'Thithi', 'Angry Indian Goddesses' to screen at IFFM

June 21, 2016

Melbourne, Jun 21: "Thithi", "Ottaal", "Parched" and "Angry Indian Goddesses" are among the 50 movies that would be screened at the fifth Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) to be held here from August 11 till 21.

thithiThemed on 'Women Empowerment', this year's edition of the festival will screen movies in 17 different languages.

Leena Yadav-directed film "Parched" will be the opening film, while Pan Nalin's "Angry Indian Goddesses" has been announced as the closing film of the festival.

The festival will feature a special awards night, a flag hoisting event by Bollywood star Rish Kapoor and a Q&A session with festival guests like Vidya Balan and Richa Chadha.

The program was officially launched by Mind Blowing Films head Mitu Bhowmick in the presence of Melbourne based Consul General Manika Jain at a press conference held here yesterday.

Commending Bhowmick's effort to run the Bollywood festival successfully every year on a theme, Jain said that Indian government was currently working on 'Festival of India' initiative to be held this year which will further showcase Indian arts and culture Down Under.

Bhowmick said the opening night will screen Leena Yadav directed film 'Parched' followed by the awards night the next day that would present musical performance by Pakistani singer Sarah Haider, award-winning singer Shalmali Kholgade and other notable local performers.

Like last year, IFFM celebrations will coincide with the Indian Independence day and this year Rishi will hoist the tricolor at the iconic building of Federal Square in Melbourne.

A Bollywood dance competition, a charity initiative event would also be part of this year's festival.

The festival will also announce the awards in the categories of the best film, best actor, best director, best actress, and best Indie film.

The nominations for best actor include Shah Rukh Khan for "Fan", Nawazuddin Siddiqui for "Raman Raghav 2.0", Ranveer Singh for "Bajirao Mastani" and Manoj Bajapi for "Aligarh".

In the female category nominees include Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Radhika Apte and Rituparna Sengupta.

The best film nominations included "Neerja", "Kapoor & Sons", "Bajirao Mastani" and "Raman Raghav 2.0."

IFFM has been dubbed as an important Indian cultural event for Melbourne drawing over 35000 attendees last year.

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News Network
July 14,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 14: US officials on Monday found the body of "Glee" actress Naya Rivera in the Californian lake where she drowned last week during a boat trip with her four-year-old son.

Rivera's body was retrieved and an initial examination found no evidence of foul play or suicide, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a press conference.

"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," said Ayub, pointing to the location, appearance, clothing and condition of the body.

Her body was being taken to a medical examiner's office for a full autopsy and confirmation of her identity from dental records, though no other missing persons have been reported at Lake Piru, he added.

Rivera, 33, is believed to have accidentally drowned after renting the boat with her young son at the camping and recreational hotspot around an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles.

She vanished on Wednesday afternoon, and a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched after her sleeping son was spotted drifting alone in a boat on the lake.

The son later told investigators that Rivera had helped him into the boat before "he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water," said the sheriff.

Ayub pointed to the lake's strong currents as a possible cause of a fatal accident.

"The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting -- it was unanchored -- and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," he said.

The lake has been closed to the public since Wednesday, with around 100 personnel, including the US Coast Guard and rescuers from neighboring counties, joining the search.

Search teams used footage from video messaging calls Rivera made from the boat before her disappearance, as well as interviews with her son, to scour portions of the lake bed for her remains over six days, with no success.

"We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake" before eventually floating to the surface due to natural decomposition, said Ayyub.

With less than one foot (30 centimeters) of visibility underwater in daylight, the recovery operation was a "complex search effort" even with use of sonar equipment, he said.

Rivera was best known for her role as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee."

She starred for six seasons in the wildly popular musical television series set in a US high school that ended in 2015.

The "Glee" cast has been struck by tragedy before.

Actor Mark Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before being sentenced for possession of child pornography.

Canadian castmate Cory Monteith died in July 2013 of an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

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News Network
July 26,2020

Mumbai, Jul 26: Just days after actor Kangana Ranaut made some claims on Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case and asked why the Mumbai police is not summoning some people of the Hindi film industry, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Sunday said that film director Mahesh Bhatt and Karan Johar's manager will be called for the questioning.

"Tomorrow Mahesh Bhatt will be called for questioning and we will later call Karan Johar's manager too. If required Karan Johar can also be called for the questioning in Sushant Singh Rajput case," he said while speaking to news agency.

A day Rajput's suicide, Kangana had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry for not acknowledging the star's talent.

Kangana had also claimed that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

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

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News Network
June 16,2020

Mumbai, Jun 16: In the wake of Sushant Singh Rajput's death, veteran actor Deepti Naval has opened up about her struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts in the early 90s.

Naval shared a poem that she wrote during her struggle with depression on her Facebook page after paying tributes to Rajput, who was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday at the age of 34.

According to a police official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the actor was under medication for depression

"Dark days these... So much has been happening - mind has come to a point of stillness... Or rather numbness. Today I feel like sharing a poem I wrote back in the years when I was fighting depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts - Yes, fighting... and like how," Naval wrote.

The 68-year-old actor made her debut with Shyam Benegal's 1978 "Junoon" and went on to feature in films like "Chashme Buddoor", "Ankahee", "Mirch Masala", Saath Saath among others in the 80s.

Naval's poem, titled "Black Wind", begins by describing how anxiety engulfs a person.

"Anxiety grips me with both hands, spiked claws dig deep into my soul I gasp for breath and stagger around sharp corners of my single bed.."

In the poem, Naval talks about fighting suicidal thoughts and depression, describing it as a "ghoulish lust" she won't succumb to.

"The telephone rings... no, it stops...God damn! Why don't anyone speak? A voice, Just a human voice In this shameless, pitiless Abyss of the night - gloom deepens into darkness, turns purple I feel dark inside."

The actor ends by writing that she will survive the night, its "deathly design" and fight.

"The world's a snake pit, so let it be! I dare the devil to get the better of me! Deepti Naval, Night of July 28, 1991."

In an interview with PTI last year, Naval had mentioned how acting assignments started to thin in the late 90s and as a "serious actor" it was "devastating" to be ignored.

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