Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Culture & Society

Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi cancel Pakistan visit

by

[Nasheman news] Mumbai In the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar and his wife actress Shabana Azmi have decided not to attend an event in Pakistan.

Akhtar on Friday took to Twitter to share that they will not be joining the event, being organised by the Karachi Art Council. 

“Karachi Art Council had invited Shabana and me for a two-day literature conference about Kaifi Azmi and his poetry. We have cancelled that,” he tweeted.

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district. The death toll in the horrific suicide bombing rose to 49 on Friday. 

The Thursday horror was the worst loss to security forces on any single day in Jammu and Kashmir since a separatist campaign broke out in 1989. 

Condemning the attack, Shabana said that she is “filled with pain and grief”.

“For the first time in all these years, I feel weakened in my belief that people to people contact can force the establishment to do the right thing. We will need to call halt to cultural exchange. 

“There is no way we can carry on with cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan even as our martyrs are laying down their lives for us. I stand in solidarity with the grieving families,” she added.

How come Jhansi Ki Rani can dance but not Rani Padmavati?

by

B

[Nasheman news] Director Krish Jagarlamudi is done with the bickering with Kangana Ranaut.

“I’ve had my say. No more. If she wants to believe she directed all of ‘Manikarnika’, so be it. Everyone knows the truth,” asserts Krish and vows to not get into any more war of words with the film’s aggressive leading lady and co-director.

However, one major issue that needs to be addressed is the singing and dancing that the Queen of Jhansi is seen indulging in with her subjects. In an elaborate song and dance sequence, Rani Laxmibai embarrasses the hell out of her husband, the King of Jhansi (played by Jisshu Sengupta) by dancing with the people of their state in a pregnant condition.

A source very close to the film says that the song and dance during times of raging battles was Kangana’s idea.

“Ek toh Rani, opoopar se garbhbati (firstly a queen and above it, pregnant). How can she be shown dancing in that unbecoming fashion? Krish was totally against the idea. The song-and-dance was added on by Kangana after Krish left,” the source says.

Significantly, when another Queen, Padmavati in an epic film in January 2018, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Padmaavat”, got up from her throne to take to the dance floor with her ladies-in-waiting, all hell had broken loose.

Deepika’s Rani Padmaavati was shown dancing to the Ghoomar song in the most graceful and queenly manner in a closed environment with the women from her durbar.

Bhansali said: “We wanted the Ghoomar song and dance to retain its purity since this was being performed by Rani Padmavati. Every step and every move in the dance form celebrates the grace of royalty. 

“This is our dance tribute to the brave Rajput women of Rajasthan. I heard how little children performing the Ghoomar dance at a school in India were stopped. 

“I’d like to tell those disruptive elements that you can’t stop something as beautiful and innocent as this from reaching out to the hearts of people across the world.”

Bhansali’s heart swells with pride to see Ghoomar reaching into the hearts and feet of American kids.

Says the director: “What better illustration of Prime Minster Narendra Modiji’s Make In India policy? I feel our culture is so rich and varied. We’ve so much to give the West. Why not take our culture and art forms to the West rather than continuously borrow their lifestyle and culture?”

All hell had broken lose with fringe groups demanding that the song-and-dance be removed or else they would cut off Deepika’s nose.

Says a source very close to the “Padmaavat” team: “When we showed Deepika dancing in the Queen’s inner chambers, we had to digitally cover Deepika’s midriff before the censor board allowed the Ghoomar song. 

“Now in ‘Manikarnika’, again about a Queen, Kangana’s Rani Laxmibai jumps off her seat and breaks into a street-side jig with the commoners. That was okay? What is good enough for Rani Laxmbai is not befitting for Rani Padmavati? Please figure out that one.”

When pressed for a response, Krish said: “I don’t know where the singing and dancing came from. It wasn’t there when I was directing ‘Manikarnika’.”

