Patna, Jan 22: Actor Kangana Ranaut has expressedher desire to make a movie on Chandragupta, the shepherd-turned-emperor who founded the Maurya dynasty, noting that the film industry has “not done enough justice to our history”.

The national award winner was here to take part in a programme organised by the publishers of a leading Hindi daily where she performed a jig to the tunes of Bhojpuri songs along with actor-turned-politician Ravi Kishan before the duo participated in a question and answer session.  Replying to the questions posed by Kishan, who is also the BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Ranaut on Tuesday said it was her second trip to Bihar.

“The last time, I was here as a child though I have not yet got a chance to explore the state with which I feel a connect as my Yoga teacher has his roots here,” she said.

Ranaut, who won acclaim for portraying Rani Laxmibai, the valiant queen of Jhansi who took on the British during the revolt of 1857 -- in ‘Manikarnika’, when asked if she would like to be associated with a film on any historical figure from Bihar, said, “It would be Chandragupta Maurya. The film industry has not done much justice to our history”.

A self-confessed admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 32-year-old, who has won three National Awards in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, replied in the affirmative when asked about reports that she has turned producer and her first venture is based on the theme of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The Himachal Pradesh-born actress, who has courted controversy for taking on well-entrenched Bollywood “insiders” like Karan Johar and Hrithik Roshan, said she has had a rebellious streak since childhood and shared an anecdote about her breaking her teacher’s stick upon being hit for chatting with a classmate in school.

When Kishan asked why she has gained so much weight, Ranaut replied it was in preparation for her upcoming biopic “Thalaivi”, based on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The actress said her forthcoming release “Panga” is a family drama.

Ranaut said after landing in Patna, she gorged on ‘Litti Chokha’, a local delicacy.

She also regaled the audience by greeting them in Bhojpuri and repeating several commonly used phrases of the dialect after Kishan.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10: Eminent Carnatic vocalist and playback singer K J Yesudas, who has enthralled music aficionados across the world with his profound and mellifluous voice for the last six decades, turned 80 on Friday.

People from various walks of life, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and luminaries of music and film world besides socio-cultural personalities, wished the legendary singer, popularly called as 'gana gandharvan' (the celestial singer) by his fans, on his birthday.

Regional newspapers came out with special pages and television channels with exclusive programmes as a tribute to the singer, who has recorded over 80,000 songs in various genres in almost all languages of India including about 25,000 film songs, Carnatic bhajans and devotional songs.

Besides Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Odia, his voice gave life to songs in Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian during a career spanning over six decades.

Yesudas, whom the country had honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 2017, is the recipient of eight national awards, 25 Kerala state awards, five state awards of Tamil Nadu and four of Andhra Pradesh.

"On the special occasion of his 80th birthday, greetings to the versatile K J Yesudas Ji. His melodious music and soulful renditions have made him popular across all age groups. He has made valuable contributions to Indian culture. Wishing him a long and healthy life," Modi tweeted.

The Left veteran also shared a photo of the veteran singer along with the tweet.

Meanwhile, Yesudas this morning visited the Mookambika Temple at Kollur in Udupi district of Karnataka along with his family, a practice he has been following for the last four decades.

Draped in the traditional Kerala style kasavu mundu and shawl, 'dasettan', as he is known among his hardcore fans cutting across ages, Yesudas offered prayers along with his wife Prabha and sons and performed special poojas at the Goddess Saraswathi temple.

Hundreds of music buffs gathered at the shrine to wish the octogenarian singer.

Considered as one of the best playback singers in the country, Yesudas had begun his music career in the tinsel town with the Malayalam song "Jathi bhedam matha dwesham" in the year 1961 and sang in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films among other languages.

Yesudas's foray into Bollywood saw him recording various memorable hits, including "Jab Deep Jale Aana" and "Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara".

Mumbai, Jun 30: Actor Aamir Khan on Tuesday issued a statement and confirmed that some of his staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, while the rest of his family members have tested negative.

Khan also announced that he was taking his mother for a COVID-19 test and urged his fans to pray for her test to come out as negative.

The '3 Idiots' star put out the statement on Instagram and said, "This is to inform you that some of my staff have tested positive. They were immediately quarantined, and BMC officials were very prompt and efficient in taking them to a medical facility."

Thanking the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for their precautionary steps, he added, "I would like to thank the BMC for taking such good care of them, and for fumigating and sterilising the entire society."

Informing about the health of his family members, the 'Thugs of Hindostan' actor added, "The rest of us have all been tested and found negative," and informed that, "Right now I am taking my mother to get her tested. She is the last person in the loop. Please pray that she is negative."

Thanking the BMC, and hospital authorities for their swift prompt, he added, "I would, once again, like to thank the BMC for the prompt, professional and caring manner in which they helped us. And a big thank you to Kokilaben Hospital and the doctors, nurses and staff there. They were very caring and professional with the testing process."

Aamir also urged his fans to be safe amid the coronavirus outbreak.