I'm not going to do cut and paste job: Boman Irani

News Network
November 18, 2019

Mumbai, Nov 18: When Boman Irani approaches a new character, he unlearns whatever tricks he has learnt over the years because the actor says it'd be tragic if the audience feels he has done a "cut and paste job".

With an experience of more than 15 years and several memorable characters in films like "Munna Bhai MBBS" to "3 Idiots", Boman says when someone approaches him with a role he can never do an ordinary, convenient job.

"I'm driven by childishness, naughtiness and a certain responsibility to the makers, so I'm not going to do cut and paste job. The approach is to be fresh. I might have an ego to never be repetitive.

"What's the point if people feel 'Hey we have seen him do this before?' It's important to me that my self-esteem or self-worth should never be judged by a cut and paste job. It's no fun," Boman told PTI in an interview.

The 59-year-old actor said every character, no matter how similar on paper, will always be different from each other.

"As an actor, the great advantage is that you can get characters which might sound similar, have same profession or of same age but they're different human beings. Because of that, my creation of them will also be fresh. It cannot be leftovers of the other guy. You have to work hard to create this other guy."

One of the key processes to create a distinct character for Boman is to keep letting go of his tried and tested formulas.

"Unlearning is far more difficult than learning. You have to do it all the time, before every shoot. Because something's worked for you before, you think it'll work for you again. But it is so important to unlearn," he added.

Boman will be be next seen as Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi in "Jhalki", which deals with the issue of child trafficking and child labour.

The actor said he was clear he didn't want to copy Satyarthi's mannerisms, his style or even his walk as he doesn't believe in that acting method.

"I had two options. Do I sit and do a complete immitation — an approach I don't like — or just capture the spirit of the man? I did the latter. The pressure of this here was less as few people have seen him speak. I took that pressure off me and simply concentrated on what the man stands for.

"If there's some similarity between how I have played him and his real self, it doesn't matter. My challenge was how do I imbibe his spirit."

Boman believes while it is good for actors to back and feature in socially-relevant films, it is also the makers' responsibility to ensure the project has some cinematic merit.

"I wish I had more projects like these. But films should have some narrative. You can't just say 'I am doing a social cause film.' Sure, it can be about a good cause but it has to be a good film too. Just because it's a social message film doesn't mean it'll be good.

"At least present the audience with something that's consumable. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece but it can't be a terrible film from the get go."

Directed by Brahmanand Siingh, "Jhalki" also features Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sanjay Suri and Divya Dutta.

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Agencies
February 10,2020

Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix finally ended his dry run at the Oscars as he picked up the best actor trophy for his performance in and as "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards.

The 45-year-old actor had earlier bagged a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his turn as a failed, unhinged stand-up comedian who descends into chaos.

In a lengthy and rambling speech, Phoenix touched upon racism, climate change and gender inequality. He also remembered his brother River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 23 in 1993.

"When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, 'run to the rescue with love and peace will follow'," Phoenix said. At the Academy Awards and the entire Hollywood award season, Phoenix had emerged as an undisputed frontrunner even though he was up against the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story"), "Antonio Banderas ("Pain & Glory") and Jonathan Pryce ("The Two Popes").

An Oscar had eluded Phoenix for the most part of his career, despite his successful collaborations with Ridley Scott ("Gladiator"), James Mangold ("Walk The Line") and Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master"), all of which had earned him nominations.

But as Arthur Fleck aka The Joker, Phoenix finally managed to break that jinx and became the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the DC comic book villain after the posthumous best supporting actor win to Heath Ledger in 2008.

As Joker, Phoenix took a deep dive into character, capturing its essence as well as maniacal spirit in both body and soul.

He lost 52 pounds to get into the physicality of Fleck and turned to a pathological disorder to get his distinct laughter right.

Phillips wrote the part keeping Phoenix in mind though the actor took some convincing to play the role.

Phoenix started the film's festival circuit tour on a positive note at Cannes last year that followed by stops at Venice and Toronto.

The film had also courted controversies, owing to its theme of gun violence in the movie as well as Phoenix's temperamental press tour that saw him walking out of an interview midway.

But critics and the fans loved the actor's riveting turn in the movie and his pointed speeches.

