Anupam Kher bags role in Wachowski brothers' Sense8

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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.

Paris, Jan 24: Rahul Mishra and Imane Ayissi made history on Thursday by becoming the first Indian and black African designers to show their clothes on the elite Paris haute couture catwalk.

Only a little more than a dozen of the world's most prestigious luxury labels -- including Dior, Chanel and Givenchy -- have a right to call their clothes haute couture.

All the clothes must be handmade -- and go on to sell for tens of thousands of euros (dollars) to some of the richest and most famous women in the world.

Mishra, an advocate of ethical "slow fashion" who blames mechanisation for much of the world's ills, said "it felt amazing and very surreal to be the first Indian to be chosen." "They see a great future for us -- which will make us push ourselves even harder," the 40-year-old told AFP after his debut show was cheered by fashionistas.

Both Mishra and Cameroon-born Ayissi, 51, are champions of traditional fabrics and techniques from their homelands and are famous for their classy lines.

Ayissi said his selection was "immense" both for Africa and himself.

"I am so proud that I can show my work and showcase real African fabrics and African heritage," he told AFP backstage as celebrities, including the chic head of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, congratulated him.

Mishra broke through on the Paris ready-to-wear scene after winning the International Woolmark Prize in 2014, the top award that also launched the careers of such greats as Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent.

The purity of his often white creations with their detailed but understated embroidery has won him many fans, including Vogue's legendary critic Suzy Menkes.

The doyenne of fashion's front row called him an Indian "national treasure".

But this time, Mishra turned up the colour palette somewhat with dresses that subtly evoked the jungle paradises and pristine underwater world off the Maldives he worries that one day we might lose.

Appalled by the smoke and pollution that meant he had to keep his four-year-old daughter indoors in Delhi for nearly 20 days in November, Mishra said he imagined a "pure virginal and untamed planet... with ecosystems crafted out of embroidered flora and fauna".

"I am very emotional about it. Sometimes it makes me cry. All our children should be growing up in a better world," he added.

"When I take Aarna (his daughter) to the foothills of the Himalayas and the sky turns blue, she is so happy.

"Once, when she saw the River Ganges, she said: 'Can you please clean it for us so can go for a swim?'"

Mishra said he was reducing the quantity of clothes he was producing while at the same time increasing their quality, with humming birds, koalas and other animals hidden in the hundreds of hand worked embroidered leaves and flowers of his "jungle dresses".

The designer has won ethical and sustainability awards for his work supporting local crafts people in rural India.

"My objective is to create jobs which help people in their own villages," Mishra said.

"If villages are stronger, you will have a stronger country, a stronger nation, and a stronger world," he added.

Ayissi takes a similar stand, refusing to use wax prints popular in West Africa which he dismisses as "colonial".

Dutch mills flooded Africa with cotton printed with colourful patterns borrowed from Indonesian batik in the 19th century, and still dominate the market.

"When we talk about African fashion, it's always wax, which is a real pity," he told AFP, "because it's killing our own African heritage."

Ayissi, a former dancer who worked with singers such as Sting and Seal, told AFP he wanted to open up "a new path for Africa" and find an "alternative way of doing luxury fashion".

He has gone back to using prestigious local materials, like the strip fabric kente woven by the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which was originally worn only by nobles.

The son of an undefeated African boxing champ and a former Miss Cameroon, he also uses appliqued techniques from Benin and Ghana.

Haute couture shows only take place in Paris and the criteria to enter and remain in fashion's elite club are strictly enforced by French law.