Salman Khan's defence of not driving car unacceptable: Prosecution

April 1, 2015

Mumbai, Apr 1: Prosecution today rejected Bollywood star Salman Khan's defence that it was his driver Ashok Singh who was driving his vehicle at the time of the 2002 mishap, saying it appears to be a "brought up" witness whose contention was belated and introduced at the fag end of the trial.Salman Khan

Khan had submitted for the first time on Monday that Singh was at the wheel and not him, while giving his statement after evidence was closed in the case, said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat today while making final arguments in the sessions court.

Khan has been charged with killing one person and injuring four others by ramming his vehicle into a bakery shop in suburban Bandra in the wee hours of September 28, 2002.

In his arguments, Gharat said none of the witnesses examined in the court was given this suggestion or confronted with this new piece of evidence claimed by Khan.

Gharat argued that Khan had not mentioned about his driver Ashok Singh at any stage of the trial earlier and had disclosed this only when his statement was being recorded.

At that time, the actor was also asked by the judge if he wished to examine himself. To this, he had replied in the negative. "If he (Khan) had chosen to examine himself he would have been exposed in cross-examination, Gharat further argued.

The accused had in the beginning of the trial accepted that the vehicle was owned by him and was in his possession when the mishap occurred. Even at that stage he did not disclose that his driver Ashok Singh was driving the car at the relevant time, said Gharat.

Singh had told the sessions court last month that it was he was behind the wheel, and not the actor, at the time of the accident.

The prosecution has alleged that Khan did not have driving licence and was under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident. Khan had denied both charges.

"It appears that he (Ashok Singh) is a 'brought up' witness and as such his evidence cannot be accepted", Gharat contended.

The prosecutor said police constable Ravindra Ptil, a complainant in the case and also bodyguard of Khan, had said in his statement about three persons occupying the car -- he (himself), accused Salman and his friend Kamaal.

Even Patil had not mentioned about the fourth person, i.e Ashok Singh, as claimed by the actor, the prosecutor said.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Chennai, Mar 28: Chennai City Corporation personnel stuck a home quarantine sticker at the office of actor-politician Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam office on Saturday, leading to speculation that the matinee star was quarantined for the coronavirus.

While there was speculation if Kamal Haasan was quarantined, the Greater Chennai Corporation said their staffers pasted the sticker on the premises because actress Gautami Tadimalli "returned from Dubai recently and her passport has this address (Eldams Road in upscale Alwarpet)."

The present residence of the actress was not known immediately.

The sticker read, "We are in home quarantine to safeguard ourselves and Chennai from the coronavirus." It was removed soon, an official said, declining to elaborate.

Kamal Haasan clarified in a statement that he was not quarantined.

"Based on the notice stuck outside my house, news has been spread saying that I have been quarantined. But most of you already know that I have not been living there for the past few years and the Makkal Needhi Maiam party office has been functioning from there," he said.

Further, the actor said, the news that he has been quarantined "is not true."

As a precautionary measure, he has been maintaining social distancing, he said.

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News Network
May 8,2020

London, May 8: Actor Florence Pugh says the most terrifying aspect of starring in the upcoming superhero film "Black Widow" was doing the Russian accent.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe's stand-alone film, the Oscar-nominated actor plays Yelena Belova, a sister-figure to Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/ the titular Black Widow who was trained in the Red Room.

"I was scared because my Russian accent was going to be out there and I didn't know what it sounded like.

"I'm also playing a character who no-one's seen before but they've read about her. I didn't know whether people were going to hate me!" Pugh told ELLE UK for its June issue.

The 24-year-old actor also said the idea of joining the MCU itself was quite "daunting".

"When you think of Marvel, it's big and daunting. Especially being a relatively small actor to look at it and go, 'Oh! I'm going to be a part of this', that's a big decision," she said.

"Black Widow", which was scheduled to hit the theatres on May 1, will now release on November 6 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Cate Shortland, the film also stars David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

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News Network
April 10,2020

New Delhi Apr 10:  Actor Salman Khan on Friday thanked people for staying indoors and shared two pictures, first showing Bada Qabaristan's (graveyard) gate which has been closed due to lockdown and the second was of an empty street in Mumbai.

The actor thanked the people for listening to the guidelines and understanding the gravity of this situation amid the 21-day government-imposed lockdown in view of coronavirus outbreak. The tweet by 'Dabangg' actor came soon after the conclusion of Shab-e-Barat.

Shab-e-Barat is observed as a day of forgiveness or atonement in Islam and leads to congregations at graveyards and religious places.

The 54-year-old actor took to Twitter and wrote, "Wah! Thank u for listening n understanding the gravity of this situation the country is in. God bless n protect each n every 1.

Over the past few days, appeals were made to the Muslim community from several quarters to not venture out of their houses to pray on Shab-e-Barat in view of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Earlier, the 'Tiger Zinda Hai' star shared his lockdown experience in a video message with nephew Nirvaan and urged people to take the government's advisory of self-isolation seriously amid the rising cases of coronavirus in the country.

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