Milkha Singh's wife to see film in wheelchair

July 11, 2013

Milkha_Singh

Chandigarh, Jul 11: Few would deny the role of Nirmal Milkha Singh in helping her husband and famed athlete Milkha Singh establish himself as a sports administrator, once he hung up his boots.

As the much-awaited biopic " Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" on "The Flying Sikh" gets a special screening in the Western Army Command at Chandimandir, on Thursday, Nirmal is likely to be there to cheer her life partner from a wheelchair despite being laid up with an injured leg for six months.

Former captain of the Indian women's volleyball team, who represented the national squad from late 1950s till early 1960s, Nirmal fracture her leg after slipping.

Milkha said, "My wife has not been keeping well for the six-seven months as her leg got broken. We took her to Max Super Specialty Hospital at Saket in New Delhi for treatment. She has been operated twice and she is yet to recover fully. However, she earnestly wishes to be at the movie's special screening on Thursday so we intend to take her to the theatre in a wheelchair."

The legendary athlete, known for his exploits in the 400-metre event during the 1960 Rome Olympics where he missed the bronze medal by a whisker, said Nirmal has been treated by renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr S K S Marya.

"The doctors have advised her bed rest for complete rehabilitation so that she can resume her normal routine. Therefore we are not taking any chances as she has been bedridden for a while," said Milkha, a day ahead of the special screening.

The movie "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, traces the rise of Milkha from obscurity and hunger to being the finest athlete that India has ever produced. En route to reaching the finals of the 400m event in Rome Olympics where he finished fourth, Milkha clocked a time 45.6 seconds, which lasted as a national record for nearly four decades.

He was also the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games when he pocketed the yellow metal in the 400m race at Cardiff (Wales) in 1958. For the record, Milkha won 77 out of 80 races in the 400m event in his sporting career.

The legendary athlete, known for his exploits in the 400-metre event during the 1960 Rome Olympics where he missed the bronze medal by a whisker, said, "The doctors have advised her bed rest so that she can resume her normal routine. Therefore we are not taking any chances as she has been bedridden for a while," said Milkha, a day ahead of the special screening.

The movie, "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, traces the ascent of Milkha from obscurity and hunger to the finest athlete that India has ever produced. En route to reaching the finals of the 400m event in Rome Olympics where he finished fourth, Milkha clocked a time 45.6 seconds, which lasted as a national record for nearly four decades. He was also the first Indian to win a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games when he pocketed the yellow metal in the 400m race at Cardiff (Wales) in 1958. For the record, Milkha won 77 out of 80 races in the 400m event in his sporting career.

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Agencies
March 1,2020

Washington D.C., Mar 1: British actor Daniel Radcliffe in a recent interview said he is not rushing back to reprise the role of young wizard, Harry Potter, anytime soon.

The 30-year-old star who rose to fame with the first eight films in J.K. Rowling's famed franchise, told Variety that he doesn't like to say no to things but reprising the role in the 'Fantastic Beasts' prequels is not something he's "rushing to do".

"I feel like those films have moved on and they're doing just fine without us. I'm happy to keep it that way. I like what my life is now," Radcliffe told the outlet.

"I'm not saying that I'll never go back into any franchise, but I like the flexibility that I have with my career now. And I don't want to get into a situation where I'm signed up for one series for years in advance," cited Variety as Radcliffe as saying.

Radcliffe is currently gearing up for his upcoming mystery-thriller 'Escape from Pretoria,' a true-life prison drama, where he is set to essay the character Tim Jenkin.

The forthcoming flick is set to hit the theatres on March 6.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Mumbai, Jul 17: After helping scores of stranded migrant labourers return to their native places amidst the coronavirus pandemic, actor Sonu Sood has now extended a helping hand towards the coronavirus warriors as he donated 25,000 face shields to Maharashtra Police personnel.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Thursday took to Twitter to thank the Bollywood actor for his "generous contribution" to help the Police personnel who have been working tirelessly amid the testing times.

"I thank Sonu Sood Ji for your generous contribution of giving 25,000 #FaceShields for our police personnel," tweeted Deshmukh.
Responding to the Home Minister, Sood said, "Truly honoured by your kind words Sir! My police brothers and sisters are our real heroes and this is the least that I can do for the commendable work which they have been doing. Jai Hind."

