News

Filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, who serves as a creator on the recently released second season of the streaming series ‘Made In Heaven’, recently addressed a viewer’s question if she will ever portray a Muslim character in the show as someone who is not oppressed.

The actress recently took to the comments section of her Instagram post, in which she furnished a rebuttal to the claims of Radhika Apte’s character of Pallavi Menke and her dimensions being inspired by a journalist.

In the comments sections, an Internet user probed Zoya saying: “Zoya can you (show) normal muslim character in your shows. One positive story that is not oppressed.”

To this Zoya, pulled out all the characters from her filmography and made her point. She replied to the comment as she wrote: “Zaffar Khan and Tanveer in ‘Luck By Chance’. Imran and Laila in ‘Znmd’. Farah Ali in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do...

New Delhi, Aug 17 (Ians) After facing a severe backlash for leaving out Imran Khan from a promotional video celebrating the country’s cricketing achievements, Pakistan Cricket Board (Pcb) has released a rectified version with the 1992 World Cup-winning captain in it, and stated that the prior video excluded some clips due to its duration.

“The Pcb has launched a promotional campaign leading up to the Cricket World Cup 2023. One of the videos was uploaded on 14th August 2023. Due to its length, the video was abridged and some important clips were missing. This has been rectified in the complete version of the video,” Pcb wrote on its social media platform with the new video.

The Pcb first released a video on August 14 with the hashtag #BeyondJustOneDay, highlighting the contributions of some of their top players and the biggest moments in Pakistan’s cricket history, since 1952 when they played their first international game.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (Ians) Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram on Wednesday criticised a Pakistan Cricket Board (Pcb) video, released on the country’s Independence Day, on August 14, for omitting the reference of their only Odi World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.

The Pcb released a video on August 14 with the hashtag #BeyondJustOneDay, highlighting the major contributions of some of their top players and the biggest moments in the Pakistan cricket history, since 1952 when they played their first international game.

The video was met with severe backlash for not involving Imran, who is not just a revered figure in Pakistan’s cricket history but also served as the country’s Prime Minister from August 2018 to April 2022.

The 57-year-old Akram said that he got the “shock of his life” when he watched the video and urged the Pcb to delete the video and “apologise” for leaving Imran out of it.

“After long...

Washington and Mogadishu —Fadumo Abdi has been hungry for months now. She’s already lost one child to starvation and she doesn’t know if her surviving children will make it to the end of the year.

Having recently relocated to a camp for internally displaced persons, or IDPs, near Mogadishu after fleeing the drought-and war-ravaged areas of south-central Somalia, Fadumo has lost almost everything. She came to the capital hoping to find steady work, to figure out a way to ensure her children have a future.

“When we arrived here,...

Ranbir Kapoor wants to play humble and being honest. Even as euphoria continues to build around Rockstar and one waits to see whether the young actor along with director Imtiaz Ali indeed manage to create the kind of magic on screen which is expected out of them, Ranbir is willing to acknowledge that he is not (yet) a superstar that some around him want him to believe. This stems from the fact that he is still awaiting a fixed slot for arrival of his films on festive occasions, something that the top superstars in Bollywood have already staked their claim on. "Salman Khan has made Eid his own and next year with Ek Tha Tiger he would make it four in a row after Wanted, Dabangg and Bodyguard. Aamir Khan always likes to reserve Christmas for him (Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini, 3 Idiots). Shahrukh Khan has a Diwali fixation (this year it was Ra.

Ranbir Kapoor wants to play humble and being honest. Even as euphoria continues to build around Rockstar and one waits to see whether the young actor along with director Imtiaz Ali indeed manage to create the kind of magic on screen which is expected out of them, Ranbir is willing to acknowledge that he is not (yet) a superstar that some around him want him to believe. This stems from the fact that he is still awaiting a fixed slot for arrival of his films on festive occasions, something that the top superstars in Bollywood have already staked their claim on. "Salman Khan has made Eid his own and next year with Ek Tha Tiger he would make it four in a row after Wanted, Dabangg and Bodyguard. Aamir Khan always likes to reserve Christmas for him (Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini, 3 Idiots). Shahrukh Khan has a Diwali fixation (this year it was Ra.

Bhushan Kumar is one delighted and sentimental man these days. The man who has turned T-Series into India's top music company has added another feather in his crowded cap. The company has now acquired the music rights of Karan Johar's forthcoming film, Short Term Shaadi, starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor with Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani and Ram Kapoor among others. It is the first time in the history of T-Series that it has acquired the music rights of a film by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. For Bhushan Kumar, the development has a sentimental value too. The head honcho of the music giant has always been an ardent admirer of Karan Johar's films and had always looked forward to such an association. Produced by Karan Johar and directed by Shakun Batra, Short Term Shaadi is an out and out romantic comedy that has Imran playing a unique...

