Bruce Lee's daughter 'disheartened' with father's portrayal in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

Agencies
July 31, 2019

Washington D.C., Jul 31: Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', which is being praised by the critics for its writing and depiction of the late '60s, may have been a box office hit, but one person isn't too thrilled about the film and recently called out the director for his work.

Shannon Lee, the daughter of martial arts legend and actor Bruce Lee, has slammed Tarantino for portraying her father as a "caricature" in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', reported E! News.

In a new interview with The Wrap, as cited by E! News, Shannon, said it was "disheartening" to see how her father is portrayed in the 1969 era film.

In the film, Brad Pitt's character, Cliff Booth, trades insults with Bruce Lee, played by actor Mike Moh, before they eventually agree to a best out-of-three rounds fight.

However, when Shannon attended a screening of the movie she said that she thought it was "disheartening" to see her father seemingly belittled.

"I understand they want to make the Brad Pitt character this super bad-ass who could beat up Bruce Lee. But they didn't need to treat him in the way that white Hollywood did when he was alive," she added.

According to her, they made Lee "come across as an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air."

However, she said it's quite contrary to how he has been portrayed in the film.

"He was someone who had to fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others," she explained.

Shannon added that as "uncomfortable" as it was to "sit in the theatre and listen to people laugh at my father" she understands what message the film was trying to convey. After all, Tarantino was trying to portray "a period of time that clearly had a lot of racism and exclusion."

However, regardless of Tarantino's intentions, Shannon is upset by how her father is portrayed in the film and its complete disregard for Lee's accomplishments and life.
 
She said, "All of that was flushed down the toilet in this portrayal, and made my father into this arrogant punching bag."

When it comes to Moh specifically, Shannon said that she didn't take issue with the 35-year-old actor, noting that he did a good job with some of her late dad's mannerisms and his voice.

"But I think he was directed to be a caricature," Shannon, who continues her father's legacy through a website, her podcast, and the Bruce Lee Foundation, added.

'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' is set in the backdrop of 1969 Los Angeles, the film features Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as fading TV star Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth, respectively. The film follows them as they make their way through a changing film industry, and fight to reclaim their fame. 

Apart from DiCaprio, Pitt, and Moh, the film also stars Margot Robbie, late actor Luke Perry, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Timothy Olyphant, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Michael Madsen, Lena Dunham, and Kurt Russell. It is produced by Shannon McIntosh and David Heyman.

Perry, who will be last seen on the silver screen as Scott Lancer, a fictitious character in 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood', passed away at the age of 52 on March 4 after suffering a massive stroke.

The film is slated to hit the theatres in India on August 15, this year.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Mumbai, Jan 30: A day after a woman filed a complaint against Ganesh Acharya alleging that he had forced her to watch pornography, actor Tanushree Dutta said Bollywood should boycott the choreographer.

A 33-year-old woman, an assistant choreographer, has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in suburban Andheri.

She also 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. A complaint has been filed in this regard with Amboli police.

"It's time Bollywood and the other Indian film industries boycott choreographer Ganesh Acharya completely. Hiding behind the male superstars who work with this despicable man, he has been abusing his power and position to harass, bully and take advantage of vulnerable young newcomers to the industry," Dutta said in a statement here.

Dutta had alleged that her co-star Nana Patekar harassed and misbehaved with her while shooting for a song for their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleasss", and Acharya, who was the choreographer, introduced new steps which were "intimate".

Recalling the trauma she faced, Tanushree said even though Acharya was party to all the harassment she faced on the 'Horn ok Pleasss" set, he went on to spoil her name and reputation.

"Nobody had any regard for me and how much I had suffered psychologically and financially because of the turmoil I went though due to these people. I left the industry because I was so scared and hurt over the atrocious treatment meted out to me on 'Horn ok Pleasss' set.

