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Mumbai, Oct 8 (IANS) Well-known actress and TV personality Archana Puran Singh recently remembered late comedian Raju Srivastav and shared her experience working with him in films.

She said: "I have done numerous films with him and realised that he was a very fine actor but then, he became more popular with his stand-up comedy. I think he was an actor, a stand-up and a wonderful comic talent. It is heartbreaking as we lost him too soon."

Archana added his last visit to a comedy reality show and the way he expressed his love for comedy.

"Just one week before he was hospitalised, he came on the set of 'India's Laughter Champion' and graced the sarpanch's chair. And in this very studio where the set was put up, standing on the stage he said 'I want to live on this stage, and I find my share of happiness here. He told me I am made for comedy and if I have to leave this world then I would want to leave making people laugh with my comedy.'"

"So I am happy that we are paying him a tribute not with tears but with laughter and that is the kind of tribute that Raju deserves."

Since the demise of Raju, popularly known as Gajodhar, on September 21, his industry friends and family members are in shock and remembering him for his contribution to comedy.

'The Kapil Sharma Show' is also going to pay homage to his work and different comedians are invited to be part of it.

They are Vijay Ishwarlal Pawar, Khayali Saharan, Ahsaan Qureshi, Sunil Pal, Rajiv Thakur, Navin Prabhakar, Rehman Khan, Suresh Albela, Rajeev Nigam, Rajat Sood, Jayvijay Sachan, Kettan Singh among others.

Archana concluded: "When I was informed that all these famous comedians will be coming to our show, the first name that popped up in my mind was Raju, but then I realised that this is going to be a tribute to him. I have to say that I stood up here because I wanted to personally pay my heartfelt tribute to Raju."

'The Kapil Sharma Show' airs on Sony Entertainment Television.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS) Superstar Salman Khan has returned as a host of 'Bigg Boss 16' and unlike last season this time he will be taking classes and assessing the weekly activities on a special episode of 'Shukravaar Ka Vaar'.

The host will start off by presenting a set of 2 kg dumbbells to Tajikistan singer and contestant Abdu Rozik.

The makers of the show released the episode's promo ahead of its broadcast.

Later, he organises a party for ten contestants of the house. Before the dinner begins, the host advises the contestants to be themselves.

He feels that 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2' actor and contestant Gautam Singh Vig is not showing his real side on the show. Salman also asks for MC Stan's opinion on who's fake in the house. He also announces a dance performance by Gori Nagori and Sumbul Touqeer.

The former dances to 'Gori Naache' and the latter to 'Param Sundari'.

Furthermore, both TV actor Sreejita De and former Miss India runner-up Manya Singh will be seen getting into a heated argument and nasty fight.

They can be seen hurling insults at each other. 'Bigg Boss 16' airs on Colors.

--IANS
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New York, Oct 7 (IANS) Proving yet again that age has g-ot nothing to do with success, seven Indian-American women have made it to the Forbes' '50 over 50' list of 200 entrepreneurs, investors, creators and entertainers.

While Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, is listed in the 'Impact' section, the remaining six women are included in the 'Entrepreneurs' category of the coveted list.

Kulkari's Stop AAPI Hate is America's leading aggregator of Covid-19-related hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

She is also the Executive Director of AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of community-based organisations that advocate for the rights and needs of the Asian American community in Southern California.

In 2014, Kulkarni received the White House Champions of Change award for her dedication to improving healthcare access for South Asian Americans.

Revathi Advaithi took over as the CEO of the global manufacturing and supply-chain company, Flex in 2019. At Flex, Advaithi oversees 200,000 employees and sets the strategic direction for a company earning $26 billion in annual revenue.

Padmasree Warrior has served as CTO of Cisco and Motorola and is currently the founder-CEO of Fable, a platform for social reading and book clubs. It raised over $28 million in 2021. A Cornell-trained engineer, she believes a STEM education informs creativity: "Increasingly it's not about knowing all the answers but asking the right questions and figuring out how to get the right answer".

Poornima DeBolle is the co-founder and chief product officer at Menlo Security, a leading cloud and network security company. In 2020, Menlo Security announced it raised $100 million in Series E funding, with a company valuation of $800 million.

Ann Mukherjee became the first woman of colour to assume the position of chair and CEO at wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard North America in 2019. Inspired by her own experiences, she launched Absolut's #SexResponsibly campaign to raise awareness of the connection between responsible drinking and consent and to take a stand against perpetrators who use alcohol as a tool or excuse to commit crimes.

Anita Gupta is a founder and chief portfolio officer at Kiwitech, a company that helps early to growth-stage startups build viable products, raise capital, and scale their businesses. She has dedicated her fifth decade to creating disruptive innovation through her company KiwiTech's investment in over 500 startups.

