Niharika Singh shares her #MeToo account, calls out Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sajid Khan, Bhushan Kumar

Agencies
November 10, 2018

Mumbai, Nov 10: Former Miss India and actor Niharika Singh opened up about her #MeToo experiences in entertainment industry calling out Bollywood biggies Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sajid Khan and Bhushan Kumar.

The "Miss Lovely" actor's account was shared on Twitter by journalist Sandhya Mennon.

Niharika said she decided to write the piece "to expand my own understanding of what constitutes abuse, who we choose to punish and whom we are willing to forgive".

The actor said she has dealt with various forms of exploitation throughout her life and her main struggle started once she decided to move to Mumbai to make her name in the modelling and movie business.

Soon after her Miss India pageant win, Niharika said she was signed by Raj Kanwar for her Bollywood debut but the project got shelved and T-Series honcho Bhushan Kumar decided to launch her.

"Bhushan Kumar asked Kanwar to release me from his contract as a favour so I could be cast in his other film... Bhushan Kumar called me to his office to sign 'A New Love Ishtory' where he gave me an envelope as a signing amount for the film. It contained two 500 Rupee notes.

"I got a text from him later that night- 'I would love to know you more. Let's get together sometime'. I wrote back saying- 'Absolutely! Lets go on a double date. You bring your wife. I'll bring my boyfriend.' He never wrote to me again," she wrote.

The film got delayed and the actor claimed she never got paid for her work on the project.

In 2009, Niharika signed "Miss Lovely" opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The actor wrote she and Nawazuddin came close during the making of the film and she developed a soft corner for him as she "found him real, after all the superficial 'filmy' interactions I'd had in the past years".

The actor revealed one morning she invited the "Manto" actor to her home for breakfast and he grabbed her.

"I tried to push him away but he wouldn't let go. After a little coercion, I finally gave in. I wasn't sure what to make of this relationship. He told me it was his dream to have a Miss India or an actress wife, just like Paresh Rawal and Manoj Bajpayee. I found his little confession funny but endearing...He often complained about how he was judged on his looks, skin colour and that he wasn't fluent in English. I tried to help him deal with his insecurities, but he was stuck in a state of victimisation."

The two started dating but according to Niharika she decided to split with Nawazuddin because of his frequent lies.

"I told him to clean up his mess, be honest with himself and everyone around him; also that I did not want to see him again."

 

Niharika and Nawazuddin met after three years when "Miss Lovely" got into the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. The actor said she wanted to be friends with him but "he tried to re-engage me sexually, begging me to be with him but I refused, saying I was happy to be his friend and nothing else".

In the post Niharika also called Nawazuddin a "sexually repressed Indian man whose toxic male entitlement grew with his success is hardly surprising. What is interesting to note that despite not identifying as a Hindu, he carries deep caste prejudices since he chose to protect the honour of his 'Brahmin' wife after their names came in CDR scam, while he felt very comfortable painting me as a seductress wearing faux fur in his book, who he could sexually exploit, for public imagination."

She blasted Nawazuddin's frequent collaborator, director Anurag Kashyap for continuously supporting him.

Niharika also claimed that she was briefly engaged to Mayank Singh Singhvi in 2011, but parted ways because he "was a sociopath".

Mayank later got married to Anissia Batra, who worked with a German airline. She had allegedly jumped from the terrace of her house in July and Mayank was arrested on the charge of dowry death.

In September it was revealed that a former Miss India had approached Delhi Police and recorded her statement in the Anissia Batra case. In her statement, she had told police that she called off her engagement after he threatened her and chased her with a knife.

"Violence against women may be a common feature faced by all women in India, but there is no denying the fact that certain kinds of violence are customarily reserved solely for Dalit women," Niharika said.

She said patriarchy has no gender nor does abuse.

"We can't forget the role of mothers and wives who are equally responsible in covering or enabling their sons' and husbands' crimes... It's time to realize that the pompous, neoliberal, savarna feminism is not going to liberate anyone," she added.

Niharika concluded her post by sharing her encounter with Sajid, who was recently dropped as the director of "Housefull 4" following sexual harassment allegations by multiple women.

"Filmmaker Sajid Khan, who I met a couple of times while he was dating an actress I knew years ago, made a few predictions when a close friend of ours was opening her second restaurant - 'This place will shut down within a year, mark my words.' To his actress girlfriend he said, 'She won't survive a day without me in Bollywood'. 'And, this one', looking at me straight, 'will soon commit suicide'.