The 46-year-old actor who is known for his roles in films like 'Singh is Kinng,' 'Simmba', and 'Happy New Year' has been hailed all over the media for arranging hassle-free passage of migrant labourers to their respective homes.

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News Network
February 26,2020

New York, Feb 26: Disney CEO Bob Iger, who steered the company’s absorption of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses and the launch of a Netflix challenger, is stepping down immediately, the company said in a surprise announcement Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Co. named as his replacement Bob Chapek, most recently chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products business.

“Did not see this coming -- Wowza,” tweeted LightShed media analyst Rich Greenfield.

Iger will remain executive chairman through the end of his contract on Dec. 31, 2021. Besides leading the board, Iger said he will spend more time on Disney’s creative endeavors, including the ESPN sports network, the newly acquired Fox studios and the Hulu and Disney Plus streaming services. He said he could not do that while running Disney on a day-to-day basis.

“It was not accelerated for any particular reason other than I felt the need was now to make this change,” Iger said on a conference call with reporters and analysts.

Iger steered Disney through the successful purchases of Lucasfilms, Marvel, Pixar and other brands that became big moneymakers for Disney. Last year, the top five movies in U.S. and Canada theaters were all Disney movies, including two from Marvel and one from Pixar. With the Dec. 20 release of the latest “Star Wars” movie, Disney had seven movies that each sold at least $1 billion in tickets worldwide last year.

Iger’s most recent coup was orchestrating a $71 billion purchase of Fox’s entertainment business in March and launching the Disney Plus streaming service in November. That service got nearly 29 million paid subscribers in less than three months. In a statement, Iger said it was the “optimal time” for a transition.

Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said Iger had implied he would stay until his contract ended in 2021.

“On the other hand, they just successfully closed the Fox deal and had an unquestionably successful launch of Disney Plus so maybe he felt earlier was better to hand off the reins,” he said.

Colin Gillis, director of research at Chatham Road Partners, said the choice of Chapek seems solid because his parks division has had success.

Chapek said that while he has not led television networks or streaming services, his background in consumer-oriented businesses should help. Chapek and Iger both stressed that Disney would continue on the direction it had already been taking.

Disney is facing challenges to its traditional media business as cord-cutting picks up, meaning less fees from cable and satellite companies to carry Disney networks such as ABC, ESPN and Freeform. Disney’s own streaming services require the company to forgo money in licensing revenue, although the company is betting that money from subscriptions will eventually make up for that.

In the short term, Disney parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China, remain closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. In a CNBC interview, Chapek said the outbreak may be a “bump in the road,” but he said the company could weather it given “affinity for the brand.”

Iger told CNBC he had no plans to stay with Disney beyond next year.

Iger’s appointment as CEO in 2005 had been accompanied by controversy and protest from dissident shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold. But he has come to be seen as a golden-boy top executive, and even someone who could run for president.

Iger told Vogue in 2018 that he had started seriously exploring a run for president because he is “horrified at the state of politics in America today,” but the Fox deal stopped his plans. Oprah Winfrey told Vogue that she “really, really pushed him to run.”

Iger, a former weatherman, joined ABC in 1974, 22 years before Disney bought the network.

At ABC, Iger developed such successful programs as “Home Improvement,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and was instrumental in launching the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” He was also criticized for cancelling well-regarded but expensive shows such as “Twin Peaks” and “thirtysomething.”

Since Iger became CEO, Disney’s stock price has risen fivefold. Its stock fell more than 2% in extended trading following the announcement, on top of a broader market selloff on virus fears during regular trading.

Iger, 69, was the second-highest paid CEO in 2018, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. He earned $65.6 million. The top earner was Discovery’s David Zaslav who earned $129.5 million.

Susan Arnold, the independent lead director of the Disney board, said succession planning had been ongoing for several years.

Chapek, 60, is only the seventh CEO in Disney history. Chapek was head of the parks, experiences and products division since it was created in 2018. He was previously head of parks and resorts and before that president of consumer products.

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