Dhoni bared his soul in 'Roar of the Lion': Kabir Khan

Agencies
March 12, 2019

Mumbai, Mar 12: Kabir Khan has documented the fairy-tale comeback of the Chennai Super Kings last IPL season, following a two-year suspension for spot-fixing, in the upcoming, "Roar of the Lion" and the director says the series will see a "very personal" side of cricketer MS Dhoni.

CSK, the Chennai franchise of the IPL, had served a two-year ban for its management's role in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.

The Hotstar Special docu-series, directed and executive produced by Kabir, chronicles how the Dhoni-led team made a comeback, winning Indian Premier League 2018.

In an interview with PTI, the director says the series is a human exploration, one beyond the obvious, to show what the phase did to the people involved.

"We know all about the broad strokes, the legal side and the uproar. We don't know what was happening to the individuals beyond those headlines. This is a story behind the headlines. Were these headlines affecting Dhoni? Of course they were, but he never spoke about it, until now," Kabir said.

The critically-acclaimed filmmaker said the series aims to bring out the emotional journey, which the mainstream narrative missed out.

"The controversy was hurting other players but we never heard their perspective. That's what the USP of the show is. It's a story we all know how it played out, but we don't know the details and layers of the emotional journey of the protagonist."

The episodic series was shot on a tight schedule of three months and involved a series of intense, honest and long discussions with Dhoni.

"Our interviews with him on tape lasted sometimes seven to eight hours. He trusted me and had the confidence that I'll be sensitive in the way things are going to be portrayed. He was ready to bare his soul.

"You've never seen Dhoni speak like this. He has always been silent about these matters. You'll see Dhoni in a very personal, emotional way on this series."

The "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" director said the team was conscious regarding the timing of the release, as they needed to bring out the series before the start of the next IPL season.

"Roar of the Lion" becomes the second cricket-related project for Kabir, who is gearing up to shoot his next feature, "83", which chronicles Indian cricket team's iconic first World Cup win.

The director, however, said it is "pure coincidence" that the two projects have cricket as the backdrop.

"Even if I wasn't working on '83', I would've done 'Roar of the Lion' because it was a fascinating and heartwarming story of the triumph of the human spirit. It has a classic sport story graph.

"The most successful IPL franchise has a match fixing allegations against them and the icon of the country: Dhoni. They get banned, they cope with that, come back after the allegations are cleared, build a team which is ridiculed and go on to win again. How could I not have done this?"

"Roar of the Lion" starts streaming on Hotstar from March 20.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Mumbai, Jul 21: Police have recorded statements ofthree psychiatrists and a psychotherapist as part of their probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last month, a senior official said on Monday.

Their "statements were recorded over the last three- four days" by the Bandra police who are probing the case, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe.

The late actor was consulting these mental health professionals and hence their statements were recorded as part of the ongoing probe, police said.

Rajput was undergoing treatment for depression since November 2019, they said.

Rajput, 34, was found hanging in his suburban Bandra apartment on June 14 in what the police claimed was a case of suicide. In the initial investigation, the Mumbai police had found that the actor was under medication for depression.

So far, the police have recorded statements of over 36 people, including director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra, actress Sanjana Sanghi and Rajput's friend Sandip Singh, among others.

Rajput's friend, actor Rhea Chakraborty, has also given her statement to the police.

Filmmaker Aditya Chopra recorded his statement in connection with the case at the Versova Police Station on Saturday.

Rajput starred in films such as 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Kedarnath' and 'Sonchiriya'. But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic, 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Mumbai, May 12: Superstar Salman Khan on Tuesday released his latest romantic single "Tere Bina" featuring Jacqueline Fernandez while in quarantine at his Panvel farm house.

The actor, along with close family and friends from the industry, including Iulia Vantur, Waluscha De Sousa, is living in the farm house. This is the second song Salman has released amid the coronavirus pandemic, after "Pyaar Karona."

"About seven weeks ago, when we came to the farm, we didn't know we will be here under a lockdown. So we wanted to do things to keep ourselves busy. That's when we decided to do these songs. We launched 'Pyaar Karona' and now, we are launching 'Tere Bina'," Salman said in a statement.

The song, sung and directed by Salman, is composed by his friend Ajay Bhatia and written by Shab bir Ahmed.

The actor said he had the song "Tere Bina" with him for quite a while but because it wasn't fitting into any of his film, he decided to release it now.

Jacqueline said she didn't think they would be able to shoot the song, which they finished in four days of evening shoots, with such limitations.

"We are used to shooting songs on a large stage with grand production costs. There are costumes, hair, make up. All of a sudden, we find ourselves with a team of three people. For the first time, I was checking lighting and moving props around. It was a great experience and it taught us how to make the most of what we have," she said.

Salman recently sent out food packets and ration from his farm house to those affected by the lockdown.

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News Network
January 19,2020

Mumbai, Jan 19: An FIR has been registered against actor Shabana Azmi's driver after the car they were travelling in met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Ms Azmi's driver has been identified as Amlesh Yogendra Kamat.

According to the police, a complaint has been registered by Rajesh Pandurang Shinde, the truck driver whose vehicle was hit from behind by Ms Azmi's car.

"Due to rash driving by the driver, the car hit the moving truck on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway which resulted in the accident," the FIR copy read.

Soon after the accident, Shabana Azmi was immediately rushed to MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai and was later shifted to the multi-specialty Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai's Andheri.

According to doctors, she has suffered a head injury and slight damage to the backbone. Her condition is said to be stable, although, she remains under medical observation.

Her husband lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was travelling with her, escaped with a minor injury.

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