The question remains: Why was it not right for Rani Padmavati to dance when everyone seems okay with the Rani Of Jhansi shaking a leg, midriff forgotten?

Government capable enough to tackle situation, says Manoj Bajpayee on Kashmir attack

by

[Nasheman news] Mumbai Noted actor Manoj Bajpayee has condemned Thursday’s terror attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the Central government is capable enough to tackle the situation.

Manoj said this here on Friday while interacting with the media at Cine And TV Artistes’ Association (CINTAA) and 48 Hour Film Project’s first edition of ‘Act Fest 2019’, along with Sara Ali Khan, Ronit Roy and Divya Dutta.

The citizens of the country should have faith in them (government) and support them in such trying circumstances, he said.

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, killing at least 45 troopers and leaving 38 critically wounded.

“Words will fall short to express our anger for this kind of heinous act. My prayers are the families of soldiers who have lost their dear ones in the tragedy and it’s their irreparable loss,” Manoj said.

“I feel scared and hurt… I get angry whenever I hear of such evil acts… I am feeling really sad to hear about what has happened in Jammu and Kashmir,” Sara Ali Khan said.

More than 2,500 CRPF personnel were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

The Pakistan-based JeM terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.

‘Every bottle of spirits has a tale to tell’

by

Nasheman News : Every bottle of alcohol has a tale to tell and to celebrate this, over 20 international masters, distillers, mixologists and story tellers will gather in Mumbai over the weekend on a platform that celebrates the craft of distillers and distilleries. It will also be a rite of passage for the new consumer who is open to experiencing luxury beverages that are a product of passion and commitment and are produced in small batches, without any compromise on quality.

“Every bottle has a tale, waiting to be shared – of its founder, of the distiller, of the wood in which it lay, of the people who built the spirit, of the mixologist who decided to `play’ with it and more. Listen, learn and celebrate the people behind the spirits,” Keshav Prakash, who began his career as an advertising filmmaker and then travelled the world to discover the world of fine spirts, told IANS of The Vault Biennale at the Mahalakshmi Race Course.

“The craft of distilling is very ancient and recipes have been handed down generations. To me, food and spirits are very culture-centric and each dish or drink is an experience of this culture and have a lot of story to it.

“For example, making whiskey is a tradition native to Scotland, much like rum to the Caribbean, Mezcal to the Mexico and so on. These are parts of their values and teachings handed over from generation to generation, with much love and celebration, making it an intrinsic part of a living culture,” Prakash explained.

The event is open to only 400 aficionados each day.

“We envision two kinds of visitors at the Biennale – one who are newly immersing themselves in fine spirits and others who know their single malt, gin, whiskey etc. The aim is for the curated audience to meet curated brands and learn about their stories. We consciously wanted to create a small, well-curated festival that encourages such conversations amongst the visitors,” Prakash elaborated.

What will be on offer?

Over 50 handpicked fine beverage brands like Kilchoman Machir Bay, Rémy Martin, Cotswolds Gin, and Amrut Peated Port Pipe. Leading the audience will be mixologists from World’s 50 Best Bars, among them Hiroyasu Kayama of Tokyo, Alex Simonidis & Georgia Georgakopoulou of Athens and Jose Luis Leon of Mexico City.

Bollywood Buzz

by

  
A Glittering Ceremony For “Power Brands Bollywood Film Journalists’ Awards 2019!” Held 

 The 2019 Power Brands-Bollywood Film Journalist’s Awards was organized recently by Planman Motion Pictures at Hotel Novotel Mumbai. Padmavat took home 16 roaring lions. Badhai Ho took away 7 roaring lions including “Best Film”. Andhadhun & Tummbad bagged 6 roaring lions each & Sriram Raghavan bagged “Best Director” award for Andhadhun.

