Aamir Khan rules out joining politics but accepts his role in nation building

Agencies
August 13, 2018

Pune, Aug 13: Aamir Khan has ruled out the possibility of joining politics. The Bollywood actor, while responding to a query on whether he would enter politics, if he were offered a Rajya Sabha berth for his social work, said, “We are currently doing a lot of work and I think to do that work, there is no need to enter into politics.”

On Sunday, the Dangal star said people like him, who are working in the creative fields, have a major responsibility towards nation building and making the “social fabric” strong.

“I am working in the creative field and people in this field have a major responsibility towards nation building and making the social fabric of the society strong,” he said at a press conference on Monday, after attending an event organised by his Paani Foundation to declare the Watercup awards.

Political leaders cutting across the party lines attended the award distribution ceremony held in Pune in Maharashtra. Paani Foundation is a not-for-profit company set up in 2016 by the team of the TV series Satyamev Jayate to fight drought in rural Maharashtra. It was founded by Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao.

Paani Foundation conducts a competition called the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, in which villages compete to win prizes for the best watershed management work.

About expanding the scope of the watershed movement, Khan said instead of going larger, the foundation will try go deeper. “Currently, 75 tehsils have been covered under the watershed movement. We would like to go deeper rather going larger,” he said.

The actor said they would now focus on areas like the soil health, grass land, crop planning and tree plantation.

“We would conduct parallel competition for the villages where the watershed movement has already been done and we will give them training on the soil health, crop planning, tree plantation and grass land,” he said.

Khan said Paani Foundation has plans to go to urban areas to work on water harvesting projects.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, state unit Congress chief Ashok Chavan, Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, state ministers Ram Shinde and Vijay Shivtare attended the award distribution programme.

The first prize of Rs 75 lakh and a trophy for the Water Cup 2018 competition was won by Takewadi (Andhali) village in Satara district.

Bhandwali and Sindkhed villages in Satara and Buldhana districts jointly won the second prize of Rs 50 lakh and a trophy. The third prize went to Anandwadi and Umtha villages in Beed and Nagpur districts. It carried a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh each and a trophy.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Mumbai, Jul 28: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he was left in tears as his daughter-in-law, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan were discharged from hospital after testing negative for coronavirus.

Aishwarya and her eight-year-old daughter, who were shifted to the isolation ward of Nanavati Hospital on July 17, were discharged on Monday.

Amitabh, 77, and his actor-son Abhishek are still in hospital after they were admitted on July 11.

In a post on official blog, the Bollywood veteran said that he became emotional when Aaradhya told him that he would be "back home soon".

"They go home, the little one and Bahurani... and the tears flow out... the little one embraces and tells me not to cry... 'You’ll be home soon', she assures... I must believe her," he said.

On Monday, Abhishek had said that he and his father were still under the care of medical staff at the Nanavati Hospital's isolation ward.

"My father and I remain in hospital under the care of the medical staff. Thank you all for your continued prayers and good wishes. Indebted forever," the 44-year-old actor tweeted.

Both Amitabh and Abhishek have been sharing their health updates with fans on various social media platforms.

Last week, Amitabh had dismissed reports that he had finally tested negative for coronavirus, calling the piece of news "an incorrigible lie".

Mumbai's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,10,129 on Monday with addition of 1,033 new cases.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: Actor Anil Kapoor, who next will be seen onscreen in Malang, revealed that he always tells superstar Aamir Khan not to stop working with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani.

Kapoor was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of Malang along with his co-actors Adtiya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Elli AvRam, film's director Mohit Suri and producers Luv Ranjan, Bhushan Kumar, Ankur Garg and Jay Shewakraman on Monday in Mumbai.

Anil Kapoor has worked with many directors and producers in his 40-year acting career.

Talking about camp culture in the Hindi film industry and praising makers of Malang, Kapoor said, "I feel we need producers like Ankur (Garg) and Luv (Ranjan). I have told Mohit (Suri) to continue doing films with them. I always tell Aamir Khan by calling him on the phone to say that you should not leave Raju Hirani (Rajkumar Hirani). Whenever I see films of both of them, I tell Aamir not to leave him."

He continued, "I feel whenever you make a good team then you should hold on to it. Team is very important and there are certain stars that come together to make something interesting and exciting."

Kapoor gave an example of Hollywood actors and filmmakers while backing his viewpoint.

"If you see Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio they do so many films together. They can work with others, too, but they keep working with each other. There is some magic, obviously. You have to go with the casting but somewhere I feel teams should stand by each other," the actor added.

Malang stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Khemu in lead roles. It is scheduled to release on February 7.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: In an attempt to constructively use leisure time during the lockdown, actor Bhumi Pednekar has started learning Kathak from her mother, Sumitra Pednekar, who is a trained dancer of this discipline.

Elaborating on her keenness to enhance her knowledge on the dance form, the actor explained about her routine followed for the dance practice and how much she is enjoying it.

"I wanted to learn kathak for a long time as my mother is a trained Kathak dancer! So, for about an hour in the evening this what I and my mom do. She is quite enjoying it and I'm loving learning it from her!" the 30-year-old actor said.

The growing fear of coronavirus has halted many entertainment shootings and productions. The 'Pati Patni Aur Who' actor referring to the current situation opened about the uncertainties of going back to shootings.

"It has put a big question mark on when will we get back to work and how things are going to be. There's a lot of uncertainty. Of course, our dates and schedules have gone haywire and we can't plan anything," she added.

However, the 'Bala' actor is finding a silver lining among the gloom as she says that the time has given her an opportunity to get back to what she used to love as a child - the habit of reading.

"I was a voracious reader but since entering Bollywood I haven't got a chance to read something at a stretch," she said.

"But now, I have got all the time and I'm making full use of the time at hand. I have been watching TED talks and have been reading a lot about climate change because that is something, I am severely passionate about. This time has been very educational for me," she added.

On the professional front, Pednekar will be soon seen as a leading lady in the Akshay Kumar's 'Durgavati' and award-winning director Alankrita Srivastava's 'Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare'.

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