Sathyaraj's comments not related to 'Baahubali': Director S S Rajamouli

April 20, 2017

Hyderabad, Apr 20: Director S S Rajamouli today sought to distance himself and his "Baahubali 2" team from comments allegedly made by actor Sathyaraj that have led to a protest against the film's release in Karnataka.

rajamouliRajamouli said Sathyaraj, who plays the role of Kattappa in the multi-lingual drama, made the alleged anti-Kannada comments during the Cauvery River row between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka about nine years ago. Sathyaraj is from Tamil Nadu.

"The producer and I want to clarify on the issue... The comments must have pained some of you but there is no connection with the movie. Those were (his) personal comments and were made some nine years ago," the director said in a video message on his official Twitter page.

He said the team was unaware of the actor's remarks till it saw a video on a social media site.

Rajamouli also pointed out that many of Sathyaraj's films have been released since then, including the 2015 film "Baahubali".

"The way you accepted and appreciated 'Baahubali Part I', I request you to do the same for 'Part II'... Sathyaraj is neither the director nor the producer of this movie. He is one of many artists associated with this film.

"If you stall the release of the film, it may not affect him (Sathyaraj) that much. But it is not right to show your anger on this film for the comments made by him," he said.

The director said Sathyaraj has been "updated about the situation" but beyond that the team could not do much. "I request you not to involve us in this matter as it nowhere connected to us," he said.

The film's producer, Shobu Yarlagadda, also expressed hope that the issue would be resolved amicably. "This is a very sensitive issue, and I don't want to comment much on it. The only thing I want to say is - we will resolve the issue amicably in the interest of all concerned," he had said.

Many pro-Kannada organisations have threatened to launch a stir against the film's release across Karnataka. They have demanded an apology from Sathyaraj for the reported remarks on the water dispute.

Vatal Nagaraj, president of the Kannada Chalavali Vatal Paksha, a regional pro-Kannada political party, has said that the group will not allow the movie to be released because of Sathyaraj's comments.

When asked why Sathyaraj's previous films were allowed to be screened in the state, he said they were waiting for the "right" time.

"Other films of Sathyaraj which were released earlier here weren't worthy and noticeable. However, Baahubali is recognised both nationally and internationally. We were waiting for the right time."

"Baahubali: The Conclusion", also starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah and Anushka Shetty, is slated to be released on April 28 worldwide.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Bihar, Mar 5: A complaint has been filed before a court in Bihar against lyricist Javed Akhtar over his remarks on the FIRs being registered against expelled AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in the wake of Delhi riots.

The complaint was lodged on Wednesday by Amit Kumar, a local advocate, before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Thakur Aman Kumar.

On the basis of a newspaper report, the complainant has alleged that Akhtar's remarks were seditious and promoted religious hatred.

The media report was based on Akhtar's tweet of February 27 that "So many killed, so many injured, so many houses burned, so many shops looted so many people turned destitute but police has sealed only one house and looking for his owner. Incidentally, his name is Tahir. Hats off to the consistency of the Delhi police."

The violence in northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured. The former Rajya Sabha member was heavily trolled for the tweet.

In a subsequent tweet, Akhtar who asserted that he is a non-believer and a rationalist, had clarified that he was not asking "why Tahir but why ONLY Tahir and not even an FIR against those who have openly threatened violence in the presence of the police".

The matter is likely to come up for hearing on March 25.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

New Delhi, Jan 11: The Delhi High Court on Saturday restrained from releasing Deepika Padukone-starrer 'Chhapaak' movie without due credits to the lawyer who represented the acid attack survivor, Lakshmi Agarwal, in her legal battle.

The restraint will be effective from January 15 in multiplexes and live streaming and for others from January 17.

The court directed filmmaker Meghna Gulzar to give due credit to lawyer Aparna Bhat who fought the criminal case for the acid survivor on whose life the movie is based.

It passed the order on a petition filed by Fox Studio challenging a trial court order which had directed the filmmakers to give credit to Bhat.

Delhi's Patiala House Court had earlier this week passed an order granting an ex-parte interim mandatory injunction directed that the filmmaker has to carry a line "Aparna Bhat continues to fight cases of sexual and physical violence against women" during the screening of the film.

Fox Studios then requested the Delhi High Court to set aside the trial court order.

The petitioner submitted that if the order passed in a suit filed just one day before the release of the film, is not vacated, varied or modified, then the petitioner will suffer grave injustice and irreparable harm and injury.

The movie, which hit the cinemas yesterday, is based on Laxmi's life. In 2005, at the age of 15, she was allegedly attacked by a spurned lover.

Laxmi had to undergo several surgeries. Later, she started helping other acid attack survivors and promoted campaigns to stop such gruesome attacks.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Jaipur, Jan 24: Actor Sonali Bendre has said that she came into the movies to make money but fell in love with the profession where she discovered herself and found her family and friends. The 45-year-old actor said she owed a lot to Bollywood which is the most wonderful place to be, both mentally as well as creatively.

"I came into movies to make money and I fell in love with the profession. It was the most wonderful place to be, mentally and creatively," she said.

"I found myself there, found my friends and family over there. I owe a lot to Bollywood. It was one of the most wonderful things that happened to me," Sonali said here on Thursday.

The actor said her entry into movies by purely because she happened to be at the right place and at the right time.

Sonali added when acting offers came her way she knew that in no other field could she have made as much money, and as quickly, as she did in movies.

"Basically, I got into this because it was great money," she said.

The actor was speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival and also talked about books and how her book club named ‘Sonali's Book Club' came into being.

Sonali, who has been convalescing after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US, said that books gave her strength and kept her afloat while she was going through one of the toughest phases of her life.

The actor was diagnosed with high grade cancer in July 2018 and underwent treatment for it in New York.

"Books were my friends other than my sisters while I was growing up. I'm nowhere remotely connected to movies. I have a very middle class Maharashtrian upbringing. When I got into movies, it was like being on another planet. Again in this world where it was easy to feel the peer pressure and do certain things or not do certain things, or look a certain way, books kept me grounded," she said.

"'A Gentleman in Moscow' (a 2016 novel by Amor Towles) was uplifting and I got so much strength from that book during my treatment in New York," Sonali said.

The actor, who often shares posts about books and authors on social media, said one should stop feeling guilty about not completing a book.

"Sometimes you start judging yourself by not completing a book, but I have reached a stage where I understand that I'm a book-lover, but that doesn't mean I will like all the books. It's okay if you don't like a book," she said.

Sonali also said that nobody wanted to know about the intellectual capacity of Bollywood stars as it was not "entertainment enough or gossipy enough".

Earlier before her session, Sonali launched author Ashwin Sanghi's latest book ‘The Vault of Vishnu', the sixth book in the Bharat series, at the 13th edition of the festival.

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Advisor
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

Please read the religious books once in your life time specially the QURAN which tells lot about this life and its journey and to recognize the true ONE GOD who has no partners and the creator of all that Exists . God asks us to use our intellect and find logical answers for many of our life's query which is a guidance to HUMANITY.  READ with a OPEN HEART without bias... Good LUCK

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