I don't like stardom: Saif Ali Khan

November 29, 2013

Saif_Ali_Khan_copyMumbai, Nov 29: National-award winning actor Saif Ali Khan, who will be next seen in Tigmanshu Dhulia's Bullett Raja, says he dislikes fame and stardom and does not attach much significance to it.

"I don't like stardom... It is not important for me. I want to be respected as a person and money can do that. I don't like people making noise, camera flashing, drama and three security guards walking with you.. It is horrible," Saif told PTI in an interview.

"I love acting and love getting paid for it. I love making money.. It is nice, these things are great. I don't want to be famous, I don't like the attention. It sounds strange to people. It feels nice to be walking and seeing things around, do normal things. I want to be happy, comfortable. That is why I spent lot of time abroad.. Nobody recognises me.. So, I am very happy," he said.

The 43-year-old does not consider himself as a great actor or a superstar.

"I don't think I am a superstar... I am just a star. Actors like Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and others are superstars who have achieved great success. I don't think I have achieved that. I do I think I am successful but not super successful till now. But I would like to be super successful," Saif said. It is for the first time that Saif has teamed up with director Tigmanshu Dhulia for an action masala entertainer, which will hit theatres tomorrow. "I wanted to work with Tigmanshu he is quite multiplex and single screen type director. Bullett Raja is like single screen kind of film. If the film doesn't do well.. Then I will be in trouble. I am looking to do work that is slightly out of my comfort zone, I hope it works for me," he said.

"All the films that I have done cater to multiplex audience. Doing a single screen kind of film is being part of a Hindi film star. Today more and more different kinds of films are being made hence there is an option to choose the best," he added.

Tigmanshu's films have always had guns and Saif too loves using guns in reel and real life.

"I love guns, I know guns very well. They are like passion for me. I love shooting them and love looking at them. I would like to have a library, I would like to have a gun room, look at them and admire. They are like work of art for me, like painting. I possess 12 in the family," he said.

The film deals with the nexus between politicians and gangsters in UP and Saif got well versed with this during the shooting process.

"I knew there was corruption over there but I realized it is like (in this way) between the businessmen, police, gangsters and politicians while doing it (film)," he said. In this film, Saif has a raw and rustic avatar. "It feels great when people like your look. It is like the Dabangg of gangsters. The look is my idea.. I gave inputs. We found this nice look with shiny shirts, rudrakash etc," he added.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Actor Bhumi Pednekar supported migrant labourers traveling long distances amid the coronavirus pandemic, in a rather unique way- by donating footwear to them.

The gut-wrenching images of migrants walking barefoot on the roads made the 'Pati Patni Aur Woh' actor take the plunge to help them.

Pednekar joined hands with a footwear company and a volunteer-based non-government organisation - The Robin Hood Army - to help the underprivileged with footwear.

The actor helped over 1000 migrant labourers in and around Ghaziabad in Murad Nagar, Govindpuram, Vijay Nagar, and distributed footwear among men and women across age-groups.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: Days after being diagnosed with COVID-19, 'Oblivion' actor Olga Kurylenko said that she is better as her fever has now gone.

The 40-year-old actor took to Instagram to share the health update with a picture of herself wearing a face mask.

"Hello everyone! I'm feeling better today. My fever is gone! I hear people can't figure out where I currently am. I'm in London!," she wrote in the caption.

The 'Quantum of Solace' actor also shared details about coronavirus with her Instafam.

"How do I know it's coronavirus and not just a flu? I did a test for coronavirus which came back positive. What are the medicines that doctors prescribed as treatment? NONE!" she wrote.

"I was told to take paracetamol in case my fever was too high and if I was in too much pain. However, I do take vitamins and supplements. Please note that these vitamins do NOT cure coronavirus but only help the immune system be stronger in order to fight!" Kurylenko added.

She also shared a detailed list of medicines that she is taking to deal with the condition.

The 'Oblivion' actor joined the growing list of entertainment figures who have contracted the highly contagious virus on Monday.

Other Hollywood personalities who were earlier diagnosed with COVID-19 are superstar couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. The celebrity couple has been discharged from the hospital and are under quarantine at their home.

