Capital punishment not a deterrent: Javed Akhtar on Kathua verdict

Agencies
June 12, 2019

Mumbai, Jun 12: Veteran lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar has said while he understands the disappointment with the verdict in the rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, he believes capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime.

Akhtar admitted that he did not have "clear cut" ideas about the merits and demerits of capital punishment.

"I have heard that some people are disappointed with the verdict because they thought these people deserved capital punishment. I, in all honesty, must accept that I don't know have very clear cut ideas about capital punishment - whether it's right or wrong...

"One thing I am sure about is that capital punishment is not a deterrent of crime because where they have banned capital punishment, crime hasn't increased, and where they have kept it, crime hasn't reduced. So, I have no idea that whether they should have been given capital punishment or a life term is good enough. I am not sure," Akhtar said at a book launch here on Monday when asked about his reaction on Kathua verdict.

He, however, said those who have committed "a heinous crime" should not walk away after few years of serving life sentence on one ground or other.

"...We have seen many times in our society that somebody, who has committed a heinous crime, gets life imprisonment but after two or three years, you realise the person is released on one ground or the other.

"Then he or she lives happily ever after. So, I hope life imprisonment is good enough but it will not have these kind of privileges that after two-three years, the same people will be walking out free. That should not happen," Akhtar added.

A Pathankot court on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment the three main accused in the gangrape-and-murder of the girl, while awarding five years in jail to three others for destruction of evidence.

After nearly a year-long trial, the court held the six guilty in the case that sparked nation-wide outrage, while acquitted another accused Vishal Jangotra, son of mastermind Sanji Ram, giving him the 'benefit of doubt', according to Mubeen Farooqi, who represented the victim's family in the court.

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News Network
May 8,2020

London, May 8: Actor Florence Pugh says the most terrifying aspect of starring in the upcoming superhero film "Black Widow" was doing the Russian accent.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe's stand-alone film, the Oscar-nominated actor plays Yelena Belova, a sister-figure to Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/ the titular Black Widow who was trained in the Red Room.

"I was scared because my Russian accent was going to be out there and I didn't know what it sounded like.

"I'm also playing a character who no-one's seen before but they've read about her. I didn't know whether people were going to hate me!" Pugh told ELLE UK for its June issue.

The 24-year-old actor also said the idea of joining the MCU itself was quite "daunting".

"When you think of Marvel, it's big and daunting. Especially being a relatively small actor to look at it and go, 'Oh! I'm going to be a part of this', that's a big decision," she said.

"Black Widow", which was scheduled to hit the theatres on May 1, will now release on November 6 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Cate Shortland, the film also stars David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

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News Network
June 15,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 15: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condoled the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and recalled his support to the state during the floods in 2018.

The 34-year old Bollywood actor was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai on Sunday.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. His early demise is a great loss to the Indian Film industry. Our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and supporters," Vijayan said in a tweet.

"We take a moment to remember his support during the time of Kerala floods

During the deluge in August, 2018, a fan had tagged him in a comment on his Instagram post and said, he don't have the money, but wanted to donate some food.

The actor, who spotted the comment, replied that he will donate Rs one crore in his fan's name.

Rajput donated Rs one crore to CMDRF in the name of his fan and uploaded the screenshot saying, My Kerala.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: Actor Anil Kapoor, who next will be seen onscreen in Malang, revealed that he always tells superstar Aamir Khan not to stop working with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani.

Kapoor was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of Malang along with his co-actors Adtiya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Elli AvRam, film's director Mohit Suri and producers Luv Ranjan, Bhushan Kumar, Ankur Garg and Jay Shewakraman on Monday in Mumbai.

Anil Kapoor has worked with many directors and producers in his 40-year acting career.

Talking about camp culture in the Hindi film industry and praising makers of Malang, Kapoor said, "I feel we need producers like Ankur (Garg) and Luv (Ranjan). I have told Mohit (Suri) to continue doing films with them. I always tell Aamir Khan by calling him on the phone to say that you should not leave Raju Hirani (Rajkumar Hirani). Whenever I see films of both of them, I tell Aamir not to leave him."

He continued, "I feel whenever you make a good team then you should hold on to it. Team is very important and there are certain stars that come together to make something interesting and exciting."

Kapoor gave an example of Hollywood actors and filmmakers while backing his viewpoint.

"If you see Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio they do so many films together. They can work with others, too, but they keep working with each other. There is some magic, obviously. You have to go with the casting but somewhere I feel teams should stand by each other," the actor added.

Malang stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Disha Patani, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Khemu in lead roles. It is scheduled to release on February 7.

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