Not always able to select trend-following films: Nawazuddin

Agencies
September 11, 2017

New Delhi, Sept 11: Nawazuddin Siddiqui is trying to strike a fine balance between commercial and indie cinema, but the actor says he still feels a little hesitant to accept a typical masala film as it often fails to provide scope for performance.

Despite being a part of several commercial hits such as "Badlapur", "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Raees", the 43-year-old actor says it is his small-budget films that give him a kick to explore various sides to him as an artiste.

"I'm not always able to select those films which follow a particular trend. All my solo films such as 'Manjhi' and 'Raman Raghav 2.0' are different. They are not typical Bollywood films, which are generally liked by the audience.

"The kind of films I do, might be difficult to understand but they have a lot of scope to perform, which I enjoy the most," Nawaz tells PTI.

The actor's recent outing "Babumoshai Bandookbaaz" has done decent business at the box office and the actor says he never thought the film would receive positive feedback since it had "adult" content. "The film had a limited budget and the content was also adult so we were scared whether or not people will come to theatres to watch it.

"We were unsure of the business because we made quite a different and 'besharam' (shameless) film as the characters were also unlikeable. But I'm happy that people from small towns went to see the movie and liked it."

"Babumoshai Bandookbaaz", however, was unable to impress the film critics, who disapproved of its content but Nawazuddin says what matters the most to him is the reception by the audience. "Nowadays any critic can bash a film in whichever way they want to. Everyone knows that they would only criticise. Some of them are biased. They often appreciate only certain people because of groupism.

"I'm not saying all critics are same, but for me the most important thing is how the audience is reacting to my film. What would I do with four stars if no one turns up for my film? So, what the audience thinks is the most important thing," he says.

Nawaz is known to speak his mind -- be it his take on nepotism or his remarks on the existence of racism in Bollywood -- he has time and again proved that he is one fearless star in the industry.

"You should always express what you feel and never be afraid of putting up your opinions, no matter how difficult the situation gets. And I think I have earned this place where I can express my views if I feel something is wrong." Nawaz recently called out Bollywood stars for endorsing fairness creams and the actor maintains his stand. "Promoting a fairness cream is shamelessness. Stars must stop endorsing it. I keep saying this and I'll always say that people should be ashamed of themselves for endorsing the fairness creams." 

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: A day after Deepika Padukone visited the JNU campus to express solidarity with students who had been attacked, her film "Chhapaak" made another splash on Wednesday over the name of its antagonist.

While Deepika was the focus of many a discussion on social media and beyond for showing up at a public meeting in the university, the film, based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, was also making news for quite another reason.

In what could well be a storm in a 'Twitter cup', "Nadeem Khan" and "Rajesh" began trending on the microblogging site after a magazine article claimed the name of the antagonist had been changed. By 4 pm, 'Nadeem Khan' clocked close to 60,000 tweets and 'Rajesh' close behind with 50,000.

In 2005, Laxmi was disfigured for life when a man called Nadeem Khan and three others allegedly hurled acid at her in Delhi's upscale Khan Market.

In the film based on her life, the narrative remains the same but the names have been changed. So, Laxmi is 'Malti' Agarwal and Nadeem becomes 'Babboo' aka 'Bashir Khan'.

On Wednesday, Swarajya magazine wrote an article headlined, "The Ways Of Bollywood: In Deepika Padukone-Starer Chhapaak, Acid Attacker Naeem Khan Becomes ‘Rajesh'." "As part of a backlash against Padukone's JNU 'meet and greet', social media users researched the names of the characters involved in the movie Chhapaak and conspicuously found the name of main perpetrator Naeem Khan absent," the article alleged.

But in the Meghna Gulzar directed film, there is no mention of any Nadeem or Naeem Khan. Moreover, Rajesh is the name of Malti's boyfriend.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Babul Supriyo jumped into the controversy, saying it was another example of "absolute hypocrisy".

"...When you say all characters are fictitious and don't have any resemblance with living beings and all of that, this is absolute hypocrisy. When you change the name which also changes the religion, it has been done very deliberately," Supriyo told a TV channel when asked to comment on the controversy.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Biduri also called for a boycott of the movie.

With Deepika grabbing attention by going to JNU, many appreciated her 'silent solidarity' but others criticised her for "supporting the Leftists" and said it was a promotional stunt ahead of the release.

"#BoycottChhapaak" was trending on Twitter as was "#ISupportDeepika".

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News Network
July 18,2020

Mumbai, Jul 18: Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan on Friday were shifted to a city hospital, almost a week after they were tested positive for COVID-19. Aishwarya, 46 and eight-year-old Aaradhya were diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday, a day after the actor’s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, and husband Abhishek Bachchan tested positive for the COVID-19.

The mother-daughter duo was self-quarantining at home till now.

“Both Aishwarya and Aaradhya were admitted to Nanavati hospital today. They are fine,” hospital source said.

Aishwarya needed medical attention, another insider said.

Amitabh, 77, and Abhishek, 44, both are already in the isolation ward of Nanavati hospital.

Since his diagnosis, Amitabh has been regularly updating his admires about his health on social media.

“In happy times, in times of illness, you our near and dear, our well wishers, our fans have ever given us unstinting love , affection care and prayer .. we express our bountiful gracious gratitude to you all .. in these circumstances hospital protocol, restrictive,” the screen icon tweeted on Friday evening.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), coronavirus cases in Mumbai rose to 98,979 with 1,228 new patients being reported on Friday.

Death toll due to the pandemic rose to 5,582 with 62 new fatalities being recorded.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Mumbai, Jan 12: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday came out in support of actor Deepika Padukone, who is facing flak from the BJP and some other quarters over her visit to the JNU campus in Delhi to express solidarity with students who were recently attacked by armed assailants.

Raut, who is a Rajya Sabha member and the executive editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', said the country cannot be run in a "Talibani" style.

After Padukone's visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday, many appreciated her "silent solidarity", but some others criticised her for "supporting Leftists", saying it was a promotional stunt for her latest film "Chhapaak".

Some also demanded a boycott of her film, based on the life of an acid attack survivor, played by Padukone.

A section of BJP leaders also criticised the 34-year- old actor over her JNU visit.

Talking to PTI, Raut said, "The demand for boycott of the actress and her film is wrong. The country cannot be run in a 'Talibani' style."

"Chhapaak", directed by Meghna Gulzar, hit the theatres on Friday.

Declaring a movie tax-free means the state has waived the entertainment levy imposed on it, thereby bringing down the ticket rates and encouraging more people to watch it.

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