Amol Palekar appointed chairman of India's Oscar jury

executive@coastaldigest.com (PTI)
August 24, 2015

Mumbai, Aug 24: Veteran actor-director Amol Palekar has been appointed as chairman of India's Oscar jury, which will select the country's official entry in the best foreign film category of the 88th Academy Awards.Amol Palekar

The "Gol Maal" star, 70, whose film "Paheli" was India's official entry for the Academy Awards in 2005, will be heading the 17-member jury.

"We have selected Amol Palekar as the head of India's Oscar jury. He is an eminent film personality," Supran Sen, Secretary General of the Mumbai-based Film Federation of India (FFI) told reporters.

An elated Palekar said the process of selecting the film to represent India at Oscars 2016 is yet to begin.

"I am happy that I have been appointed as the chairman of India's Oscar jury. We haven't decided on any criteria for selecting a film for Oscars. I will have a meeting first with our esteemed members and work out the selection criteria," he said.

The Mumbai-based actor, who has been away from the silver screen for quite a sometime, is known for portraying the middle-class Indian in a string of films such as "Rajnigandha", "Ek Chhoti Si Baat", "Chitchor", "Gol Maal" and "Gharaunda" in the 1970s. He also directed National Award-winning films like "Dhyaas Parva" and "Quest".

Last year, "Liar's Dice", a road drama starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles, was selected as India's official entry to the best foreign film category after beating "Shahid", "Queen", "Mardaani", Marathi films "Yellow" and "Fandry" and Bengali films "Jatishwar" and "Apur Panchali"

"Mother India", "Salaam Bombay" and "Laggan" were the Indian films that made it to the top five at the Academy Awards.

The 88th Academy awards event will take place in Los Angeles on February 28.

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News Network
June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Friday condemned the alleged custodial deaths of a man and his son who were arrested for allegedly violating lockdown restrictions in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu on June 19.

The 37-year-old actor who is currently staying with her husband Nick Jonas in America took to Twitter to post her statement and asked for the guilty to be punished.

"Reeling from what I'm hearing. Absolutely stunned, sad, and angry. No human being deserves such brutality, whatever be their crime," said Jonas.

"The guilty must not be allowed to go unpunished. We need facts. I cannot even begin to imagine what the family must be going through," she added.

Priyanka went on to urge people to use their collective voice to seek justice for the deceased.

"Sending strength and prayers. We need to use our collective voices to seek #JusticeForJayarajandBennicks," her statement further read.

The father-son duo from Tuticorin was allegedly brutally punished by the police before succumbing to injuries.

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News Network
July 24,2020

New Delhi, Jul 24: With more than 50 movies under her credits and being one of the few actors from Bollywood to make a strong imprint in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra started it all by winning Miss India 2000 pageant.

Chopra who is currently celebrating the completion of 20 years in the entertainment industry, on Friday looked back and reacted to the video where she was crowned as Miss India.
The' Fashion' actor shared a video on Instagram, where she is seen watching the throwback video. The 'Dostana' actor recalled winning the title and joked about her sense of style and poses back then.

Sharing the reaction video, she wrote: "Alright guys, we're doing this! I'm watching footage from my Miss India pageant in 2000! This is where it all began... If you've never seen these before, you are in for quite a treat. #20in2020 @feminamissindia."

Throughout the video, the 'Gunday' actor is seen casually commenting on her hairstyle, enacting her own movement on stage, and also recalled her luscious hair, which she now wonders where it all got lost.

However, she took a moment to appreciate the "clever and profound" answer she gave for the question that won her the crown.

While watching the winning moment, the 'Don' star noted how she never expected to win it. She explained that she had a train booked as she was to go back and take her board exams.

Going through the old photographs that run parallel to the video, she says: "These pictures are hard to look at." Pausing at a particular photograph, she laughs and says, "I don't even know how to do that pose."

"Well, this is where everything started. These are the pictures that sent me to Tinseltown," said the actor towards the end of the video.

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News Network
February 27,2020

Mumbai, Feb 27: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Wednesday said it's with constant education that a country, a family can move forward as there is never an end to learning.

In December last year, when the actor visited the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, the La Trobe University announced the 'Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarship'. At the event to announce therecipient of the scholarship here on Wednesday, Shah Rukh said it was his honour to lend his name or be attached to the scholarship.

"I am a big believer in education. I truly believe that the way forward for any country, any family, city, state is by educating itself more and more.

"There is never an end to education. I've come to realise the more I know, I figure out, the less I understand. It's very important to keep educating ourselves for the rest of our lives.

"I've always believed education in India and elsewhere in the world, is the most important step forward for any nation," he said.

The scholarship aims to provides an opportunity for an aspiring female researcher from India to undertake research.

The 54-year-old superstar said what also will help taking the world move ahead is educating women.

"Related to the fact, is of course, education of women, empowering women, to look after themselves to look after their families...

"If you are able to empower them with education, the world goes even further forward," the actor added.

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