Woman claims she was Rajesh Khanna's live-in partner, wants house and compensation

July 21, 2012

rj1

Mumbai, July 21: The fight for Rajesh Khanna's legacy began even before his death. On Tuesday, a day before the superstar passed away, his family was handed a shocker — a woman in her 50s sent a legal notice to the actor claiming that she was his live-in partner and sought compensation, a house to stay and a monthly maintenance. Anita Advani, in her notice to Khanna, claimed that she had been restrained from entering the actor's Carter Road bungalow Aashirwad since June this year.

Noted advocate Mridula Kadam, who is representing Anita, confirmed that a legal notice had been sent to Khanna on July 16, which was received at Aashirwad the following day. While Akshay Kumar and the Khanna family were unavailable for comment, Ashwin Thakkar, who was the late actor's business manager, refuted Anita's claims. "The claims that she was living with Khanna are false. There were many people who used to meet him at his house. She was one of them, but certainly not what she claims today."

Sources from the industry said that they had seen Anita at Rajesh Khanna's residence and that she used to accompany the actor to people's offices. She would visit Khanna when he was in the hospital, sources said, but was prevented from boarding the truck that was carrying his mortal remains on the day of the funeral.


rj2Anita told TOI: "I am not interested in Aashirwad. I just want it to be converted into a museum as that was Rajesh Khanna's dream. I want to ask them (his family) where were they when he needed them. I looked after him all these years. I lived in that house, took care of him and all his needs. The reason I am asking for compensation is because they stripped me of everything. My man is gone and I am left with nothing."

In her notice, Anita claims she was 13 years old when she met Khanna at his residence for the first time. Over the years they used to bump into each other at parties till the relationship got serious over a decade ago. The notice claims that Khanna told Anita he was in love with her and promised to take care of her. They had been living together for the last 10 years, claims the notice till she was restrained by Khanna from entering the house in June 2012. The notice further claims she was not given an opportunity to even take her belongings and all her possessions are lying in Aashirwad.

"She is a single lady who devoted the last 10 years to take care of Khanna and discharged all the duties of a wife," legal sources said. "She was under the impression that he was single. Khanna promised to take care of her and now she has been left with nowhere to go to."

Not much is known about Anita, except reports that she was a resident of Bandra and runs a business. There were unverified reports that she was the niece of former Philippines President Ferdinand Emmanuel Marcos.

The notice does not mention the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), but legal sources add that a live-in partner is mentioned for the first time under Indian laws in that piece of legislation which was enacted in 2005. Though no physical violence is alleged, the notice hints at mental trauma at being evicted from the house.

Legal experts say Anita will have to prove her claims. "The DVA is a radical piece of legislation that for the first time mentions a live-in partner. Till then no woman had any right to claim maintenance unless she was married to the man. If a woman claims that she was a live-in partner she will have to prove that she lived in the shared household," said lawyer R T Lalwani, who deals in family court matters.

With Khanna's death it would have to be seen if action is maintainable against his relatives, though the DVA proceedings can be initiated by a woman against other relatives too. "The law is evolving and the courts are trying to fine-tune it," said Lalwani.

In 2010 the apex court had ruled that a female live-in partner can claim maintenance only if the relationship meets certain conditions and does not amount just to a one-night stand or a few weekends together. The conditions rule out maintenance if either live-in partner was married to someone else at the time of the relationship. The conditions are that the couple should have presented themselves before society as akin to man and wife; they should have lived together under one roof and in a "shared household" for a significant period; they must have attained the legal age to marry; and they must have been eligible to marry. A petition for maintenance by a live-in partner is pending before a larger bench of the Supreme Court

Khanna was still married to Dimple Kapadia and this could make things difficult for Anita. However, sources close to Anita insist that she was under the impression that he was single.



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Agencies
July 8,2020

Washington D.C, Jul 8: Adding another feather to her cap, actor Priyanka Chopra on Wednesday announced that she has been chosen as the ambassador of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020.

Priyanka has joined the list of 50 celebrated filmmakers and actors who are invited as the ambassadors of the TIFF.

The 37-year-old star put out a post on Instagram and shared a montage featuring snippets of her empowering addresses at the TIFF. Along with the video, Priyanka noted that the TIFF has been a second home for her.

She wrote, "Throughout my career TIFF has been a second home for me, with many of my films, as both an actor and producer, making their world debut at the festival."

Talking about the film festival that focuses on special stories and storytellers, the 'Dostana' star added, "TIFF has always been at the forefront of supporting and championing global content that showcases diversity and inclusion, a charge led by my friend @cameronpbailey and his talented team, who work with passion to shine a spotlight on these special stories and storytellers."

"Even more than that, one of the most exceptional parts of the festival are the fans of cinema who congregate to celebrate the magic of the movies, and who have always embraced me with so much warmth and love," Priyanka added.

She shared that she feels proud to serve as the ambassador to the festival and noted," I am very proud to serve as an ambassador this year, and I look forward to continuing a relationship that I value tremendously."

The esteemed film festival will be opting for digital screenings and virtual red carpets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The festival is scheduled to kick off from September 10 to September 19, 2020. 

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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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News Network
July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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