 The glittering event also saw 2 mega book launches!! The big one was the launch of a young 18 year old author Che Kabir Chaudhuri’s book “Discover The Superhero In You” published by Times Group Books. The book which is about life’s lessons from superhero films & comics, was launched by Miss universe Sushmita Sen who also got the special Power Brand Superhero Award. Launching the book Ms. Sen was in full praise of the book saying such insight & depth is absolutely amazing!! Mr . Chaudhry said that he believed that there was a lot to learn in life from comics & Superhero films & he wanted to prove that.

 The other book was launched by Rock Star who has taken YouTube by storm namely Guru Randhawa. This coffee table book, “Bollywood Power Brands” also published by Times Group Books is authored by Rajita Chaudhuri & Dr. Arindam Chaudhuri & is on the most powerful people in Bollywood. They called it their tribute to the movers & shakers of Bollywood. 

Sanjay Khan was also there in full force with his family namely  Zarine, Suzanne, Farah, Zayed & Simone. So was the lifetime award winner, Manoj Kumar, who spoke with full gusto & said that being in a wheel chair he is hardly a power brand anymore.

 Sanjay Khan emphasized on the need for national integration & Malaika Arora also got a special Power Brand Fashion Icon award. From Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi, Shriram Raghavan, Gajaraj Rao, Ronit Roy to Shefali Shah, Neeraj Kavi, Nushrat Bharucha, Farah Khan, Ali Fazal, Amit Trivedi &  Amit Sharma all the winners praised the fairness of the awards & thanked the journalists who voted for them. Sushmita Sen, Malaika Arora, Nushrat Bharucha & Manjari Fadnis dazzled the red carpet. 

The Power Brands Bollywood Film Journalists Awards are the only awards in the country where more than 20 of the leading film journalists of this country do an open ballot voting for all categories & disclose who they voted for online 2 weeks before the award ceremony. 

Where awards are given irrespective of the winners presence as they are declared a fortnight in advance at least. Where the runners up are also awarded with the title of associate winners. There are no nominations & journalists are free to give anyone their vote amongst the films released last year. 

Basically it’s the only credible awards in the country and for the same it has garnered huge appreciation, though still only in its 3rd year.

  The list of key winners this year are:

 Best Feature Film Winner – Badhaai Ho – Junglee Pictures/ Vineet JainAssociate Winner – Andhadhun – Viacom18 Motion Pictures.  

Best Director Winner – Andhadhun – Sriram Raghavan Associate Winner – Raazi – Meghna Gulzar

 Best Actor Male Winner – Sanju – Ranbir Kapoor Associate Winner – Padmaavat – Ranveer Singh 

Best Actor Female Winner – Raazi – Alia Bhatt  Associate Winner – Padmaavat – Deepika Padukone Associate Winner – Hichki – Rani Mukerji

 Best Supporting Actor Male Winner – Sanju – Vicky Kaushal Associate Winner – Badhaai Ho – Gajraj Rao Associate Winner – Stree – Pankaj Tripathi

 Best Supporting Actor Female Winner – Badhaai Ho – Neena Gupta Associate Winner – Badhaai Ho – Surekha Sikri 

Best Music Director Winner – Andhadhun – Amit Trivedi Associate Winner – Padmaavat – Sanjay Leela Bhansali 

Best Background Score Winner – Tumbbad – Ajay-Atul / Jesper Kyd Associate Winner – Padmaavat – Ankit Balhara –  Sanchit Balhara & Sanjay Leela Bhansali

 Best Cinematography Winner – Padmaavat – Sudeep Chatterjee Associate Winner – Tumbbad – Pankaj Kumar

 Best Story Adapted Winner – Raazi – Bhavani Iyer & Meghna Gulzar Associate Winner – Simmba – Yunus Sajawal, Sajid Samji & Vakkantham Vamsi 

Associate Winner – Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran – Saiwyn Quadras, Sanyuktha Chawla Sheikh & Abhishek Sharma

Best Story Original Winner – Badhaai Ho – Shanatanu Srivastava, Akshat Ghildial & Jyoti Kapoor 

Associate Winner – Andhadhun – Sriram Raghavan, ArijitBiswas, Pooja LadhaSurti, Yogesh Chandekar & Hemanth Rao

Child marriages still prevalent in Bihar, Bengal, Rajasthan: Unicef

by

Nasheman News : Although child marriages in India have declined, a few states like Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan continue to carry on with the harmful practice and there is nearly 40 per cent prevalence in these states, the Unicef said.

