woman and of course, I would support women who are coming out and speaking. I would want them to have a safe environment to work, a safe environment to live in. These stories are heartbreaking."When asked about her opinion about the silence of prominent Bollywood actors on the issue, she replied, "It's about women supporting women in movements like these. I don't think you need a big voice. I think these voices are enough."She added that the women, who have gone through such atrocities, should be the headlines and nothing else.The #MeToo movement gained momentum in India after Tanushree Dutta accused veteran actor Nana Patekar of harassment.Last month, megastar Amitabh Bachchan refused to comment on actor Tanushree Dutta's recent allegations against Nana Patekar, saying ...
Varun meets army men at Kargil War Memorial
Varun Dhawan recently spent time with the Indian jawans at the Kargil War Memorial.The actor took to social media to share a picture with the soldiers and said it was an honour to meet and speak with them. "At the KARGIL WAR MEMORIAL. #kalank travel. Was an honour to chat with our brave army men," wrote the 'Sui Dhaaga' star.Varun is in Ladakh for his upcoming drama 'Kalank'. A few days ago, his co-star, Alia Bhatt, had also taken to social media to inform her fans and followers that she is off to Kargil for the next schedule of the film.Directed by Abhishek Varman, 'Kalank' stars an ensemble cast of Sanjay Dutt, Varun, Alia, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditya Roy Kapur, and Madhuri Dixit-Nene.The flick, which went on floors almost two months ago, will hit the theatres on April 19, 2019.
Prateik Babbar booked for dangerous driving in Goa
Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, 31, was booked under the Motor Vehicles Act on Wednesday for dangerous driving after his vehicle knocked down a motorcyclist and entered a one-way street at Porvorim, a state capital suburb, police said.
Tanushree Dutta records statement with Mumbai police
Actor Tanushree Dutta Wednesday visited suburban Oshiwara police to record her statement in connection with a complaint of sexual harassment filed by her against actor Nana Patekar, a police official said. Dutta has accused Patekar of touching her inappropriately on the sets of a Bollywood film in 2008. "Dutta reached the police station at around 7:30 PM to record her statement in the matter. The process is on," the official said without elaborating. In her complaint filed on Saturday, Dutta claimed that during the shooting of a song sequence for the film, she was inappropriately touched by Patekar even after she had clearly mentioned that she will not perform lewd, vulgar or uncomfortable steps. Dutta had also claimed that she had complained to the song's choreographer Ganesh Acharya, but she was forced to do scenes which were intimate and included Patekar touching her inappropriately. After she decided to walk out of the film, her car was vandalised by goons who, she alleged, were ..
Arundhati Roy, Jeet Thayil, Tabish Khair in DSC Prize longlist
Works of popular authors like Arundhati Roy, Jeet Thayil, Tabish Khair, Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie are among 16 novels longlisted for the USD 25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2018. The longlist, announced here Wednesday, features books by six women authors and three women translators, and two debut novels. It has four translated works where the original writings were in Assamese, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. Among the books in the longlist are: "All The Lives We Never Lived" (Anuradha Roy); "The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness" (Arundhati Roy); "The Saga Of Satisar" (Chandrakanta, translated by Ranjana Kaul); "Temporary People" (Deepak Unnikrishnan); "No Presents Please" (Jayant Kaikini, translated by Tejaswini Niranjana) and "The Book Of Chocolate Saints" (Jeet Thayil). "Home Fire" by Kamila Shamsie; "Miss Laila Armed And Dangerous" (Manu Joseph); "Exit West" (Mohsin Hamid); "A State Of Freedom" (Neel Mukherjee); "Poonachi" (Perumal Murugan, translated by N Kalyan Raman); ..
16 novels related to South Asian region longlisted for DSC Prize
Sixteen novels were longlisted on Wednesday for the the $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.
