ShowBiz

Los Angeles, Sep 25 (IANS) The allegations of on-set tension of the recently released film 'Don't Worry Darling' have been refuted by 40 crew members and production team of the film, reports 'People' magazine.

The entertainment news website Vulture had reported on Friday that film star Florence Pugh and director/star Olivia Wilde got into a "screaming match" on the 'Don't Worry Darling' set, citing an unnamed insider who reportedly spent "significant time" behind the scenes of the film.

Claiming that a "blowout argument" took place between Wilde, 38, and Pugh, 26, in January 2021, the outlet reported that Pugh was allegedly upset with Wilde's "frequent, unexplained absences," stating that she and star Harry Styles, who are dating, "would just disappear".

Now, personnel who worked on the film have stated that any rumours of onset tensions "are completely false."

"As a crew, we've avoided addressing the absurd gossip surrounding the movie we're so proud of, but feel the need to correct the anonymous 'sources' quoted in a recent article," the statement given by the crew to People read. "Any allegations about unprofessional behaviour on the set of Don't Worry Darling are completely false."

Calling Wilde "an incredible leader and director who was present with and involved in every aspect of production," the behind-the-scenes workers said the star "ran this set with class and respect for everyone involved."

They also stated: "There was never a screaming match between our director and anyone, let alone a member of our cast," referencing Vulture's claims about an onset feud between Wilde and Pugh.

--IANS
aa/kvd

Mumbai, Sep 25 (IANS) Actress Khushali Kumar mentioned how her mom struggled throughout her life and had to take over the whole family business after the demise of her father, Gulshan Kumar.

Khushali was amazed looking at the performance by 'DID Super Moms' contestant Versaha on the track 'Garmi' from the movie 'Street Dancer 3D' which was directed by Remo D'Souza and featured stars such as Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Prabhu Deva along with Nora Fatehi.

She called her journey very inspiring and it reminded Khushali of her mother's contribution the children's upbringing.

She said: "Varsha, your journey has been truly inspirational and the way you started from YouTube videos and reached here, is truly commendable. I still remember, my mom was also a housewife, however, after my dad (Gulshan Kumar) passed away, she had to take on all the responsibilities of our business and the family."

The 'Highway Star' actress credited her mother for her and her brother's (Bhushan Kumar) success in the entertainment industry.

"Today, wherever my brother (Bhushan Kumar) and I have reached, it is all because of her honestly. I still remember, she came from a Hindi medium school, and she used to always be stressed about attending meetings. However, she did it anyway and I truly believe that she is also a Super Mom," she added.

The dance reality show, 'DID Super Moms', judged by Remo D'Souza, Bhagyashree Dassani, and Urmila Matondkar airs on Zee TV.

--IANS
ila/kvd

Mumbai, Sep 25 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda along with her mother Shweta Bachchan Nanda and grandmother Jaya Bachchan are seen having some interesting conversations over topics like financial freedom, career, relationship, and parenting on Navya's new podcast 'What the Hell Navya'.

Navya said: "I've always had my own opinions and my family had to deal with it," said podcast host Navya, adding that "My Mom and Nani are people who speak their minds with no filter, and I just took after them. On my first podcast, I want others to have a window into our world while we argue over serious and not-so-serious topics."

24-year-old entrepreneur, Navya asserted that she is surrounded by women, who have seen a lot in life, and thus they often end up correcting her on many matters but this is something that can be seen in many families where elders keep checking the youngsters.

I get bashed a lot on this podcast. "But hey, I live with women who have been through a lot and have experienced a magnitude of things. So it's only natural for them to correct me. That's how families help you grow."

Shweta added: "There is a perception that women are shy. Society tells us to be agreeable and mellow. But we really aren't, and definitely not Navya. This podcast has given us an opportunity to proudly tell the world what we think, what we like, and more importantly what we don't like."

Jaya mentioned that she came to know a lot about her daughter and granddaughter through the podcast and she is happy with the way Navya is hosting it.

"I have learned a lot about my daughter and granddaughter while doing this. It was like a family therapy session, except that everyone will be listening in. The podcast actually created a safe space and I'm proud of how Navya has been able to navigate it as a host."

The 10-episode audio series is dropped on IVM Podcasts and it is also available on other audio streaming platforms.

--IANS
ila/kvd

Chennai, Sep 25 (IANS) Kajal Aggarwal, who has disclosed that she has been learning Kalaripayattu for over three years now, said that the ancient martial art is "a beautiful practice that empowers the seeker physically as well as mentally."

