Tough to be a woman today: Kajol

December 5, 2013

KajolNew Delhi, Dec 5: Bollywood actress Kajol feels it is much easier for a man to survive and succeed nowadays than a woman, given the deteriorating state of the fairer sex in our country.

The 39-year-old actress, who has starred in several hits like 'Baazigar', 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge', 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', said that men often make it difficult for us women to lead our lives liberally and there is an urgent need to change their mindset.

"Every woman goes through a lot of struggle. To struggle and succeed in today's world, especially in India, is much tougher for a woman than for a man... The same men, who invoke the goddesses before every important moment of their lives, go on and kill their daughters or beat up their wives. If we want to empower our women, we will have to change the mindset of men," Kajol said.

The actress, a mother of two, also lamented that the authorities in our country are not women friendly and that is the major reason for several unreported crimes.

"Implementation of laws are necessary, but another important aspect is to see whether local police stations are doing their job. In several occasions, we hear that police are not willing to lodge an FIR and ignore the victim's pleas for help," said Kajol, who was in the capital for the launch of a book by the Vodafone Foundation titled "Women of Pure Wonder".

The book chronicles the struggles, survival and ultimate success of sixty extraordinary women, which includes acid-attack survivor Lakshmi who fought for seven years to get the sale of acid at retail outlets regulated.

"We strongly believe that what is good for society is good for business. Women empowerment is a key theme for us across all markets we operate in. The book is a small token of our admiration and respect for the women who have braved all odds to exemplify what women are capable of," said Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone Group Plc.

MP Priya Dutt, entrepreneur Shahnaz Husain and several other accomplished women attended the event, which saw a performance by singer Sona Mahapatra.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: A Delhi court Thursday directed the makers of the Deepika Padukone starer feature film 'Chhapaak' to give credit to acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal’s lawyer in the movie.

Additional Civil Judge Pankaj Sharma said it was necessary that advocate Aparna Bhat's contribution is acknowledged.

"This Court is of the considered view that facts are indicative that the plea of the plaintiff for interim injunction is well-founded and it is necessary that her contribution be acknowledged by providing on the slide on the actual footage and the images, the line 'Aparna Bhat continues to fight the cases of sexual and physical violence against women' during the screening of the film.

"The said line on screen maybe with a rider that the same is with the court order," the judge said.

Advocate Bhat filed the application saying that despite representing Agarwal in courts for several years and helping in the movie-making, she was not given credit in the movie.

She said the filmmakers took her help in the entire process of writing and shooting the movie, but did not give the credit.

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News Network
May 2,2020

Los Angeles, May 2: Pop diva Madonna has revealed that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 anitbodies.

The singer shared the news in the 14th edition of her “Quarantine Diary” on Instagram TV.

“Took a test the other day and I found out that I have the antibodies. So tomorrow I’m just going to go for a long drive in the car, and I’m gonna roll down the window and I’m gonna breathe in the COVID-19 air. Yup. I hope the sun is shining,” Madonna said.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US, antibody tests are used to determine whether or not a person has been exposed to COVID-19 by finding proteins the body produces to fight the virus.

However, the CDC has yet to confirm if the possession of antibodies is equal to immunity.

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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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