Chennai rocks in Karachi

Mumbai, Jun 22: After he recently took a dig at a Bollywood actor, without taking name, alleging power play and alleging that the music industry is run like the mafia, Sonu Nigam has now come down on T-Series chairman and MD, Bhushan Kumar.

Sonu has shared a new Instagram video on Monday morning, which he captioned: "Laaton ke mafia baaton se nahi maante (you cannot reason with the uncouth mafia with words)."

In the video, the singer says in Hindi: "Bhushan Kumar, ab toh tera naam lena hi padega mujhe. Aur ab tu tu ke layak hai. Tune galat admi se panga le liya (Bhushan Kumar, now I have to mention your name. And now, you deserve being addressed without respect. You have messed with the wrong person)."

Sonu Nigam is one of the finest singer of Indian film industry.
I can't believe bollywood Mafia's are targeting him 😣

T series Bhushan Kumar has support of Ajay devgn and Salman khan. And they are trying to end career of Sonu Nigam. 😣

I Support Sonu Nigam.#SonuNigam pic.twitter.com/MWwfrshcJZ

— Sic Mindus मसलु (@SarcasticFire) June 22, 2020
"Tu bhul gaya woh time jab tu mere ghar pe aake… ‘bhai bhai meri album kar do. Bhai 'Deewana' kar do. Bhai, Smita Thackeray se milwa do, Bal Thackeray se milwa do. Abu Salem se bacha lo. Abu Salem galiyaan de raha hai'... yaad hai na? Yaad hai ki nahi yeh sab cheezein? Main tujhe keh raha hoon mere muh mat lagna ab tu bas. (Do you remember the time when you used to come to my home requesting me… ‘brother record an album for me. Brother, record Deewana for me. Brother, introduce me to Smita Thackeray and Bal Thackeray. Save me from Abu Salem. Abu Salem is abusing me'… do you remember? Don't mess with me, I am warning you)."

"Marina Cover yaad hai na? Woh kyon boli, woh kyon back out kiya yeh mujhe nahi pata. Media ko pata hai mafia kis tarah function karta hai. Uska video mere paas padha hai. Ab agar tune mere se panga liya, toh woh video main apni YouTube channel mein dal dunga. Samjha? Mere mooh mat lagna (Do you remember Marina Cover? I don't know no why they spoke and why they backed out, but media knows how the mafia functions. I still have that video with me. Now if you mess with me, I will upload that video on my YouTube channel. So don't mess with me)."

In a recent video posted on Instagram, Sonu Nigam had appealed to music companies (without taking names) to be a little kind towards newcomer artistes, saying otherwise more people will commit suicide. He had mentioned in his previous video that currently two companies rule the music industry. He had also claimed falling prey to power play by a Bollywood actor.

Mumbai, Jun 16: The International Space University (ISU) in France has paid homage to Sushant Singh Rajput in a statement, saying the news of the actor's death was "deeply saddening".

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday.

According to an official, Mumbai Police found out during the probe that the 34-year-old actor was under medication for depression.

The official Twitter handle of ISU on Monday tweeted how Rajput was supposed to visit the campus last year but was unable to due to scheduling conflict.

"We are deeply saddened by the dramatic news on the death of well known Indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mr Singh Rajput was a believer and strong supporter of STEM education and was following ISU on social media.

"He had even accepted an invitation to visit ISU's Central Campus in the summer of 2019 but other agenda priorities prevented him from travelling to Strasbourg," the statement by the university read.

ISU paid condolences to Rajput's family and friends, saying the actor's memory will "remain among his thousands of followers across India and all over the world".

Rajput had enrolled at Delhi Technical University (DTU) in 2003, which was then known as Delhi College of Engineering, but left the course to pursue his showbiz dreams.

Even after leaving the four-year degree course, he remained fascinated with science and had a deep interest in astronomy.

As part of his research for the film "Chanda Mama Door Ke", he also visited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017.

Rajput had stayed in NASA to train for his role as an astronaut for the film, which was eventually shelved.

The actor also owned Meade 14" LX600 telescope.

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.