Diplomatic: Shah Rukh Khan mum over Salman Khan’s rape comment

July 4, 2016

Mumbai, Jul 4: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is usually vocal about issues, has chosen to remain diplomatic on his reaction to Salman Khan’s rape comment controversy. He recently said that he himself is rather inappropriate at times, and is therefore not in a position to comment.

srk“In the last few years, I have realised that I made so many inappropriate comments myself. I don’t think I am someone to sit and judge somebody else’s comments to be very honest. It’s about taking sides or not taking sides,” said the Dilwale star at an event recently. “I myself say so many things, who am I to decide what one should do and what not? Whatever he wants to do, he will decide himself.”

Bajrangi Bhaijaan star Salman courted controversy after he said during a media interaction that he felt like a “raped woman” walking out of a ring in his role as a wrestler in his upcoming film Sultan.

He later said, “I don’t think I should have” and explained that he found it hard to walk. This led to strong reactions from the National Commission for Women (NCW) as well as the Shiv Sena.

On the work front, Shah Rukh clarified that he is not playing a warrior or a guide in any film, as was reported following some of his tweets.

“I am a warrior, a dwarf and a guide. I am not what i ought to, want or hope to be. I am all that and I am what I am. My two bits on my upcoming roles,” he had tweeted earlier.

Asked about the cryptic tweet, Shah Rukh said, “I have been reading. I sometimes just comment on what I read. So I was reading that I’m a warrior in Adi’s (Aditya Chopra) film, I’m a dwarf in Anand’s (Rai) film, which I am, I’m a guide in one of the other films and a counsellor in Gauri Shinde’s film. And there were two other films that I was doing, which I am not doing, at this point.”

He further added, “I’m sure that one day somebody will take me as a warrior and also as a guide. Somebody started writing that the film is based on the wonderful classic Guide by Dev Anand sahab and Vijay Anand sahab. But it’s not like that. I just commented on what I am cryptically reading on Twitter. It wasn’t that I was making a comment on myself.”

Shah Rukh had also shared another tweet which said “revealing Imtiaz Ali story” and following that up with a philosophical quote, indicating his next film will be with Highway director Imtiaz Ali. The star’s film Raees was earlier slated to clash with Salman’s Sultan on Eid. But he recently stated that the film got delayed by eight to nine months due to a leg injury he sustained during the shoot.

“I am working out on my leg. I’m doing some physiotherapy. I have taken time off films and every day I exercise at least one to one-and-a-half hour for the leg. Otherwise I would have had to undergo a surgery which is a long procedure, so I don’t want to do it. God willing, by the time I start Imtiaz’s film, before that I have two months, so working hard on it,” said the Baazigar actor.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday came out in support of actor Deepika Padukone, who is facing flak from the BJP and some other quarters over her visit to the JNU campus in Delhi to express solidarity with students who were recently attacked by armed assailants.

Raut, who is a Rajya Sabha member and the executive editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the country cannot be run in a "Talibani" style.

After Padukone's visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday, many appreciated her "silent solidarity", but some others criticised her for "supporting Leftists", saying it was a promotional stunt for her latest film "Chhapaak".

Some also demanded a boycott of her film, based on the life of an acid attack survivor, played by Padukone.

A section of BJP leaders also criticised the 34-year- old actor over her JNU visit.

Talking to PTI, Raut said, "The demand for boycott of the actress and her film is wrong. The country cannot be run in a 'Talibani' style."

"Chhapaak", directed by Meghna Gulzar, hit the theatres on Friday.

Declaring a movie tax-free means the state has waived the entertainment levy imposed on it, thereby bringing down the ticket rates and encouraging more people to watch it.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Multiplex operator PVR on Monday said it has cut salary across various levels, laid off employees and deferred increments during the lockdown to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

The company said at present it is not generating any revenue from exhibition business and related activities as cinemas across the country are shut following the directions from the regulatory authorities.

According to the company, closure of screens during the lockdown will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity.

PVR has taken measures to reduce its personnel cost, including salary cuts across various levels in the organisation during the lockdown along with "reduction in headcount by way of layoffs/retrenchment" to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

Moreover, the board of the company, in its meeting held on Monday has also approved plan to raise Rs 300 crore through rights issue.

"Since Cinema Exhibition is the only business segment, company is currently not generating any revenue from admissions, food and beverage sales or other revenue and cash flow from operations," said PVR in an update.

Beginning from March 11, PVR started closing its screens in accordance with the order passed by various regulatory authorities and within a few days most of our cinemas across the country were shut down, it added.

The company will continue to incur committed cash outflows, including employee salary pay-outs, other overheads as well as payments for older working capital.

"This has and will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity during lockdown and even thereafter till business comes to normalcy," it added.

Further, once the cinemas are re-opened, we may not be able to run our cinemas at normal capacity utilisation levels on account of social distancing measures that cinemas may be required to follow as well as health concerns that the patrons may have, the multiplex operator said.

"On account of this, our revenue and cash flow generation may be impeded even once we are allowed to restart operations," it added.

The company has also deferred decision on on increments to reduce its cost, it added.

PVR has also written to developers for waiving rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges for the lockdown period.

It is in discussion with developers for reducing rentals post re-opening and has invoked force majeure clause in its agreements with them.

Besides, the company has raised additional borrowings from existing bankers to shore up liquidity.

"As of March 31, 2020 the company had cash and bank balance of Rs 316 crore. As on June 7, 2020 cash and bank balance is Rs 227 crore (including undrawn bank lines)," it added.

Over reopening of theatres, PVR said that the government has come out with a phase-wise schedule.

In these guidelines cinema halls have been kept in the third phase of re-opening, where dates will be decided based on assessment of the situation.

"We are in continuous engagement with all regulatory authorities and hope to receive the necessary permissions for restarting opening in the near future," it added.

Currently PVR operates 845 screens in 176 properties in 71 cities.

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