Farhan Akhtar: 'Rock On!! 2' about conflict in North East

January 10, 2016

Mumbai, Jan 10: Actor Farhan Akhtar says his upcoming musical-drama 'Rock On!! 2' focuses on the conflict in the North-East region of India.

Farhan AkhtarThe movie has been majorly shot in Shillong, Meghalaya. "The film really is about that place, about that culture, it is about the region's problem. The largest conflict in the movie is the regional conflict... There is a personal issue also but the main is the regional problem," Farhan said in an interview.

The 41-year-old 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' star said the movie will promote North-East music, which has a dedicated fan following across the country. "The movie is about rock and this genre is huge in the North-East. There is a band in the region called Somersault, which is a part of the film, there is a song in Khassi. The Noth-East music features seriously in the film.

"I am very happy to do this (promote North-East music). It is important to bring everything in mainstream. Everybody in the North-East plays an instrument or they sing. You don't get to see that generally. When we were there, we had music playing 5 or 6 in the morning and no one was complaining. Everyone was enjoying that." 'Rock On!! 2', also starring Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Rampal, is directed by Shujaat Saudagar. The sequel to 2008's box office success "Rock On!!" will release on November 11.

Farhan shared he has been penning songs for some time now and once he completes filming 'Rock On! 2', he will focus on his songs. The multifaceted performer might release his own album or an array of separate singles. "I am writing lyrics, not for any film but for myself. When I finish 'Rock On!! 2', I will take a two-three months off and complete my songs. I don't know if it will be an album, you don't need to release an album these days... It can be a single or three-four songs."

Farhan praised the current trend of singles, which was a big hit during the '90s. "Indie music is getting rejuvenated now and it is a great thing because there are many bands, who are not interested in doing film music. God bless them for that. I feel an alternate culture needs to exist of expression and if through songs you can do that, then nothing like it.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Patna, Aug 3: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Sunday charged that Vinay Tiwari, the IPS officer from Patna who is in Mumbai to probe a case related to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, has been "forcibly quarantined" by civic authorities in the metropolis.

Tiwari is heading a Bihar Police team which is in Mumbai to investigate an ''abetment to suicide'' case on the basis of a complaint filed by the late actor's father in Patna.

"IPS officer Vinay Tiwari reached Mumbai today from Patna on official duty to lead the police team there but he has been forcibly quarantined by BMC officials at 11 PM today," Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Pandey tweeted.

"He was not provided accommodation in the IPS mess, despite request, and was staying in a Guest House in Goregaon," he said.

Sushant's sister Shweta Singh Kirti has tweeted, " What? Is this even for real? How can an officer sent on duty be quarantined for 14 Days?".

Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his Bandra residence on June 24 last.

Last month, Rajput's father lodged an FIR here of abetment to suicide naming actress Rhea Chakraborty, said to be close to the deceased Patna-born actor, and her family members as accused. Tiwari was posted as the City SP (East) in Patna.

The Mumbai Police, which is also probing the death case, have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry that include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

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News Network
May 12,2020

Mumbai, May 12: Superstar Salman Khan on Tuesday released his latest romantic single "Tere Bina" featuring Jacqueline Fernandez while in quarantine at his Panvel farm house.

The actor, along with close family and friends from the industry, including Iulia Vantur, Waluscha De Sousa, is living in the farm house. This is the second song Salman has released amid the coronavirus pandemic, after "Pyaar Karona."

"About seven weeks ago, when we came to the farm, we didn't know we will be here under a lockdown. So we wanted to do things to keep ourselves busy. That's when we decided to do these songs. We launched 'Pyaar Karona' and now, we are launching 'Tere Bina'," Salman said in a statement.

The song, sung and directed by Salman, is composed by his friend Ajay Bhatia and written by Shab bir Ahmed.

The actor said he had the song "Tere Bina" with him for quite a while but because it wasn't fitting into any of his film, he decided to release it now.

Jacqueline said she didn't think they would be able to shoot the song, which they finished in four days of evening shoots, with such limitations.

"We are used to shooting songs on a large stage with grand production costs. There are costumes, hair, make up. All of a sudden, we find ourselves with a team of three people. For the first time, I was checking lighting and moving props around. It was a great experience and it taught us how to make the most of what we have," she said.

Salman recently sent out food packets and ration from his farm house to those affected by the lockdown.

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