Bollywood condoles demise of Jagdeep, Sholay's 'Soorma Bhopali'

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 25: Malayalam actor Ravi Vallathol, well-known for his acting in television serials and movies, passed away on Saturday at a hospital here, family sources said.

Vallathol, son of drama legend T N Gopinathan Nair and Soudamini, was the nephew of the famous Malayalam poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.

The veteran actor had appeared in around 50 Malayalam movies and more than 50 television serials starting from1986 with the serial 'Vaitharani' on Doordarshan.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi VIjayan expressed condolences on the passing away of the actor.

"He had an extraordinary ability to immortalise the characters with a wide range of emotions," Vijayan said, adding that, his demise was a loss to both theatre, film and TV serial industry.

Opposition Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also condoled the demise of the Vallathol.

Chennithala remembered Vallathol as a brilliant writer and social activist. Vallathol made his film debut in 'Swathi Thirunal' directed by the late Lenin Rajendran in 1987.

He had also played versatile characters in hit movies movies including Godfather, Mathilukal, Sargam, Vidheyan, Kottayam Kunjachan, Naalu Penningal, Idukki Gold among others.

He has penned more than 25 short stories among which two were adapted into television series.

He is survived by his wife Geethalakshmi.

Indore, Jan 14: Yoga guru Ramdev has said that Deepika Padukone should hire persons like him for offering correct advice, days after the actress had visited Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi following the violence at the campus earlier this month.

"Deepika Padukone needs to study about political, social and cultural issues. She should understand more about our country. Only after gaining knowledge, she should take decisions. I feel she should have persons like Swami Ramdev for correct advice," Ramdev said at an event here on Monday.

On January 7, Padukone joined the protest at JNU after a masked mob entered the varsity campus and attacked the students and teachers with sticks and rods on January 5.

Several BJP leaders questioned the support extended by Padukone. On the other hand, the Congress threw their weight behind the actress for her stand.

Washington, Jan 11: Fresh off his win at the Golden Globes, actor Joaquin Phoenix participated in a climate change protest and was arrested by the police.

The "Joker" star took part in the weekly protests against climate change, started by Hollywood veteran Jane Fonda.

According to Variety, the 45-year-old actor also addressed the crowd of close to 300 people.

In his short speech, he took aim at the meat and dairy industry for being the third leading cause of the climate crisis.

"Sometimes we wonder what can we do in this fight against climate change, and there is something that you can do today and tomorrow, by making a choice about what you consume," Phoenix said.

"There are things I can't avoid. I flew a plane here today, or last night rather, but one thing I can do is change my eating habits," he added.

Besides Phoenix, veteran Hollywood star Martin Sheen also turned up for the protest and got arrested by the police. Actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Susan Sarandon were also present.

Capitol Police said it arrested 147 people who were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding. All the protestors were later released.

Fonda, who was on stage with Phoenix, called him "one of the greatest living actors today".

She has been protesting weekly as part of her "Fire Drill Fridays" initiative since announcing she was moving to Washington "to be closer to the epicenter of the fight for our climate." Her participation has ended in multiple arrests.

Earlier this month, Phoenix had talked about climate change at the Golden Globes ceremony, asking Hollywood to walk the talk on the issue.