Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt joins protest against Citizenship Amendment Act

Mumbai, Jun 19: The Mumbai Police, probing the   case of alleged suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of the contracts it had signed with him, an official said on Friday.

Rajput, 34, known for films like Kai Po Che!, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhichhore, was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

"Police are investigating various angles, including that of professional rivalry, in the case," the official said. So far, Bandra police have recorded the statements of over 13 people, including Rajput's family members and close friends like actor Rhea Chakraborty and casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

 "Keeping in view the professional angle, police have started calling some prominent production houses for inquiry. As part of that, police on Thursday sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of all the contracts it had signed with the deceased actor," a senior police officer said.

"We have also asked for the copies of the contracts that Yash Raj Films had signed with the actor," he added.

In the next few days, police may also call those people, who had played a role in signing of contracts between the actor and the production houses for their projects, the officer said.

 Rajput had worked in two Yash Raj Films movies - Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) directed by Maneesh Sharma and in director Dibakar Banerjee directed Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).

His third film with the banner was supposed to be Paani, directed by Shekhar Kapur. However, YRF had reportedly backed out of the project later.

New Delhi, Mar 16: Joining other big names from the industry in raising the awareness about the novel coronavirus, actor Katrina Kaif on Sunday ensured the safety and urged everyone to take all the preventive measures to combat the spread of the virus.

The 36-year-old actor shared a post on Instagram along with a caption that read: "..... hope everyone is staying safe ... please follow all precautionary safety measures as recommended by the health professionals .... exercise and meditation help your body`s immune system ... keep your environment clean and happy."

In the shared post, she is seen posing for the camera along with her girlfriends, all seen in happy faces.

 

 

 

 

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..... hope everyone is staying safe ... please follow all precautionary safety measures as recommended by the health professionals .... excercise and meditation help your body’s immune system ... keep your environment clean and happy

A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Mar 15, 2020 at 7:50am PDT

Earlier in the day actor Parineeti Chopra too took to Twitter and urged her fans to adopt social distancing to stop the highly contagious virus from spreading.

This comes three days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced coronavirus as a global pandemic.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

As of Sunday, the total cases of coronavirus reported in India is 107, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Mumbai, Jul 25: Movie theatres have been shuttered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, but the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has now recommended that the Union Home Ministry allow cinema halls to reopen in August. 

I&B Secretary Amit Khare indicated this at a close-door industry interaction with the CII Media Committee on Friday. He said Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla at the Home Ministry would take the final call.

Khare said that he has recommended that cinema halls may be allowed to reopen all over India as early as August 1, or at the latest, around August 31.

The formula suggested is that alternate seats in the first row and then the next row be kept vacant, and proceeding in this fashion throughout.

Khare said that his ministry's recommendation takes into consideration the two metre social distancing norm, but tweaks it gently to two yards instead. The Home Ministry, however, still has to revert on the recommendation.

Cinema owners, present in the interaction, however, pushed back and said this formula is unwise and merely running films at 25% auditorium capacity is worse than keeping the cinemas shut.

The attendees at the meet included media CEOs like N.P. Singh of Sony, Sam Balsara (Madison), Megha Tata, (Discovery), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Manish Maheshwari (Twitter), S. Sivakumar (Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd), and K Madhavan, Star & Disney, and also Chairman, CII Media Committee.

The OTT platforms present, including Gandhi of Amazon Prime, did not push back. Some Bollywood producers, notably those of Amitabh Bachchan's Gulabo Sitabo, have posted their movies on OTT, rather than live out the lockdown uncertainty.