Salman Khan has congratulated Priyanka Chopra for bagging a major Hollywood

Mumbai, Jul 25: Movie theatres have been shuttered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, but the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has now recommended that the Union Home Ministry allow cinema halls to reopen in August. 

I&B Secretary Amit Khare indicated this at a close-door industry interaction with the CII Media Committee on Friday. He said Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla at the Home Ministry would take the final call.

Khare said that he has recommended that cinema halls may be allowed to reopen all over India as early as August 1, or at the latest, around August 31.

The formula suggested is that alternate seats in the first row and then the next row be kept vacant, and proceeding in this fashion throughout.

Khare said that his ministry's recommendation takes into consideration the two metre social distancing norm, but tweaks it gently to two yards instead. The Home Ministry, however, still has to revert on the recommendation.

Cinema owners, present in the interaction, however, pushed back and said this formula is unwise and merely running films at 25% auditorium capacity is worse than keeping the cinemas shut.

The attendees at the meet included media CEOs like N.P. Singh of Sony, Sam Balsara (Madison), Megha Tata, (Discovery), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Manish Maheshwari (Twitter), S. Sivakumar (Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd), and K Madhavan, Star & Disney, and also Chairman, CII Media Committee.

The OTT platforms present, including Gandhi of Amazon Prime, did not push back. Some Bollywood producers, notably those of Amitabh Bachchan's Gulabo Sitabo, have posted their movies on OTT, rather than live out the lockdown uncertainty.

New Delhi, Jul 24: With more than 50 movies under her credits and being one of the few actors from Bollywood to make a strong imprint in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra started it all by winning Miss India 2000 pageant.

Chopra who is currently celebrating the completion of 20 years in the entertainment industry, on Friday looked back and reacted to the video where she was crowned as Miss India.
The' Fashion' actor shared a video on Instagram, where she is seen watching the throwback video. The 'Dostana' actor recalled winning the title and joked about her sense of style and poses back then.

Sharing the reaction video, she wrote: "Alright guys, we're doing this! I'm watching footage from my Miss India pageant in 2000! This is where it all began... If you've never seen these before, you are in for quite a treat. #20in2020 @feminamissindia."

Throughout the video, the 'Gunday' actor is seen casually commenting on her hairstyle, enacting her own movement on stage, and also recalled her luscious hair, which she now wonders where it all got lost.

However, she took a moment to appreciate the "clever and profound" answer she gave for the question that won her the crown.

While watching the winning moment, the 'Don' star noted how she never expected to win it. She explained that she had a train booked as she was to go back and take her board exams.

Going through the old photographs that run parallel to the video, she says: "These pictures are hard to look at." Pausing at a particular photograph, she laughs and says, "I don't even know how to do that pose."

"Well, this is where everything started. These are the pictures that sent me to Tinseltown," said the actor towards the end of the video.

Los Angeles, Apr 12: Pop star Rihanna has asked her fans, who are demanding her to release her new album soon, to back off as her prime focus right now is doing her bit in saving the world from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Grammy winner was one of the first Hollywood personalities who pledged support towards the relief efforts in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.

Rihanna has been teasing new for quite some time now and eager admirers got an earful from her during an Instagram Live. Her last studio album was 'Anti' which was released in 2016.

Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump, the Barbadian singer said, "If one of y'all ask me about the album one more time when I'm tryna save the world, unlike y'all president....on sight."

Rihanna's non-profit organisation Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently donated USD 2.1 million each to help victims of domestic violence in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order.

Also CLF and and rapper Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation donated USD 2 million to support undocumented workers, the incarcerated, homeless and elderly populations, and children of frontline healthcare workers in Los Angeles and New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, Rihanna, through CLF, also donated USD 5 million to support Direct Relief, Partners In Health, Feeding America, the International Rescue Committee and World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as they continue to fight the pandemic in the US, the Caribbean and Africa.