Comedian addresses sexual allegations in stand-up

Agencies
July 10, 2019

Los Angeles, Jul 10: Actor-comedian Aziz Ansari has addressed the sexual misconduct allegations against him in his new stand-up special "Aziz Ansari Right Now", saying that his old self has made way for a "better person".

The stand-up special, directed by Spike Jonze of "Her" fame, dropped on Netflix on Tuesday.

It starts with Ansari recalling how people often get confused between him and Hasan Minhaj and when they ask him about the sexual misconduct accusation, he deflects by responding, "No, no, no, no, no. That was Hasan."

The comedian then turned serious as he said that he has been introspecting a lot in the past year.

"It's a tricky thing for me to answer because I've felt so many things in the last year. There's times I felt scared, there's times I felt humiliated, there's times I felt embarrassed, and ultimately, I just felt terrible that this person felt this way. And after a year or so, I just hope it was a step forward.

"It moved things forward for me, made me think about it a lot, I hope I've become a better person," he said.

Ansari took a break after a controversial article in 2018 accused the comedian of sexual misconduct. In a first-person account, a woman claimed she felt pressured to have sex with the comedian during a date.

He responded with an apology and claimed the encounter was "completely consensual".

The comedian recalled a conversation he had with a friend of his who told him how his story had made him rethink all of his own past dates.

"I thought, 'Wow. Well, that's pretty incredible. It's made not just me but other people be more thoughtful, and that's a good thing'. And that's how I feel about it," Ansari said.

He admitted that opening about the allegation was not the "most hilarious way to begin a comedy show" but said that it was important for him to let people know "how I feel about that whole thing before we share this night together".

Towards the end of his act, the comedian once again touched upon the matter.

"I saw the world where I don't ever get to do this again, and it almost felt like I died. In a way, I did. That old Aziz who said, ‘oh treat your self' or whatever, he's dead. And I'm glad. ‘Cause that guy was always looking forward to whatever was next.

"I don't think that way anymore. ‘Cause I've realized it's all ephemeral. All that stuff, it can just go away like this. And all we really have is the moment we're in and the people we're with," he said.

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News Network
June 16,2020

Mumbai, Jun 16: The International Space University (ISU) in France has paid homage to Sushant Singh Rajput in a statement, saying the news of the actor's death was "deeply saddening".

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to an official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

The official Twitter handle of ISU on Monday tweeted how Rajput was supposed to visit the campus last year but was unable to due to scheduling conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the dramatic news on the death of well known Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mr Singh Rajput was a believer and strong supporter of STEM education and was following ISU on social media.

"He had even accepted an invitation to visit ISU's Central Campus in the summer of 2019 but other agenda priorities prevented him from travelling to Strasbourg," the statement by the university read.

ISU paid condolences to Rajput's family and friends, saying the actor's memory will "remain among his thousands of followers across India and all over the world".

Rajput had enrolled at Delhi Technical University (DTU) in 2003, which was then known as Delhi College of Engineering, but left the course to pursue his showbiz dreams.

Even after leaving the four-year degree course, he remained fascinated with science and had a deep interest in astronomy.

As part of his research for the film "Chanda Mama Door Ke", he also visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.

Rajput had stayed in NASA to train for his role as an astronaut for the film, which was eventually shelved.

The actor also owned Meade 14" LX600 telescope.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: Actor Anil Kapoor, who next will be seen onscreen in Malang, revealed that he always tells superstar Aamir Khan not to stop working with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani.

Kapoor was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of Malang along with his co-actors Adtiya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Elli AvRam, film's director Mohit Suri and producers Luv Ranjan, Bhushan Kumar, Ankur Garg and Jay Shewakraman on Monday in Mumbai.

Anil Kapoor has worked with many directors and producers in his 40-year acting career.

Talking about camp culture in the Hindi film industry and praising makers of Malang, Kapoor said, "I feel we need producers like Ankur (Garg) and Luv (Ranjan). I have told Mohit (Suri) to continue doing films with them. I always tell Aamir Khan by calling him on the phone to say that you should not leave Raju Hirani (Rajkumar Hirani). Whenever I see films of both of them, I tell Aamir not to leave him."

He continued, "I feel whenever you make a good team then you should hold on to it. Team is very important and there are certain stars that come together to make something interesting and exciting."

Kapoor gave an example of Hollywood actors and filmmakers while backing his viewpoint.

"If you see Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio they do so many films together. They can work with others, too, but they keep working with each other. There is some magic, obviously. You have to go with the casting but somewhere I feel teams should stand by each other," the actor added.

Malang stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Khemu in lead roles. It is scheduled to release on February 7.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Actor Bhumi Pednekar supported migrant labourers traveling long distances amid the coronavirus pandemic, in a rather unique way- by donating footwear to them.

The gut-wrenching images of migrants walking barefoot on the roads made the 'Pati Patni Aur Woh' actor take the plunge to help them.

Pednekar joined hands with a footwear company and a volunteer-based non-government organisation - The Robin Hood Army - to help the underprivileged with footwear.

The actor helped over 1000 migrant labourers in and around Ghaziabad in Murad Nagar, Govindpuram, Vijay Nagar, and distributed footwear among men and women across age-groups.

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