Manju Warrier files complaint against Shrikumar Menon

Agencies
October 23, 2019

Kochi, Oct 23: Malayalam actress Manju Warrier has filed a complaint with Kerala DGP Loknath Behera against adman and ‘Odiyan’ director VA Shrikumar Menon, saying she feared threat to her life and he would harm her.

In her complaint, Manju Warrier wrote that he was tarnishing her image on social media by posting defamatory comments and memes. The actor called on the DGP at his office here on Monday and handed over a written complaint. The DGP office confirmed that the complaint may be forwarded to an officer, not less than the rank of an IG to initiate a probe.

“I tried to ignore them, but Menon has been troubling me. Menon and his friend Mathew Samuel have been posting defamatory statements against me. I am afraid that he may harm me,” she said in her complaint. Sources said that she had also handed over certain digital evidence to substantiate the complaint. Warrier also accused Menon of misusing signed blank cheques and letter pads in the name of ‘Manju Warrier Foundation’.

"I was a victim of a cyber attack on social media after the release of Odiyan. Since then, I used to get defamatory messages. Though I had overcome this crisis, Menon is again creating trouble against me. Now, I am afraid that he may harm me," Warrier said in her complaint.

After a divorce with her former hustband and actor Dileep, Manju Warrier has been working extensively with Menon and his advertising agency Push Integrated Communications. He has also directed her in ad campaigns for Kalyan Jewellers, which is a client of Shrikumar Menon. This friendship led them to cooperate in Mohanlal-starrer high budget movie 'Odiyan', a movie in which Manju Warrier was the heroine in Shrikumar Menon’s debut directorial venture. Since the film bombed at the box office, Warrier received several messages and memes which were defamatory. Now, Manju alleged that it was Shrikumar Menon behind these wily campaigns.

After the release of the movie, Menon had publicly blamed Warrier for the Odiyan’s damp box office collection even as she was trolled on social media for the film’s lackluster performance as she was reluctant to participate in the post-release promos of the movie. In her complaint, Warrier accused Menon of trying to defame her through an organised ‘cyber-attack’ after Odiyan’s release in December 2018, a report by News18 said.

Another point of difference of opinion between the two was a project to build houses for the people of a tribal segment at Wayanad in the name of ‘Manju Warrier Foundation’. Recently she was in the news for cheating for not fulfilling her promise of building houses for the people of a tribal segment at Wayanad. A notice was reportedly issued by the Wayanad Legal Service Authority against her and she was also directed to appear before the legal service authority.

Manju Warrier Foundation had promised the tribal people belonging to the Paniya community at Parakuni in Panamaram panchayat that houses will be constructed for 57 families by spending Rs 1.88 crore.

A letter regarding this was issued to the district collector, Minister AK Balan and Panamaram grama panchayat on January 20, 2017. Later, the department of SC/ST granted permission for the project. But even after two years, no action was taken to implement the housing project, the tribals had alleged. In the 2018 floods that ravaged the state, wide destruction was reported in the locality.

As the Foundation had promised help, none of the government authorities had come forward to offer any assistance or aid in rehabilitation. Warrier in her police complaint also accused Menon of misusing signed blank cheques and letter pads in the name of ‘Manju Warrier Foundation’.

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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
July 14,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 14: US officials on Monday found the body of "Glee" actress Naya Rivera in the Californian lake where she drowned last week during a boat trip with her four-year-old son.

Rivera's body was retrieved and an initial examination found no evidence of foul play or suicide, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a press conference.

"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," said Ayub, pointing to the location, appearance, clothing and condition of the body.

Her body was being taken to a medical examiner's office for a full autopsy and confirmation of her identity from dental records, though no other missing persons have been reported at Lake Piru, he added.

Rivera, 33, is believed to have accidentally drowned after renting the boat with her young son at the camping and recreational hotspot around an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles.

She vanished on Wednesday afternoon, and a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched after her sleeping son was spotted drifting alone in a boat on the lake.

The son later told investigators that Rivera had helped him into the boat before "he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water," said the sheriff.

Ayub pointed to the lake's strong currents as a possible cause of a fatal accident.

"The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting -- it was unanchored -- and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," he said.

The lake has been closed to the public since Wednesday, with around 100 personnel, including the US Coast Guard and rescuers from neighboring counties, joining the search.

Search teams used footage from video messaging calls Rivera made from the boat before her disappearance, as well as interviews with her son, to scour portions of the lake bed for her remains over six days, with no success.

"We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake" before eventually floating to the surface due to natural decomposition, said Ayyub.

With less than one foot (30 centimeters) of visibility underwater in daylight, the recovery operation was a "complex search effort" even with use of sonar equipment, he said.

Rivera was best known for her role as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee."

She starred for six seasons in the wildly popular musical television series set in a US high school that ended in 2015.

The "Glee" cast has been struck by tragedy before.

Actor Mark Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before being sentenced for possession of child pornography.

Canadian castmate Cory Monteith died in July 2013 of an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: While people across the country have been spending a lot of time at home owing to the lockdown, superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Saturday provided a unique platform for all the aspiring filmmakers to produce some 'fun, creative and... spooky' video.

The 54-year-old actor shared a statement on Instagram, detailing about the opportunity for the filmmakers to channel their inner "filmmaking ghost to make a scary indoor film with an element of horror in it."

Taking it to the captions, the 'Don' actor wrote: "Since we've all got a bit of time on our hands in quarantine, thought I can get us all to work a bit... in a fun, creative and... spooky way!"

In the post, titled with a hashtag 'SpookSRK,' the actor has listed down the rules to be followed while making the video and shared the email link to submit their work.

The 'Dilwale' actor also announced that the selected "three winners" will get a chance to video call the star himself.

Wrapping the post on a lighter note, he added: "I will be sending in my film as well...P.S - Ghosts are welcome to send their entries too."

This comes a day after the first trailer launch of Shah Rukh's new Netflix horror series 'Betaal'.

SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment is producing the horror-thriller. The new series also stars Vineet Kumar, Aahana Kumra, Suchitra Pillai, Jitendra Joshi, Manjiri Pupala, and Syna Anand.

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