Ignoring indecent behaviour encourages predator: Parineeti Chopra
Parineeti Chopra Wednesday said if people continue to ignore sexual harassment in the Hindi film industry, it would only encourage predators. In the onslaught of #MeToo, names such as Nana Patekar, Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl and Kailash Kher have cropped up with women accusing them of sexual harassment, rape and misconduct. Parineeti said if serial offenders kept getting work in the industry, it would send a wrong message. "The moment you know something, take an action. If you are quiet, you are allowing this to happen. When I know you are not the greatest man, why should I continue making films with you, acting with you? Because then you're enabling that person and he thinks 'great, I've gotten away with this. Amazing! I can do it five more times," the actor told PTI. "I am sure they (industry people) will not be working with those who have been named. "Unfortunately what has happened is, anybody who is aware that somebody was sexually offending, they continued to work with that guy. ...
Lauren Groff, Jhumpa Lahiri among book award finalists
A story collection by Lauren Groff, an Italian novel translated by Jhumpa Lahiri and poetry by Terrance Hayes were among the finalists announced Wednesday for the National Book Awards. Judges selected by the National Book Foundation chose five nominees in each of five categories fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature and translation narrowed from longlists of 10 authors that came out last month. Winners will be revealed November 14 during a dinner ceremony in Manhattan, when honorary awards will be given to Isabel Allende and to Doron Weber of the Sloan Foundation. Groff, a fiction finalist in 2015 for the novel "Fates and Furies," was nominated Wednesday for "Florida." Others in fiction include Jamal Brinkley for his debut book of stories "A Lucky Man," Brandon Hobson for "Where the Dead Sit Talking," Rebecca Makkai for "The Great Believers" and Sigrid Nunez for "The Friend." In a year when few literary works had commercial success, two of the most talked about ...
B-Town showers love on 'evergreen and gorgeous' Rekha
Bollywood on Wednesday showered wishes on veteran actor Rekha as the timeless beauty of the Indian cinema stepped into her 64th year of life.To mark her special day, celebs, including Madhuri Dixit Nene and Preity Zinta, among others took to social media to extend their wishes.Along with an adorable picture with "dearest Rekha ji", the 'Aaja Nachle' star wrote, "Happy Birthday dearest #Rekha ji! Your talent & ever-growing beauty continues to be an inspiration to me. May you have a wonderful year ahead."Preity, on the other hand, tweeted, "#HappyBirthday to the evergreen & gorgeous #Rekha. Loads of love, light and happiness to you always!""Happy happiest birthday to the embodiment of timelessness... love you soooo much #rekhaji... hope you have the happiest year filled with your special glow #ForeverFan ps- thank you for your duas and blessings and for always looking out for me"Rekha made her acting debut in 1966 as a child actor in the Telugu film 'Rangula Ratnam'. Her film ...
Kaneez Surka accuses Aditi Mittal of sexual harassment
Comic Kaneez Surka Wednesday accused Aditi Mittal of sexual harassment, claiming the fellow comic "forcibly kissed" her on the mouth two years ago at a comedy show. The popular improv artiste, alleged Mittal violated her boundaries of personal choice and "humiliated" her in front of an audience of 100 and many comedians. In the account shared on Twitter, Surka said, "Two years ago, at a comedy show, I was hosting at Andheri Base, in the presence of an audience of 100 and many comedians, Aditi Mittal walked up on the stage and forcibly kissed me on my mouth out of the blue and put her tongue in my mouth, while I was still on the stage and without my consent. "It left me humiliated, shocked and completely stripped of choice. Every person is entitled to choice and boundaries and she violated mine." The comic, who recently appeared as one of the judges on Amazon Prime Video's "Comicstaan", said when she mustered the courage to reach out to Mittal a year ago, she first apologised but soon .
Akbar, Alok Nath get sucked in deeper in #MeToo vortex, fresh allegations against others too
More women recounted in detail their alleged accounts of sexual harassment and assault at the hands of Union minister M J Akbar and actor Alok Nath as newer names got sucked into the #MeToo vortex on Wednesday. The Congress, too, stepped into the swirling storm, asking journalist-politician Akbar to either resign as minister of state for external affairs or offer a satisfactory explanation to the allegations by women journalists who had worked with him in the past. The government maintained silence with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad refusing to comment when asked to do so in a press conference. "How can he be in the ministry with serious allegations being levelled against him by responsible journalists who worked with him. Let there be an inquiry into it," Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said as three more journalists came forward with their allegations against Akbar. One of them, Ghazala Wahab, detailed the harassment and molestation she faced during her first job in the ...
