‘Fate of the Furious’ makes Rs 650-cr in 2 days, but less than expected

Mumbai, Mar 21: Ever willing to rally behind Narendra Modi, Bollywood celebs pitched in to drum up support for the Prime Minister's idea of a 'Janata curfew' on Sunday to minimise social interaction and slow down the spread of the coronavirus in India.

Narendra Modi floated the idea yesterday of people staying indoor from from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday to break the chain of the virus transmission.

Shah Rukh Khan tweeted, "It's imp 2 reduce social interaction 2 minimum. Self Quarantine. The idea of #JanataCurfew on Sunday is a means to this end & we should continue this concept at a personal level as much as we can & more. We need to ‘slow down time' to arrest the virus spread. Be safe & healthy all."

He added a video message later, asking his fans to not panic. "I appeal to all people to avoid public places and to avoid commuting by trains and buses if not absolutely necessary. The next 10 to 15 days are extremely crucial. To fight this crisis the government and the citizens have to put up a strong joint front.

"So I appeal again please do not panic and please be careful about misinformation. And please follow the instructions and guidelines issued by the state government," Shah Rukh said in his video message.

Tamil actor-politician Kamal Haasan it was time to take extraordinary measures to fight the virus.

"I stand in full solidarity with our Prime Minister's call for #JanataCurfew. In this extraordinary situation, we have to take extraordinary measures. It's a disaster that has befallen on us and by staying united and indoors, we can Stay Safe," he said.

Yesteryears actress Madhuri Dixit Nene added her bit.

"It's time to understand our social responsibility & follow the guidelines. Let's show gratitude to all the people who have been working round the clock for us by observing the #JantaCurfew on 22nd March. Do your part. Stay safe to keep others safe," she posted on Twitter.

Actor Shahid Kapoor said more or less the same thing.

Legendary Lata Mangeshkar extended her support to the 'Janta Curfew' called by Modi and also hailed the decision of Maharashtra chief Uddhav Thackeray to shut down workplaces from Friday midnight till March 31.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for Janata Curfew and I support this. Also I laud the decisions taken by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. I urge everyone to support this and overcome this crisis," Mangeshkar tweeted.

"Request everyone to stay home and adhere to the #JanataCurfew on the 22nd of March from 7am to 9pm. Let's all fight this together! @narendramodi #IndiaFightsCorona," Ayushmann Khurrana tweeted.

"Request everyone to stay home and adhere to the #JanataCurfew on the 22nd of March from 7am to 9pm. Let's all fight this together!," he said, tagging PM in his tweet.

Last night, actor Kartik Aaryan took to social media to deliver a ''Pyaar Ka Punchnaama'' style monologue about the importance of social distancing in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar, Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan also took to social media to applaud Prime Minister''s statement on Janata curfew.

Meanwhile, several top stars of the industry, including Bachchan, Akshay, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Madhuri, Ranveer Singh recorded a special video to spread awareness about the novel coronavirus.

The one minute fifty second long video, an initiative by Rohit Shetty Picturez in collaboration with Maharashtra government, features actors appealing to citizens to tread with caution and safety amid the pandemic.

New Delhi, Jun 26: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has exposed the deep faultlines in the Hindi film industry with issues such as bullying, nepotism and discrimination emerging from tinsel town’s rarely discussed dark corners into the spotlight of introspection and debate.

The days since the death of the 34-year-old actor, whose body was found in his Mumbai apartment on June 14, have split the glamour industry down the middle – between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, 'us' vs 'them', and those born to fame and those who sweated for it.

That Rajput, who came from a middle class home in Patna and made his mark in mainstream Hindi cinema in what could be the classic fairytale, ended his life led to soul searching about power structures in Bollywood and also angry accusations at the biggies who call the shots.

'Outsider' Manoj Bajpayee said the structural shift that everyone in the industry wants to see will begin once the powerful abolish the "insider-outsider" divide.

"Nepotism has been in the debate for a few years now. It'll change only if each and every individual who is positioned well, who is established and powerful starts making efforts to make it healthy and democratic for all the talented people who are coming in," Bajpayee said.

“We will have to work very hard to turn this industry into a fraternity where each and everyone is welcomed," he said. Dibakar Banerjee, who directed Rajput in Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, added that outsiders need to put in twice the amount of work as compared to star children to convince the industry, the public and the box office of their talent.

"The biggest unfairness in all this is that it takes double the talent, energy and hard work for an outsider to convince the audience and the industry that he or she is as safe a box office bet as a mediocre, unmotivated and entitled establishment elite," he told news agency.

Rajput was considered that rare actor, after Shah Rukh Khan perhaps, to have transitioned from television to Bollywood stardom and his death opened the proverbial can of worms.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! was produced by Yash Raj Films, which also backed Rajput’s Shuddh Desi Romance. As rumours swirled about unfair contract details, the powerful production house and other industry bigwigs and star children such as Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt and Sonam Kapoor faced ire from not just the public but even some of their colleagues.

