'Bajrangi Bhaijaan', 'Bajirao Mastani' bag top honours at IIFA

June 26, 2016

Madrid, Jun 26: The Bollywood titans of 2015-- "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Bajirao Mastani"-- emerged victorious at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards 2016 with the Salman Khan-starrer winning best picture while Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus taking home best director gong.

pcDirector Kabir Khan heaped praise on his lead star as he accepted the best picture award at the 17th edition of the awards, held here.

"Thank you IIFA, thank you Salman for starring and also producing the movie. He let me do the film the way I wanted to."

Bhansali was honoured with the award by his lead actors-- Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra.

"No other film of mine has got so much love like 'Bajirao...'. I am surprised to see how it has done so well this awards season. It is a special moment for me to get this awards by my three favourite actors. I don't want to thank anyone for the film because a 'thank you' is not enough," the director said.

The historical romantic saga earned Ranveer the best actor trophy for his portrayal of the great Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao.

The actor began his acceptance speech by thanking his director but did not miss a chance to show his affection towards rumoured girlfriend Deepika.

"I am so glad I won. I left 'Befikre' shoot to come here. I have to thank Sanjay sir. I love you.

"There's another special person I must thank. I was moved by her performance on 'Bajirao' songs during the show. She is the Leeela to my Raam, Mastani to my Bajairao and I don't know what's next. Girl, you are so fine. Nothing makes me happier than you... I mean winning an award here with you," the actor said.

Deepika, who was nominated for two films in the best actress category, won the honour for Shoojit Sircar's "Piku" thanks to her sincere performance of a cranky yet responsible daughter.

The 30-year-old star dedicated the award to the film's writer Juhi Chaturvedi and all those, who work behind the scenes.

"I want to thank Juhi, who made my performance worth while. I thank all spot boys, light men who work so hard," she said.

Deepika also mentioned a "special someone" in her speech, though without naming the person. "I also thank my team and that special person. You know who you are."

The night belonged to "Bajirao Mastani" as Priyanka was honoured with the best supporting actress award.

The actress said she wanted to share the honour with her co-star and fellow nominee Tanvi Azmi, who is the National Award-winner this year for her work in the movie.

"I am overwhelmed. I thank Ranveer, Deepika and Sanjay sir," Priyanka said. "It is difficult to go to another country and do things. I want to thank all my fans for being so supportive," said the newly-turned global star.

Priyanka's "Dil Dhadakne Do" co-star Anil Kapoor won the best supoorting actor for his confident performance as the patriarch of a rich Delhi business family.

Deepak Dobriyal won the best performance in a comic role for "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" and the best performance in a negative honour was bagged by Darshan Kumar for his act in "NH 10".

"Raman Raghav 2.0" star Vicky Kaushal bagged the best debut actor (male) for his endearing act in "Masaan", while Bhumi Pednekar took home the best debut actor (female) for "Dum Laga Ke Haisha".

The YRF film also ruled the music categories with Papon winning best male playback singer for "Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" and National Award-winner Monali Thakur bagging best female playback singer for the same song.

The track's moving lyrics helped Varun Grover win his first IIF for best lyricist. "This proves that you don't have to be a Prime Minister to go abroad," Grover joked.

The best music composer honour went to Meet Bros, Amaal Malik and Ankit Tiwari for "Roy".

The "Jodi if the Year" honour went to "Hero" stars Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty, who thanked their mentor Salman for giving them a break in the Hindi film industry.

The evening was hosted by Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor who returned to take on the anchoring duties for the third time at IIFA.

The duo reprised their Pappu and Raju roles from the ealier editions and kept the audience entertained with their one-liners and digs at the controversy-ridden censor board and the last year's row over returning awards.

The high octane performances by Bollywood stars brought the house down during the ceremony at IFEMA here.

Hrithik Roshan was the first performer of the evening. His heart-pumping act on songs "Ek Pal Ka Jeena", "Bawre Bawre" and "Senorita" served as the perfect opener for the show.

Priyanka made the audience go wow with her seductive, jazzy rendition of her hit tracks "Ram Chahe Leela", "Aaj Ki Raat" and "Dil Dhadakne Do".

Besides, she also danced to "Gallan Goodiyaan" and "Pinga". Tiger Shroff paid tribute to his two idols- Michael Jackson and Hrithik through his performance.

