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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May 2,2020

Washington, May 2: American singer Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have teamed up to help others in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grande and Bieber announced on Friday(local time) that they are working on a song, 'Stuck With U,' which will drop next week with all proceeds slated to go to coronavirus relief.

The 26-year-old songstress Ariana tweeted on Friday, "Stuck with u by me and @justinbieber out May 8th. head to my Instagram for more info. thank u to @1strcf and @sb_projects for making this possible."

Grande also announced the news on Instagram, and wrote, "Grateful to announce that my friend and i have partnered with @1strcf and @sb_projects on this release. proceeds from the streams and sales of #stuckwithu will be donated to first responders children's foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, police officers and firefighters serving at the front lines during the global pandemic."

The 26-year-old pop-star Bieber, also added in a statement, "More than ever we are seeing the selfless, tireless and amazing work that doctors, nurses and healthcare providers give to the world every day. It is our hope we can lend our voices to raise awareness and give much-needed support for them and their families. It's my honour to come together with my friend Ariana and our SB Projects family to try and do some good."

The two music superstars have also independently been helping people in need. According to sources to Page Six, Grande, who has been communicating her longing to make music during the quarantine, has sent fans between 500 and 1,000 USD using the Venmo app.

One of the Ariana fans told Page Six that the 'Senorita' singer "took care of my salary for the month." She has helped more than 20 fans, said the outlet.

The '7 rings' singer also joined the Disney family singalong in April and sang 'I Won't Say I'm In Love' the animated film 'Hercules.'

Back in February, Bieber cantered his efforts on China, saying at the time that he "couldn't imagine how scary it would be if a new disease was effecting my wife and my family and friends."

The 'Yummy' singer said he made a donation to the country and urged his followers to join in on the conversation.

Bieber also accepted the #AllInChallenge to raise money for COVID relief. The singer said he will fly to your house for a private concert and sing 'One Less Lonely Girl.'

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News Network
February 6,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 6: U.S. silver screen legend Kirk Douglas, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants who rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood's biggest stars, has died, his family said Wednesday. He was 103.

One of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema and the father of Oscar-winning actor and film-maker Michael Douglas, the Spartacus actor was renowned for the macho tough guy roles he took on in around 90 movies over a six-decade career.

"It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103," Michael Douglas said in a statement posted to Facebook.

"To the world he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to."

Douglas was Oscar-nominated for his roles as a double-crossing and womanizing boxer in Champion (1949), a ruthless movie producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956).

But his only Academy Award came in 1995 -- an honorary lifetime achievement statuette "for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community."

Douglas is survived by second wife Anne Buydens, 100, and three sons. A fourth child, Eric, died of a drug overdose in his 40s, in 2004.

"(To) me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine (Zeta-Jones), a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband," said Michael.

"Kirk's life was well lived, and he leaves a legacy in film that will endure for generations to come, and a history as a renowned philanthropist who worked to aid the public and bring peace to the planet."

Kirk Douglas rose to the heights of Hollywood from an impoverished childhood as the son of Jewish Russian immigrants.

He was one of the last survivors of the golden age of cinema, often portraying the macho and not-always-likeable tough guy in around 90 movies over a six-decade career.

With charming dimples and a cleft chin, Douglas was a renowned ladies' man but also admitted to being angry into adulthood because of his difficult New York childhood.

"I still have anger in me," he said in a New York Times article in 1988 after the release of his first autobiography.

"I think I'm loath to let it go because I think that anger was the fuel I used in accomplishing what I wanted to do; you see it in my films, you see it in imitations people do of me."

Screen legend

The role that perhaps immortalized him as a star was that of a rebellious Roman Empire slave turned gladiator in the 1960 epic Spartacus.

Douglas also produced the film, which took four Oscars. He won praise for listing in the credits the real name of Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted for his Communist sympathies and wrote under a pen name.

There were Oscar nominations for his roles as a double-crossing and womanizing boxer in Champion (1949), a ruthless movie producer in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and of tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956).

But his only Oscar came in 1995 as an honorary lifetime achievement award "for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community."

Other major acting roles were as a French private in a botched suicidal mission in World War I in Paths of Glory (1957) and American Western legend Doc Holliday in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957).

"Often cast as a villain, amoral climber or self-obsessed grabber, Kirk Douglas took care to color his hard edges with suggestions of pain, wit and sympathy," says American Film Institute, which ranks him as 17th on its list of the greatest male screen legends.

In the 1970s he stood behind the camera, directing Scalawag (1973) and Posse (1975).

He also took up writing, penning his first autobiography The Ragman's Son in 1988 and following with around 10 other titles.

In the autobiography, Douglas writes: "I always worked in the theory that when you play a weak character, find a moment when he's strong. And if you're playing a strong character, find a moment when he's weak."

Tough childhood

Douglas was born in New York on December 9, 1916 to illiterate Jewish Russian immigrants, an only boy with six sisters.

He started out as Issur Danielovitch, later Izzy Demsky. It was tough, he recounted later, with the family poor, anti-Semitism rife and his distant alcoholic father forced to earn a living as a ragman.

"In a sense, I've always felt on the outside, looking in," he said in the New York Times article.

"It's my background, damn it. My father was an illiterate Russian immigrant, a ragman, the lowest rung on the economic scale."

His dream of a way out was through acting and he started in high school, eventually entering the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and changing his name along the way.

To survive he took jobs as a waiter, labourer and porter. In 1941 he hit Broadway but his budding career was interrupted by service in the Navy. After the war, he headed for Hollywood.

His romantic conquests were many, although he once said he had never counted, and included starls such as Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Ava Gardner.

Douglas' four sons followed him into cinema.

Oscar-winning actor and producer Michael and Joel were from a marriage to actress Diana Webster, whom he divorced in 1951.

Three years later he married Belgian-American Anne Buydens, having Peter and then Eric, who died in 2004 from an accidental overdose.

Douglas has also brushed death: he survived a helicopter crash in 1991 and a massive stroke in 1996 that nearly robbed him of speech.

Around the time of his 100th birthday in 2016, he attributed his remarkable longevity to his second marriage.

"I was lucky enough to find my soulmate 63 years ago, and I believe our wonderful marriage and our nightly 'golden hour' chats have helped me survive all things," he said in celebrity magazine Closer Weekly.

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News Network
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: 'Housefull 4' actor Pooja Hegde will star opposite Salman Khan in his Eid 2021 release 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali'.

Film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh made the announcement on Twitter on Tuesday.

"CONFIRMED... #PoojaHegde opposite #SalmanKhan in #KabhiEidKabhiDiwali... Directed by Farhad Samji... Story and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala... #Eid2021 release," read Adarsh's tweet.

Earlier, Salman Khan had announced the title of the film 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali' in January, keeping the trend alive of gifting his fans a movie to enjoy on Eid al-Fitr.

The film is being co-produced by Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, and Atul Agnihotri under the banners Salman Khan Films, Sohail Khan Productions and Reel Life Production.

The flick will hit theatres on Eid 2021, which will be around May 21.

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