Taking to Instagram to post a video of her during a Kalari session, Kajal wrote: "Kalaripayattu is an ancient Indian martial art, that translates into 'practice in the arts of the battlefield'."

"The magic of this art form evolved into the birth of Shaolin, Kung Fu and consequently Karate and Taekwondo, amongst others. Kalari was typically used for guerilla warfare and is a beautiful practice that empowers the seeker physically as well as mentally.

"Grateful to have been learning this intermittently (but wholeheartedly) over three years! CVN Kalari (Her Kalari school) have been fabulous and so patient, guiding me as per my ability to learn and perform at different degrees over time. Thank you for being such wonderful masters."

Interestingly, the actress, who delivered a baby just four months ago, has also been taking horse riding lessons apart from practising Kalari. What's more, she is back shooting for director Shankar's much awaited 'Indian 2', featuring Kamal Haasan in the lead.

--IANS
mani/kvd

Chennai, Sep 25 (IANS) Versatile Telugu actor Sree Vishnu's next film, which is being directed by Ram Abbaraju, who proved his mettle with the hilarious family entertainer 'Vivaha Bhojanambu', officially went on floors on Sunday with a grand pooja ceremony.

Billed to be a complete fun-filled family entertainer, the story for the untitled movie is by Bhanu Bogavarapu while its dialogues are by Nandu Savirigana.

The launching ceremony was attended by a host of celebrities including Anil Sunkara, V.I. Anand, Nara Rohit, Vijay Kanakamedala and A.R. Mohan.

Nara Rohit sounded the clapboard for the muhurtham shot. Sources say the film's regular shoot will commence soon.

Gopi Sundar is to score the music of this film,which will have cinematography by Raam Reddy. Chota K. Prasad is the editor and Brahma Kadali is the art director.

The yet-to-be-titled film is being produced by Hasya Movies in association with A.K. Entertainments and will be presented by Anil Sunkara.

This is the third film that Hasya Movies is producing. The film is in the process of producing two other films -- 'Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam' with Allari Naresh and 'Ooru Peru Bhairavakona' with Sundeep Kishen. While 'Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam' is getting ready for release, 'Ooru Peru Bhairavakona' is in the production stage.

--IANS
mani/kvd

Panaji, Sep 25 (IANS) With a view to seek the support from society to upgrade the primary schools, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday said that under the Central government initiative 'Vidyanjali' one can adopt these schools and contribute for a good cause.

"Primary schools can be adopted, but we are not giving it to those who adopt it. Control will remain with the government," Sawant said.

"In case any NGO, young professionals, retired government officers, public private sector institutions wishes to adopt schools and develop infrastructure and provide equipment by giving additional training then they can register themselves on 'Vidyanjali' (portal) platform or contact teachers," Sawant said.

"Not only that, even religious institutions and banks from the vicinity can adopt government primary schools and support to upgrade," Sawant said.

Sawant said that the government is very serious about primary education. "Only if we impart primary education in a good way, then only its good results would be seen in future," Sawant said.

He said that the government was focusing on National Education Policy 2020. "First five years, from age 3 to 8 are very important for students, hence along with teachers parents also should work towards the progress of students," he said.

Sources informed that in order to provide teachers to the primary schools across the state, the government has decided to recruit around 142 teachers.

--IANS
sbk/dpb

By Vinod Mirani
This has been an eventful week. From the North of India to the South, news related to the film industries have dominated the discussions on television news channels as well as the social media. That is because there is some positive news and there is also news that fails to make sense.


The best news of the week is the return of cinema screens in Srinagar. The IMAX chain has revived the cinema business in Kashmir after a gap of 30 years following the start of militancy and terrorism in the late 1980s. The Kashmir valley had as many as nine cinema halls. That was the single-screen era.

Jammu and Kashmir was a part of the East Punjab territory as it was known in the film trade (West Punjab having gone to Pakistan). The valley was fittingly described as heaven on earth where a lot many films were shot. In fact, it was a favourite location to shoot romantic songs as well as the place where romances started. Also, the contribution of Jammu and Kashmir to the talent pool of the film industry was commendable.

Three decades ago, when there was peace, like the rest of the country, Kashmiris too enjoyed the movie-watching experience. My job at that time was to transcribe the cinema collections that came through telegrams and, later on fax, for a trade paper I worked for. There was nothing abnormal, the Kashmiri loved or rejected a film just like any other circuit. But things changed. There were no collection figures from Kashmir to compile.

