Protest against 'Padmaavat' will continue: Karni Sena leaders

Agencies
February 3, 2018

Feb 3: Karni Sena leaders Lokendra Singh Kalvi, who spearheaded the protest against 'Padmaavat', and Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi said today that their objection to the controversial film still stands and the protest will continue.

The clarification from the two leaders came a day after news reports said the Mumbai branch of 'Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena' had withdrawn their protest against the film.

Kalvi heads Shree Rajput Karni Sena and Gogamedi is the chief of the other group with similar name - Shree Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena.

The Mumbai branch of Gogamedi's group had issued a letter to the production house behind the film, stating their protest is withdrawn after its members found that the movie glorified Rajputs.

The letter, signed by Mumbai leader Yogendra Singh, stated that the group's members watched the film and decided to withdraw the protest unconditionally.

However, Gogamedi said today no such direction was issued to the Mumbai branch. "I have issued no such direction and our protest is continuing. I have expelled all of them whose names and signatures are on the letter," he told reporters here.

"The letter is being circulated on social media and misleading the public. The letter is not authentic," he said.

The protest against the film - based on the saga of the historic battle of 13th century between Maharaja Ratan Singh and his army of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi - is spearheaded by Shree Rajput Karni Sena chief patron Kalvi.

The other group has also protested against the film over similar grounds, that the movie allegedly distorted history.

Kalvi said his group is still opposed to the film and the "janta curfew" it has imposed at movie theatres will continue.

"There were two issues: one related with faith and the other with history. The filmmaker has made changes to the film to respect the faith of the Rajput community but distortion of historic facts is still there in the film," he told reporters at a separate press conference.

He said the protest has not been withdrawn.

However, Kalvi clarified the group will not oppose the special screening of the film at a theatre in Jodhpur, where a high court judge is scheduled to watch it on Monday in connection with a case against director Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The controversial film had faced resistance from various Rajput groups, who accused the filmmakers of "distorting history" and showing Rani Padmini in poor light.

Historians, however, are divided whether the queen actually existed.

The film missed its December 1 release as it was stuck with the CBFC over certificate clearance issues. It finally released on January 25, with five modifications, including change in the title from 'Padmavati' to 'Padmaavat', and multiple disclaimers.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Los Angeles, May 2: Pop diva Madonna has revealed that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 anitbodies.

The singer shared the news in the 14th edition of her “Quarantine Diary” on Instagram TV.

“Took a test the other day and I found out that I have the antibodies. So tomorrow I’m just going to go for a long drive in the car, and I’m gonna roll down the window and I’m gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining,” Madonna said.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, antibody tests are used to determine whether or not a person has been exposed to COVID-19 by finding proteins the body produces to fight the virus.

However, the CDC has yet to confirm if the possession of antibodies is equal to immunity.

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News Network
April 30,2020

Mumbai, Apr 30: Rishi Kapoor, the romantic star of many a Bollywood film who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2018, died in a Mumbai hospital on Thursday, his brother Randhir Kapoor said. He was 67.

Rishi, a third generation actor of the famous Kapoor dynasty, is survived by his wife Neetu Kapoor, actor son Ranbir and daughter Ridhima.

"He is no more. He has passed away," Randhir said.

Rishi was taken to the H N Reliance hospital by his family on Wednesday.

His death comes a day after after his "D-Day" co-star Irrfan Khan passed away, also of cancer. Three months ago, the disease claimed his sister Ritu Nanda.

"Our dear Rishi Kapoor passed away peacefully at 8:45am IST in hospital today after a two-year battle with leukemia. The doctors and medical staff at the hospital said he kept them entertained to the last.

He remained jovial and determined to live to the fullest right through two years of treatment across two continents. Family, friends, food and films remained his focus and everyone who met him during this time was amazed at how he did not let his illness get the better of him, the family said in a statement.

Rishi returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for his cancer in the US for almost a year.

In February, he was hospitalised twice.

He was first admitted to a hospital in Delhi where he was attending a family function. At the time, he had said he was suffering from an "infection".

After his return to Mumbai, he was again admitted to a hospital with viral fever. He was discharged soon after.

Rishi made his first screen appearance as a child artiste in his father Raj Kapoor's film Shri 420 , where he appeared in the song Pyaar hua ekraar hua . This was followed by "Mera Naam Joker". But it was in 1973, with the blockbuster Bobby , again directed by his father, that he made his debut as a romantic hero. He continued to be a favourite romantic hero for almost three decades.

His notable films as a romantic hero are "Laila Majnu", "Rafoo Chakkar", "Karz", "Chandni", "Heena" and "Saagar".

He was, however, more proud of his second innings as an actor, which he found more satisfying. His notable films as a character artiste are "Do Dooni Chaar" with wife Neetu, "Agnipath" and "Kapoor & Sons".

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News Network
February 12,2020

London, Feb 12: Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen is returning to his art roots with a series of short films at London's Tate Modern art gallery, offering a sensory exploration of black identity.

McQueen, who became the first black director to win the best picture Academy Award in 2014 for "12 Years a Slave", is now based between London and Amsterdam and is focused on championing diversity in the film industry.

Visitors to his new exhibition will be greeted by "Static", a film of New York's Statue of Liberty, scrutinising the iconic symbol from every possible angle at very close range against a deafening backdrop of the helicopter from where the footage was filmed.

"What interests Steve is our view of the world, how humans are trying to represent Liberty," said Fiontan Moran, assistant curator of the exhibition.

"7th Nov, 2001" features a still shot of a body while McQueen's cousin Marcus tells of how he accidentally killed his brother, a particularly traumatic experience for the artist.

"Western Deep" is another visceral work, giving a sense through sights and sounds in an interactive installation of the experiences of miners in South Africa, following them to the bottom of the mine.

"Ashes", meanwhile, is a tribute to a young fisherman from Grenada, the island where McQueen's family originated.

The images of beauty and sweetness filmed from his boat are tragically reversed on the other side of the projection screen, which shows a grave commissioned by McQueen for the eponymous young fisherman, who was killed by drug traffickers.

African-American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976) is honoured in "End Credits".

The film shows censored FBI documents detailing the agency's surveillance of Robeson, read by a voice-over artist, for five hours.

"He is... testing the limits of how people can be documented in an era of mass surveillance," said Moran.

In a similarly militant vein, the exhibition features the sculpture "Weight", which was first shown in the prison cell where the writer and playwright Oscar Wilde was imprisoned.

It depicts a golden mosquito net draped over a metal prison bed frame, addressing the theme of confinement and the power of the imagination to break free.

The show runs alongside an exhibition of McQueen's giant portraits of London school classes, many of which appeared on the streets of London last year.

"I remember my first school trip to Tate when I was an impressionable eight-year-old, which was really the moment I gained an understanding that anything is possible," said McQueen, adding it was "where in some ways my journey as an artist first began".

He recently told the Financial Times newspaper the difference between his art films and his feature films was that the former were poetry, the latter like a novel.

"Poetry is condensed, precise, fragmented," he said. "The novel is the yarn".

The exhibition opens on February 13 and runs until May 11.

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