Page 956 - Entertainment Culture

Xavier Dolan's 'The Death and Life of John F. Donovan' to premiere at TIFF

Actor-director Xavier Dolan's next feature "The Death and Life of John F Donovan" will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, starring "Game of Thrones" actor Kit Harington in the lead, will be screened as part of the Special Presentations programme. "In only a few short years, Xavier Dolan has drawn film lovers all over the world into his personal vision, TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey said in a statement. "That vision and his remarkable skill as a filmmaker are on full display in his English-language debut. We are honoured to premiere it in Toronto," he added, The film's cast also include actors Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Ben Schnetzer, Susan Sarandon, Jared Keeso, Kathy Bates, Thandie Newton and Sarah Gadon. The story follows a young actor (Tremblay) as he reminisces on the letters he once shared with an American TV star (Harington), who passed away a decade earlier, and the impact those letters had on both their lives. The 43rd .

Alex Parrish cracked door open for women of colour, says Priyanka as she bids adieu to 'Quantico'

As Priaynka Chopra's debut American TV series "Quantico" had its finale last night, the actor said bringing Alex Parrish to life challenged her "physically and emotionally". The 36-year-old Indian star, who made her foray in to the West with the ABC series, said getting a leading role in her debut show has made her hopeful about the future prospects for "female talent and women of colour". "As the season ends, I am saying goodbye to Alex Parrish. As you'll see, her story will come full circle... and that is the best feeling as an actor. Bringing Alex to life has challenged me physically and emotionally, but even more significant it has (I hope) cracked the door open for female talent and women of colour to play leading ladies. "Thank you for opening your homes and hearts to me every week. Thank you to the cast and crew of 'Quantico' for being such an amazing team to work with, for all the memories that I will cherish. Memories of laughter, of learning new things, of making friends for

Facebook begins testing new dating feature

Facebook's anticipated dating feature is now in beta mode which means you should be able to soon have a parallel world within the social network.Facebook Dating is meant to be a separate profile and a users' Facebook friends won't see the dating profile, Cnet reported.The new dating tool will be optional and it won't make the dating profile public unless you opt-in to do so.

I've known Bollywood for a long time: Andy Samberg (IANS Interview)

American actor Andy Samberg says he is appreciative about the "big and incredible" world of Bollywood, and is willing to explore it.

'Fight the good fight' Indian journos told

An international two-day media forum here has deliberated several significant issues facing the media industry at present.

NYT defends tech writer accused of being racist for old tweets

The New York Times has defended its new hire, Sarah Jeong, who was dragged into a racism controversy for tweets she wrote from 2013 to early 2015.

Hope I've opened doors for women of colour to play leading ladies: Priyanka Chopra

As Priyanka Chopra bid goodbye to her role as Alex Parrish in "Quantico", which gave an unprecedented push to her career in Hollywood, hopes she has been able to kick open the door for women and especially those of colour to get to play lead characters in American showbiz.

Process of finding acting jobs can be frustrating: Actor Amol Parashar

Hailing from Delhi, Amol Parashar has settled comfortably in India's entertainment capital Mumbai. But the actor-model, set to launch his new series "Ready to Mingle", says finding jobs in the acting industry can be a frustrating process for new talent.

Aditi makes cut for first time at Women's British Open

India's Aditi Ashok continued to battle with links golf but at least managed to overcome one hurdle by making the cut at the Ricoh Women's British Open for the first time in three attempts, here. Aditi, who had missed the cut in previous two British Open appearances and the Scottish Open last year, made the cut at Scottish Open, but finished way down at tied 59th spot. This week with two successive rounds of even-par 72, she assured weekend action. At even-par for 36 holes, Aditi is now tied 41st. This week at Lytham, Aditi, a three-time winner on Ladies European Tour, has not found too many fairways, but still battled to 72-72. She had four birdies and four bogeys on the first day and two each on the second. Meanwhile, Thai Pornanong Phatlum took sole lead with a second successive five-under 67 to get to 10-under. She is one ahead of, Minjee Lee, Mamiko Higa and Georgia Hall. Phatlum has not dropped a bogey in 36 holes as she took a one-stroke lead in search of her first win on Tour.

Housewives are biggest CEOs in India: Aishwarya

Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan says the housewives are the biggest CEOs in the country.

