Diwali weekend spreads sunshine at box office

Agencies
October 25, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 25: The Indian box office witnessed a "tremendous" response during the special Diwali weekend with the release of Bollywood films "Golmaal Again" and "Secret Superstar", and Tamil film "Mersal". All the three movies started on a positive note, say trade gurus.

Made on a budget of Rs 15 crore including the cost of production and prints and publicity, Aamir Khan and Zaira Wasim-starrer "Secret Superstar", which released on Diwali on October 19, has minted Rs 31.31 crore in four days, read a statement on behalf of its makers.

For Advait Chandan, who made his directorial debut with "Secret Superstar", it's a "dream response".

Rohit Shetty's "Golmaal Again" -- the fourth film in the "Golmaal" franchise starring Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Parineeti Chopra and Arshad Warsi among others -- collected Rs 87.60 crore in three days since its release on October 20.

"Wow! What an incredible weekend it has been

The combined business of 'Golmaal Again' and 'Secret Superstar' is approximately Rs 121 crore," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Monday.

"Diwali weekend has brought abundant cheer and spread sunshine... But real test for 'Golmaal Again' and 'Secret Superstar' begins today (Monday)," he added.

According to Adarsh, "Secret Superstar" released in 1,750 screens across India and in 1,090 screens overseas while "Golmaal Again" released in over 3500 screens in India and 732 screens abroad.

"Both the films have received good response. 'Golmaal Again' has done well all over whereas 'Secret Superstar' did good business in multiplexes mainly. But Aamir's film will certainly rise with time considering its word of mouth," Delhi-based distributor Joginder Mahajan said.

Film and trade business expert Girish Johar said: "As per early trends, 'Golmaal Again' might cross Rs 100 crore mark on Monday, which is very good."

He pointed out that Monday evening could contribute well to "Secret Superstar", which features "Dangal" girl Zaira Wasim in the lead role, with a cameo by Aamir.

As for "Mersal", Tamil actor Vijay's Diwali release, it is also receiving a positive response in India and across the world.

The film was already much-awaited given the triple role that Vijay essays in the project, and it grabbed more headlines after the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the removal of specific dialogues from the movie which take a dig at the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and digital India.

"Tamil film 'Mersal' is chasing a massive total in international markets, despite stiff opposition posed by the two Hindi releases ('Golmaal Again' and 'Secret Superstar')," Adarsh tweeted.

"It won't be erroneous to state that Tamil film 'Mersal' is collecting more than the two Hindi releases in some key international markets," he added.

Johar said: "'Mersal' is a southern film. It is doing good there. But the film has not released in that many screens in north. The film has minted around Rs 147 crore worldwide."

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News Network
May 19,2020

Washington, May 19: Actors Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox are going their separate ways after 10 years of marriage.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, 46-year-old Green, on Monday announced the news during an episode of his podcast 'With Brian Austin Green' where he emotionally opened up about the breakup with Fox.

The 'Beverly Hills 90210' star revealed that they simply grew distant at the end of last year while Fox was away shooting a film.

Green recalled Fox saying during the conversation they had after she returned from filming, "She said, 'I realised when I was out of the country working alone that I feel more like myself, and I liked myself better during that experience and I think that might be something worth trying for me.'"

Though feeling "shocked" and "upset" at first, Green admitted that he couldn't be upset with her for being honest.

He said, "Neither one of us did anything to each other. She's always been honest with me. I've always been honest with her. We've had an amazing relationship. I will always love her. And I know she will always love me and I know as far as a family what we have built is really cool and really special."

The 'Impact Point' star shared that they intend to "still do family vacations and holidays as a family and really make that a focus for the kids."

Green went on to say that it's hard to adjust to the change and he doesn't want himself and Fox to "be at odds": "She's been my best friend for 15 years and I don't want to lose that."

He added: "There's this sense of loss of, 'How do I go on with this big part of my life that I've always known and loved and shared changing?' What does that landscape look like? What does that life look like?' ... Megan and I talked a lot about it, and it's a big concern for both of us." Aware of the scrutiny around their age difference, Green defended Fox, saying "she's really a responsible person. ... She really loves the kids and cares about what their life and their experience is."

