Oscar winner recalls encounter with Aamir Khan

November 25, 2014

Kolkata, Nov 25: After her documentary 'Smile Pinki' won an Oscar, American director Megan Mylan now wants to take her second project 'After My Garden Grows', set in rural West Bengal, to short film festivals across the globe.megan mylan

After My Garden Grows (AMGG), was premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and is produced by Principe Productions.

The film got an award in the just-concluded Kolkata International Film Festival in the short film category.

Mylan said she had arranged a special screening of the film for Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran in New Delhi a fortnight back, and recalled how the actor talked about the adolescent crisis Indian girls face and confided to their mother.

"We were bowled over by the couple's humility and dedication to the cause," she said.

The documentary touches deeply-ingrained traditions like dowry and archaic customs in rural Bengal and takes notice of how the present generation is coming out of the cocoon, Megan says, observing that such subjects are topical everywhere.

"There is drinking water shortage and problems like this, but what strikes you immediately is that there is no sad face on account of this," she noted.

Having witnessed the change in Bengal's society in the past six years, Megan recalled, "During Smile Pinki the people treated me and the crew as aliens. There was no mobile phones and electricity in those times. It took time to earn their trust."

"But here, this time, my protagonist in AMGG Monika is more tech-savvy. She can see latest Tollywood films on her mobile. It seems they have moved on with time," Megan, who has shot the film in a remote hamlet in the state, explained.

Megan, in this context, complimented the Kanyasree project instituted by the West Bengal government, a project which accords the supreme place to the woman at the household.

"I was amazed to see how daughters are now considered as assets to their families They are learning, helping and aiding their families like their fathers. They are the present generation women of Bengal," she said.

Mylan, who regrets not being able to watch the interesting KIFF package this year due to late arrival, is, however, charmed with the knowledge and experience of film goers who seem to be well-versed with all the trends and techniques of world cinema including short films.

"It is apparent from the type of questions you face during the post-screening discourse. The progressiveness also manifests in the exclusive women's only section of the festival. A very novel concept. I heard about your Farah Khan and here I can see a whole lot of them. All so independently minded," she said.

Mylan, who in a lighter vein, talked about the surge of humanity, the crowd and the "hanging lights from trees" so typical and magical of Kolkata, did not rule out shooting her next short film on this festival crowd.

"It will be a cross between fantasy and reality as seen in the eyes of your people," she said.

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News Network
May 28,2020

Agartala, May 28: Tripura Police has registered a complaint against Bangladeshi singer Mainul Ahsan Nobel, who earned fame in the music reality show 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa' in Kolkata, for allegedly humiliating Prime Minister Narendra Modi over social media.

The complaint was filed by a resident of Belonia town in South Tripura district who is a student of Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

The complaint was filed on May 25, the person who is called Suman Paul said.

Nobel is not yet a popular singer in Bangladesh and has always been rejected by the audience of that country. He participated in the TV music reality show called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa in Kolkata, earned money, gained fame and returned to Bangladesh. If the person insults our prime minister it cannot be accepted. So I filed the FIR, Paul told reporters.

Belonia superintendent of police Jal Singh Meena confirmed that the complaint was registered and forwarded to Tripura Polices cyber crime cell.

The complaint was registered the same day it was filed at Belonia police station under Indian Penal code sections 500 (punishment for defamation), 504 (intentional insult), 505 (public mischief) and the IT Act.

We have registered the complaint and forwarded it to the cybercrime cell because it is not in the Indian cyberspace. We have started an investigation into the issue, the SP said.

Rajib Dutta, the officer-in-charge of Belonia police station said that as per the complaint the Bangladeshi singer had abused Modi in a Facebook post calling him a "mere chaiwala (tea seller)'.

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News Network
April 19,2020

Mumbai, Apr 19: It is important to stay united and have faith in each other to fight the coronavirus pandemic, veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar said on Sunday, expressing concerns over the attack on healthcare workers and cases of communal tension in the country.

In a video shared by Akhtar's wife, veteran actor Shabana Azmi on Twitter, the writer urged people to stand together in this time of crisis.

"The country is undergoing a crisis at this point of time. To fight this crisis called coronavirus, it is important for us to be united. If we will keep suspecting each other or won't understand each other's intentions, there will be no unity, then how will we fight it?

"You must salute these doctors who are endangering their lives to test you. Unless you get tested, you will not know whether you have the disease or not. You can be treated only after that. It's a matter of stupidity that, I've heard, people are pelting stones on those doctors. This should not be done," Akhtar said in the 2 minute-long clip.

The 75-year-old lyricist also said that targeting a particular community defeats the goal of unity.

"I also hear that shops of a particular community are being shut, 'thelas' are being overturned or people are hit so that they can flee. This is not how unity works. We will have to believe each other. We all are citizens of this country," he said.

Akhtar appealed to the Muslim community to offer prayers from home in the holy month of Ramzan, which will begin from April 24 or April 25.

"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 said.

"Ensure that your speech, slogans and deeds don't create any suspicion in the minds of others. And to all the other citizens of the country, I'd say please have faith in each other, practice unity, don't resort to hatred. Only with the help of love and trust, we will be able to fight with the coronavirus," he added.

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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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