Priyanka's 'Quantico' journey comes to an end

Priyanka Chopra has finally ended her journey as Alex Parish- the character from American TV series 'Quantico' that brought her fame globally.The 35-year-old actress took to her Twitter handle to share her thoughts about the journey for three-long-seasons and said that story of Alex Parish "will come full circle"."As the season ends, I am saying goodbye to Alex Parrish. As you'll see, her story will come full circle...and that is the best feeling as an actor. Bringing Alex to life has challenged me physically and emotionally, but even more significant it has (I hope) cracked the door open for female talent and women of color to play leading ladies," she wrote."Thank you for opening your homes and hearts to me every week! Thank you to the cast and crew of #Quantico for being such an amazing team to work with, for all the memories that I will cherish...memories of laughter, of learning new things, of making friends for life. It was a pleasure working with each and every one of you, and .

'Halkaa' gets a release date

Director Nila Madhab Panda's "Halkaa" will be releasing on September 7.

This Ganesh Chaturthi, grow your Ganpati into a tree

With an aim to keep the environment safe, the artisans in Mumbai are adopting eco-friendly ways to make the idol of Lord Ganesh, ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi.Ganesh Chaturthi, a ten-day festival which starts on the fourth day of Hindu luni-solar calendar month Bhadrapada, is due in September.An artisan, Dattadri Kothur has been making idols using eco-friendly clay to promote a unique concept of 'Tree Ganesha'. The most striking feature of the idol is the fact that it has a seed inside and can be grown into a plant by pouring water, after the festival ends."On the day of immersion, one can take the idol to their balcony, terrace or a garden and like the way they water the plants, they can pour water on the idol. The idol will dissolve and in four to ten days and a plant will come out of it," Kothur said.Another artist, Rohit Vaste has been making the Idols of Lord Ganesh with paper so that it can be recycled later on.These days even the decoration items used in pandals are made out of ..

Khloe can't get True to smile at her

Reality TV personality Khloe Kardashian says it annoys her when her three-month-old daughter True doesn't smile for her.

Michael Douglas warns kids of lack of success

Actor Michal Douglas has warned his children that they may not be as successful as him.

Obamas start hiring for their Netflix project

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are currently building a team for their very own Netflix production company.According to the Hollywood Reporter, sources confirmed that social activist and filmmaker Priya Swaminathan has been hired to work in the highly anticipated project.Priya has, in the past, produced and co-directed 'Very Young Girls', a 2007 documentary on New York's teenage prostitutes and has also worked for Annapurna Pictures and Dickhouse Productions. She was a part of the Sundance Institute's 'FilmTwo' initiative that focused on encouraging minority filmmakers and the recent 'Time's Up' movement against sexual harassment.Since Netflix and a rep for Obamas have refused to comment on the matter, Swaminathan's exact role in the project remains unclear.Earlier this year, Netflix announced that it will be collaborating with the couple to produce films and TV series.

Make music part of school, college curriculum: Ratan Thiyam

Renowned playwright Ratan Thiyam today advocated the introduction of music in the curriculum of schools and colleges. The Padma Shri winner said in order to "save" music and educate our younger generation, it should be presented in different ways. "It is (introducing music in educational institutions as curriculum) very important but not happening everywhere," he told reporters here. Thiyam, however, said he was not specifically referring to traditional or modern music, but music of different genres. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the three-day "root music" festival 'Sahaj Parav', in which over 100 artistes representing different genres of traditional music are participating. "Music is music. One has to identify music within himself (in whatever genre that may be)... from South, Rajasthan or from any other place in the country," Thiyam said. He said music has the power to make a person happy and cheerful. "Pure music will penetrate the heart of a ...

YouTube to come up with Spanish series

'The Motorcycle Diaries' actor Gael Garcia Bernal and Colombian pop star Maluma will be joining YouTube's first ever Spanish series.The video-sharing website is working on a range of Spanish-language series for its Premium service which is currently available in countries including U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Deadline reported.Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content, said they will continue to come up with new Spanish language content. She said they are looking forward to working with the creative storytellers of Latin America.YouTube is currently working on targeting its international market with scripted series and other original programs in local languages to boost its unpaid subscription service. The platform has already come up with a Hindi talk show in India called 'UnCricket' and 'Big Bang', a reality show about a pop band in Korea.

Gross NPA quadrupled in last four years: Minister

The total gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks quadrupled to Rs 8.45 lakh crore in the last four years, Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla told Lok Sabha on Friday.

Sharjah promotes Emirati in Latin America

Sao Paulo, Aug 3 (IANS/WAM) With the attendance of diplomatic and cultural figures, authors and publishers, the 25th Sao Paulo International Book Fair began its 10-day celebration of books and literature, with Sharjah taking the centre stage as its first-ever guest of honour, reflecting the growing cultural ties between the UAE and Brazil.