Will boycott Nana, Vikas Bahl if they fail to respond to notice: FWICE
Federation of Western Cine India Employees (FWCIE) on Wedesday assured that film personalities Alok Nath, Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl will face a boycott from its members if they do not respond to their respective show cause notices in the given period. All three of them have been asked to respond to the notices within 10 days of their respective release. "Anyone, who is found guilty of harassment of any kind, will be boycotted by the federation. No one from the federation will work with that person, howsoever he or she is powerful," Ashoke Pandit, FWICE chief advisor, told reporters here. "If Nana Patekar, Vikas Bahl and Alok Nath fail to respond to our show cause notices within 10 days, the federation will boycott them," he added. Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) on Tuesday sent a show cause notice to Bahl after allegations of sexual harassment resurfaced against the director. Last year, a woman employee at the now dissolved Phantom Films, which had Bahl ..
Two centuries of photo history go on show at London museum
Charting two centuries of photographic history from the early pioneers to digital smartphone snappers, London's Victoria & Albert Museum opens its new Photography Centre this week. The exhibition "tells the story of photography as a way of collecting the world, from the medium's invention to today," V&A director Tristram Hunt told reporters on Wednesday. "In an era when everyone's iPhone makes them a photographer, the V&A's Photography Centre explores and explains the medium in a compelling way," he said, showing off the four new galleries. Museum-goers enter the galleries through an installation of more than 150 cameras spanning 160 years. Visitors can handle cameras from throughout the ages -- and witness the improvement in technology -- from an 1820s camera obscura, through a 1920s Kodak No.2 Brownie to a 1930s Leica II rangefinder and a 1970s Polaroid 1000 instant camera. Through stereoscopic viewers, visitors can see three-dimensional pictures from the 1851 Great ...
#MeToo: More accusations, denials, legal actions in showbiz (Roundup)
The dark underbelly of showbiz continued to shine bright on Wednesday as well-known women like actors Sandhya Mridul and Amyra Dastur and singer Sona Mohapatra came out about their unsavoury harassment experiences, even as the IFTDA sent a notice to actor Alok Nath who has been accused of rape by writer-producer Vinta Nanda.
23-year-old burglar, inspired by John Abraham's character in Dhoom, arrested
A 23-year-old suspected burglar, who was inspired by the character portrayed by actor John Abraham in the film 'Dhoom', was arrested from near Uttam Nagar area, police said Wednesday. The accused was identified as Jitender, they said. Acting on a tip-off, a trap was laid at around 6.40 pm on Monday and a biker was intercepted, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse. During interrogation, Jitender revealed that he had carried out several burglaries in Uttam Nagar, Bindapur and Dabri area. Jitender is a notorious criminal and has been arrested earlier in several other cases, the DCP said, adding that the accused kept a loaded fire-arm with him during burglaries. An avid movie lover, he was inspired by the character Kabir portrayed by Abraham in the film 'Dhoom', Alphonse added. A motorcycle, one country-made pistol and a live round of 8 mm were seized from his possession, he said.
Aamir urges fans in China to watch Rani's 'Hichki'
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who enjoys huge popularity in China, has urged his "friends" in the country to watch his friend Rani Mukerji's "Hichki", which is releasing there on Friday.
Sukhwinder Singh joins Bollywood Music Project line-up
Popular singer Sukhwinder has joined the line-up for the Hungama Bollywood Music Project 4.0.
Roles I can sleepwalk in don't attract me: Gulshan Devaiah
Actor Gulshan Devaiah, who is set to experiment with a Bihari avatar in the web series "Smoke", says he prefers challenging roles over those he can do easily.
Emily Blunt sends out powerful message for girls
For the International Day of the Girl Child, which is on Thursday, Disney has launched a global video series offering advice and inspiration on achieving success for the next generation of leaders around the globe.