Case against 'Satyameva Jayate' for hurting religious sentiments

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.

Washington, Jun 11: Music maestro AR Rahman has joined the international film 'No Land's Man' as co-producer and composer.

Helmed by renowned Bangladeshi filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, the upcoming movie has Indian thespian Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Australian theatre actor Megan Mitchell, and Bangladeshi musician and actor Tahsan Rahman Khan in pivotal roles.

"Time always gives birth to new worlds, new ideals. The newborn world has new challenges and new stories to tell. This is one such story," Variety quoted Rahman as saying.

The movie chronicles the life of a South Asian, whose journey gets complicated when he meets an Australian woman in the U.S.

The film, shot in the U.S., Australia and India, is predominantly in English with some dialogue in Hindi and Urdu.

'Sacred Games' actor, Siddique said: "The filming experience for this project was challenging but a fulfilling one. AR Rahman's brilliance will definitely make the film richer."

"Farooki and I first spoke about 'No Land's Man' at Film Bazaar in 2014. Between then and now, the film has become even more relevant as it looks at what it means to be a vulnerable person in a racially-divided world," producer Srihari Sathe said.

'No Land's Man' won the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and Asia Pacific Screen Awards' Script Development fund in 2014. It was part of the Asian Project Market at Busan and was chosen as the best project at India's Film Bazaar the same year.

Earlier in January, Siddiqui posted multiple pictures on Instagram with the team of the flick, marking the schedule wrap in New York and Sydney for 'No Land's Man.'

He also captioned the post as: "Wonderful experience with the most energetic team."

Mumbai, Jun 8: Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has won the 2020 Richard Dawkins Award for critical thinking, holding religious dogma up to scrutiny, advancing human progress and humanist values.

Akhtar has become the first Indian to be given the honour, which recognises a distinguished individual from the field of science, scholarship, education, or entertainment, who publicly proclaims the values of secularism and rationalism and upholding scientific truth.

Akhtar's wife, veteran actor Shabana Azmi said the award's relevance becomes more prominent especially in the current times when secularism is under attack.

"I am thrilled. I know what a hero Richard Dawkins has been for Javed. The award gains all the more significant because in today’s time when secularism is being attacked by religious fundamentalists of all hues, this award comes as a validation of Javed’s long service to rational thinking," Azmi told PTI.

The award is named after world-renowned English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Actor-comedian Ricky Gervais received the honour last year.

Bollywood celebrities Anil Kapoor and Dia Mirza took to Twitter to congratulate the 75-year-old writer for the recognition.

"Knowing that Richard Dawkins has been your hero since you read 'The Selfish Gene', the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award must be extra special for you @Javedakhtarjadu Saab! It's a truly incredible honour! Congratulations!" Kapoor tweeted.

Dia said Akhtar's win is a proud moment for rhe country.

"Javed Akhtar Saab has won the prestigious Richard Dawkins Award 2020 for critical thinking, holding religious dogma upto scrutiny, advancing human progress and humanist values. He is the only Indian to have won this award! @Javedakhtarjadu Congratulations! You make us proud," Dia wrote.