Bollywood designer found dead

September 11, 2013
Anil_CherianMumbai, Sep 11: A Bollywood costume designer was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a well at a resort near Mumbai where he was partying.

Anil Cherian (43) was working on a film called 'Bold Bollywood' which is inspired by the life of actor Jiah Khan who committed suicide earlier this year. He was found dead on Monday.

One of his employees, Minal Gupta, went to a resort in Gorai village on Saturday to attend her cousin's birthday party. Gupta had joined Anil's office three months ago. "Minal, her cousin Aishwarya and eight male friends were at the party. While it was on, Anil called up Gupta. She told him she was at the bash and Anil asked if he could join them. After enquiring with her cousin, Gupta said he could," said senior inspector Deepak Bagwe of Gorai police.

Anil took a train to Mira Road and sent a text to his wife about his plans. A youth attending the party picked him up on a two-wheeler from the station.

"The group had procured alcohol and Anil had four to five pegs. At 3.30am, he took his cellphone and walked out of the room probably to go to the washroom. When he did not return, the others assumed he had left for home," Bagwe said.

On Sunday around 11am, Gupta and the others checked out of the resort. Around 4pm, Anil's wife Shivani rang up Gupta to enquire about her husband's whereabouts. When Gupta replied she was not aware, Shivani rushed to Gorai and filed a missing complaint.

The resort's staff was drawing water from a well on Monday when they found Anil's body in it. The police were called and the body fished out. His cellphone was also found in the well. "The well is 100-150ft from the room where the party was held. The resort exit was not brightly lit, so it is possible Anil veered towards the well. We are probing whether it was an accident or if there was any foul play," Bagwe said.

An autopsy was conducted on Tuesday after Anil's family arrived from Bangalore. The cause of death is not known yet. The police have registered a case of accidental death. The resort's staff refused to comment.

Actor Shekhar Suman said he was numbed by the news of Anil's death. "He was not only my stylist, but also a dear friend. He was full of life. But, for the last six months, he was disturbed and had cut all contact. I called him recently to invite him for an event and he said he would be there. I suspect foul play in his death. He could never have slipped into a well or ended his life. This is unbelievable," he said.

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News Network
May 29,2020

New Delhi, May 29: Actor Pooja Hegde revealed that her Instagram account was hacked after unflattering memes about her colleague Samantha Ruth Prabhu were shared.

Samantha's angry fans are not buying her explanation and it has prompted a Twitter trend #PoojaMustApologizeSamantha.

On Monday night, Pooja put out a tweet that her Instagram had been hacked and was in the process of being retrieved. She urged her fans to not accept any invitations or pass out any personal information to the person asking.

She wrote, "Hi guys, so I've been informed by my team that my insta account has been hacked and my digital team is helping me with it. Please do not accept any invitations or pass out any personal information out to the person asking. Thank you."

An hour later, which she spent "stressing," the 'Mohenjodaro' star tweeted again to say the account was restored and that all activity in the while it had been hacked would be undone.

"Spent the last hour stressing about the safety of my Instagram account. Thanking my technical team for instant help at this hour. Finally, got my hands back on my Instagram Any message, follow back or post in d past hour from my account has been done will be undone. Ty," tweeted Hegde.

The 29-year-old actor announced that her feed has been cleaned up now. Her most recent Instagram post is now one on pet food that she posted three days ago.

In Pooja's tweets, there is no mention of Samantha.

According to the screenshots that are being circulated over social media, a meme of Samantha was posted from Pooja's account. It read, "I don't find her pretty at all."

This tweet has triggered Samantha's fans who have not been pacified by her explanation and are demanding that Pooja apologise, meanwhile Pooja's fans say she has nothing to apologise for.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Mumbai, Jul 18: Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan on Friday were shifted to a city hospital, almost a week after they were tested positive for COVID-19. Aishwarya, 46 and eight-year-old Aaradhya were diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday, a day after the actor’s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, and husband Abhishek Bachchan tested positive for the COVID-19.

The mother-daughter duo was self-quarantining at home till now.

“Both Aishwarya and Aaradhya were admitted to Nanavati hospital today. They are fine,” hospital source said.

Aishwarya needed medical attention, another insider said.

Amitabh, 77, and Abhishek, 44, both are already in the isolation ward of Nanavati hospital.

Since his diagnosis, Amitabh has been regularly updating his admires about his health on social media.

“In happy times, in times of illness, you our near and dear, our well wishers, our fans have ever given us unstinting love , affection care and prayer .. we express our bountiful gracious gratitude to you all .. in these circumstances hospital protocol, restrictive,” the screen icon tweeted on Friday evening.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), coronavirus cases in Mumbai rose to 98,979 with 1,228 new patients being reported on Friday.

Death toll due to the pandemic rose to 5,582 with 62 new fatalities being recorded.

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Multiplex operator PVR on Monday said it has cut salary across various levels, laid off employees and deferred increments during the lockdown to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

The company said at present it is not generating any revenue from exhibition business and related activities as cinemas across the country are shut following the directions from the regulatory authorities.

According to the company, closure of screens during the lockdown will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity.

PVR has taken measures to reduce its personnel cost, including salary cuts across various levels in the organisation during the lockdown along with "reduction in headcount by way of layoffs/retrenchment" to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

Moreover, the board of the company, in its meeting held on Monday has also approved plan to raise Rs 300 crore through rights issue.

"Since Cinema Exhibition is the only business segment, company is currently not generating any revenue from admissions, food and beverage sales or other revenue and cash flow from operations," said PVR in an update.

Beginning from March 11, PVR started closing its screens in accordance with the order passed by various regulatory authorities and within a few days most of our cinemas across the country were shut down, it added.

The company will continue to incur committed cash outflows, including employee salary pay-outs, other overheads as well as payments for older working capital.

"This has and will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity during lockdown and even thereafter till business comes to normalcy," it added.

Further, once the cinemas are re-opened, we may not be able to run our cinemas at normal capacity utilisation levels on account of social distancing measures that cinemas may be required to follow as well as health concerns that the patrons may have, the multiplex operator said.

"On account of this, our revenue and cash flow generation may be impeded even once we are allowed to restart operations," it added.

The company has also deferred decision on on increments to reduce its cost, it added.

PVR has also written to developers for waiving rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges for the lockdown period.

It is in discussion with developers for reducing rentals post re-opening and has invoked force majeure clause in its agreements with them.

Besides, the company has raised additional borrowings from existing bankers to shore up liquidity.

"As of March 31, 2020 the company had cash and bank balance of Rs 316 crore. As on June 7, 2020 cash and bank balance is Rs 227 crore (including undrawn bank lines)," it added.

Over reopening of theatres, PVR said that the government has come out with a phase-wise schedule.

In these guidelines cinema halls have been kept in the third phase of re-opening, where dates will be decided based on assessment of the situation.

"We are in continuous engagement with all regulatory authorities and hope to receive the necessary permissions for restarting opening in the near future," it added.

Currently PVR operates 845 screens in 176 properties in 71 cities.

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