When the insurgency began, the idea seemed to create panic and cinemas being public places were targeted. A bomb blast at one of the cinemas put paid to the exhibition trade. Efforts to revive the cinemas in the 1990s were not successful.

Built by Vijay Dhar, the cinema will add to the IMAX chain and will bring the movie-viewing experience back for the people of Srinagar and the nearby areas when it opens to the public on September 30 with 'Vikram Vedha' and Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan' (PS)-1.

'Chhello Show': A bolt from the blue

It was time for the nomination for an Indian entry in the Best International Film category at the Oscars. Usually, the Indian choice to send a film for the Oscar race is treated as a joke. Some or the other lobby is at work not only when it comes to Oscars or other such international honours, but also for the local, so-called popular film awards.

What is a popular award? A film the people took to and was a success at the box office. Some two films have been successful this year, one of them being 'The Kashmir Files'. The film does not even find a mention in any category of nominations.

The films in discussion all over for India's choice were two, 'RRR' and 'The Kashmir Files'. Realistically, there were no other contenders as far as the people at large and those on social media were concerned. There was no other film that the netizen could think of.

Yet, there were 13 films vying for the honour -- six in Hindi: 'The Kashmir Files', 'Rocketry', 'Badhaai Ho', 'Jhund', 'Anek' and 'Brahmastra'; two in Telugu: 'RRR' and 'Sita Ramam'; and one each in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Dimasa (a dialect spoken in Assam) and Gujarati: 'Iravin Nizhai', 'Aparajito', 'Ariyippu', 'Semkhor' and 'Chhello Show', respectively.

But a rank outsider, for the people at least, 'Chhello Show' (Gujarati), was the choice of the selection committee. An outsider, because few had heard of this film, which did not get any media exposure till it was chosen as India's official selection for the Oscars. The film is said to be inspired from the 1988 Italian film, 'Cinema Paradiso', about a small-town boy who is enamoured of the cinema.

'Cinema Paradiso' or not, I would say the film identifies equally or more with the film's director Pan Nalin's life journey. Coming from a small village named Adtala (population less than 2,000) near Amreli in Saurashtra, it was creditable that Nalin graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, an institution as highly regarded as any IIM or IIT in its field. All the time cinema fascinated him.

Nalin has worked and made films in many tie-ups and made his reputation all over. 'Chhello Show' springs a surprise on film buffs. It will be worthwhile to see if it springs a surprise at the Oscars. When the selection committee is neutral sans vested interests, a surprise can always be expected. Like the one sprung with the choice of 'Hellaro', a Gujarati film, for the 66th National Award a couple of years ago.

Tamil industry's half-baked ideas

This news is from the South. It is a no-brainer. Since the Telugu film industry has set certain norms for members as well as the stars and the cinemas through the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce (TFCC), the Tamil Film Producer Council (TFPC) has decided to prove that it is the dormant body.

How else does the TFPC plan to ask the film critics to refrain from writing / publishing reviews of new films till Sunday?! The major media, as in daily broadsheets, always reviewed films in the Sunday editions. The Sunday editions of the papers were meant for leisurely reading with opinions, features on various subjects as well as film reviews. Did that save a film from failing?

The business of movie reviews was all about passing of envelopes. Gradually, someone thought that giving stars to a film made better business sense. Four and five stars carried a decent price tag.

There were critics who had high praise if it was a film by Gulzar or Hrishikesh Mukherjee, but ran down the films by Manmohan Desai and other such commercial makers. One critic whom I knew praised Kamal Amrohi's 'Razia Sultan' to the skies ending his review with something to the effect that the film was worth every paisa you spent on the ticket. By the second show, the Rs 5 tickets were being sold by black marketers for 50 paise. It was a distress sale for there were no takers. I told the critic how right he was!

A film released on a Friday is accepted or rejected after the first show. Critics and their reviews have never mattered to the masses; they only helped massage the egos of the film stars and producers. What always mattered was the word of mouth and, today, social media does that job.

High admission rates fail a film Finally, the cinemas offered tickets at a flat rate of Rs 75 on Friday, September 23, and drew full houses all ove (the offer was valid for seats other than those in the premium zones).

I hope the cinema managements have learnt from their own experiment that it is often the high admission rates that fail a film. In the present scenario, only the stars and the cinemas make money, the producer only struggles and has to depend on other outlets such as OTT platforms and satellite rights, where, again, the price depends on a film's box office performance!

