Aamir didn't want older character role post 'Dangal': Hirani

Agencies
May 31, 2018

Mumbai, May 31: Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani on Wednesday said he had offered the part of Sunil Dutt to Aamir Khan for the "Sanju" biopic but the superstar was reluctant to play an older character after "Dangal".

Khan recently revealed that he was offered the role of Sunil Dutt in the biopic, but he was more keen to play the lead role, which was already with Ranbir Kapoor.

When asked about this, Hirani said, "Aamir is a friend and whenever I write a script, I narrate it to him to get a reaction. I had narrated this to him as well, not with the intention of casting him to play any role (but because) he reacts very interestingly to the script. Out of greed I asked him if he would play Sunil Dutt's role."

The director said Aamir turned down the role but not without giving it some thought.

"He took it seriously and gave it a thought and said let's meet next week. When I met him, he showed me 'Dangal' and said 'I am already playing an older role, if my next film after this is again an older role, people will stop giving me young man's role', which was a valid argument," the director told reporters at the trailer launch of the biopic.

The entire star cast of the film was present at the trailer launch.

Ranbir plays the titular role in "Sanju" which features Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt, Sonam Kapoor as one of the girlfriends of Dutt, Dia Mirza as his wife Manyata, Manisha Koirala as his mother Nargis and Vicky Kaushal as his friend.

The movie also features Anushka Sharma, and Hirani revealed that she is actually enacting him and co-writer Abhijat Joshi.

"Anushka is playing the role of me and Abhijat. She is playing a biographer from London who comes here and Sanju wants her to write a book on him but she's reluctant. When he was narrating his story to us, even we were wondering if we should do it or not.

"Sometimes we used to sit with policemen, lawyers, family. We were in two minds whether to do it or not. So she is actually playing us, but not a filmmaker, a biographer," Hirani said.

At the launch, Paresh Rawal revealed that he had once received a birthday letter from Sunil Dutt in 2005 out of the blue and he still has the letter.

"Usually, we discard birthday letters after a while but that particular letter stayed in my drawer. This is a wonderful connection. I think I was meant to play Dutt sahab's role," Rawal said.

Koirala, who plays Nargis Dutt, said when her film "Bombay" had released, Sunil Dutt sent her a letter saying 'You remind me of Nargis Duttji'.

"I really take that as a huge compliment," Koirala said.

The film is scheduled to release on June 29.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Los Angeles, Apr 28: A top-secret documentary feature about former first lady Michelle Obama is set to start streaming worldwide on Netflix from May 6.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the doc shares its title with Michelle Obama's best-selling 2018 memoir "Becoming" and recounts some of the same history of her life.

"Becoming", like the best documentary feature Oscar winner "American Factory", comes from Higher Ground, the production company run by former President Barack Obama and the former first lady, which has an exclusive pact with the streamer.

The documentary marks the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Nadia Hallgren known for her work on "Trouble the Water", the 2008 indie about a couple surviving failed levees, bungling bureaucrats, and their own troubled past and a portrait of a community abandoned long before Hurricane Katrina hit.

"Becoming" also picks up where that story left off by following her on the 34-city tour that she undertook while promoting her book.

"Those months I spent traveling meeting and connecting with people in cities across the globe drove home the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can't be messed with.

"In groups large and small, young and old, unique and united, we came together and shared stories, filling those spaces with our joys, worries and dreams. We processed the past and imagined a better future. In talking about the idea of 'becoming,' many of us dared to say our hopes out loud," Michelle Obama said in a statement.

The former first lady also addressed the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"It's hard these days to feel grounded or hopeful, but I hope that like me, you'll find joy and a bit of respite in what Nadia has made. Because she's a rare talent, someone whose intelligence and compassion for others comes through in every frame she shoots.

"Most importantly, she understands the meaning of community, the power of community, and her work is magically able to depict it.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Mumbai, Jan 28: A 33-year-old woman has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in Mumbai.

In a complaint filed with the police, the woman, an assistant choreographer, has alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday.

Besides Acharya, the complainant, Divya Kotian, has named Jayashree Kelkar and Preeti Lad in her complaint for assault, a police official said on Tuesday.

Calls made to Acharya for his reaction remained unanswered.

In her letter to the NCW, Kotian, a resident of suburban Bhayandar, claimed that Acharya forced her to watch adult videos whenever she visited his office.

In her complaint with Amboli police station, Kotian alleged that Acharya was demanding a commission from her for working in the film industry.

Kotian is also a member of the IFTCA.

Acharya, who was elected as a general secretary of the IFTCA, used to frequently call the complainant at the office in Andheri, the police official said quoting the complaint.

On January 26, when Kotian reached the IFTCA office, Acharya shouted at her and announced that she was being "suspended", he said.

Acharya grew furious after Kotian told him that she is a member of the IFTCA and allegedly asked his team member, Jayashree Kelkar, to slap her, the police official said.

"Kelkar and Preeti Lad hit me in public view which was captured on the CCTV," the complaint stated.

Police have registered a non-cognisable (NC) offence and investigating, the official added.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Los Angeles, Mar 6: Filmmaker-writer Taika Waititi is set to direct two animated series based on Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for Netflix.

Waititi, who won an Academy Award in February for his adapted screenplay, "Jojo Rabbit", will also serve as the writer and producer on the animated series.

According to Deadline, the first series will be based on the world of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", while the second will be an original take on the Oompa-Loompa characters from the book.

The Oompa-Loompas are little humans who were preyed upon in Loompaland before Wonka invited them to work at his chocolate factory. They are paid in cocoa beans and love practical jokes and singing songs.

Netflix said the animation series would "retain the quintessential spirit and tone of the original story while building out the world and characters far beyond the pages of the Dahl book for the very first time."

The series will follow in the footsteps of Gene Wilder's 1971 portrayal of Willy Wonka and Johnny Depp's 2005 interpretation.

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