A new report ‘Factsheet Child Marriages 2019’ released by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) late on Monday stated that while in Tamil Nadu and Kerala child marriage prevalence was below 20 per cent, they were pockets of disparity concentrated in tribal communities and amongst particular castes, including the Scheduled Castes.

Child marriage threatens girls’ lives, well-being and futures and if efforts were not accelerated, more than 150 million girls would be married off before their 18th birthday by 2030. 

Improving rates of girl education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls, and strong public messages around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes were among the reasons for the shift, it pointed.

It also showed that the prevalence of girls getting married before 18 years of age in India has declined from 47 per cent in 2005-2006 to 27 per cent in 2015-2016.

“While the change is similar with all states showing a declining trend, the prevalence of child marriage continues to be high in some districts. The focus is on geographies that have high (50 per cent) and medium (between 20 per cent to 50 per cent) prevalence of child marriage,” it said in a statement.

The report revealed that worldwide, an estimated 650 million girls and women alive were married before their 18th birthday and globally, the total number of girls married in childhood is estimated at 12 million per year.

“South Asia is home to the largest number of child brides with more than 40 per cent of the global burden (285 million or 44 per cent of the global total), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (115 million or 18 per cent globaly),” it noted.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there was no evidence of progress at all, with levels of child marriage as high as they were 25 years ago.

However, there is a silver lining as well, the report stated that the practice of child marriage has declined around the world.

In the past decade, the proportion of women who were married as children decreased by 15 per cent, from 1 in 4 (25 per cent) to approximately 1 in 5 (21 per cent), that’s around 25 million child marriages that have been prevented.

In South Asia, a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood has declined by more than a third, from nearly 50 per cent a decade ago to 30 per cent at present, largely driven by great strides in reducing the prevalence of child marriage in India.

The report mentioned that the global burden of child marriage is shifting from South Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa, due to both slower progress and a growing population. Of the most recently married child brides, close to 1 in 3 are now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 1 in 7, 25 years ago.

Cine Buzz : TV Actor Krushna Abhishek’s ‘Sharmaji Ki Lag Gai’- Trailer & Poster Launched

by

TV Actor Krushna Abhishek’s new movie Sharmaji Ki Lag Gai’s trailer & poster was launched recently. Nilkanth Regmi, Vanshmani Sharma of Rock Mountain Productions in association with Tweet Entertainment recently organized the trailer & the poster launch of their new Comedy film titled Sharmaji Ki Lag Gayi at The View Preview. Well-known directors like Anil Sharma & Mehul Kumar came specially to launch the poster of the film. Krushna Abhishek, Mugdha Godse, Brijendra Kala, Hemant Pandey, Himani Shivpuri, Sunil Pal, choreographer Lollypop, Vinay Anand, Kashmeera Shah, Aarti Singh also came to attend the event. The credits of the film are songs written & composed by Praveen Bhardwaj, directed by Manoj Sharma, asspsiat producers are A K Arora & Vatsal Baxi & c0-producer is Kamal Kishore Mishra. The film will be released on 15th Mar, 2019 all over. Zee Music Company is releasing the music.

Bollywood Buzz : Alia Bhatt Decides The Name Of Her Yet To Be Born Daughter

by

It won’t be wrong to say that Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt is presently living the best time of her life. The diva, who made her Hindi film debut with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year (2012) has been giving back to back hits & also has a lot of projects lined up in her kitty.

