No 'item girl' label for Zareen Khan

April 16, 2012

ZareenaShe is tall and is known for her curvaceous figure in B-Town. Zareen Khan, who was "practically written off after Veer", is currently riding high on the success of her recent hit - Housefull 2.


"It feels great to deliver a hit. After all the criticism I got for Veer, I was scared to even step out of my house. A hit was important," she says. She smiles and adds, "It feels wonderful, now I am being hooted as the hottest heroine of the movie."


With The Dirty Picture bringing the curvaceous Indian women back into the limelight, Zareen says, "I love Kareena but for me, size zero was never in. She looks amazing with more weight on her. Indian women have always been full-bodied and men like voluptuous women. Size zero is a concept of the West and it is only meant for the runway models, not for us."


Zareen, who will be seen next in the sequel to the comic flick Partner (where she has replaced Katrina Kaif), feels that it is safer to do comedy films for her at the moment. She says, "I debuted in a movie where I had a very heavy role. People did not accept me in that character. I relate to the comedy roles that I am doing at the moment. So I have decided to stick to that for the time being. I don't think it will typecast me in the comedy genre."


Zareen's association with Kat goes back to the time when she entered the entertainment industry. For someone who has always been known as Katrina Kaif's lookalike, Zareen is happy that she is gradually losing the tag. Zareen quips, "Even before I entered the industry, it was fed into people's brains that I look like Kat. And Indian audience has very convenient memory; they will only see what is shown to them and will not bother to make their own opinion."


Zareen recently made news for allegedly refusing to do an item song in Zilla Ghaziabad for which she had initially agreed. The reasons cited as the presence of Vivek Oberoi in the film created some controversy and critics talked about her unprofessionalism. Zareen, unhappy with the entire event, clears her stand and says, "It is an unwanted controversy and the entire issue has been blown out of proportion. Manyata is a friend and I am like Sanju's ( Sanjay Dutt) younger sister. I have heard the song and it's fabulous. But I had already spoken to Manyata that if I do another item number at this time, I would be categorized as an item girl. I don't want to be labeled as that. Vivek is not even a part of the song."


Although her entry in the entertainment industry was not much of a problem, Zareen feels she has had to struggle a lot after her debut to be accepted in the industry. For someone who's had a difficult early life, she avers, "I don't have a star boyfriend or father. So I have to work very hard."


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News Network
January 18,2020

Mumbai, Jan 18: Actor Shabana Azmi was injured in an accident on Saturday afternoon on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra's Raigad district, an official said.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm near Khalapur, over 60 km from Mumbai, when the car in which she was traveling rammed into a truck, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar.

She was rushed to MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai and was undergoing treatment, he said.

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News Network
February 26,2020

New York, Feb 26: Disney CEO Bob Iger, who steered the company’s absorption of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses and the launch of a Netflix challenger, is stepping down immediately, the company said in a surprise announcement Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Co. named as his replacement Bob Chapek, most recently chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products business.

“Did not see this coming -- Wowza,” tweeted LightShed media analyst Rich Greenfield.

Iger will remain executive chairman through the end of his contract on Dec. 31, 2021. Besides leading the board, Iger said he will spend more time on Disney’s creative endeavors, including the ESPN sports network, the newly acquired Fox studios and the Hulu and Disney Plus streaming services. He said he could not do that while running Disney on a day-to-day basis.

“It was not accelerated for any particular reason other than I felt the need was now to make this change,” Iger said on a conference call with reporters and analysts.

Iger steered Disney through the successful purchases of Lucasfilms, Marvel, Pixar and other brands that became big moneymakers for Disney. Last year, the top five movies in U.S. and Canada theaters were all Disney movies, including two from Marvel and one from Pixar. With the Dec. 20 release of the latest “Star Wars” movie, Disney had seven movies that each sold at least $1 billion in tickets worldwide last year.

Iger’s most recent coup was orchestrating a $71 billion purchase of Fox’s entertainment business in March and launching the Disney Plus streaming service in November. That service got nearly 29 million paid subscribers in less than three months. In a statement, Iger said it was the “optimal time” for a transition.

Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said Iger had implied he would stay until his contract ended in 2021.

“On the other hand, they just successfully closed the Fox deal and had an unquestionably successful launch of Disney Plus so maybe he felt earlier was better to hand off the reins,” he said.

Colin Gillis, director of research at Chatham Road Partners, said the choice of Chapek seems solid because his parks division has had success.

Chapek said that while he has not led television networks or streaming services, his background in consumer-oriented businesses should help. Chapek and Iger both stressed that Disney would continue on the direction it had already been taking.

Disney is facing challenges to its traditional media business as cord-cutting picks up, meaning less fees from cable and satellite companies to carry Disney networks such as ABC, ESPN and Freeform. Disney’s own streaming services require the company to forgo money in licensing revenue, although the company is betting that money from subscriptions will eventually make up for that.

In the short term, Disney parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China, remain closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. In a CNBC interview, Chapek said the outbreak may be a “bump in the road,” but he said the company could weather it given “affinity for the brand.”

Iger told CNBC he had no plans to stay with Disney beyond next year.

Iger’s appointment as CEO in 2005 had been accompanied by controversy and protest from dissident shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold. But he has come to be seen as a golden-boy top executive, and even someone who could run for president.

Iger told Vogue in 2018 that he had started seriously exploring a run for president because he is “horrified at the state of politics in America today,” but the Fox deal stopped his plans. Oprah Winfrey told Vogue that she “really, really pushed him to run.”

Iger, a former weatherman, joined ABC in 1974, 22 years before Disney bought the network.

At ABC, Iger developed such successful programs as “Home Improvement,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and was instrumental in launching the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” He was also criticized for cancelling well-regarded but expensive shows such as “Twin Peaks” and “thirtysomething.”

Since Iger became CEO, Disney’s stock price has risen fivefold. Its stock fell more than 2% in extended trading following the announcement, on top of a broader market selloff on virus fears during regular trading.

Iger, 69, was the second-highest paid CEO in 2018, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. He earned $65.6 million. The top earner was Discovery’s David Zaslav who earned $129.5 million.

Susan Arnold, the independent lead director of the Disney board, said succession planning had been ongoing for several years.

Chapek, 60, is only the seventh CEO in Disney history. Chapek was head of the parks, experiences and products division since it was created in 2018. He was previously head of parks and resorts and before that president of consumer products.

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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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