Mahershala Ali becomes first 'Ahmadiyya Muslim' to win Oscar in acting

February 27, 2017

Los Angeles, Feb 27: Mahershala Ali made history by becoming the first Ahmadiyya Muslim to win an acting Oscar as he was honoured with the best supporting actor trophy for his riveting turn as an empathetic drug dealer, who takes a fatherless young boy under his wing in "Moonlight.

Mahershala

Ali, 43, is only in the first third of "Moonlight" but his quiet yet powerful performance as Juan has made his presence felt throughout the Barry Jenkin's directed coming- of-age gay drama, even long after his character departs the story.

He was presented the ceremony's first trophy by last year's best supporting actress winner, Alicia Vikander.

"My grandma would want me to button up. Wow," began the actor amid a standing ovation from the Hollywood audience.

"I want to thank my teachers and professors who told me that it is not about you, it is about characters," he said, thanking his wife Amatus Sami-Karim for being supportive while she was expecting their first child, a daughter born just four days ago.

Other nominees in the category were Indian-British actor Dev Patel ("Lion"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea" and Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals").

Ali's name was recommended to Jenkins by producer Adele Romanski, who had worked with the actor on the Bay Area-set independent drama "Kicks."

And it was then that Jenkins cast Ali as Juan, a dealer in Miami's Liberty City neighbourhood, who sees in a young gay boy named Chiron a desperate need for guidance and protection.

The movie's signature image is that of Juan holding the boy in the surf as he teaches him to swim

Ali had revealed that he shaped his performance of a drug trafficker on mentors who left a positive impact on him.

The actor has been on a whirlwind awards tour, collecting one trophy after another, including the Screen Actors Guild award for supporting actor.

The actor's exceptionally fruitful year saw his 16-year career skyrocket in 2016 with an Emmy nomination for his fourth season as "House of Cards'" Washington insider Remy Denton, an acclaimed run on Netflix's "Luke Cage" and a role in another Oscar-nominated film "Hidden Figures".

Christian becomes Ahmadiyya Muslim

Ali was born in 1974, in Oakland, CA, and was raised in Cleveland, OH. He is named after Maher-shalal-hash-baz, a biblical prophetic-name child. Raised Christian by his mother, Willicia, an ordained minister, he later converted to Islam in 1999, changing his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His father appeared on Broadway. He attended St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication. He is married to Amatus Sami-Karim. He named his cat Nas, after the musician. On February 22, 2017, he and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Bari Najma.

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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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Agencies
March 24,2020

Los Angeles, Mar 24: In a bizarre video shot from her rose petal filled bathtub, pop star Madonna has called the coronavirus pandemic "a great equaliser".

The music icon said the virus doesn't discriminate between rich and poor.

That's the thing about COVID-1. It doesn't care about how rich you are, how famous you are, how funny you are, how smart you are, where you live, how old you are, what amazing stories you can tell.

It's the great equaliser and what's terrible about it is what's great about it. What's terrible about it is that it's made us all equal in many ways, and what's wonderful about is, is that it's made us all equal in many ways, Madonna said in the video while having a milky bath in tub full of roses.

The 61-year-old singer, who had to cancel two of her concerts in Paris due to coronavirus outbreak, also referenced her 1995 song Human Nature in the video saying we are all going down together .

According to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker, the death toll from the virus globally has risen to 14,641 with 336,000 cases reported in 173 countries and territories.

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News Network
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: After the recent sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, actor Kangana Ranaut who went public slamming nepotism in the Hindi film industry, has now revealed that she faced similar struggles like that of Sushant.

In a new statement, the "Queen" actor alleged that she was asked to apologise to Hrithik Roshan's family in order to survive. Both Kangana and Hrithik had been in the public spotlight in the year 2016 over their alleged former relationship and legal battle.

The 'Queen' actor said: "Once Javed Akhtar had called me to his house and told me that Rakesh Roshan and his family are very big people. If you don't apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to Hrithik Roshan, I would have to commit suicide? He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house,"

She further continued, "Were there people calling Sushant? Were there people putting such thoughts into his mind? I have no idea, but obviously, he was in a similar situation. In his interviews, he had said that nepotism cannot co-exist with talent because they don't allow the right talent to come up. I can relate to it, and hence I am raising questions. I want to know who played the catalyst in this situation?"

Kangana adds, "I know Sushant had a big fallout with Aditya Chopra also. When I refused Sultan, he had threatened he would never work with me. Ever since our industry ganged up on me. I remember so many times feeling really lonely and feeling what will happen to me..."

The 'Manikarnika' star also revealed that all this not only happened to her professionally but personally as well it hampered her relationships. "They are very insecure about things. Despite what they did to me, there was a guy who wanted to get married to me. But he distanced himself, they made sure he ran away. With no surety about my career, my love-life completely has gone awry, with six court-cases against me, they're still trying to put me in jail."

Kangana also talked about herself: "I'm a different person; I'm very expressive. I went out there, and I just vented it out. Sushant was not a person like that at all. He just bottled it up. Media too has played a considerable part in this--the kind of monster image that was given to him. Everybody who knew him closely agrees that he was a soft and emotional person. I think that after a point it really got to him. I can understand it because even I have been portrayed as a witch and as a stalker."

Sharing that the bullying and outbursts had a psychological impact on her life situations, Kangana says, "I remember initially when people used to come to my home, I felt so embarrassed to even offer them water. Forget having a relationship or going on a date post the disaster of a relationship I had. I can only imagine that even during Manikarnika what they did to me."

Talking about the 'Kai Po Che' star, she added, "But perhaps he was just not able to vent. In fact, all these constant jibes on these petty show that he should be killed and which rated him as the least efficient... his films have done more business than your Gully Boy. People like Salman Khan said who Sushant Singh Rajput? It was after M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, everybody knew who Sushant was. We need to stop these."

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