Actor Mamta Kulkarni's role in hubby's drug ring under scanner

April 28, 2016

Mumbai, Apr 28: The Thane police, which seized 20 tonnes of ephedrine in a record haul this month, is investigating reports that actor Mamta Kulkarni is a central figure in the international drug ring that tried to smuggle in the contraband.

MamtaThe development came as investigators revealed on Wednesday that Mamta's Kenya-based husband, Vicky Goswami, was the kingpin of the drug operation.

Vicky has a well-known history of serious drug offences. In 1997, he was arrested for drug trafficking in Dubai and served 15 years in a prison there. He later moved with Mamta to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where he is currently facing fresh charges. He is wanted by the US and the Thane police for drug offences. "This is an international racket and Vicky Goswami is the main link to it. As for Mamta Kulkarni, we are probing her role," Thane police commissioner Parambir Singh said, referring to the ephedrine haul.

Vicky was named as the prime suspect after the police received information about his operations from the United States' Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on Tuesday.

Mamta, who is believed to be in Kenya currently, featured in several Bollywood movies in the 1990s, including the Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Karan Arjun. While senior Thane officers did not divulge details about her role in her husband's drug syndicate, sources in the police said she was the face of the ring.

As Vicky cannot leave Kenya because of an Interpol notice against him, he asked Mamta to meet clients in Dubai, Singapore, South Africa and the US, said a Thane police officer, who didn't want to be named.

Mamta allegedly also struck business deals with drug networks in Maharashtra, and Vicky used her name to carry out bank transactions. The couple allegedly also routed huge sums from drug deals through the hawala channel.

Mamta apparently never came under the authorities' scanner until now. Meanwhile, the Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested one Punit Shringi, who was allegedly the main link between Vicky and drug cartels in Mumbai and Thane.Shringi has reportedly revealed that Manoj Jain, a director of a firm called, was also involved and had met Vicky several times in Kenya.

The 20 tonnes of ephedrine was seized from a Solapur factory earlier this month. According to the Thane police, gangs in India, Poland and some other European countries had planned to send the consignment to Eastern Europe from Mumbai via Gujarat.

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News Network
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: With more than 50 movies under her credits and being one of the few actors from Bollywood to make a strong imprint in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra started it all by winning Miss India 2000 pageant.

Chopra who is currently celebrating the completion of 20 years in the entertainment industry, on Friday looked back and reacted to the video where she was crowned as Miss India.
The' Fashion' actor shared a video on Instagram, where she is seen watching the throwback video. The 'Dostana' actor recalled winning the title and joked about her sense of style and poses back then.

Sharing the reaction video, she wrote: "Alright guys, we're doing this! I'm watching footage from my Miss India pageant in 2000! This is where it all began... If you've never seen these before, you are in for quite a treat. #20in2020 @feminamissindia."

Throughout the video, the 'Gunday' actor is seen casually commenting on her hairstyle, enacting her own movement on stage, and also recalled her luscious hair, which she now wonders where it all got lost.

However, she took a moment to appreciate the "clever and profound" answer she gave for the question that won her the crown.

While watching the winning moment, the 'Don' star noted how she never expected to win it. She explained that she had a train booked as she was to go back and take her board exams.

Going through the old photographs that run parallel to the video, she says: "These pictures are hard to look at." Pausing at a particular photograph, she laughs and says, "I don't even know how to do that pose."

"Well, this is where everything started. These are the pictures that sent me to Tinseltown," said the actor towards the end of the video.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Mumbai, Jun 19: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s memories will continue to be celebrated as Instagram has memorialised his account, adding “remembering” to his bio.

Rajput, 34, known for films like "Kai Po Che!", "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story", "Chhichhore", was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

Days after his untimely demise, Instagram added “remembering” to his account bio and memorialised it as a place to remember the actor’s life.

According to the photo-video sharing website, no one can log into a memorialised account. The posts the deceased person shared, including photos and videos, stay on their page and are visible to the users they were shared with.

Also, once the account is memorialised, no one will be able to make changes to any of the existing posts or information.

The actor’s last post on the social media platform was a tribute to his late mother on June 3.

Rajput’s death is being investigated by the Mumbai Police and so far statements of over 13 people, including actor’s family members and close friends, including actor Rhea Chakraborty and casting director Mukesh Chhabra, have been recorded.

The police have also sent a letter to Yash Raj Films seeking details of the contracts it had signed with him.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 1: Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan and costume designer Neeta Lulla are among the 819 artistes and executives who have received invitations to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

Bhatt's last movie, the Zoya Akhtar-directed Gully Boy was India's official entry for best international feature category at the 2019 Oscars. However, the film had failed to make it to the final five.

Other prominent Indian names to receive invitations are casting director Nandini Shrikent, documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain, Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya, visual effects supervisors Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal.

In a statement, the Academy said the new invitees include 36 per cent of people of colour and 45 per cent women. Artistes from 68 countries have been invited as members.

Those who accept the invitation will have voting rights at the 93rd Academy Awards, scheduled to be held on April 25, 2021.

"The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travellers in the motion picture arts and sciences. We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now," Academy President David Rubin said.

The Academy has been actively working to introduce more diversity in its voting to avoid a controversy like 2016 when the Oscars were dubbed "white" for failing to recognise talents of colour.

The 2020 batch boasts of major Hollywood names like Cynthia Erivo, John David Washington, Constance Wu, Zazie Beetz, Florence Pugh, Zendaya, Awkwafina, Yalitza Aparicio, Mackenzie Davis, Ana de Armas, Adele Haenel, Thomasin McKenzie, Olivia Wilde and others.

The stars of multiple Oscar-winning South Korean movie Parasite -- Jang Hye-Jin, Jo Yeo-Jeong, Park So-Dam and Lee Jung-Eun -- are among the invitees.

Directors Lulu Wang, Ari Aster, Terence Davies, Matthew Vaughn, Robert Eggers, Matt Reeves, Alma Har’el are on the list as well.

The Academy has announced a new five-year plan that includes implementing inclusion standards for nominees.

"We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one.  We are committed to staying the course.

"We look forward to continuing to foster an Academy that reflects the world around us in our membership, our programs, our new Museum, and in our awards," Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said.

In 2019, the organisation had invited 842 new members which included Indian names such as filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and veteran actor Anupam Kher.

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