Bhushan Kumar is one delighted and sentimental man these days. The man who has turned T-Series into India's top music company has added another feather in his crowded cap. The company has now acquired the music rights of Karan Johar's forthcoming film, Short Term Shaadi, starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor with Randhir Kapoor, Boman Irani and Ram Kapoor among others. It is the first time in the history of T-Series that it has acquired the music rights of a film by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. For Bhushan Kumar, the development has a sentimental value too. The head honcho of the music giant has always been an ardent admirer of Karan Johar's films and had always looked forward to such an association. Produced by Karan Johar and directed by Shakun Batra, Short Term Shaadi is an out and out romantic comedy that has Imran playing a unique...

Guess some of the good habits of Aamir Khan are rubbing over Shah Rukh Khan as well. It is a known fact that Aamir Khan hosts special screenings for practically each of his films prior to their theatrical release. Now Shah Rukh too has done the same for Always Kabhi Kabhi, a film coming from his production house which is directed by Roshan Abbas. Informs a source closely attached to the film, "Yes, there were a couple of test screenings that were held a few weeks back. Unlike many film makers who host special screenings only in Mumbai, Shah Rukh took the film to Delhi as well. He wanted to gauge reaction from the two biggest audience bases for his campus entertainer." The test screening was held for hundreds of students and youngsters who belonged to 14-24 year age group, which is also the film's target audience. This is not...

Guess some of the good habits of Aamir Khan are rubbing over Shah Rukh Khan as well. It is a known fact that Aamir Khan hosts special screenings for practically each of his films prior to their theatrical release. Now Shah Rukh too has done the same for Always Kabhi Kabhi, a film coming from his production house which is directed by Roshan Abbas. Informs a source closely attached to the film, "Yes, there were a couple of test screenings that were held a few weeks back. Unlike many film makers who host special screenings only in Mumbai, Shah Rukh took the film to Delhi as well. He wanted to gauge reaction from the two biggest audience bases for his campus entertainer." The test screening was held for hundreds of students and youngsters who belonged to 14-24 year age group, which is also the film's target audience. This is not...

Download image as wallpaper Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar may have set their eyes on Christmas with Taare Zameen Par/Welcome [2007], Ghajini/Jumbo [2008], 3 Idiots [2009] and Tees Maar Khan [2010]. Salman Khan may have captured his Eid slot with Wanted [2009], Dabangg [2010] and Bodyguard [2011]. But Kareena isn't content with just one festival. She wants them all and is pretty much having her way as well. Says a veteran trade observer, "After all Diwali and Christmas have turned out to be most beneficial for filmmakers due to long holiday period as well as general mood of celebrations and festivities. People don't mind spending money and if a film is indeed made well, the makers and the actors benefit the most. It is crystal clear that while all the men are fighting it out amongst themselves when it comes to festive releases, Kareena is enjoying the best of all seasons. Well, literally." There are facts to substantiate this claim.

Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar may have set their eyes on Christmas with Taare Zameen Par/Welcome [2007], Ghajini/Jumbo [2008], 3 Idiots [2009] and Tees Maar Khan [2010]. Salman Khan may have captured his Eid slot with Wanted [2009], Dabangg [2010] and Bodyguard [2011]. But Kareena isn't content with just one festival. She wants them all and is pretty much having her way as well. Says a veteran trade observer, "After all Diwali and Christmas have turned out to be most beneficial for filmmakers due to long holiday period as well as general mood of celebrations and festivities. People don't mind spending money and if a film is indeed made well, the makers and the actors benefit the most. It is crystal clear that while all the men are fighting it out amongst themselves when it comes to festive releases, Kareena is enjoying the best of all seasons. Well, literally." There are facts to substantiate this claim.

Test screenings of unreleased films is a rarity in Bollywood. Test screenings are basically held to gauge the audience feedback prior to a film's release. Aamir Khan does it for all his films. He did it for Taare Zameen Par and also Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na. A few days back, Imran Khan did it for Luck. "The Ashtavinayak people are very conservative that way. They don't believe in screening their films prior to their release. But I wanted to gauge the feedback to Luck and we did hold one screening," Imran tells me. He, of course, is ecstatic since "the feedback was tremendous." Just recently, Warner Bros. also initiated a test screening of producers Nikhil Advani and Mukesh Talreja's Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hain, directed by debutante Milap Zaveri. "We held the test screening at two venues [Roxy and Fame Adlabs]. The audience for the screenings were picked up from malls and coffee shops.