Other celebrities that are currently battling with the coronavirus are music producer Andrew Watt, 'Game of Thrones' actor Kristofer Hivju, and actor Idris Elba.

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News Network
February 26,2020

New York, Feb 26: Disney CEO Bob Iger, who steered the company’s absorption of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox’s entertainment businesses and the launch of a Netflix challenger, is stepping down immediately, the company said in a surprise announcement Tuesday.

The Walt Disney Co. named as his replacement Bob Chapek, most recently chairman of Disney’s parks, experiences and products business.

“Did not see this coming -- Wowza,” tweeted LightShed media analyst Rich Greenfield.

Iger will remain executive chairman through the end of his contract on Dec. 31, 2021. Besides leading the board, Iger said he will spend more time on Disney’s creative endeavors, including the ESPN sports network, the newly acquired Fox studios and the Hulu and Disney Plus streaming services. He said he could not do that while running Disney on a day-to-day basis.

“It was not accelerated for any particular reason other than I felt the need was now to make this change,” Iger said on a conference call with reporters and analysts.

Iger steered Disney through the successful purchases of Lucasfilms, Marvel, Pixar and other brands that became big moneymakers for Disney. Last year, the top five movies in U.S. and Canada theaters were all Disney movies, including two from Marvel and one from Pixar. With the Dec. 20 release of the latest “Star Wars” movie, Disney had seven movies that each sold at least $1 billion in tickets worldwide last year.

Iger’s most recent coup was orchestrating a $71 billion purchase of Fox’s entertainment business in March and launching the Disney Plus streaming service in November. That service got nearly 29 million paid subscribers in less than three months. In a statement, Iger said it was the “optimal time” for a transition.

Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak said Iger had implied he would stay until his contract ended in 2021.

“On the other hand, they just successfully closed the Fox deal and had an unquestionably successful launch of Disney Plus so maybe he felt earlier was better to hand off the reins,” he said.

Colin Gillis, director of research at Chatham Road Partners, said the choice of Chapek seems solid because his parks division has had success.

Chapek said that while he has not led television networks or streaming services, his background in consumer-oriented businesses should help. Chapek and Iger both stressed that Disney would continue on the direction it had already been taking.

Disney is facing challenges to its traditional media business as cord-cutting picks up, meaning less fees from cable and satellite companies to carry Disney networks such as ABC, ESPN and Freeform. Disney’s own streaming services require the company to forgo money in licensing revenue, although the company is betting that money from subscriptions will eventually make up for that.

In the short term, Disney parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China, remain closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. In a CNBC interview, Chapek said the outbreak may be a “bump in the road,” but he said the company could weather it given “affinity for the brand.”

Iger told CNBC he had no plans to stay with Disney beyond next year.

Iger’s appointment as CEO in 2005 had been accompanied by controversy and protest from dissident shareholders Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold. But he has come to be seen as a golden-boy top executive, and even someone who could run for president.

Iger told Vogue in 2018 that he had started seriously exploring a run for president because he is “horrified at the state of politics in America today,” but the Fox deal stopped his plans. Oprah Winfrey told Vogue that she “really, really pushed him to run.”

Iger, a former weatherman, joined ABC in 1974, 22 years before Disney bought the network.

At ABC, Iger developed such successful programs as “Home Improvement,” “The Drew Carey Show,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and was instrumental in launching the quiz show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” He was also criticized for cancelling well-regarded but expensive shows such as “Twin Peaks” and “thirtysomething.”

Since Iger became CEO, Disney’s stock price has risen fivefold. Its stock fell more than 2% in extended trading following the announcement, on top of a broader market selloff on virus fears during regular trading.

Iger, 69, was the second-highest paid CEO in 2018, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. He earned $65.6 million. The top earner was Discovery’s David Zaslav who earned $129.5 million.

Susan Arnold, the independent lead director of the Disney board, said succession planning had been ongoing for several years.

Chapek, 60, is only the seventh CEO in Disney history. Chapek was head of the parks, experiences and products division since it was created in 2018. He was previously head of parks and resorts and before that president of consumer products.

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