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Washington D.C, Jul 8: Adding another feather to her cap, actor Priyanka Chopra on Wednesday announced that she has been chosen as the ambassador of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020.

Priyanka has joined the list of 50 celebrated filmmakers and actors who are invited as the ambassadors of the TIFF.

The 37-year-old star put out a post on Instagram and shared a montage featuring snippets of her empowering addresses at the TIFF. Along with the video, Priyanka noted that the TIFF has been a second home for her.

She wrote, "Throughout my career TIFF has been a second home for me, with many of my films, as both an actor and producer, making their world debut at the festival."

Talking about the film festival that focuses on special stories and storytellers, the 'Dostana' star added, "TIFF has always been at the forefront of supporting and championing global content that showcases diversity and inclusion, a charge led by my friend @cameronpbailey and his talented team, who work with passion to shine a spotlight on these special stories and storytellers."

"Even more than that, one of the most exceptional parts of the festival are the fans of cinema who congregate to celebrate the magic of the movies, and who have always embraced me with so much warmth and love," Priyanka added.

She shared that she feels proud to serve as the ambassador to the festival and noted," I am very proud to serve as an ambassador this year, and I look forward to continuing a relationship that I value tremendously."

The esteemed film festival will be opting for digital screenings and virtual red carpets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The festival is scheduled to kick off from September 10 to September 19, 2020. 

Mumbai, Jun 16: The International Space University (ISU) in France has paid homage to Sushant Singh Rajput in a statement, saying the news of the actor's death was "deeply saddening".

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to an official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

The official Twitter handle of ISU on Monday tweeted how Rajput was supposed to visit the campus last year but was unable to due to scheduling conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the dramatic news on the death of well known Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mr Singh Rajput was a believer and strong supporter of STEM education and was following ISU on social media.

"He had even accepted an invitation to visit ISU's Central Campus in the summer of 2019 but other agenda priorities prevented him from travelling to Strasbourg," the statement by the university read.

ISU paid condolences to Rajput's family and friends, saying the actor's memory will "remain among his thousands of followers across India and all over the world".

Rajput had enrolled at Delhi Technical University (DTU) in 2003, which was then known as Delhi College of Engineering, but left the course to pursue his showbiz dreams.

Even after leaving the four-year degree course, he remained fascinated with science and had a deep interest in astronomy.

As part of his research for the film "Chanda Mama Door Ke", he also visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.

Rajput had stayed in NASA to train for his role as an astronaut for the film, which was eventually shelved.

The actor also owned Meade 14" LX600 telescope.

Washington, Jun 11: Music maestro AR Rahman has joined the international film 'No Land's Man' as co-producer and composer.

Helmed by renowned Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, the upcoming movie has Indian thespian Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Australian theatre actor Megan Mitchell, and Bangladeshi musician and actor Tahsan Rahman Khan in pivotal roles.

"Time always gives birth to new worlds, new ideals. The newborn world has new challenges and new stories to tell. This is one such story," Variety quoted Rahman as saying.

The movie chronicles the life of a South Asian, whose journey gets complicated when he meets an Australian woman in the U.S.

The film, shot in the U.S., Australia and India, is predominantly in English with some dialogue in Hindi and Urdu.

'Sacred Games' actor, Siddique said: "The filming experience for this project was challenging but a fulfilling one. AR Rahman's brilliance will definitely make the film richer."

"Farooki and I first spoke about 'No Land's Man' at Film Bazaar in 2014. Between then and now, the film has become even more relevant as it looks at what it means to be a vulnerable person in a racially-divided world," producer Srihari Sathe said.

'No Land's Man' won the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and Asia Pacific Screen Awards' Script Development fund in 2014. It was part of the Asian Project Market at Busan and was chosen as the best project at India's Film Bazaar the same year.

Earlier in January, Siddiqui posted multiple pictures on Instagram with the team of the flick, marking the schedule wrap in New York and Sydney for 'No Land's Man.'

He also captioned the post as: "Wonderful experience with the most energetic team."