The untimely death of the young actor had clearly not just touched a chord but triggered a rallying cry for change.

An out of context, old clip from Johar's chat show Koffee with Karan in which Bhatt is seen joking about Rajput and Kapoor confesses not knowing him fuelled the anger.

Hashtags like #BoycottKhans, #boycottnepotism and #JusticeForSushantSinghRajput started trending online a day after the actor's death with many calling for a boycott for the films made by Johar and featuring star children.

An online petition on Change.org asking fans to boycott Johar, YRF and Salman Khan has gathered almost 38 lakh signatures so far.

Reflecting the split in filmdom, Johar unfollowed everyone on Twitter except eight people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.

Hate comments also made actor Sonakshi Sinha, daughter of veteran actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, deactivate her Twitter account last week.

Kapoor, too, disabled the comments section on her Instagram page and that of her father, veteran actor Anil Kapoor.

The public's angst found resonance in Bollywood with many in the fraternity saying the industry needs to introspect on how it treats outsiders.

Actors Gulshan Devaiah and Sushmita Sen, directors Hansal Mehta and Onir and singers Sonu Nigam and Kumar Sanu were amongst the many people who spoke out on the deeply disturbing issues that Rajput’s death had thrown up.

Mehta made a distinction between nepotism and bullying. 

He said his son Jai Mehta was an assistant director in his own film Shahid and also in Anurag Kashyap's Gang of Wasseypur series. He stepped inside the door because of his father but got ahead because he is talented.

“So when people take off on nepotism they do not really address the elephant in the room. They belittle the real battle -- the battle is between the powerful and the rising, between old and new, between rigidity and change, between secure and insecure,” Mehta said.

The director also criticised those bullying people in the guise of criticism.

“People in power (inherited/earned) have no business bullying those perceived to be less powerful or dependent on them,” he said, adding that the debate had been narrowed down to target certain people not for reform or the larger good.

According to Sen, nepotism is a truth as old as the industry.

“I think competition is a great thing but it should be a fair one for everyone… We have lived with it for many years. If it needs to change then all of us need to take responsibility, no one person,” she told PTI.

Onir said calling out nepotism does not mean denying talent just because someone belongs to the industry.

“It is about empowering all those deserving and talented denied opportunity by blatant discrimination. It’s about marginalising talent and creating a non-inclusive space,” he said.

Devaiah, known for his roles in Shaitan and A Death in the Gunj, said there is a lot of "toxicity" in showbiz because of the power structures but actors need to safeguard themselves from getting into a position where they can "lose control".

The debate was just not about actors but also the music industry.

“I have a request for music companies. Today, Sushant Singh Rajput has died. An actor has died. Tomorrow you might such news about a singer, a composer or a lyricist. The state of affairs in the music industry... there is a bigger mafia in the music industry than the film industry…,” singer Sonu Nigam said in a heartfelt video after Rajput’s death.

His colleague Kumar Sanu also uploaded a video on Facebook this week, saying he can sense a "revolution".

"Since his demise, I can see a different revolution emerging. Nepotism exists everywhere. It's a little more in our industry. You (the audience) make us who we are… Filmmakers or the top people (in the industry) cannot decide. It is in your hand to make us," he said.

As the debate intensified, Aligarh scriptwriter Apurva Asrani said some ‘woke’ friends were trying to crush the movement the actor’s death had sparked.

“Claiming to want dignity for him, they want others to suffer indignity in silence,” he tweeted, sharing a thread in which other such as Shekhar Kapur Ranvir Shorey and Abhay Deol also discussed nepotism and the camp culture in Bollywood.

New Delhi, Apr 7: Actor Disha Patani on Tuesday extended her warm wishes to legendary martial artist and actor Jackie Chan on his birthday.

The 'Baaghi 2' took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of herself with the Hong Kong-based actor and reminisced the times when she got the opportunity to work with him.

"Happiest b'day taguuu this was the first time I met you, I remember being so nervous but It turned out to be the best day of my life, getting an opportunity to work with my "superhero" is the best thing that has ever happened to me," she wrote in the caption.

"You teach people to be giving, loving and hardworking, thank you for blessing the world with your unreal performances and the most unforgettable life risking action sequences. Nobody can ever be "jackie chan" love you the most @jackiechan," she added.

Disha Patani and Jackie Chan worked together in a Chinese adventure comic film 'Kung Fu Yoga'.

The film was released worldwide in 2017 and it later became the highest-grossing film of Jackie Chan in China.

Besides Disha, the film also had two other Bollywood actors - Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur.

Jackie Chan turned 66 today. He was many laurels to his name including the prestigious Oscar Award which was handed over to him in 2016 for his extraordinary achievements in the cinema industry.