A sizzling Bollywood night at Abu Dhabi Film Festival

October 31, 2014

chopraAbu Dhabi, Oct 31: Bollywood and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (ADFF) have nothing in common. One is all about Indian entertainment for the masses, the other promotes low budget, independent art films that no commercial cinema cares to release.

In fact, at ADFF 2014, there was only one film from India, and that was as far from Bollywood style as Hollywood is! Yet, Bollywood did make it to the ADFF this year, but not with movies.

On Wednesday night, the red carpet and the auditorium of Emirates Palace belonged to the ‘Magic of Bollywood’, a show of singing and dancing starring Priyanka Chopra.

Considered by some as one of the best Indian actresses and by others as one of the best looking ones, Chopra, who also won Miss World 2000, was definitely a vision of ADFF’s red carpet.

Arriving two hours later than announced, Chopra said she was nervous about the show, but ready to show Abu Dhabi how Indians liked to party.

“I’m doing this really amazing act in the show, which is a very difficult balancing dance move,” she told Khaleej Times. “Normally, for this show, 20 days of rehearsals were required, but I busted my knee in the previous movie, so I wanted to take it easy now.” Despite injuries and hard work, Chopra is fully dedicated to Bollywood.

“Everything about Bollywood gets me! It’s pure energy, celebration and excitement. It’s a lot more than just movies, it’s a lifestyle,” she said.

The one-and-a-half hour show, created by Indian choreographer Ganesh Hegde, was closed to the public, the organiser, UAE’s National Medical Centre, run by Indian businessman B. R. Shetty, giving away about 1,000 invitations.

Since the show was created for Abu Dhabi, Hegde decided to add an Arab element to it, and that was a belly dance act.

Many of those attending the Magic of Bollywood were Arab actors and actresses present at the ADFF. Among them, Bahraini actress Zahra Arafat had her designer create a special Indian outfit for the evening.

“I grew up watching Bollywood movies and I love them,” she said.

“I don’t really remember any Bollywood movie names, but I really do enjoy them,” she added.

The ADFF will continue at Emirates Palace and Vox Cinemas Marina Mall until tomorrow.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Mumbai, Mar 28: Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has donated Rs 25 crore to Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s initiative PM CARES Fund to lend support to the ongoing battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Akshay wrote on Twitter: "This is that time when all that matters is the lives of our people. And we need to do anything and everything it takes. I pledge to contribute Rs 25 crores from my savings to Narendra Modi ji''s PM-CARES Fund. Let''s save lives, Jaan hai toh jahaan hai."

Earlier, the government set up the Prime Minister''s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, or the PM CARES Fund, with the objective of dealing with emergency situations such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Contributors to the fund will enjoy tax benefits, it has been announced.

"People from all walks of life expressed their desire to donate to India''s war against COVID-19. Respecting that spirit, the Prime Minister''s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund has been constituted. This will go a long way in creating a healthier India," PM Modi announced in a tweet on Saturday.

The Prime Minister is the chairman of the trust that includes the home minister, the finance minister the defence minister

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Agencies
August 9,2020

Mumbai, Aug 9:The questioning of Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in connection with the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, continued till around 6:30 am on Sunday, according to sources in the ED.

It is noteworthy that Showik Chakraborty had reached the ED office at around 12 pm on Saturday afternoon, following which the questioning by the investigative agency's officials went on for about 18 hours.

Tomorrow on August 10, Rhea, alongwith her father, Indrajit Chakraborty, are to be questioned by the ED officials.

Showik is named in the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Rhea was earlier questioned by the ED at its office in Mumbai in connection with the case. The agency also questioned Showik and Shruti Modi, former business manager of Rajput.

According to sources in the investigation agency, the officials have got hold of electronic evidence in connection with the case and they are also searching for phone records of conversations between Rhea and her father and brother.

The ED had already questioned Rhea once on Saturday, following which she was called back on Monday.

Meanwhile, CBI has collected documents related to the actor's death from Bihar Police. The ED has also asked the late actor's friend, Siddharth Pithani, to appear before the agency on August 8.

The agency had on July 31 registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in the case after FIR was filed by KK Singh, the late actor's father, against Rhea in Bihar on July 28.
The ED earlier interrogated Samuel Miranda, an associate of Rhea over the latter's properties, sources said.

The investigating agency has registered a case against six accused including Rhea in connection with Rajput's death.

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Mumbai, Aug 2: None of the sim cards that actor Sushant Singh Rajput was using was registered under his name, said the team of Bihar Police, probing his death case, on Sunday.

The team also informed that one of the sim cards that the late actor was using was registered the name of his friend Siddharth Pithani.

"We are now tracking the call detail records (CDRs)," the police said.

The team also said that they will interrogate the family of Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian, who died few days before Sushant's death.

"Even after constant attempts to connect with them on phone, we have failed to establish any contact," it said.

Earlier today, while talking to news agency, the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey hinted at the non-cooperation of Mumbai police with his team in their investigation.

"We don't have post-mortem report details, CCTV footage or any information that has been collected by Mumbai Police during probe till now. Our Chief Minister has requested the Maharashtra Chief Minister to ask his police force to cooperate with us," the DGP added.

When asked if Bihar Police want CBI probe into the case, he said, "We are more than capable of doing an unbiased investigation. We hope that Mumbai Police will cooperate with us and we'll conclude the investigation."

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Mumbai Police who was investigating the case had earlier informed that they have recorded the statements of 41 people, including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra so far.

A team of Bihar Police is in Mumbai to probe the actor's death after an FIR was filed by Rajput's father KK Singh against late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar in connection with the death case under several sections including abetment of suicide.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in Rajput's death case. ED registered the report after an FIR was filed by his father against Chakraborty.

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