Foolish and silly: R Balki on 'Padman' plagiarism claims

Agencies
February 12, 2018

Mumbai, Feb 12: "Padman" director R Balki has brushed off allegations of plagiarism against his recently- released film, calling the claims "silly" and "foolish".

Writer Ripu Daman Jaiswal has accused the makers of the Akshay Kumar-Radhika Apte starrer of copying 11 scenes from a script that he had written.

"That's so foolish. After every film, some people foolishly make these claims," Balki told PTI, dismissing the allegations.

The film is a fictionalised account of Tamil Nadu-based Arunachalam Muruganantham, who created affordable sanitary napkins for the women of his village.

"My film is an official biography of Muruganantham. Is he accusing Muruganantham of leading a life that has been copied from his writing? That's so silly," Balki said.

Jaiswal also alleged that a dialogue, narrated by megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the film, has been taken from his script that he had sent to Ryan Stephan, creative head of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions.

"I remember I was in the library when I wrote this dialogue and was truly elated. Honestly, I surprised myself that day. Tell me, how on earth can you steal someone's dialogue? This is unfair," he had tweeted.

The writer also said that he has filed an FIR against Akshay and the filmmakers.

"R Balki! I tried everything! I even filed a police complaint at Cuffe Parade station on 23rd of Jan against everyone. Tell me, what more can I do?

"S.I. told me I have a good case and they will look into the matter and will call me after investigation. Am still waiting for that call (sic)," Daman had tweeted.

When contacted Senior Police Inspector of Cuff Parade, Rashmi Jadhav said, "There is one application received from Jaiswal, in which he has claimed copyright of his script. But no offence has been registered in this case."

Two months ago, Daman had shared a post on Facebook where he attached the screenshots of the mail he had sent to Dharma Productions.

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Agencies
February 7,2020

Kochi, Feb 7: The younger brother of noted playback singer K J Yesudas was found dead in the backwaters near here, police said.

The body of 62-year old K J Justin, who had reportedly gone missing from his house in Thrikkakara near here on Tuesday evening was found floating in the backwaters near Vallarpadam Container Terminal on Wednesday, they said.

The relatives identified the body, police said adding it was later sent for autopsy at General Hospital here.

A General Hospital spokesperson said the body was handed over to his relatives on Thursday evening after autopsy was performed.

The funeral is expected to be held after the arrival of Yesudas from abroad, police sources said.

Police said the initial investigation suggested it was a case of suicide.

According to police, Jusin's relatives have informed the investigation team that he had been showing signs of suicidal tendency for the last one week as he was allegedly facing some financial problem.

His relatives were not available for comments.

Son of the renowned musician late Augustine Joseph, Justin is survived by his wife.

Justin had been a regular presence at popular ganamela programmes here in the past, sources said.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: In an attempt to constructively use leisure time during the lockdown, actor Bhumi Pednekar has started learning Kathak from her mother, Sumitra Pednekar, who is a trained dancer of this discipline.

Elaborating on her keenness to enhance her knowledge on the dance form, the actor explained about her routine followed for the dance practice and how much she is enjoying it.

"I wanted to learn kathak for a long time as my mother is a trained Kathak dancer! So, for about an hour in the evening this what I and my mom do. She is quite enjoying it and I'm loving learning it from her!" the 30-year-old actor said.

The growing fear of coronavirus has halted many entertainment shootings and productions. The 'Pati Patni Aur Who' actor referring to the current situation opened about the uncertainties of going back to shootings.

"It has put a big question mark on when will we get back to work and how things are going to be. There's a lot of uncertainty. Of course, our dates and schedules have gone haywire and we can't plan anything," she added.

However, the 'Bala' actor is finding a silver lining among the gloom as she says that the time has given her an opportunity to get back to what she used to love as a child - the habit of reading.

"I was a voracious reader but since entering Bollywood I haven't got a chance to read something at a stretch," she said.

"But now, I have got all the time and I'm making full use of the time at hand. I have been watching TED talks and have been reading a lot about climate change because that is something, I am severely passionate about. This time has been very educational for me," she added.

On the professional front, Pednekar will be soon seen as a leading lady in the Akshay Kumar's 'Durgavati' and award-winning director Alankrita Srivastava's 'Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare'.

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