Nepalese transgender model makes dream debut in India

February 4, 2017

Mumbai, Feb 4: Coming from the hinterland of Nepal, Anjali Lama never imagined that she would one day walk the ramp at one of India's most reputed fashion shows, where she made history as the first transgender model to take on the catwalk.

anjalilamaAnjali was shortlisted through the model auditions for the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017, which began on Wednesday. She walked the ramp on the first day and is part of the model pool at this year's event.

The fashion event has been keeping Anjali busy till Sunday but earlier in an interview she said that post LFW, she wants to stay back in Mumbai, hire an agency and kick-start her career here.

"I have planned to settle in Mumbai. This city has given me hope and showered love in the most profuse way possible. I am planning to join an agency to work on dynamics even more professionally and strengthen my portfolio. I dream to win a renowned brand campaign feature while continuing to be walking the runway as this thrills me most," Anjali had said.

The model has already found fans in the audience in just three days of the event with people identifying her.

But Anjali is no stranger to attention. Her life struggle has been presented in a documentary movie called "Anjali - Living Inside Someone Else's Skin" that is based on transsexual lives.

The model has become an inspiration for many back home. Anjali was born in Nuwakot as a boy and was named Nabin Wabia. She changed her gender and became a woman once she moved to Kathmandu for her higher studies.

Anjali's friends realised her modelling potential and asked her think of it as a career option.

"I have always been told by my close friends regarding my good body features and this encouraged me to aspire for modelling as a career."

Her first assignment was of a photoshoot for the cover page of a magazine and the real challenge began after that. Anjali says it was a tough journey as several rejections came her way.

"I was broke but never gave up. The most disturbing thing to hear was the reason of the rejection which was being a 'transgender'. To the point, when my successive failures insisted my well-wishers to also suggest me to leave this career path. I took this as a challenge to debunk this myth and lay my own way forward of my choice which has brought me today to this prestigious runway."

Anjali, however, says that the fashion industry is all encompassing and she never felt discriminated.

"Fashion is conducive. The entire industry has a big global influence in a positive way.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Urging netizens to adopt traditional salutation styles like 'namaste' and 'salaam' to greet everyone in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, megastar Salman Khan on Thursday shared a picture from his workout session.

Flaunting his perfectly chiselled body, the 'Sultan' actor shared a picture of himself sitting on a pull-down machine with folded hands as a mark of Indian tradition 'namaste'.

"Namashkaar ... hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago...." he captioned the picture.

Khan recently touched the mark of 30 million followers on Instagram on Saturday and shared a short video on the platform thanking his fans for it.

In the video, he first thanked fans with folded hands and then a salute.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Jul 6: Tony Award-nominated actor Nick Cordero, who specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway in such shows as Waitress, A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway, has died in Los Angeles after suffering severe medical complications after contracting the coronavirus. He was 41.

Cordero died Sunday at Cedars-Sinai hospital after more than 90 days in the hospital, according to his wife Amanda Kloots. “God has another angel in heaven now,” she posted on Instagram. “Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband.”

Nick Cordero entered the emergency room on March 30 and had a succession of health setbacks, including mini-strokes, blood clots, septis infections, a tracheostomy and a temporary pacemaker implanted. He had been on a ventilator and unconscious and had his right leg amputated. A double lung transplant was being explored.

Kloots, sent him daily videos of her and their 1-year-old son Elvis, so he could see them if he woke up, and urged friends and fans to join a daily sing-a-long. A GoFundMe page to pay for medical expenses has raised over $600,000.

“I tell him, I say, ‘You’re gonna walk out of this hospital, honey. I believe it. I know you can,’” she told “CBS This Morning” over the summer. ”‘We’re gonna dance again. You’re gonna hold your son again.’ My line is, ‘Don’t get lost. Get focused.’”

The lanky Cordero originated the menacing role of husband Earl opposite his estranged wife, played by Jessie Mueller, in Waitress as well as the role of Sonny in Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale. It was at Bullets Over Broadway where Cordero met his wife. The two married in 2017.

Cast members from “Waitress” — Jessie Mueller, Keala Settle, Kimik Glenn and songwriter Sara Bareilles — helped raise money for Cordero by covering his song “Live Your Life.” Sylvester Stallone sent a video with best wishes.

Kloots had said that it was difficult to tell whether Cordero understood what happened to him, but said he could respond to commands by looking up and down when he was alert.

Her husband played a mob soldier with a flare for the dramatic in Broadway’s Woody Allen 1994 film adaptation of Bullets Over Broadway, for which he received a Tony nomination for best-featured actor in a musical. He moved to Los Angeles to star in Rock of Ages.

On the small screen, Nick Cordero appeared in several episodes of Blue Bloods and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and he had a role in the film Going in Style.

Actor and guitarist for Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt offered Cordero his first TV acting gig in the final episode of Lilyhammer. After he was hospitalized, Van Zandt teamed up with Constantine Maroulis and Vincent Pastore to make a video performing “Live Your Life.”

Cordero was last onstage in a Kennedy Center presentation of Littler Shop of Horrors. His off-Broadway credits include The Toxic Avenger and Brooklynite.

The coronavirus has sickened other Broadway veterans, including the actors Danny Burstein, Tony Shalhoub, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit and Laura Bell Bundy as well as composer David Bryan. It has also claimed the life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Srinagar, Feb 7: Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the release of the movie 'Shikara' which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.

The film which hit theatres today has Vidhu Vinod Chopra at the helm and narrates the story of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 that forced lakhs to flee their homeland almost overnight following a genocidal campaign by militants.

Shot primarily in the Valley, the movie is being promoted mainly as a journey of love between the lead couple.

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