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Hurt by rumours, nothing offensive in 'Manikarnika': Kangana

Agencies
February 9, 2018

Bikaner/Mumbai, Feb 9: Actor Kangana Ranaut today dismissed rumours that there was a romantic sequence involving Rani Laxmibai in her film "Manikarnika", saying those spreading such stories are actually defaming the queen.

Brahmin group 'Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha' from Rajasthan has raised objection over the film, alleging it features a romantic scene between Rani Laxmibai and a British East India company agent.

Kangana, who is in the city to shoot for the film, said the crew is hurt by such allegations.

"It is very lowly (neech baat) to even think like that about Rani Laxmibai. We cannot even think like that, the kind of things they are saying. What they are saying is actually defaming. There is nothing like that. It is idle talk and I don't know why it is being said," the actor told reporters here.

Kangana said the film has been written by K V Vijayendra Prasad, who also penned "Baahubali".

"We are hurt and upset. The writer of the film, Vijayendra Prasad has named his daughter Manikarnika. We are hurt that such things are being said about Rani Laxmibai," she added.

The objections against the film come close on the heels a similar controversy involving Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Padmaavat", which faced protests by Rajput groups.

Now, Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha has raised concerns over "Manikarnika". The Mahasabha's president met with Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh, yesterday demanding that the filmmaker be directed to give an affidavit that there is no such scene in the film.

Meanwhile, Prasad has assured fans that there is no such scene in the film that would do a disservice to the memory of the brave queen.

"The film's title is 'Manikarnika' because it is her name. Her parents named her that because she was born in Kasi and the Manikarnika Ghat there is very famous. Even I named my daughter Manikarnika, so you now know how much I respect Rani Laxmibai," he said in a statement.

The producers of the film, Kamal Jain and Zee Studios have also clarified that their film shows Rani Laxmibai in the most respectful manner.

The film is slated to release on August 3.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

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News Network
January 2,2020

Jan 2: A young filmmaker was allegedly assaulted by an acquaintance during an argument over CAA-NRC in neighbouring Salt Lake City, police said on Wednesday.

The police have arrested the accused following a complaint by the filmmaker.

According to a senior police officer, the argument over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) began following a social media post by the filmmaker.

The accused allegedly went to the house of the filmmaker on Monday night and picked up an argument, which led to a scuffle.

"During the scuffle, the accused attacked the filmmaker with a knife," the senior police officer said, adding that the accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Mumbai, Jul 28: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan says he was left in tears as his daughter-in-law, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan were discharged from hospital after testing negative for coronavirus.

Aishwarya and her eight-year-old daughter, who were shifted to the isolation ward of Nanavati Hospital on July 17, were discharged on Monday.

Amitabh, 77, and his actor-son Abhishek are still in hospital after they were admitted on July 11.

In a post on official blog, the Bollywood veteran said that he became emotional when Aaradhya told him that he would be "back home soon".

"They go home, the little one and Bahurani... and the tears flow out... the little one embraces and tells me not to cry... 'You’ll be home soon', she assures... I must believe her," he said.

On Monday, Abhishek had said that he and his father were still under the care of medical staff at the Nanavati Hospital's isolation ward.

"My father and I remain in hospital under the care of the medical staff. Thank you all for your continued prayers and good wishes. Indebted forever," the 44-year-old actor tweeted.

Both Amitabh and Abhishek have been sharing their health updates with fans on various social media platforms.

Last week, Amitabh had dismissed reports that he had finally tested negative for coronavirus, calling the piece of news "an incorrigible lie".

Mumbai's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,10,129 on Monday with addition of 1,033 new cases.

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