Akshay Kumar: Insulting to compare 'Airlift' with 'Argo'

January 19, 2016

Mumbai, Jan 19: Akshay Kumar's upcoming 'Airlift' shares the same genre as 'Argo' but the superstar says it is an insult to his film when people compare it to the Oscar-winning Hollywood movie as the story is inspired by a real incident.

airliftThe 48-year-old actor says while the Ben Affleck-starrer chronicled the evacuation of six Americans at the time of Iran hostage crisis, 'Airlift' is the story of 1,70,000 Indians who were rescued from Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war. "Saying that our film is copied from 'Argo' is an insult. How can it be a copy when it is a true story? It is not a copy. It is something which you should be proud of. It is the story of the biggest ever human evacuation in the history of mankind," Akshay told reporters here.

Director Raja Krishna Menon says other than the common theme of evacuation, there is no similarity between his film and the 2012 Hollywood movie. "The only faint link is that some people were saved in a covert operation. Everything else is different. It is only a similar genre. Our film is about the single greatest achievement of independent India. 'Argo' is not in that space," Menon said.

The actor says he was not aware of the 1990 incident and only came to know about it when the director gave him the script of 'Airlift'. "At that time there was only one article about the evacuation. The government did it silently. It is not a matter of joke. When I met those people, they started crying at the mention of it. I was deeply inspired by the story. It shows the greatness of our country."

In the film, Akshay plays a businessman Ranjit Katyal, who negotiates with the government to evacuate 1,70,000 Indians stranded in Kuwait and fly them to India. 'Airlift' also stars Nimrat Kaur and Purab Kohli. In recent times, Akshay has successfully juggled between commercial potboilers like 'Singh is Bliing' and thrillers with patriotic themes like 'Baby' and 'Holiday'. The actor says he loves to keep challenging himself with different roles.

"I keep on challenging myself all the time. I want to be in my comfort zone and then try some roles which are challenging for me. 'Singh is Bliing' and 'Housefull 3' are in my comfort zone but this one is not, 'Baby' was not.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Mumbai, Jul 17: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan who is currently getting treated for coronavirus in Mumbai's Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital on Friday expressed gratitude towards his fans for their prayers for his well being.

Bachchan took to Twitter to thank his fans and also said that he is receiving messages from his concerned fans on all of his social media platforms.

"I receive all your blessings and love and prayers for our well being .. on SMS, on WhatsApp, on insta on Blog .. and all possible social media," he tweeted.

"My gratitude has no bounds .. Hospital protocol is restrictive, I cannot say more .. Love," his tweet further read.

Fans of the superstar have been organising special prayers in different parts of the country for his speedy recovery.

Besides Big B, his son, actor Amitabh Bachchan, daughter-in-law, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan also tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
His actor wife, however, actor Jaya Bachchan, tested negative for the virus.

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News Network
July 25,2020

Bhubaneswar, Jul 25: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many people hard, and the latest victim of the pandemic is Bollywood actor Kartika Sahoo from Odisha. With the entertainment industry almost non-functional and most productions on hold, the actor is forced to sell vegetables for a living.

Sahoo, who hails from the from Garadpur block of the Kendrapada district in Odisha, said that he went to Mumbai to try his luck in Bollywood at the age of 17. For many years he worked as a bodyguard to film stars and cricketers such as Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, among others.

Lady luck shone on him in 2018, and he landed noticeable roles in the action sequences of many movies, he said while speaking with news agency. He also has a fight sequence with Akshay Kumar in his upcoming film 'Sooryavanshi'.

Just before the nationwide lockdown which started on March 22, Sahoo had returned home to Odisha after shooting a fight sequence in Jaipur. Since then, with no work, the actor has been living off his savings to sustain his family. But, after four months of no work, and a medical emergency, a major part of his savings was drained.

To find work, he moved to state capital Bhubaneswar, but to no avail. In the end, Sahoo had to resort to selling vegetables in Rasulgad there.

Sahoo is still hopeful and said that he'll again try his luck in Bollywood once the situation is back to normal, till then he'll struggle, like others, for survival.

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News Network
June 6,2020

Indore, Jun 6: An FIR has been registered against television producer Ekta Kapoor and two others here in Madhya Pradesh on charges of spreading obscenity, hurting religious feelings, and improper use of national emblems in her web show 'Triple X season 2', police said on Saturday.

The FIR also mentions about a particular scene which allegedly portrays the Indian Army's uniform in a highly objectionable way, an officer said.

Besides Kapoor, the FIR names director of the web series Pankhudi Rodrigues and screenwriter Jessica Khurana, said Annapurna police station inspector Satish Kumar Dwivedi.

The complaint was lodged on Friday night by Valmik Sakaragaye and Neeraj Yagnik, both residents of Indore.

"Ekta Kapoor's OTT platform ALTBalaji streamed (erotic) web series 'Triple X season 2' which not only spread obscenity but also hurt religious feelings of a particular community," Dwivedi said quoting the complaint.

A scene in the web show portrayed the Indian Army's uniform in a highly objectionable manner and also disrespected the national emblems, he said.

Kapoor and others have been booked under sections 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 298 (Uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person) of the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology (IT) Act, and the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005, Dwivedi said.

Mumbai-based Ekta Kapoor is the founder of ALTBalaji, which is owned by her production house, Balaji Telefilms.

Further investigation is underway, the police officer said.

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