I want everything: Priyanka Chopra

Agencies
December 27, 2017

New Delhi, Dec 27: Priyanka Chopra may have had a dream run all the way from Bareilly to the American showbiz industry via Bollywood but says she is "greedy" and doesn't want anyone telling her she can't have it all.

The 35-year-old actor spoke on '12 rules of becoming the best version of yourself' while delivering the Penguin Annual Lecture at the packed Siri Fort auditorium last evening.

"I want everything. There's nothing wrong with it as long as you're not harming someone or doing something wrong. Don't be scared to want more for yourself... I don't want anyone to tell me I can't have everything," she said.

The former Miss World said she left Bollywood at the peak of her success to become a struggler again in Hollywood, where she has successfully established a parallel career.

"I want to dream of everything and I'll have everything.

Be greedy, be hungry for your ambitions. Don't live on someone else's benchmarks. Who can tell you who you should be? Don't let anyone or any situation dictate to you who you are and who you can be," said Priyanka, who got her big break in the West with the TV show "Quantico".

The actor was invited to deliver an address on the theme 'Breaking The Glass Ceiling: Chasing a Dream' in the 11th edition of the event by Penguin Random House.

Adding her own spin to the Cinderella story, Priyanka said, "Why do you want to fit into a glass slipper when you can shatter the glass ceiling?"

She said the term "breaking the glass ceiling" annoys her as it takes all her achievements and hard work and puts it "into a box", defined by a largely patriarchal society.

"To be honest, it was never my mission to break the glass ceiling. All I wanted to do was chase my dreams, my ambitions.

I wanted to become the best version of me."

The actor said one had to fight for one's dreams as no one else would do so.

"Today I know my path is mine, the failures, successes mine. Don't settle on your dreams."

The National Award-winning actor said she hates failures but it is what one does afterwards that counts.

"When I fail in something that I do with all of my heart and mind, I don't wallow in self-pity, I roll myself in it.

It's not a pretty sight. But then I cry a little, I get up and dust myself off and dive straight back again as the only way to push failure aside is to move ahead. Not ignore it, analyse it."

For those who don't allow themselves to dream beyond their imagination, her advice is to "loosen up, let your dreams fly".

The actor said one has to recognise opportunities and then give one's best shot.

"There was never a plan. The universe was guiding me through it, all I had to do was make sure that I worked so hard that I squeezed every drop out of these opportunities.

"No matter where you are, you have never arrived enough to explore opportunities. There's nothing wrong with being ambitious, ladies listen to me."

She said people in the Hindi film industry had raised eyebrows when she played an antagonist in "Aitraaz" and when she chose to do a women-centric film like "Fashion" early in her career.

Priyanka said she knew her move to Hollywood would be "career suicide" if it did not work but that did not stop her.

"People have written me off several times in my career...

I went to do 'Quantico', when I was at the peak in my career here. The risks were huge, the stakes were high and the repercussions could have been, to say the least, career ending.

"But it was all worth it as I backed those risks with my 100 per cent.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Washington, Jun 20: American actor Angelina Jolie has now opened up about her 2016 divorce announcement with Brad Pitt, which shocked fans.

Fox News said the 45-year-old Jolie opened up about leaving the father of her six kids,18-year-old Maddox, 16-year-old Pax, 15-year-old Zahara, 12-year-old, Shiloh, and 11-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

"I separated for the well-being of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing," the Oscar-winning star told Vogue India magazine.

The 'Maleficent' star added, "Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media, but I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds. In fact, they are six very brave, very strong young people."

Since 2004, Pitt and Jolie were together but only married in August 2014 at their estate in France.

The 'Mr and Mrs Smith' star previously told Harper's Bazaar magazine how the last few years have been physically, emotionally and mentally turbulent for her.

"My body has been through a lot over the past decade, particularly the past four years, and I have both the visible and invisible scars to show for it," Jolie said.

"The invisible ones are harder to wrestle with. Life takes many turns. Sometimes you get hurt, you see those you love in pain, and you can't be as free and open as your spirit desires. It's not new or old, but I do feel the blood returning to my body," she added.

Besides her marriage ending on the public stage, Jolie underwent a preventative double mastectomy in 2013 followed by breast reconstruction after testing positive for the BRCA gene. In 2015, the actor 'Girl, Interrupted' star also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

She admitted it has taken a while for her to feel like her old self. She said, "The part of us that is free, wild, open, curious can get shut down by life. By pain or by harm."

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News Network
July 12,2020

Mumbai, Jul 12: Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her daughter Aaradhya have tested positive for coronavirus, confirmed Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday. However,  veteran actor Jaya Bachchan has tested negative for the virus.

"Smt Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Daughter Aaradhya Abhishek Bachchan have also been detected positive for Covid-19. Smt. Jaya Bachchan ji is tested negative for Covid-19. We wish the Bachchan Family to get well soon with a speedy recovery," Tope tweeted.

As per Assistant Municipal Commissioner Vishwas Mote, the rest of the family members - Jaya Bachchan, daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda and her children Agastya and Navya Naveli - have tested negative for COVID-19.

On Saturday, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan took to social media to confirm that they have detected positive for coronavirus.

The 'Sholay' actor is reported to be in a "stable" condition with "mild symptoms."
The 77-year-old has been admitted to the isolation unit at Mumbai's Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital.

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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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