The couple share three children together 7-year-old Noah, 6-year-old Bodhi, and 3-year-old Journey, and Green said that they are only concerned about controlling how the separation will truly affect their children.

After photos circulated online of Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker, hanging out -- Fox and Baker are co-stars in the upcoming film, 'Midnight in the Switchgrass,' Green said Fox and Baker are "just friends at this point."

He said, "She met this guy, Colson, on set. I've never met him. Megan and I have talked about him. I trust her judgment; she's always had really good judgment."

Green emphasised that despite what tabloids can say, he didn't want the public to categorise Fox and Baker as "villains or that I was a victim in any way."

Fox and Green started dating in 2004 and married in 2010. Fox had filed for divorce from Green in 2015, but the couple later reconciled.

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News Network
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: On the occasion of International Chess Day, former Miss World and actor Manushi Chhillar enjoyed a game of chess with her father Dr Mitra Basu Chhillar and revealed through an Instagram post that she is a "competitive" board game player.

The 23-year-old actor posted a picture of herself and her dad on Instagram where the two are seen deeply concentrating on the game.

"I'm the competitive one, he's the mind reader. Irrespective of who loses, I know he always wins!#InternationalChessDay."

Further elaborating on the importance of playing chess, Manushi who once pursued a career in medicine stressed that chess helps in stretching the human mind in terms of strategy and imagination.

"Chess stretches your mind in terms of strategy and imagination because you really have to outwit your opponent at any cost. 

Playing chess with my dad is something that I have always loved doing because he's the most unpredictable, intelligent, and sharpest person I've ever played with," said Chhillar.

The 23-year-old actor is gearing up for her debut in Yash Raj Films' 'Prithviraj' where she will be seen opposite actor Akshay Kumar.

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News Network
February 12,2020

London, Feb 12: Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen is returning to his art roots with a series of short films at London's Tate Modern art gallery, offering a sensory exploration of black identity.

McQueen, who became the first black director to win the best picture Academy Award in 2014 for "12 Years a Slave", is now based between London and Amsterdam and is focused on championing diversity in the film industry.

Visitors to his new exhibition will be greeted by "Static", a film of New York's Statue of Liberty, scrutinising the iconic symbol from every possible angle at very close range against a deafening backdrop of the helicopter from where the footage was filmed.

"What interests Steve is our view of the world, how humans are trying to represent Liberty," said Fiontan Moran, assistant curator of the exhibition.

"7th Nov, 2001" features a still shot of a body while McQueen's cousin Marcus tells of how he accidentally killed his brother, a particularly traumatic experience for the artist.

"Western Deep" is another visceral work, giving a sense through sights and sounds in an interactive installation of the experiences of miners in South Africa, following them to the bottom of the mine.

"Ashes", meanwhile, is a tribute to a young fisherman from Grenada, the island where McQueen's family originated.

The images of beauty and sweetness filmed from his boat are tragically reversed on the other side of the projection screen, which shows a grave commissioned by McQueen for the eponymous young fisherman, who was killed by drug traffickers.

African-American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976) is honoured in "End Credits".

The film shows censored FBI documents detailing the agency's surveillance of Robeson, read by a voice-over artist, for five hours.

"He is... testing the limits of how people can be documented in an era of mass surveillance," said Moran.

In a similarly militant vein, the exhibition features the sculpture "Weight", which was first shown in the prison cell where the writer and playwright Oscar Wilde was imprisoned.

It depicts a golden mosquito net draped over a metal prison bed frame, addressing the theme of confinement and the power of the imagination to break free.

The show runs alongside an exhibition of McQueen's giant portraits of London school classes, many of which appeared on the streets of London last year.

"I remember my first school trip to Tate when I was an impressionable eight-year-old, which was really the moment I gained an understanding that anything is possible," said McQueen, adding it was "where in some ways my journey as an artist first began".

He recently told the Financial Times newspaper the difference between his art films and his feature films was that the former were poetry, the latter like a novel.

"Poetry is condensed, precise, fragmented," he said. "The novel is the yarn".

The exhibition opens on February 13 and runs until May 11.

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