Priyanka sends love to Katrina, SRK from kids in Jordan

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

Chennai, Mar 3: Makkal Needhi Maiyam president and actor Kamal Hassan on Tuesday appeared before Chennai Police on Tuesday in connection the deaths last month of three people on the set of the movie, 'Indian 2'.

Hassan appeared before Chennai Police Commissioner in Egmore to record his statement.

Three people died while around 10 suffered injuries when a crane collapsed while shooting of the film was underway in Chennai at EVP Studios on February 19.

Madhu, personal assistant to director Shankar, Krishna, assistant director, and a staffer Chandran, lost their lives in the incident.

In an open letter, "Indian 2" Director S Shankar announced Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the kin of the deceased.

'Indian 2' stars Kamal Haasan, Kajal Agarwal, Rakul Preet, Siddharth, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Delhi Ganesh and Nedumudi Venu in prominent roles.

New Delhi, Mar 4: Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar, who is all set to make her acting debut opposite Akshay Kumar in Prithviraj, says she's has always been interested in history.

"While growing up, I was really interested in history, the tales of grand kingdoms and larger than life historical heroes. I had always been fascinated with the story of Prithviraj and Sanyogita and life came to a full circle for me when I was offered this film," Manushi said.

Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Prithviraj is based on the life and heroism of the king Prithviraj Chauhan. It stars Akshay in the title role while Manushi plays Sanyogita, the love of his life.

For Manushi, being offered Prithviraj by Aditya Chopra was a sweet coincidence. She reveals, 'While growing up, I was really interested in history, the tales of grand kingdoms and larger than life historical heroes.'

The glamourous girl, who has been voted the most desirable woman in the recent past, reveals that she is 'blessed' to be playing the role of the gorgeous Rajput princess.

'When I was given the narration of the film, I had a smile on my face thinking that I’m listening to a story that I had been most interested about reading in school. Prithviraj and Sanyogita is a fascinating story and a beautiful chapter in the history of India and I’m blessed and fortunate to have got the opportunity to bring Princess Sanyogita’s story to life,' she says.

Manushi’s Bollywood debut is being directed by Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi who directed the biggest television epic 'Chanakya', based on the life and times of the most influential political strategist of India, and the multiple award-winning Pinjar.

'Prithviraj' will release worldwide in Diwali 2020.