Mahershala Ali becomes first 'Ahmadiyya Muslim' to win Oscar in acting

February 27, 2017

Los Angeles, Feb 27: Mahershala Ali made history by becoming the first Ahmadiyya Muslim to win an acting Oscar as he was honoured with the best supporting actor trophy for his riveting turn as an empathetic drug dealer, who takes a fatherless young boy under his wing in "Moonlight.

Mahershala

Ali, 43, is only in the first third of "Moonlight" but his quiet yet powerful performance as Juan has made his presence felt throughout the Barry Jenkin's directed coming- of-age gay drama, even long after his character departs the story.

He was presented the ceremony's first trophy by last year's best supporting actress winner, Alicia Vikander.

"My grandma would want me to button up. Wow," began the actor amid a standing ovation from the Hollywood audience.

"I want to thank my teachers and professors who told me that it is not about you, it is about characters," he said, thanking his wife Amatus Sami-Karim for being supportive while she was expecting their first child, a daughter born just four days ago.

Other nominees in the category were Indian-British actor Dev Patel ("Lion"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea" and Michael Shannon ("Nocturnal Animals").

Ali's name was recommended to Jenkins by producer Adele Romanski, who had worked with the actor on the Bay Area-set independent drama "Kicks."

And it was then that Jenkins cast Ali as Juan, a dealer in Miami's Liberty City neighbourhood, who sees in a young gay boy named Chiron a desperate need for guidance and protection.

The movie's signature image is that of Juan holding the boy in the surf as he teaches him to swim

Ali had revealed that he shaped his performance of a drug trafficker on mentors who left a positive impact on him.

The actor has been on a whirlwind awards tour, collecting one trophy after another, including the Screen Actors Guild award for supporting actor.

The actor's exceptionally fruitful year saw his 16-year career skyrocket in 2016 with an Emmy nomination for his fourth season as "House of Cards'" Washington insider Remy Denton, an acclaimed run on Netflix's "Luke Cage" and a role in another Oscar-nominated film "Hidden Figures".

Christian becomes Ahmadiyya Muslim

Ali was born in 1974, in Oakland, CA, and was raised in Cleveland, OH. He is named after Maher-shalal-hash-baz, a biblical prophetic-name child. Raised Christian by his mother, Willicia, an ordained minister, he later converted to Islam in 1999, changing his surname from Gilmore to Ali, and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. His father appeared on Broadway. He attended St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, where he graduated in 1996 with a degree in mass communication. He is married to Amatus Sami-Karim. He named his cat Nas, after the musician. On February 22, 2017, he and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter named Bari Najma.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Washington, Mar 11: Pop star Selena Gomez made some revelations about her personal life in a recent interview.

While explaining the lyrics of her song "Rare" on the 'Genius' YouTube channel, the 27-year-old said that there are times when she feels that she will ever be able to find a suitable partner for herself, reported Fox News.

"Some days when I wake up and I am annoyed and I am like, 'I am going to be alone forever.' But after that 15 minutes go away, I say to myself, 'I know that there is someone for everybody," the singer told in the seven-and-a-half minute long video.

However, she remains optimistic as she is still young and "this isn't the end all be all".

Elaborating upon the chorus of her song, Gomez opened up and said, "self-esteem and confidence is a constant struggle".

"It's getting better with time and age, but it will always be something that I'm working on," she added while explaining the lyrics further.

"So what I think is so important about this chorus is that it's acknowledging, 'Hey, I don't have it all. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I do know that I'm special,' and I think that is a humble approach of saying, 'Why don't you see that I am different?'" the singer added as reported by Fox News.

Touching upon her experiences from past relationships, she commented: "In certain relationships, I've heard and I've experienced and whatnot, I think men and women do it -- especially teenagers and young people in love -- is there's this satisfaction out of hurting someone because you know that they care. Purposefully putting someone down because they want to keep them at a level. I've had someone actually say that to me before".

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News Network
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: After the recent sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, actor Kangana Ranaut who went public slamming nepotism in the Hindi film industry, has now revealed that she faced similar struggles like that of Sushant.

In a new statement, the "Queen" actor alleged that she was asked to apologise to Hrithik Roshan's family in order to survive. Both Kangana and Hrithik had been in the public spotlight in the year 2016 over their alleged former relationship and legal battle.

The 'Queen' actor said: "Once Javed Akhtar had called me to his house and told me that Rakesh Roshan and his family are very big people. If you don't apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to Hrithik Roshan, I would have to commit suicide? He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house,"

She further continued, "Were there people calling Sushant? Were there people putting such thoughts into his mind? I have no idea, but obviously, he was in a similar situation. In his interviews, he had said that nepotism cannot co-exist with talent because they don't allow the right talent to come up. I can relate to it, and hence I am raising questions. I want to know who played the catalyst in this situation?"

Kangana adds, "I know Sushant had a big fallout with Aditya Chopra also. When I refused Sultan, he had threatened he would never work with me. Ever since our industry ganged up on me. I remember so many times feeling really lonely and feeling what will happen to me..."

The 'Manikarnika' star also revealed that all this not only happened to her professionally but personally as well it hampered her relationships. "They are very insecure about things. Despite what they did to me, there was a guy who wanted to get married to me. But he distanced himself, they made sure he ran away. With no surety about my career, my love-life completely has gone awry, with six court-cases against me, they're still trying to put me in jail."

Kangana also talked about herself: "I'm a different person; I'm very expressive. I went out there, and I just vented it out. Sushant was not a person like that at all. He just bottled it up. Media too has played a considerable part in this--the kind of monster image that was given to him. Everybody who knew him closely agrees that he was a soft and emotional person. I think that after a point it really got to him. I can understand it because even I have been portrayed as a witch and as a stalker."

Sharing that the bullying and outbursts had a psychological impact on her life situations, Kangana says, "I remember initially when people used to come to my home, I felt so embarrassed to even offer them water. Forget having a relationship or going on a date post the disaster of a relationship I had. I can only imagine that even during Manikarnika what they did to me."

Talking about the 'Kai Po Che' star, she added, "But perhaps he was just not able to vent. In fact, all these constant jibes on these petty show that he should be killed and which rated him as the least efficient... his films have done more business than your Gully Boy. People like Salman Khan said who Sushant Singh Rajput? It was after M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, everybody knew who Sushant was. We need to stop these."

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News Network
May 30,2020

Mumbai, May 30: Actor Vaani Kapoor on Saturday said she will go on a virtual date with five people as part of an initiative to raise money for daily wage earners, who have been affected due to the nationwide lockdown implemented to rein in coronavirus.

Vaani has teamed up with actor Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula Kapoor’s online fundraising platform, Fankind, to raise funds for daily wage workers.

Vaani and Fankind have come together to provide five of her fans a chance to go on a virtual date with her - by donating to provide food to daily wage workers.

“As human beings, we will need to come forward and support as many people as possible in need due to the coronavirus pandemic in our country. I’m doing my bit to support the daily wage earners of our country and their families who are in dire situations given the lockdown.

“My activity, in which five lucky winners can have a virtual date with me, will see us collect funds to help feed them and their families across the country," Vaani said in a statement.

Earlier, Arjun too supported the initiative to help daily wage earners.

According to the press release, the funds will go to GiveIndia, a non-profit organisation, which will provide hot cooked meals to wage earners and their families. Each meal costs Rs 30 and will be delivered in various areas of Maharashtra, Bangalore, and Chennai.

A.T.E. Chandra Foundation has also come on board and will be adding 25 percent of the total donation value collected as a matching amount, thereby multiplying the impact, the release said.

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