Jayshree Ullal has been president and CEO of Arista Networks, a computer networking firm, since 2008. Born in London and raised in India, she is one of America's wealthiest female executives. She joined the board of directors of Snowflake, a cloud computing company that went public in September 2020. Ullal owns about 5% of Arista's stock, some of which is earmarked for her two children, niece, and nephew.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS) Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit, whose streaming movie 'Maja Ma' released recently, is chuffed with the response so far to the film.

The actress is playing the role of a lesbian in the film, and making a statement on the new-age brave content from Bollywood, she shared her thoughts on the subject.

Excited about the response that the movie has been receiving, Madhuri Dixit shared: "Maja Ma' proves that the era of boxing people and characters is over. Pallavi's sexual orientation is just one of the many facets of her identity. She is much more than that - a brilliant dancer, a doting mother, a friend and above all, a human being who can inspire others around her."

Further talking about the arc of her character in the film, the actress said: "The storyline depicts a journey of evolution and Pallavi's character showcases that journey with a myriad of emotions and feelings a" ranging from confusion, fear, to acceptance and courage to accept one's own true identity."

"This movie is about love, family and acceptance, but all of it is said without being preachy. In a way, Maja Ma encourages people to not be judgmental and embrace others for who they are," she added.

'Maja Ma' is currently streaming on Prime Video.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 7 (IANS) Director Mohan Raja's 'GodFather', featuring superstar Chiranjeevi in the lead, has grossed an impressive Rs 69 crore worldwide in two days.

Sources in the industry say that the lavishly-made political action thriller, which took a grand opening for Dussehra, dominated the box office on day two as well.

The movie is expected to record massive numbers during the extended weekend.

The film, which has Salman Khan appearing in a brief but powerful role, seems to be performing reasonably well, with positive reports coming in from almost everywhere.

'GodFather', which collected a worldwide gross of Rs 38 crore on its opening day, has raked in Rs 31 crore on its second day. The total amount it has grossed worldwide after two days stands at Rs 69 crore.

The makers believe that as the Dussehra holidays are still on, the numbers will continue to be massive even during the weekend.

The film's story is quite gripping as it revolves around the power struggle in a political party soon after the death of the state's Chief Minister. While the Chief Minister's daughter (Nayanthara) is not interested, his son-in-law (Satya Dev), and a few others in the party are at the heart of a power grab.

Brahma (Chiranjeevi), the trusted man of the fallen stalwart, is drawn into murky affairs and is keen to keep greedy sharks at bay.

The film has cinematography by Nirav Shah and music by Thaman.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 7 (IANS) Continuing its fantastic run in theatres, director Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan 1', which is based on eminent writer Kalki's literary classic of the same name, has grossed over Rs 300 crore worldwide in a week, its makers announced on Friday.

Lyca Productions, which has jointly produced the critically acclaimed superhit film along with director Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, on Friday tweeted, "Success beyond boundaries! Thank you for this tremendous response" and posted a motion poster that claimed that the film had grossed over Rs 300 crore worldwide."

'Ponniyin Selvan 1', which has already entered history books by becoming the film with the biggest ever opening in Tamil cinema, has been drawing huge crowds to the theatres, where it is having a strong run.

The film grossed Rs 80 crore on its very first day of release. In three days, that sum touched the Rs 200 crore mark. Now, the film has gone past the Rs 300 crore mark in a week's time.

'Ponniyin Selvan 1', which had triggered huge expectations, released last Friday much to the delight of the fans and received a thunderous welcome from audiences.

The film seems to have struck a chord with audiences of all age groups. In particular, the film has caught the attention of senior citizens as it is based on the literary classic.

'Ponniyin Selvan' is a brilliant story that is based on the early life of prince Arun Mozhi Varman, who later went on to be known as the great Raja Raja Chozhan.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Music director Vipin Patwa, who has composed the songs 'Bichoda' and 'Vande Mataram' for the upcoming film 'Code Name: Tiranga' starring Harrdy Sandhu and Parineeti Chopra, has opened up about how the two songs were put together.

While 'Bichoda' has been sung by Arijit Singh, 'Vande Mataram' has been crooned by singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan.

Talking about his experience of working with Arijit, Vipin told IANS, "When you work with an artiste like Arijit Singh, you don't have to work too hard, you don't have to put a lot of effort in briefing him. When we were making 'Bichoda', Arijit was travelling. He recorded and shared his vocals from Kolkata... but again, as I said, I didn't have to explain or brief him much as he is a very sincere and hardworking person who is always honest to his craft/music."

He added, "I enjoyed making this song as it was a very interesting process. In fact, the director of the film, Ribhu Dasgupta sir, and lyricist Kumaar sir too were present during the making of this song."