At the Golden Globes, he called out the industry for its insensitivity towards climate change and pulled up his peers for using private jets for travel, while at the SAGs, he joked how he would always lose a role to DiCaprio and asked Christian Bale to deliver a bad performance for once in his career.

In his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs, Phoenix acknowledged the lack of diversity in the nominations, calling himself a part of the problem. Phoenix's career most praised performances include "Signs ", "We Own the Night", "Two Lovers", "The Immigrant", "Her", "You Were Never Really Here" and "Inherent Vice".

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News Network
May 14,2020

Mumbai, Mar 14: Animal Planet has announced a new documentary "The Zoo: COVID-19 And Animals", which seeks to explore the effects of coronavirus on animals.

The special will see Dave Salmoni, Animal Planet’s big cat expert, talking to a number of experts, from the World Health Organization to wildlife biologists, in order to find out how COVID-19 is affecting animals and what pet owners can do to safeguard them.

The issue came to forefront when a four-year-old Malayan tiger tested positive for COVID-19 at Bronx Zoo in New York.

The documentary will feature chief veterinarian of Bronx Zoo, who will give an update on the big cats and their treatment, and also Dr Peter Embarek from WHO's COVID-19 Task Force, who works particularly on all aspects of the virus related to animals.

In a statement, Salmoni said, "When news about Nadia the tiger came out the questions immediately began; what about my pets? How do I keep my animals and family safe? We’re going to answer these questions and more through this documentary."

"We're speaking to a wide range of experts from the World Health Organization, to wildlife biologists, to veterinarians. We are at war with this disease and so we get down to the nitty-gritty, and discuss practical questions about daily lives with our pets," he added.

Sai Abishek, Director – Content, Factual & Lifestyle Entertainment – South Asia, Discovery, said, "We have been the forefront of busting myths around novel coronavirus with international documentaries. With this latest film, we take a hard look at how animals are being treated during such a crisis and the safety measures that can be taken to keep both, the people and their pets healthy."

"The Zoo: COVID-19 And Animals" will premiere on May 17 on Animal Planet, Animal Planet HD and Discovery Plus app.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Mumbai, Apr 8: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has started the process of transferring funds into the accounts of daily wage workers of the film industry, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) said on Wednesday.

The actor had recently pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers who have been badly hit by the 21-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread in the country.

According to B N Tiwari, FWICE, President, Salman has made an initial payment of Rs 3,000 each to the daily wage workers of the film industry, starting Tuesday.

"We had given him the final list of 23,000 workers so far, who were in dire need of financial help. He is going to transfer money in installments as he doesn't want people to misuse it. He has transferred about Rs 3,000 to every worker yesterday and he will transfer money again after some time. We are thankful to him for helping our workers," Tiwari told PTI.

A source close to Salman said the superstar will continue to support the workers until the situation improves in the country.

"We have started the process from Tuesday. We will be giving sufficient money to workers monthly, we will also give money next month and if the situation is still the same, we will continue to financially help the workers till it doesn't return to normalcy," the source said.

FWICE said Yash Raj Films have also provided a financial help of Rs 5,000 to around 3,000 workers.

"Besides Salman, a lot of people from Bollywood have come forward to help the workers, including Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty, who have given Rs 51 lakh each. Boney Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor too have given money and there are few more who have offered financial assistance to the federation. We also received Rs 1.5 crore from the Producers Guild of India on Tuesday.

"The federation has received a total amount of Rs 3 crore from film industry people. We are yet to receive money from Netflix, which they had announced for daily wage earners and also from Amitabh Bachchan, who is going to provide ration to one lakh workers. He is going to provide coupons which we should receive in a day or two," Tiwari said.

He further said Bachchan's ration coupon for workers will also be given to other associations across the country, such as in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Karnataka.

Tiwari said FWICE is in the process of making another list of needy workers and then they will begin the process of transferring money.

"The Rs 3 crore that the federation has received will be distributed among our five lakh workers in Maharashtra. We will start sending money from April 14 in phases. Those who haven't received any financial aid will be helped first. We are in the process of making a list of such workers for the same," Tiwari said.

"FWICE has also begun distributing ration to workers in suburban Andheri and Jogeshwari. So far we have distributed 5,000 packets of ration and we will give more, he added.

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