"I had worked very sincerely to get to where I got in life and so went in shock for many years, over the whole episode on that set almost 12 years ago, that led to an attack on my car. They didn't just break my car, they broke my spirit that day," Dutta said, in reference to the attack on her car in 2008.

She expressed her displeasure over how "leading men" and "heroes" of Bollywood continued working with Acharya, whose most recent work includes "Simmba", "Zero", "Sanju" among others.

"Even after all the information of fraud, non payment of dues, sexual harassment of dancers, bullying and intimidation and even physical abuse of dancers is coming out about Ganesh Acharya in the media, if the actors, directors and producers still work with him, it would mean that they themselves are engaging in such acts also.

"It's a warning to the film industry to stay the hell away from Ganesh Acharya otherwise your own reputation will be joined to his character. I'm sure many more girls and boys will come out about his misbehaviour and shady business, opening floodgates in the future," she added.

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News Network
July 14,2020

Los Angeles, Jul 14: US officials on Monday found the body of "Glee" actress Naya Rivera in the Californian lake where she drowned last week during a boat trip with her four-year-old son.

Rivera's body was retrieved and an initial examination found no evidence of foul play or suicide, Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub told a press conference.

"We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," said Ayub, pointing to the location, appearance, clothing and condition of the body.

Her body was being taken to a medical examiner's office for a full autopsy and confirmation of her identity from dental records, though no other missing persons have been reported at Lake Piru, he added.

Rivera, 33, is believed to have accidentally drowned after renting the boat with her young son at the camping and recreational hotspot around an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles.

She vanished on Wednesday afternoon, and a massive search involving divers, patrol boats and helicopters was launched after her sleeping son was spotted drifting alone in a boat on the lake.

The son later told investigators that Rivera had helped him into the boat before "he looked back and saw her disappear under the surface of the water," said the sheriff.

Ayub pointed to the lake's strong currents as a possible cause of a fatal accident.

"The idea perhaps being that the boat started drifting -- it was unanchored -- and that she mustered enough energy to get her son back onto the boat, but not enough to save herself," he said.

The lake has been closed to the public since Wednesday, with around 100 personnel, including the US Coast Guard and rescuers from neighboring counties, joining the search.

Search teams used footage from video messaging calls Rivera made from the boat before her disappearance, as well as interviews with her son, to scour portions of the lake bed for her remains over six days, with no success.

"We believe she was concealed within some of the shrubbery on the floor bed of the lake" before eventually floating to the surface due to natural decomposition, said Ayyub.

With less than one foot (30 centimeters) of visibility underwater in daylight, the recovery operation was a "complex search effort" even with use of sonar equipment, he said.

Rivera was best known for her role as high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in "Glee."

She starred for six seasons in the wildly popular musical television series set in a US high school that ended in 2015.

The "Glee" cast has been struck by tragedy before.

Actor Mark Salling took his own life in 2018, weeks before being sentenced for possession of child pornography.

Canadian castmate Cory Monteith died in July 2013 of an overdose of drugs and alcohol.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Almost two months after the demise of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, actor Preity Zinta on Tuesday watched his last film 'Dil Bechara' for the second time and said it was an 'emotional roller coaster'.

The 'Kal Ho Na Ho' actor shared a picture of one of the scenes from the film on Instagram and thanked film director Mukesh Chhabra for doing justice to the 'Kai Po Che!' actor's last film.

"Saw #Dilbechara again Thank you @castingchhabra for doing full justice to Sushant's last movie," she wrote in the caption.
"It was surreal, a tearjerker and an emotional roller coaster all the way," she added.

She also praised Sushant's co-actor Sanjana Sanghi for doing a "fab job" in the film which happens to be her debut flick.

"@sanjanasanghi96 U and the rest of the cast did a fab job. Congratulations to all of you. #Bittersweet #MissU," the 45-year-old actor further wrote.

Produced by Fox Star Studios, 'Dil Bechara' has been adapted from the famous John Green novel 'The Fault In Our Stars.'

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai's Bandra residence on June 14.

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