Small films should be given fair release: Salman Khan

Mumbai, May 17: TV actor Manmeet Grewal, who worked on shows like "Aadat Se Majboor" and "Kuldeepak", committed suicide after struggling with dwindling finances amid lockdown, family friend-producer Manjit Singh Rajput said.

Grewal, who was originally from Punjab, hanged himself on Friday night at his Kharghar residence here where he lived with his wife. He was 32.

Rajput, who had known Grewal for nearly seven years, said the actor was facing "financial crisis" and wasn't able to earn due to the lockdown. 

"He was going through a major financial issue and he was also in depression. The added pressure of not being able to repay loans amid this (no work phase) got to him. His wife is completely shocked and devastated," Rajput told PTI.

The producer said last rites of the actor were performed on Saturday. 

Grewal was working on projects like a webseries and some commercials, which were put on hold due to the nationwide lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Mumbai, Jun 15: Actor Sushant Singh Rajput's brother-in-law O.P. Singh, who is the Additional Director General of Police and posted as Special Officer in the Haryana Chief Minister's Office, suspected some foul play in the crime, it is reliably learnt on Monday. He is seeking a thorough probe into the incident.

"Sushant Singh Rajput has been murdered, he cannot commit suicide. I demand CBI enquiry into the matter," Jan Adhikar Party Chief Pappu Yadav told media persona at the actor’s residence in Patna, where his family resides.

The 34-year-old actor was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai's Bandra on Sunday.

His sister lives in Chandigarh.

State officials said Singh has left for Mumbai soon he came to know about the suicide incident.

Expressing condolences, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said actor Rajput's death is an "irreparable loss" to not only the film industry but also for the entire society.

Patna, Jan 22: Actor Kangana Ranaut has expressedher desire to make a movie on Chandragupta, the shepherd-turned-emperor who founded the Maurya dynasty, noting that the film industry has “not done enough justice to our history”.

The national award winner was here to take part in a programme organised by the publishers of a leading Hindi daily where she performed a jig to the tunes of Bhojpuri songs along with actor-turned-politician Ravi Kishan before the duo participated in a question and answer session.  Replying to the questions posed by Kishan, who is also the BJP MP from Gorakhpur, Ranaut on Tuesday said it was her second trip to Bihar.

“The last time, I was here as a child though I have not yet got a chance to explore the state with which I feel a connect as my Yoga teacher has his roots here,” she said.

Ranaut, who won acclaim for portraying Rani Laxmibai, the valiant queen of Jhansi who took on the British during the revolt of 1857 -- in ‘Manikarnika’, when asked if she would like to be associated with a film on any historical figure from Bihar, said, “It would be Chandragupta Maurya. The film industry has not done much justice to our history”.

A self-confessed admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 32-year-old, who has won three National Awards in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, replied in the affirmative when asked about reports that she has turned producer and her first venture is based on the theme of Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The Himachal Pradesh-born actress, who has courted controversy for taking on well-entrenched Bollywood “insiders” like Karan Johar and Hrithik Roshan, said she has had a rebellious streak since childhood and shared an anecdote about her breaking her teacher’s stick upon being hit for chatting with a classmate in school.

When Kishan asked why she has gained so much weight, Ranaut replied it was in preparation for her upcoming biopic “Thalaivi”, based on late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The actress said her forthcoming release “Panga” is a family drama.

Ranaut said after landing in Patna, she gorged on ‘Litti Chokha’, a local delicacy.

She also regaled the audience by greeting them in Bhojpuri and repeating several commonly used phrases of the dialect after Kishan.