AIADMK Uses 'Lizard' Logic in Bid to Corner Rajinikanth on 'Sarkar' Scenes

Agencies
November 10, 2018

Chennai, Nov 10: The AIADMK hit out at Tamil superstar Rajinikanth Saturday for slamming its protests against certain scenes in the Vijay-starrer "Sarkar", saying a mere censor certification would not justify contentious scenes.

As the controversy was around the government's freebies schemes, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu equated those to providing reservation benefits to the deprived classes.

Rajinikanth had lashed out at the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Friday for its protests against certain scenes in actor Vijay's Diwali release, "Sarkar", questioning the rationale behind protesting against a film certified by the censor board.

He had "strongly condemned" the demands for deletion of scenes in the film.

A write-up in AIADMK mouthpiece "Namathu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma" questioned Rajinikanth's statement on how demands for removal of scenes from a film certified by the censor board could be made.

"Top star, give a frank response. If you find a lizard inside a packed food product that has all certifications, will you throw it away or consume it saying it has the required certifications," it said.

It asked the veteran star to "advise" the film's director, AR Murugadoss, and not defend "a mistake" by showing the censor certificate.

Even if a "misinformation" in a film passed the censor test, it "has to be stopped", it said in an apparent defence of the protests against the scenes and the demand for their removal.

The makers of "Sarkar" had Friday removed certain "objectionable" scenes and "muted" an apparent reference to late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa as the Sun Pictures venture faced a backlash from the AIADMK over the depiction of its welfare schemes and its leader.

The AIADMK was up in arms against "Sarkar" with senior ministers demanding deletion of the scenes reportedly showing mixer-grinders being burnt, seen as an obvious reference to a freebie scheme involving the object.

The ruling party also took exception to a purported negative character played by a woman carrying a name deemed to be that of Jayalalithaa.

Strongly defending the freebies, the party mouthpiece equated it to the quota system.

"The freebies are like the reservation system that was brought to bridge the poor-rich divide," it said.

Further, taking on actor Vijay, Murugadoss and Sun Pictures' Maran Brothers, it said these "affluent" people might "look down upon freebies" but the Amma canteens served thousands of aspiring filmmakers in the tinsel town.

Another brand Amma scheme named after Jayalalithaa, these canteens serve delicacies like idli and chapati, besides rice varieties, at heavily subsidised rates and are popular among the masses.

"Aren't the (free) mixers and grinders godsent for the havenots?" the AIADMK mouthpiece asked.

It alleged that despite being aware of all these, the intent of the makers of "Sarkar" was to "incite" people against the government and added that most of the welfare schemes launched during the AIADMK regime were now being followed by some other states.

It lashed out at the film crew for naming a character apparently referring to Jayalalithaa.

Taking a swipe at actor Vijay's reported political ambitions, the party said he was "dreaming that he can become the chief minister just by mouthing emotional dialogues against the government".

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Agencies
February 10,2020

Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix finally ended his dry run at the Oscars as he picked up the best actor trophy for his performance in and as "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards.

The 45-year-old actor had earlier bagged a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his turn as a failed, unhinged stand-up comedian who descends into chaos.

In a lengthy and rambling speech, Phoenix touched upon racism, climate change and gender inequality. He also remembered his brother River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 23 in 1993.

"When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, 'run to the rescue with love and peace will follow'," Phoenix said. At the Academy Awards and the entire Hollywood award season, Phoenix had emerged as an undisputed frontrunner even though he was up against the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story"), "Antonio Banderas ("Pain & Glory") and Jonathan Pryce ("The Two Popes").

An Oscar had eluded Phoenix for the most part of his career, despite his successful collaborations with Ridley Scott ("Gladiator"), James Mangold ("Walk The Line") and Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master"), all of which had earned him nominations.

But as Arthur Fleck aka The Joker, Phoenix finally managed to break that jinx and became the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the DC comic book villain after the posthumous best supporting actor win to Heath Ledger in 2008.

As Joker, Phoenix took a deep dive into character, capturing its essence as well as maniacal spirit in both body and soul.

He lost 52 pounds to get into the physicality of Fleck and turned to a pathological disorder to get his distinct laughter right.

Phillips wrote the part keeping Phoenix in mind though the actor took some convincing to play the role.

Phoenix started the film's festival circuit tour on a positive note at Cannes last year that followed by stops at Venice and Toronto.

The film had also courted controversies, owing to its theme of gun violence in the movie as well as Phoenix's temperamental press tour that saw him walking out of an interview midway.

But critics and the fans loved the actor's riveting turn in the movie and his pointed speeches.

At the Golden Globes, he called out the industry for its insensitivity towards climate change and pulled up his peers for using private jets for travel, while at the SAGs, he joked how he would always lose a role to DiCaprio and asked Christian Bale to deliver a bad performance for once in his career.

In his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs, Phoenix acknowledged the lack of diversity in the nominations, calling himself a part of the problem. Phoenix's career most praised performances include "Signs ", "We Own the Night", "Two Lovers", "The Immigrant", "Her", "You Were Never Really Here" and "Inherent Vice".

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: The shooting of Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai has been completed, and the film will now release on schedule.

If one recalls, the film went on the floors in the first week of November 2019 and was supposed to be Salman’s fastest completed film. However, the movie faced a variety of roadblocks — It was first to be wrapped in the first week of February, “But Salman went off to his Panvel farmhouse after the release of Dabangg 3 and spent a while there ushering in his birthday,” a source reveals.

“Then, the extension of the show Bigg Boss 13 by five weeks also turned out to be another speed breaker. Then, Salman wanted to make sure that the film was being made as good as what his audiences wanted on Eid. He made sure that his director Prabhudeva got what he wanted from the performers and didn’t want to rush him.

"Additionally, the Azerbaijan schedule of the film also got cancelled as Salman did not want to take any chances with the cast and crew with the lurking Covid 19, and rescheduled the shoot in India. This is now complete, barring any patchwork that might emerge later,” our source adds.

Radhe is slated to be an Eid release, which will clash with Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb.

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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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