Alia Bhatt is also at a happy place personally & has been hogging the limelight due to her relationship with actor Ranbir Kapoor. While a wedding might not be on cards for Alia Bhatt any time soon, she already knows what she would like to name her daughter.

During a recent appearance on a dance reality show Super Dancer when a participant misspelled Alia ‘s name as Almaa, Alia Bhatt said, “Almaa bhut hi sunder naam hai, main apni beti ka naam Almaa rakhugi (Almaa is a very beautiful name, I will name my daughter as Almaa).  Earlier, talking about sealing the deal with her beau Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt had said, “I think people should now take a break. We have had 2 beautiful weddings last year namely that of Anushka Sharma with Viraat Kohli & Deepika Padukone with Ranveer Singh. I think we can chill now, watch movies, work in movies & rest can be seen later.” 

Meanwhile, Alia Bhatt had made an appearance on Super Dancer to promote her soon to be released movie Gully Boy. The diva was also accompanied by her co-star Ranveer Singh on the show. Gully Boy marks Alia Bhatt & Ranveer Singh’s 1st ever collaboration. The musical drama which will hit the theaters on 14th Feb, 2019 has been directed by Zoya Akhtar & Ranveer Singh is seen playing a rapper in it.

 Gully Boy marks Alia Bhatt & Ranveer Singh’s 1st ever collaboration. The musical drama which will hit the theatres on 14th Feb, 2019 has been directed by Zoya Akhtar & Ranveer Singh will be seen playing a rapper in it. 

Apart from this, Alia Bhatt has 2 more releases lined up for the current year of 2019. Her movie Kalank which has been directed by Abhishek Verman & stars Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt & Madhuri Dixit in the lead roles is slated to release on 19thApr, 2019.  Her 1st ever collaboration with Ranbir Kapoor will also hit the theaters in Dec, 2019. The duo has teamed up for Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra which also features megastar Amitabh Bachchan in a vital role. Alia Bhatt will also be seen in Karan Johar’s next directorial Takht. 

Boney Kapoor to produce remake of Egyptian film

by

Nasheman News :  Producer Boney Kapoor has taken the rights of Egyptian drama “Hepta: The Last Lecture” to remake the film in Hindi and other languages in India.

The film will be produced by Kapoor’s Bayview Projects and co-produced by Fresh Lime Films, read a statement issued on the former’s behalf.

Based on Mohamed Sadek’s best-selling book, “Hepta…”, directed by Hadi El Bagoury, revolves around the seven stages of love.

Kapoor said: “India and Egypt have been strongly influencing each other’s culture, arts and architecture since ancient times.

“It is a pleasure to cooperate with Egyptian cinema. I strongly believe that this is only the beginning and we shall soon be seeing films from Egypt and India being remade in their respective languages.” 

Kapoor is also remaking Hindi film “Pink” in Tamil. Titled “AK 59”, it features superstar Ajith, and is currently being shot.

Falguni Shah, Prashant Mistry lose at Grammys 2019

by

Nasheman News :  Falguni Shah and Prashant Mistry of Indian origin have lost at the ongoing Grammys, which is also being attended by Grammy and Oscar-winning Indian musician A.R. Rahman.

London-based Indian music producer, mix and mastering engineer Prashant Mistry’s album “Symbol” was nominated for the Best Immersive Audio Album at the 61st Grammy Awards. The honour went to “Eye In The Sky – 35th Anniversary Edition”.

Falguni, on the other hand, was nominated for her album “Falu’s Bazaar” in the Best Children’s Music. The award was given to Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats for “All The Sounds”.

Meanwhile, Rahman tweeted a photograph that featured him, his daughter Raheema and others, ahead of the ceremony on Sunday night. He captioned it: “All set to go for Grammy Awards night.”

He has been updating about the ceremony to his millions of fans on Instagram by posting photographs from there. It includes a photograph featuring the legendary singer Dolly Parton on stage.

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives