Kangana on nepotism: I would be a farmer if genes mattered

Agencies
July 24, 2017

Mumbai, Jul 24: Kangana Ranaut has broken her silence on the nepotism debate, which hit the headlines when Karan Johar, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan brought it up, and said she would be "a farmer" if the point about family genes were true.Kangana

The three stars chanted "nepotism rocks" in New York during an award show last week and Johar took a swipe at Kangana who had called him "flag bearer of nepotism" on his chat show. While Johar and Varun apologised, Saif claimed in an open letter that he had personally said sorry to her.

The debate and exchange of thoughts on nepotism is "exasperating, but is healthy", Kangana responded, also in an open letter. Quoting a part of her 'Rangoon' co-star's letter, where he "emphasised" on nepotism being an investment on tried and tested genes, Kangana said, "I have spent a significant part of my life studying genetics. But, I fail to understand how you can compare genetically hybrid racehorses to artistes!"

"Are you implying that artistic skills, hard-work, experience, concentration spans, enthusiasm, eagerness, discipline and love, can be inherited through family genes? If your point was true, I would be a farmer back home." While she enjoyed some of the perspectives on this subject, she did find a few of them disturbing, she said.

"Saif, in your letter you mentioned that, 'I apologised to Kangana, and I don't owe anyone any explanation, and this issue is over.' But this is not my issue alone. Nepotism is a practice where people tend to act upon temperamental human emotions, rather than intellectual tendencies," Kangana wrote.

The actress said any business run by human emotions and not by great value-systems, might gain superficial profits, but cannot be productive enough to tap into the true potential of a nation. "Nepotism, on many levels, fails the test of objectivity and rationale."

"I have acquired these values from the ones who have found great success and discovered a higher truth, much before me. These values are in the public domain, and no one has a copyright on them," she added, giving examples of greats like Swami Vivekananda, Albert Einstein and William Shakespeare. Kangana said the aim of the conversation started by her was to encourage outsiders; her agenda was not to blame people from the industry.

"I think the privileged are the least to be blamed in this debate, since they are part of the system, which is set around chain reactions. Change can only be caused by those who want it. It is the prerogative of the dreamer who learns to take his or her due, and not ask for it." In response to Johar and his comments on the issue, she said talent does exist beyond the "superficiality of branded clothes, polished accents, and a sanitised upbringing".

The actress added that many examples of people succeeding on the basis of "genuine hard-work, diligence and eagerness to learn" do exist all over world in every field. "I don't know if he was being misinformed, or simply naive, but to discredit the likes of Dilip Kumar, K Asif, Bimal Roy, Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, and many more, whose talent and exceptional abilities have formed the spine of our contemporary film business, is absolutely bizarre," Kangana said.

The 'Queen' star clarified that she was not fighting with anyone in the industry and her views should not be misconstrued to pit her and Saif against each other. In her opinion, "nepotism is an extremely pessimistic attitude for a Third World country, where many people don't have access to food, shelter, clothing, and education."

"The world is not an ideal place, and it might never be. That is why we have the industry of arts. In a way, we are the flag-bearers of hope," she said, adding that people who feel nepotism works for them are free to make peace with it.

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: On the ongoing protests against new Citizenship Law, Bollywood actor Zeeshan Ayub said that everyone has been exposed and the common man has understood everything and the right-wing people cannot make a fool out of them by giving vague statements.

Talking to ANI, Zeeshan said, "Law is supposed to give the citizenship but the way in which the criteria have been changed is the trouble here."

Disagreeing to the continuous statements put forward by the BJP government that CAA is not a hindrance to the citizenship, the actor further said, Things are clear now, people have now understood the facts, the people and the intention behind are now exposed,.. they can't make a fool out of common people any more."

Zeeshan said it actually the other way round, those people are the ones who are misleading the general public by fluctuating their own statements. "Home minister said something, the next day something else is being said in the Ram leela..people are getting confused., the 'Ranjahanna' actor added.

He further said, "Earlier it was Hindu-Muslim propaganda, but that didn't work, so now you are making it a case between two political parties.. basically you are changing your own statements." When asked about his take on the ongoing JNU Violence, the actor said the members of the alleged political party itself have come out and explained their part in the case and yet no action has been taken.

The actor finally said that people should develop a sense of humanity.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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News Network
May 10,2020

May 10: Azaan is an integral part of the faith, not the gadget, says veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, asking that the Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers should be stopped as it causes "discomfort" to others.

In a tweet on Saturday, Akhtar wondered why the practice was 'halaal' (allowed) when it was, for nearly half a century in the country, considered 'haraam' or forbidden.

"In India for almost 50 years Azaan on the loud speak was Haraam. Then it became Halaal and so halaal that there is no end to it, but there should be an end to it. Azaan is fine but loud speaker does cause of discomfort for others. I hope that atleast this time they will do it themselves (sic)," Akhtar tweeted.

When a user asked his opinion on loudspeakers being used in temples, the 75-year-old writer said everyday use of speakers is a cause of concern.

"Whether it's a temple or a mosque, if you're using loudspeakers during a festival, it's fine. But it shouldn't be used everyday in either temples or mosques.

"For more than thousand years Azaan was given without the loud speaker. Azaan is the integral part of your faith, not this gadget," he replied.

Earlier in March, Akhtar had supported the demand to shut mosques amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country, saying even Kaaba and Medina have been closed due to the pandemic.

He had also appealed to the Muslim community to offer prayers from home in the holy month of Ramzan, which began on April 24.

"I request all the Muslim brothers that now that Ramzan is coming, please say your prayers but make sure that this doesn't cause problems to anyone else. The prayers that you do in the mosque, you can do that at home. According to you, the house, the ground, this all has been made by Him. Then you can do your prayers anywhere," he had said.

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