--IANS
vinod/srb

Mumbai, Sep 25 (IANS) 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' actress Karishma Tanna is currently seen playing the role of Inspector Geeta Tehlan in Juhi Chawla, Ayesha Jhulka-starrer web series 'Hush Hush'.

Talking about her experience working in the series, she expressed gratitude towards director Tanuja Chandra and said: "The character of Geeta will always be special to me and I would like to thank Tanuja ma'am for choosing me to play this character."

When the project came to her, she was not sure about doing it. As she said: "When Tanuja ma'am first told me about the role, I was not sure I would be able to do justice to this character but I am glad to see how things worked out on screen for me. I am thrilled to see the love my character is receiving and I hope the love continues for my future projects too."

The actress, who also worked in 'Naagin 3', 'Qayamat Ki Raat', 'Kkoi Dil Mein Hai' added further on what she imbibed as a actor from Tanuja while working with her in the series.

"Working with Tanuja ma'am was a wonderful experience. It has been a very educational and enlightening experience for me to work on a dark and mysterious script."

"Additionally, I feel fortunate to be on screen with so many talented and strong artistes. I'm happy that people are enjoying and appreciating my efforts and my performance as Geeta Tehlan in the show," she added.

Created by filmmaker Tanuja Chandra, the seven-episode thriller is a story of a set of women whose lives take a sudden turn when a secret from their past comes before of them. It streams on Amazon Prime Video.

--IANS
ila/kvd

Los Angeles, Sep 25 (IANS) Millie Bobby Brown's Enola Holmes is back on the case in the official trailer for 'Enola Holmes 2', which will arrive on Netflix on November 4, reports 'Variety'.

An extension of the iconic Sherlock Holmes character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the franchise, 'Variety' adds, stars Brown as the youngest sibling of the Holmes family, who must come into her own as a capable detective, while facing down her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill).

The sequel and its predecessor are based on 'The Enola Holmes Mysteries', the young adult fiction book series created by Nancy Springer.

The first film chronicled Enola's search for her mother Eudoria Holmes, played by Helena Bonham Carter, which offered many twists and turns for the young sleuth to navigate. Netflix describes the mystery of the sequel as one of "historic proportions", needing "two Holmes to handle", indicating a larger role for Cavill's Sherlock.

Harry Bradbeer returns to direct the sequel, having previously helmed television episodes of 'Fleabag', 'Ramy' and 'Killing Eve' before taking on the 'Enola Holmes' franchise.

In addition to Cavill and Bonham Carter reprising their roles, the movie will also feature Louis Partridge, Adeel Akhtar, Susie Wokoma, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and David Thewlis playing supporting characters.

The original 'Enola Holmes' was initially planned for a theatrical release by Warner Bros. before Netflix picked up the distribution rights during the Covid-19 pandemic. Netflix released the first film on its streaming platforms in September 2020.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 25 (IANS) Yoga will soon be made compulsory for school students in Uttar Pradesh.

The policy, which is expected to be released soon, aims at cultivating a strong sporting culture, development of sports infrastructure and promoting sportspersons, even in the most remote parts of the state.

Additional chief secretary (sports) Navneet Sehgal said, "The aim of the policy is to increase participation of young children by identifying talent in the age group of 5 to 14 years and strengthening of the sports ecosystem through public private partnership, public association partnership and public federation partnership."

He said that the Centre has given consent to develop Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for three sports. Courses in sports management, sports journalism, sports law, sports data analytics, among others, will be conducted for the youth.

High performance centres will support the development of 20 best athletes from each sport for national and state level competitions.

Sehgal further said that each district will have one District Sports Centre to provide training to promising young talent.

The DSC will also include a District Sports Coaching Centre (DSCC) to impart basic sports and fitness training.

Under the new policy, sports federations and international level players will be given land on lease for setting up of academies. Gram Sabha land earmarked for 'Khel Ka Maidan' will be given on lease for rural academies. At least 50 per cent players in the academy will be from UP.

To encourage participation in this programme, social media and other channels will be used for spreading information regarding admissions etc.

The state government also proposes to create the Uttar Pradesh Sports Development Fund with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crores.

Under the policy, yoga will be compulsory in the training program of players and also for school students.

Facilities will be provided for training and practice of yoga in sports stadiums of all district headquarters.

UP Sports Development and Promotion Committee will work to promote sports among all sections of society, like women, handicapped, etc.

It will identify talent and develop their skills. It will also coordinate between sports associations and departments such as youth welfare, education, social welfare, women welfare, health, urban development, industry, army, railways, public undertakings and voluntary organizations.

--IANS
amita/dpb