Shah Rukh among 3 global stars to be honoured with Crystal Award at WEF Davos summit

Agencies
January 12, 2018

New Delhi/Geneva, Jan 12: Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan will get the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos later this month, along with Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and legendary musician Sir Elton John.

Khan will get the award for "his leadership in championing children's and women's rights in India," the World Economic Forum (WEF) said.

The past awardees from India include Amitabh Bachchan, Mallika Sarabhai, A R Rahman, Shabana Azmi, Ravi Shankar and Amjad Ali Khan.

Sir Elton John has been selected for the 2018 award for his leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and Blanchett for her leadership in raising awareness about the refugee crisis.

The Annual Crystal Awards ceremony, which opens the WEF summit in the Swiss ski resort, celebrates the achievements of outstanding artists who have shown exemplary commitment to improving the state of the world.

Announcing the names of the three awardees for this year, the WEF said "each of them in their own way has taken action to uphold human dignity". The award ceremony will take place on January 22, the first day of the five-day annual meeting of Geneva-based WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation committed to improving the state of the world.

The three awardees will be among 40 art and culture leaders taking part in this year's annual WEF summit, which will have a theme of 'creating a shared future in a fractured world'.

Last year's awardees were Anne-Sophie Mutter, Forest Whitaker and Shakira, while Yao Chen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Olafur Eliasson and will.i.am were awarded in 2016. The past awardees include Matt Damon, Bono and Charlize Theron.

About Shah Rukh Khan, the WEF said he is one of Bollywood's most prominent actors who has been at the forefront of the Indian film and television industry for over 30 years.

He is also the founder of the non-profit Meer Foundation, which provides support to female victims of acid attacks and major burn injuries through medical treatment, legal aid, vocational training, rehabilitation and livelihood support.

He has also been responsible for the creation of specialised children's hospital wards, and has supported childcare centres with free boarding for children undergoing cancer treatment.

"With victims of acid attacks, I have had the privilege to witness the unparalleled courage and compassion that women are capable of. I have seen the transformative strength of goodness and the healing power of gentleness," Khan said.

About Blanchett, the WEF said she is an internationally acclaimed award-winning actor and director of both stage and screen.

She was appointed a UNHCR Global Goodwill Ambassador in 2016 in recognition of her commitment to refugees, and has lent her voice and influence to raising awareness, advocating and fundraising for the UNHCR.

Having met refugees in countries including Lebanon, Jordan and her home country Australia, she advocates for increased solidarity and responsibility sharing for the 65 million-plus displaced people across the world. She has brought her creative skills to bear in sharpening focus on the individual human stories that lie behind the vast numbers.

"As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, my job is simple: to help connect people to the human stories of those forced to flee, and to state the case for all of us to stand with refugees," she said.

Sir Elton John, one of the world's most successful musical solo artists of all time with a career spanning more than five decades, said that AIDS is the leading cause of death for women of childbearing age, yet the medicine and know-how exists to prevent this.

"If we want to give the next generation a better future, we could solve this problem. What it takes is our collective passion and compassion," he said.

With 35 Gold and 25 Platinum albums, he has sold more than 250 million records worldwide. In 1992, he established the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), which today is one of the leading non-profit HIV/AIDS organisations.

EJAF has raised more than USD 400 million to date to support hundreds of HIV/AIDS prevention, service and advocacy programmes around the globe. In 1998, Queen Elizabeth knighted him Sir Elton John, Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music and charitable causes.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Jun 25: Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput’s last movie “Dil Bechara” is getting a release on Disney+Hotstar on July 24.

With an aim to honour the legacy of the actor, the streaming platform is making the movie available to even the non-subscribers.

Rajput was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14 at the age of 34.

Billed as a soulful love story, “Dil Bechara” marks the directorial debut of casting director and Rajput's industry friend Mukesh Chhabra. The film is produced by Fox Star Studios.

“We are humbled to be able to play a small part in sustaining the legacy of a fine actor like Sushant Singh Rajput. In celebration of his life and his extraordinary work, 'Dil Bechara' will release directly on digital this July on Disney+ Hotstar; and will be available to all subscribers and non-subscribers across India. Our prayers and wishes to his family and loved ones,” Uday Shankar, President – The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India, said.

The actor had a long-standing relationship with the STAR & Disney India network, having started his career with the show “Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil” in 2008 to his Bollywood transition where he delivered some of his most memorable performances in “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” (2016) and “Chhichhore” (2019), both produced by Fox Star Studios.

Chhabra said he never imagined he would release the film without Rajput.

 “Sushant was not just the hero of my debut film as a director, but he was a dear friend who stood by me through thick and thin. We had been close right from 'Kai Po Che!' to 'Dil Bechara'. He had promised me that he would be in my first film.

"So many plans were made together, so many dreams were dreamt together but never once did I ever imagine that I would be left alone to release this film. He always showered immense love on me while I was making it and his love will guide us as we release it,” the director said.

“Dil Bechara” is the official remake of 2014 Hollywood romantic drama “The Fault in our Stars”, which was based on John Green’s popular novel of the same name. The Hindi adaptation of the movie was done by Shashank Khaitan and Suprotim Sengupta.

“Dil Bechara” will see Rajput in a leading role alongside debutante Sanjana Sanghi, and Saif Ali Khan in an interesting cameo.

The music of the film has been composed by AR Rahman and the lyrics are by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

“Dil Bechara” revolves around Kizie Basu (Sanghi) and Immanuel Rajkumar Junior or Manny (Rajput) and explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic adventure of being alive and in love.

Together Kizie and Manny embark on an on-off-up-down-sad and sweet profound journey into the heart of that crazy little thing called life. It teaches them what it means to feel truly alive and fall in love.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: Indian Idol 11 winner is Bhatinda's Sunny Hindustani. Sunny, who mostly sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's songs on the show, won the coveted trophy. The Bhatinda boy took home the Indian Idol 11 trophy along with the prize money of Rs 25 lakh, a car and a singing contract with T-Series.

Sunny's entry on the show was much-talked-about. His soul-soothing voice had mesmerised the judges on the audition day itself as he sang Afreen Afreen. He got a standing ovation and former Indian Idol 11 judge Anu Malik even said that he felt as if Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan himself was performing on the Indian Idol stage. His audition video had gone viral after Anand Mahindra shared it on social media.

On the finale night, Sunny sang a medley of songs, which included Mere Rashke Qamar and Halka Halka Suroor. Ayushmann got emotional seeing Sunny's journey on screen. He said, "Hum na actor bade self-obsessed hote hain. Humein lagta hai hamari struggle sabse achchi hai, sabse badi hai. Inke saamne toh kuch hai he nahi. Jahaan se aye hai, jitna hunar inke paas hai...mujhe lagta hai inki maa sabse ameer hain."

The first and second runner-up of the show Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee got Rs 5 lakh each, while Ridham Kalyan and Adriz Ghosh who were fourth and fifth on the show, took Rs 3 lakh home. Every finalist also received Rs 1 lakh cheque from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from the sponsors.

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