"My restaurateur friend is opening her fourth restaurant. It is difficult to get a table at the other three. The actress' career skyrocketed after she dumped the filmmaker and I, have managed to stay alive," she wrote.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: Indian Idol 11 winner is Bhatinda's Sunny Hindustani. Sunny, who mostly sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's songs on the show, won the coveted trophy. The Bhatinda boy took home the Indian Idol 11 trophy along with the prize money of Rs 25 lakh, a car and a singing contract with T-Series.

Sunny's entry on the show was much-talked-about. His soul-soothing voice had mesmerised the judges on the audition day itself as he sang Afreen Afreen. He got a standing ovation and former Indian Idol 11 judge Anu Malik even said that he felt as if Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan himself was performing on the Indian Idol stage. His audition video had gone viral after Anand Mahindra shared it on social media.

On the finale night, Sunny sang a medley of songs, which included Mere Rashke Qamar and Halka Halka Suroor. Ayushmann got emotional seeing Sunny's journey on screen. He said, "Hum na actor bade self-obsessed hote hain. Humein lagta hai hamari struggle sabse achchi hai, sabse badi hai. Inke saamne toh kuch hai he nahi. Jahaan se aye hai, jitna hunar inke paas hai...mujhe lagta hai inki maa sabse ameer hain."

The first and second runner-up of the show Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee got Rs 5 lakh each, while Ridham Kalyan and Adriz Ghosh who were fourth and fifth on the show, took Rs 3 lakh home. Every finalist also received Rs 1 lakh cheque from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from the sponsors.

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Agencies
June 26,2020

Los Angeles, Jun 26: Warner Bros has moved its Christopher Nolan-directed espionage thriller Tenet from July 31 to August 12.

It's the second delay for the highly-anticipated movie, which was originally scheduled to release on July 17 but was postponed to July 31 due to coronavirus pandemic.

Warner Bros. is committed to bringing Tenet' to audiences in theaters, on the big screen, when exhibitors are ready and public health officials say it's time. In this moment what we need to be is flexible, and we are not treating this as a traditional movie release.

We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy, a Warner Bros spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.

The studio has also delayed the US re-release of Nolan's sci-fi blockbuster Inception, in honour of the film's 10th anniversary, to July 31.

Tenet features John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Caine, Clemence Poesy, Dimple Kapadia and Himesh Patel.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: Hoping her cinematic voice can help bring about lasting change in how society perceives acid attack survivors, actor Deepika Padukone says her latest film Chhapaak should ideally be so impactful that there won't be need for another story on acid violence.

After all, cinema is in itself such a powerful medium, Deepika told news agency ahead of the release of the film, which is based on the life of acid attack survivor and activist Laxmi Agarwal.

The idea behind the social drama is to invoke empathy and understanding rather than paint women who have undergone the ordeal as victims, the actor, who has also produced the film, said in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

"Beyond the gruesomeness, the violence and all of that, there is a story of the human spirit and hope. That's why we're telling the story," she said.

Deepika, 33, said it was a story that spoke to her and she felt pride in attaching herself to the project.

Chhapaak, directed by Meghna Gulzar and featuring Vikrant Massey, is the second mainstream film to focus on the subject after 2019 Malayalam movie Uyare starring Parvathy Thiruvothu.

"I hope we won't have to constantly tell stories on acid attack survivors for us to see change. I hope with our film we begin to see that change for ourselves as a society and for acid attack survivors.

"If we don't, then we've done something wrong as a society. Cinema in itself is such a powerful medium that hopefully just through this one film we will hopefully be able to see that kind of change and impact," Deepika said.

The actor said there was not much planning behind the decision to back the film financially.

"Sometimes certain films need a little more hand holding, a little more love and support. I felt like I would be adding a little more value as a producer.

"This is a film I'm very proud of, not just from the script point of view but even in terms of the story and its message," she said.

The film, which releases on January 10, will be Deepika's first release in two years and comes after her marriage to frequent co-star Ranveer Singh.

The actor said she used the time to creatively replenish herself.

"It was about finding a film worthy of putting out there. It's not that work at my end had stopped. I was constantly looking for scripts that challenged and excited me.

"I would look at it as time for creative fertility. It's important to nurture yourself. The work that goes on behind the scenes... most often we're constantly on a film set, but whether it's meeting with writers and directors, looking for scripts... That is also part of the creative process and that's what I've been doing."

The title Chhapaak instantly evokes the image of acid being splattered, and Deepika said the director wanted a word for the film's name that could also lend itself to a song.

"I think she said 'chhapaak', which is the sound of a splash, is something that could adapt or lend itself beautifully to a song. Perhaps, it also has to do with fluidity. So on one hand, liquid is known to take different forms, a liquid such as this (acid) can change someone's life forever," she said.

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