Sacrilege cases Actor Akshay Kumar appears before Punjab Police SIT

Agencies
November 21, 2018

Chandigarh, Nov 21: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar Wednesday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Punjab Police, which is probing the 2015 police firing incidents at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in the state following cases of sacrilege in Faridkot. 

Soon after his arrival at the Chandigarh airport, the actor headed straight to the Punjab Police headquarters at sector-9 here where security has been stepped up.

Kumar refused to talk to reporters at the airport. 

The SIT wants to question Kumar as his name was mentioned in the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents. The SIT had earlier asked him to appear before it on November 21 at the Amritsar circuit house. However, police later allowed the actor to appear before the SIT at Chandigarh.

The Justice Ranjit Singh commission report, which was tabled in the Punjab Assembly in August, had given a reference of a letter written (October 9, 2017) to it by former MLA Harbans Jalal claiming that a meeting took place between Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal at the actor's flat in Mumbai in 2015 in connection with the release of the Dera head's movie "MSG".

The meeting was allegedly held before the Dera chief was pardoned in a blasphemy case. The movie "MSG" was not released in Punjab in September 2015 because of an edict by the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs, against it.

Kumar has denied arranging any meeting between former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the Dera Sacha Sauda sect head.

The actor has also denied having ever met the Sirsa headquartered Dera head, who is currently serving a 20-year jail term in a rape case.

Kumar had issued the denial on November 12 after the SIT summoned him along with former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. 

"It has come to my knowledge that some rumours and false statements are being loosely made on social media about my involvement with a person named Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in the context of a fictitious meeting involving Sukhbir Singh Badal,” Kumar had said in tweet.

"With all humility, I would like to state the following facts. I have never ever met Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in my life, anywhere. I learnt from social media at some point that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh resided for a while at some place in my locality Juhu in Mumbai but we never crossed each other's paths,” Kumar had said.

The SIT has already questioned former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh.

On Monday, Sukhbir told SIT members, that he had never met Akshay outside Punjab when he was asked by the SIT members whether he had met the actor in Mumbai.

The summons are related to the investigation of cases involving various incidents of sacrilege in 2015, police had said.
 
The summons had been issued under the section 160 of the CrPC, requiring the attendance for investigation, relating to the Bargari sacrilege case and the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing incidents.

The summons state, "The presence of the aforesaid person is necessary for the purpose of inquiry into the above-mentioned offence” and the person summoned needed “to give such information relating to the said alleged offence as he may possess.”

The 5-member SIT was set up by the state government in September this year.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: By posting a stunning picture of herself, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on Friday motivated people to stay strong during the tough times that the country is facing amid the coronavirus crisis.
The actor took to Instagram and posted a high-on-style picture of herself clicked from behind.
In the picture, the 'Jab We Met' actor is seen standing in front of make-up mirrors that had lights adding on to the shine of the picture.
"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within... Stay strong. We can and we will," she captioned the picture in which she is seen wearing a blue bodycon dress having puffy sleeves.
The glamourous picture received scores of comments from the celebrated actor's fans.
With the entertainment industry under shutdown, many celebrities are self-isolating them to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus rose to 724 on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Bandipur, Jan 28: British adventurer Bear Grylls and superstar Rajinikanth arrived at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and National Park in Karnataka on Tuesday for shooting a special episode of the show 'Man vs Wild'.

The actor arrived at the location dressed in comfortable sporty clothes. Donning a dark blue jacket and grey track pants, Rajinikanth was also carrying a cross-body sling bag.

Videos and photographs of Rajinikanth arriving at a helipad were shared widely on social media.

Reports say that an agreement was signed between the Karnataka Forest Department represented by the Field Director of Bandipur and Banijay Group, Seventaurus Entertainment Studio Private Ltd, Mumbai for shooting of the documentary in December 2019. The team was also allowed to do a recce from December 27th to 29th as per the agreement, a report said.

The shooting has been permitted for six hours. "Permission for the shooting has been given for Sultan Batteri highway and ranges of Mulleholle, Maddur and Kalkere ranges. They will be shooting in non-tourist zones. If permission was given for the shooting of Wild Karnataka, then this can also be permitted. Also, no tourist or regular forest patrolling activities will be affected. The shooting will be done under special forest protection and no one will be aware of the locations," a forest official was quoted as saying in another news report.

Earlier in 2019, Grylls shot an episode of the show with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Grylls is also back with the latest edition of his National Geographic show ‘Running Wild With Bear Grylls’, where actors such as Channing Tatum, Brie Larson, Joel McHale, Cara Delevingne, Rob Riggle, Armie Hammer and Dave Bautista take on adventurous challenges in remote wilderness.

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Agencies
February 10,2020

Hollywood star Joaquin Phoenix finally ended his dry run at the Oscars as he picked up the best actor trophy for his performance in and as "Joker" at the 92nd Academy Awards.

The 45-year-old actor had earlier bagged a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his turn as a failed, unhinged stand-up comedian who descends into chaos.

In a lengthy and rambling speech, Phoenix touched upon racism, climate change and gender inequality. He also remembered his brother River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 23 in 1993.

"When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, 'run to the rescue with love and peace will follow'," Phoenix said. At the Academy Awards and the entire Hollywood award season, Phoenix had emerged as an undisputed frontrunner even though he was up against the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"), Adam Driver ("Marriage Story"), "Antonio Banderas ("Pain & Glory") and Jonathan Pryce ("The Two Popes").

An Oscar had eluded Phoenix for the most part of his career, despite his successful collaborations with Ridley Scott ("Gladiator"), James Mangold ("Walk The Line") and Paul Thomas Anderson ("The Master"), all of which had earned him nominations.

But as Arthur Fleck aka The Joker, Phoenix finally managed to break that jinx and became the second actor to win an Oscar for playing the DC comic book villain after the posthumous best supporting actor win to Heath Ledger in 2008.

As Joker, Phoenix took a deep dive into character, capturing its essence as well as maniacal spirit in both body and soul.

He lost 52 pounds to get into the physicality of Fleck and turned to a pathological disorder to get his distinct laughter right.

Phillips wrote the part keeping Phoenix in mind though the actor took some convincing to play the role.

Phoenix started the film's festival circuit tour on a positive note at Cannes last year that followed by stops at Venice and Toronto.

The film had also courted controversies, owing to its theme of gun violence in the movie as well as Phoenix's temperamental press tour that saw him walking out of an interview midway.

But critics and the fans loved the actor's riveting turn in the movie and his pointed speeches.

At the Golden Globes, he called out the industry for its insensitivity towards climate change and pulled up his peers for using private jets for travel, while at the SAGs, he joked how he would always lose a role to DiCaprio and asked Christian Bale to deliver a bad performance for once in his career.

In his acceptance speech at the BAFTAs, Phoenix acknowledged the lack of diversity in the nominations, calling himself a part of the problem. Phoenix's career most praised performances include "Signs ", "We Own the Night", "Two Lovers", "The Immigrant", "Her", "You Were Never Really Here" and "Inherent Vice".

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