Describing how 'Vande Mataram' was put together, the composer said, "For 'Vande Mataram', which is sung by Shankar Mahadevan, I got to know the situation just a few days back. I think it was World Peace Day. I had to compose this song according to the visuals which were already done.

"'Vande Mataram' has (its elements of) patriotism and a unique peacefulness to it. Also, Shankar Ji's singing uplifts this song even more and I hope people will love it."

'Code Name: Tiranga' will release in theatres on October 14.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) 'Bigg Boss 16' contestant and 'Choti Sarrdaarni' actress Nimrit Kaur Alhuwalia, who became the captain of the house on the first day, has failed to manage the things inside the house. Now, Bigg Boss wants her to step down from her position.

Bigg Boss said that he's disappointed with the rules of the house being broken repeatedly under her captainship. However, he gave her a chance to save her position by throwing a challenge and announced that the first person to ring the gong in the garden area will qualify as a contender for captaincy.

But before he could finish the sentence, contestant and actor Shalin Bhanot struck the gong. This made Nimrit upset as he didn't wait for her. After being friends on the show, will differences crop up between the two? Only time will tell.

Bigg Boss gave another challenge and asked them to pose by balancing the baskets on their heads. The rest of the housemates were asked to fill items into the basket of the contender they wished to overthrow. Whoeverped dropped the basket would lose the game and the winner will become the captain.

Furthermore, Bigg Boss also gave chances to the nominees including Gori Nagori, MC Stan, Sajid Khan, Shiv Thakre, Gautam Vig and Archana Gautam to save themselves from eviction.

Like Gori Nagori has to entertain the other contestants with her dance moves and also convince them to shake a leg with her and if she becomes successful she can withdraw one name from the nomination list and save from getting evicted.

While on the other hand, Sumbul Touqeer Khan felt being sidelined by other housemates and she broke down. 'Bigg Boss 16' airs on Colors.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Actress Mandana Karimi, who once accused filmmaker Sajid Khan during the #MeToo movement, has said in an interview that she is not interested in working in Bollywood after the 'Heyy Babyy' director joined the most controversial reality show 'Bigg Boss 16'. She even made her Instagram account private.

The actress, who was seen playing the lead role in 'Bhaag Johnny' told Hindustan Times that there is no respect for women in the industry.

"For people, life has become like, 'If it's going to benefit me and I can make money, who cares?' The industry is a place where someone is someone's mum, boyfriend, girlfriend or husband. It's like, 'You scratch my back and I will scratch yours'."

Sajid was accused of sexual misconduct by seven women during the #MeToo movement in 2018.

Mandana continued to add that now she is no more interested to work in Bollywood and she is not going for any auditions.

"I didn't go for any auditions. I don't want to work in Bollywood. I don't want to be associated with an industry where there is no respect for women," she added.

Apart from her, singer Sona Mohapatra recently took a dig at the makers for bringing Sajid on the show.

She took to Twitter and posted: "This is #SajidKhan, now on a reality TV show. Then there is #AnuMalik judging a music reality show on TV,for children no less. #KailashKher? Celebrity Judge on TV. ALL called out by many many women in @IndiaMeToo. Indian TV channels, executives are indeed depraved & sad lot."

Furthermore, she questioned Farhan Akhtar and Javed Akhtar for being quiet despite knowing the reality of Sajid and now he is seen on a reality show as a contestant.

"Dear @FarOutAkhtar, you front an organisation called MARD. This man & the many others are known to you personally. Speak up, Stand Up only when it's convenient or pays to virtue signal for 'our cause' not now? Charity begins at home (sic)."

Sajid is Farhan's cousin. Farhan's mother Honey Irani and Sajid Khan's mother Menaka are sisters.

She added pointing towards lyricist-poet and Farhan's father, Javed Akhtar: @Javedakhtarjadu, I know you to be a veteran, feminist & thought leader of the Indian film industry? That you choose to have remained silent all these years about these men you know very very well, personally, hurts me & breaks my heart. Charity begins at home."

Urfi Javed also raised her concern and in fact slammed Shehnaaz Gill and Kashmera Shah for supporting him.

She wrote: "If women like Shehnaaz gill, Kashmera shah are free to support a sexual predator , I'm free to criticise him and both of them too !!"

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 4 (IANS) Marvel Studios has now released a brand-new trailer for 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', much to the delight of the fans of the franchise.

Directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' ventures back to the kingdom of Wakanda where a new threat emerges. The brand-new trailer and poster of the action-packed feature film traverses the hidden undersea nation called Talokan.

In the film, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M'Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T'Challa's death.

As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.

The new film will introduce Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of Talokan. It also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli.

--IANS
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