Bengalis welcome Prasoon Joshi as CBFC chief

Agencies
August 14, 2017

Kolkata, Aug 14: Prominent film makers of Bengal today welcomed the appointment of eminent lyricist and screenwriter Prasoon Joshi as Censor Board chief and hoped it would bring the much needed change in its functioning.

Internationally acclaimed director Buddhadev Dasgupta told PTI, "former chief Pahlaj Nihalani had virtually turned the Censor Board into his own office. He had forgotten that the primary role of Censor Board is not to edit frames but show responsibility to the art of cinema."

Coming down heavily on Nihalini, the 'Bagh Bahadur' maker said, "From day one he started creating problems and forced film makers and other sections to follow his political thoughts. It is good that he was ousted."

Dasgupta, whose recent release 'Tope' has got laurels in different film festivals, said "Joshi will certainly make a positive difference with his progressive views and Censor will not court controversies like the way it did in recent times."

Director Goutam Ghosh, whose last film 'Sankhachil' had been acclaimed in the country and internationally, said, "As a film maker my first and foremost wish will be the implementation of the report of the Shyam Benegal committee in which I was one of the members."

"We had worked so hard for days to draft the recommendations for the committee. We had suggested certain amendments to the present Act but there was no follow-up action," the 'Paar' director said.

The Shyam Benegal committee was set up on January 1, 2016 to lay down rules and regulations for film certification giving sufficient and adequate space for artistic and creative expression. It submitted its report on April 29, 2016 but there has been very little progress on it so far.

Ghosh also hoped the change of guard would ensure documentaries like the one on Amartya Sen, made by young film maker Suman Ghosh, would not face the same problem anymore.

The Centre replaced Nihalini, who had hogged headlines for his controversial decisions, with Joshi in a surprise announcement on Aug 11.

Director Suman Ghosh, whose 'The Argumentative Indian' on Amartya Sen had faced Censor hurdle with Nihalini asserting the documentary can't be passed with beeping of six words/phrases, said, "I hope under Joshi's tenure the work of me or other film makers will be definitely judged cinematically and meet better fate at the CBFC."

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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: The Delhi High Court on Saturday restrained from releasing Deepika Padukone-starrer 'Chhapaak' movie without due credits to the lawyer who represented the acid attack survivor, Lakshmi Agarwal, in her legal battle.

The restraint will be effective from January 15 in multiplexes and live streaming and for others from January 17.

The court directed filmmaker Meghna Gulzar to give due credit to lawyer Aparna Bhat who fought the criminal case for the acid survivor on whose life the movie is based.

It passed the order on a petition filed by Fox Studio challenging a trial court order which had directed the filmmakers to give credit to Bhat.

Delhi's Patiala House Court had earlier this week passed an order granting an ex-parte interim mandatory injunction directed that the filmmaker has to carry a line "Aparna Bhat continues to fight cases of sexual and physical violence against women" during the screening of the film.

Fox Studios then requested the Delhi High Court to set aside the trial court order.

The petitioner submitted that if the order passed in a suit filed just one day before the release of the film, is not vacated, varied or modified, then the petitioner will suffer grave injustice and irreparable harm and injury.

The movie, which hit the cinemas yesterday, is based on Laxmi's life. In 2005, at the age of 15, she was allegedly attacked by a spurned lover.

Laxmi had to undergo several surgeries. Later, she started helping other acid attack survivors and promoted campaigns to stop such gruesome attacks.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Mumbai, Jun 19: The Mumbai Police, probing the   case of alleged suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of the contracts it had signed with him, an official said on Friday.

Rajput, 34, known for films like Kai Po Che!, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhichhore, was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

"Police are investigating various angles, including that of professional rivalry, in the case," the official said. So far, Bandra police have recorded the statements of over 13 people, including Rajput's family members and close friends like actor Rhea Chakraborty and casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

 "Keeping in view the professional angle, police have started calling some prominent production houses for inquiry. As part of that, police on Thursday sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of all the contracts it had signed with the deceased actor," a senior police officer said.

"We have also asked for the copies of the contracts that Yash Raj Films had signed with the actor," he added.

In the next few days, police may also call those people, who had played a role in signing of contracts between the actor and the production houses for their projects, the officer said.

 Rajput had worked in two Yash Raj Films movies - Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) directed by Maneesh Sharma and in director Dibakar Banerjee directed Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).

His third film with the banner was supposed to be Paani, directed by Shekhar Kapur. However, YRF had reportedly backed out of the project later.

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