Thor: Ragnarok actor Mark Ruffalo: I can do straight roles in Bollywood

Agencies
October 15, 2017

Sydney, Oct 15: Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo, popular for his onscreen character the Hulk, says though he cannot sing and dance, he can do performance-oriented roles in Bollywood. Ruffalo, whose career spans about three decades in Hollywood and who has been seen in popular entertainers such as ‘Spotlight’, ‘Shutter Island’ and ‘The Kids Are All Right’, is in Sydney to promote his upcoming Marvel Studios film ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, which is set to hit the Indian screens on November 3.

Asked if the perception of Bollywood cinema being only about song and dance has changed, Ruffalo said in a round table conference, “I saw a cool Bollywood film… A tough guy thing where there are rival gangs…’Scarface’ characters… more like gangster character. I look forward to seeing what more Indian cinema can come up with.”

But would he like to be a part of one? “Why not? I can’t sing and dance very well, but I can do some of the straight roles,” he said. Ruffalo, 49, will be reprising the role of Bruce Banner/the Hulk in the Taika Waititi’s directorial.  ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ will see the characters Thor and Hulk battling for the first time. Ruffalo says he has been waiting for this for the past six years.

“It was great to smash him (Thor). I have been waiting for six years to smash him… It was really fun. People always want to see Thor and Hulk fight and I’ve got to do it in this one,” Ruffalo answered to a question from news agency. But Ruffalo said he wishes that a stand-alone film could be made on his angry green character.

“I’d love that, but that’s not going to happen because Universal (Universal Pictures) owns the rights to it,” Ruffalo said. The actor went to Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige to speak about the stand-alone Hulk movie. “I went to Kevin Feige and he brought me into this. He said ‘If you want to make a stand-alone Hulk movie, what would it be?’ I said ‘I’d like to do this…’, and he said ‘Let’s do that in ‘Thor 3’, ‘Avengers 3’ and ‘Avengers 4’, we will spread it across over those three movies,” said the actor.

Apart from being a part of the superhero genre, Ruffalo has worked in several movies including ‘Begin Again’, “Normal Heart” and “Just Like Heaven”. How does he balance between different genres? “It’s just more fun. I get bored very easily. So, for me to keep it interesting I like to do different kind of movies,” he said.

The actor says that he would like to do theatre more. “I’d love too (do more theatre work). One good thing about these movies is that it allows me to do these little things that I love,” Ruffalo said.

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News Network
June 4,2020

Mumbai, Jun 4: Casting director Krish Kapur, who had worked on films like Mahesh Bhatt's Jalebi and Kriti Kharbanda-starrer Veere Ki Wedding, passed away at the age of 28 due to brain hemorrhage, his family said.

There was speculation that Kapur died in a road accident but his maternal uncle, Sunil Bhalla, dismissed the reports, saying that the casting director fainted at his home in suburban Mira Road here and suffered brain hemorrhage.

According to Bhalla, Kapur breathed his last on May 31.

"He had no medical history. He was healthy and doing absolutely fine. On May 31, he just collapsed and started to bleed. He died of brain hemorrhage," Bhalla said on Wednesday.

Kapur is survived by his mother, wife and seven-year-old child.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Pop-rock innovator Billie Eilish on Sunday bested a packed field to win the Grammy for Song of the Year -- which honors songwriters -- for her hit "Bad Guy."

The 18-year-old beat veteran acts Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey along with newcomers Lewis Capaldi and Lizzo to take home the coveted honor.

She shares the prize with her older brother Finneas O'Connell, her primary creative collaborator.

The pair were gracious onstage, with Eilish telling her fellow nominees: "I grew up watching all of you."

"We just make music in a bedroom together," said O'Connell. "We still do that and they let us do that. (...) This is to all of the kids making music in your bedrooms today -- you're going to get one of these."

Eilish was among this year's most nominated artists with six nods, and is the youngest person ever nominated in all four of the top categories.

Best song was her second award of the night. She won earlier for best pop vocal album for "when we all fall asleep, where do we go?"

Before she released the album in March 2019, Eilish had already assembled a fervent online following for her bold, often haunting pop sound.

In August, Eilish became the first musician born in the 2000s to top the Billboard Hot 100, when she dethroned Lil Nas X, who spent a record-breaking 19 weeks at the top with viral hit "Old Town Road."

The artist named Billboard's 2019 Woman of the Year has also written and will perform the theme song for the upcoming James Bond film "No Time To Die."

"I feel like I'm not supposed to be here," she told E! television on the red carpet before the gala. "Life is weird."

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News Network
February 10,2020

Feb 10: Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” starts in a dingy, half-basement apartment with a family of four barely able to scratch out a life. There must be no place to go but up, right? Yes and no. There’s nothing predictable when the South Korean director is on his game.

This dark, socially conscious film about the intertwining of two families is an intricately plotted, adult thriller. We can go up, for sure, but Bong can also take us deeper down. There’s always an extra floor somewhere in this masterpiece.

It tells the story of the impoverished four-person Kim family who, one by one, and with careful and devious planning, all get employed by the four-person affluent Park family — as a tutor, an art teacher, a driver and a housekeeper. They are imposters stunned by the way wealth can make things easier: “Money is an iron. It smooths out all the creases,” says the Park patriarch with wonder.

Bong, who directed and wrote the story for “Parasite,” has picked his title carefully, of course. Naturally, he’s alluding to the sycophantic relationship by a clan of scammers to the clueless rich who have unwittingly opened the doors of their home on a hill. But it’s not that simple. The rich family seem incapable of doing anything — from dishes to sex — without help. Who’s scamming who?

Bong’s previous films play with film genres and never hide their social commentary — think of the environmentalist pig-caper “Okja” and the dystopian sci-fi global warming scream “Snowpiercer.” But this time, Bong’s canvas is a thousand times smaller and his focus light-years more intense. There are no CGI train chases on mountains or car chases through cities. (There is also, thankfully, 100% less Tilda Swinton, a frequent, over-the-top Bong collaborator.

The two Korean families first make contact when a friend of the Kim’s son asks him to take over English lessons for the Park daughter. Soon the son (a dreamy Choi Woo-sik) convinces them to hire his sister (the excellent Park So-dam) as an art teacher, but doesn’t reveal it’s his sis. She forges her diploma and spews arty nonsense she learned on the internet, impressing the polite but firm Park matriarch (a superb Jo Yeo-jeong.)

The Park’s regular chauffer is soon let go and replaced by the Kim patriarch (a steely Lee Sun-kyun). Ditto the housemaid, who is dumped in favor of the Kims’ mother (a feisty Jang Hye-jin.) All eight people seem happy with the new arrangement until Bong reveals a twist: There are more parasites than you imagined. The clean, impeccably furnished Park home will have some blood splashing about.

Bong’s trademark slapstick is still here but the rough edges of his often too-loud lessons are shaved down nicely and his actors step forward. “Keep it focused,” the Kim’s son counsels his father at one point. Bong has followed that advice.

There are typically dazzling Bong touches throughout. Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames. And there’s a scene in which the rich matriarch skillfully winds noodles in a bowl while, in another room, duct tape is being wrapped around a victim and classical music plays.

Bong could have been more strident in his social critique but hasn’t. There are no villains in “Parasite” — and also no heroes. Both families are forever broken after chafing against each other, a bleak message about the classes ever really co-existing (Take that, “Downton Abbey”).

“Parasite” is a worthy winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first South Korean movie to win the prestigious top prize. The director has called it an “unstoppably fierce tragicomedy.” We just call it brilliant.

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