Sonakshi Sinha paid homage to Sridevi as she danced to the tunes of the veteran actress' popular numbers "Taki Taki", "Hawa Hawai" and "Naino mein Sapna".

But, naturally the most anticipated performance was Salman's. The superstar, whose act closed the ceremony, went back in time and kickstarted his act with his old, slow hits like "Tadap Tadap Ke", "Humko Maloom Hain", "Sau Dard Hain", and gradually moved to more recent hits like "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo".

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News Network
July 14,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 14: US officials on Monday found the body of "Glee" actress Naya Rivera in the Californian lake where she drowned last week during a boat trip with her four-year-old son.

Rivera's body was retrieved and an initial examination found no evidence of foul play or suicide, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a press conference.

"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," said Ayub, pointing to the location, appearance, clothing and condition of the body.

Her body was being taken to a medical examiner's office for a full autopsy and confirmation of her identity from dental records, though no other missing persons have been reported at Lake Piru, he added.

Rivera, 33, is believed to have accidentally drowned after renting the boat with her young son at the camping and recreational hotspot around an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles.

She vanished on Wednesday afternoon, and a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched after her sleeping son was spotted drifting alone in a boat on the lake.

The son later told investigators that Rivera had helped him into the boat before "he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water," said the sheriff.

Ayub pointed to the lake's strong currents as a possible cause of a fatal accident.

"The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting -- it was unanchored -- and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," he said.

The lake has been closed to the public since Wednesday, with around 100 personnel, including the US Coast Guard and rescuers from neighboring counties, joining the search.

Search teams used footage from video messaging calls Rivera made from the boat before her disappearance, as well as interviews with her son, to scour portions of the lake bed for her remains over six days, with no success.

"We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake" before eventually floating to the surface due to natural decomposition, said Ayyub.

With less than one foot (30 centimeters) of visibility underwater in daylight, the recovery operation was a "complex search effort" even with use of sonar equipment, he said.

Rivera was best known for her role as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee."

She starred for six seasons in the wildly popular musical television series set in a US high school that ended in 2015.

The "Glee" cast has been struck by tragedy before.

Actor Mark Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before being sentenced for possession of child pornography.

Canadian castmate Cory Monteith died in July 2013 of an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

Chennai, Feb 20: Three people, including an assistant director were killed and 9 others injured when a crane used for the shooting of “actor Kamal Haasan starrer “Indian 2” film crashed down at Nazarathpet near Poonamallee here late on Wednesday night.

Police said the accident occurred when a group of workers were engaged in erecting a set for a scene at EVP film city, private studio. As the crane crashed down, a heavy-duty light stand that was mounted on it also fell on the workers.

Mr Haasan and the film director S.Shankar escaped unhurt in the accident.

The deceased were identified as Krishna (34), an assistant director of the film, Madhu (29) and Chandran (60), who was part of the catering team.

Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel, along with a fire tender from Irungattukottai rushed to the spot and retrieved the bodies from the spot.

Mr Haasan, who was at the accident spot, also helped to transport the injured people to a private hospital near Poonamallee.

The bodies were sent to the Government General Hospital for post-mortem.

The Nazarathpet police have filed a case and are investigating the cause of the accident.

Meanwhile, Mr.Haasan condoled the death of three people during the film shoot. “The accident is the most horrific I have seen in my film career. I have lost three colleagues, but my pain pales in comparison to the grief of those who have lost their loved ones.

My deepest sympathies to them, he tweeted.

The Lyca productions also expressed condolences over the tragic accident. “We are extremely saddened with the unfortunate accident happened at the sets of Indian 2. We have lost three of our most hardworking technicians, it tweeted.

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Agencies
March 24,2020

Los Angeles, Mar 24: In a bizarre video shot from her rose petal filled bathtub, pop star Madonna has called the coronavirus pandemic "a great equaliser".

The music icon said the virus doesn't discriminate between rich and poor.

That's the thing about COVID-1. It doesn't care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell.

It's the great equaliser and what's terrible about it is what's great about it. What's terrible about it is that it's made us all equal in many ways, and what's wonderful about is, is that it's made us all equal in many ways, Madonna said in the video while having a milky bath in tub full of roses.

The 61-year-old singer, who had to cancel two of her concerts in Paris due to coronavirus outbreak, also referenced her 1995 song Human Nature in the video saying we are all going down together .

According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 14,641 with 336,000 cases reported in 173 countries and territories.

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