Don’t Collect Entertainment Tax for Kochadaiiyaan: HC

Mumbai, May 20: Doing his bit to help people in need during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and the lockdown 4.0 phase, Bollywood actor Salman Khan has initiated ''Being Haangryy''- food truck facility to distribute, provide ration to needy.

To feed the affected people in Mumbai, the food truck with the words ''Being Haangryy'' written on it, was seen in Mumbai roads on Wednesday, where volunteers are providing huge bags of ration. A long queue of people was standing near the truck to get the essentials.

Many videos of the truck moving around the city providing ration kits to the people in need, surfaced on the internet from earlier this month.

However, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor has not announced this initiative himself on his personal social media accounts.

The Sultan actor is staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew Nirvaan Khan and other family members ever since the lockdown was announced.

Earlier, the 54-year-old actor urged people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge and donate to the underprivileged ones who are worst affected by the COVID-19 lockdown.

After urging people to take up the ''Anna Daan'' challenge, the actor posted a video on Twitter, that features him and Iulia Vantur, Jacqueline Fernandez among others loading the bags filled with ration on to a truck.

Khan actively posts videos on his social media handles to raise awareness about the importance of social distancing during COVID-19.

 

 

 

 

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@jacquelinef143 @vanturiulia @rahulnarainkanal @imkamaalkhan @niketan_m @waluschaa @abhiraj88

A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan) on May 3, 2020 at 8:50am PDT

Mumbai, Jun 19: The Mumbai Police, probing the   case of alleged suicide of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, has sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of the contracts it had signed with him, an official said on Friday.

Rajput, 34, known for films like Kai Po Che!, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Chhichhore, was found hanging in his Bandra apartment on Sunday, sending shockwaves in the film industry and elsewhere.

"Police are investigating various angles, including that of professional rivalry, in the case," the official said. So far, Bandra police have recorded the statements of over 13 people, including Rajput's family members and close friends like actor Rhea Chakraborty and casting director Mukesh Chhabra.

 "Keeping in view the professional angle, police have started calling some prominent production houses for inquiry. As part of that, police on Thursday sent a letter to Yash Raj Films, seeking details of all the contracts it had signed with the deceased actor," a senior police officer said.

"We have also asked for the copies of the contracts that Yash Raj Films had signed with the actor," he added.

In the next few days, police may also call those people, who had played a role in signing of contracts between the actor and the production houses for their projects, the officer said.

 Rajput had worked in two Yash Raj Films movies - Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) directed by Maneesh Sharma and in director Dibakar Banerjee directed Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).

His third film with the banner was supposed to be Paani, directed by Shekhar Kapur. However, YRF had reportedly backed out of the project later.

Mumbai, Jul 25: Movie theatres have been shuttered for months due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, but the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has now recommended that the Union Home Ministry allow cinema halls to reopen in August. 

I&B Secretary Amit Khare indicated this at a close-door industry interaction with the CII Media Committee on Friday. He said Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla at the Home Ministry would take the final call.

Khare said that he has recommended that cinema halls may be allowed to reopen all over India as early as August 1, or at the latest, around August 31.

The formula suggested is that alternate seats in the first row and then the next row be kept vacant, and proceeding in this fashion throughout.

Khare said that his ministry's recommendation takes into consideration the two metre social distancing norm, but tweaks it gently to two yards instead. The Home Ministry, however, still has to revert on the recommendation.

Cinema owners, present in the interaction, however, pushed back and said this formula is unwise and merely running films at 25% auditorium capacity is worse than keeping the cinemas shut.

The attendees at the meet included media CEOs like N.P. Singh of Sony, Sam Balsara (Madison), Megha Tata, (Discovery), Gaurav Gandhi (Amazon Prime), Manish Maheshwari (Twitter), S. Sivakumar (Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd), and K Madhavan, Star & Disney, and also Chairman, CII Media Committee.

The OTT platforms present, including Gandhi of Amazon Prime, did not push back. Some Bollywood producers, notably those of Amitabh Bachchan's Gulabo Sitabo, have posted their movies on OTT, rather than live out the lockdown uncertainty.