Category Archives: Uncategorized

(PTI) Kajol shared a series of pictures on social media from her film Fanaa as it completed 20 years. The film released on May 26, 2006 and was directed by Kunal Kohli. It featured Kajol alongside Aamir Khan and revolved around blind girl Zooni, who falls in love with her tour guide Rehan, only to realise he is a terrorist and is presumably killed in a bomb blast. Kajol shared pictures on her Instagram handle on Tuesday as she went down memory lane. ‘20 years to Fanaa.. my daughter was 2 and a half years old and I was… but what I remember most was Poland in all its glory.. -27 degrees Celsius, beautiful forests and sleds used on sidewalks,’ she wrote.

'Absolute trash'

(IANS)

Renowned Bharatanatyam and Odissi dance exponent Sonal Mansingh has strongly criticised actor Ananya Panday over her Bharatanatyam fusion performance in Chand Mera Dil, calling it ‘absolute trash’ and ‘unacceptable’.

Speaking to ANI amid the ongoing backlash surrounding the performance, Mansingh said the act could not even be described as a proper performance.

“I won’t even call it a performance. I’m sorry. If you can say that Sonal Mansingh performs and Ananya Panday also performs, we can’t say that,’ she said.

A clip from the film has gone viral online, showing Ananya Panday’s character performing Bharatanatyam while co-star Lakshya watches in admiration. The film seemingly intended the sequence to present a modern twist, it has sparked a heated debate on social media, with users flooding the internet with memes and detailed critiques.

Ananya has been receiving severe backlash over her Bharatanatyam fusion performance in Chand Mera Dil.

Sonal Mansingh also rejected claims that the performance represented Bharatanatyam or even a legitimate fusion interpretation of the classical dance form.

“This is not Bharatanatyam, of course not, whatever so-called movement, swinging out and in and all that. I don’t understand,’ she said.

The Padma Vibhushan awardee expressed concern over what she termed the ‘degeneration’ of creative sensibilities in Hindi cinema and accused filmmakers of disrespecting India’s cultural heritage.

“In our country, we ourselves are responsible, whether it is a Hindi film or a Bollywood. I was just watching a dance of Kamala Lakshman from Raj Kapoor’s Chori Chori. It’s unbelievable. People such as Raj Kapoor and others were inviting proper dancers to perform those so-called item numbers,’ she said.

The legendary dancer also referenced celebrated dancers and actors such as Padmini, Waheeda Rehman, Vyjayanthimala, and Sandhya and their contributions to Indian cinema.

ANI

In a shocking incident, a major data theft was recently reported at filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s production house, Tiger Baby Digital.

Mumbai police have arrested two individuals, Ritesh Suresh Shah and Mohammad Shahid Azim Khan, for allegedly stealing 66 hard disks containing crucial film and web series data. According to the police, these storage devices contained sensitive digital assets such as raw footage, edited content, post-production files, backup data, and shooting archives. The stolen data reportedly included content related to projects like Made In Heaven, Ghost Stories, and Gandhi Money.

(ANI) Netflix is all set to launch MED – its first-ever medical drama straight out of Brazil, reported Deadline. Netflix recently announced a slate of new Brazilian originals, including MED. Set to be backed by production company Paranoid, the show will feature Clara Moneke in the lead. The announcement came soon after Netflix greenlit its first legal drama from Brazil, titled Habeas Corpus, made by Cafe Royal and is currently in production. Among other titles in the slate is a documentary from Maria Farinha Filmes, which follows Brazilian sailor Tamara Klink’s solitary journey across the Arctic. A yet-to-be-titled melodrama series is also in the pipeline, set to be directed by acclaimed filmmaker Rogerio Gomes and produced by A Fabrica. Two comedies also round out the announcement, including comedy special ‘Os Crentes’ and an unnamed project on open marriage.

'Would never be mean to you'

(PTI)

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali on Tuesday issued a clarification over his viral remark about actor Deepika Padukone’s casting in his 2012 movie Cocktail, saying his comments were made in a light-hearted manner and should not be misunderstood.

Ali’s remarks about Deepika sparked controversy online and the director said he decided to post the clarification as he did not want to take a chance on their long standing friendship.

“My dearest and loveliest @deepikapadukone, you are my pal, my buddy, my safe option for humour. I think you will never misunderstand my wannabe fun remarks because you, more than anyone else, know how much I love you, admire you, understand you, and appreciate you.

“But I have been told you might misunderstand and be hurt, so I am telling you plz don’t. To be mean to you ‘is janam mein to possible nahin hai’ (not possible in this lifetime). I never thought I would write such a disclaimer to you, but it’s been a while, and I didn’t want to take a chance. Wish you the best and love always,” he wrote on Instagram.

The controversy stems from an interview that Ali gave while promoting his new movie Main Vaapas Aaunga.

Discussing Cocktail, a movie that he wrote, Ali said Deepika was offered to play Meera but he advised her to take up the role of Veronika, a free-spirited girl residing in London. Ali said he felt Deepika had that side in her despite her image of a ‘good girl’.

His remarks received a mixed response on social media with several calling it unnecessary criticism.

Cocktail, released in 2012, was directed by Homi Adajania and produced by Dinesh Vijan. The story revolved around a love triangle between Veronika, Saif Ali Khan’s flirtatious Gautam Kapoor and Diana Penty’s Meera Sahni, a reserved girl from India who relocates to London. Deepika received critical acclaim for playing Veronika.

Ali directed Deepika in Love Aaj Kal and Tamasha.

By Pandit Ajai Bhambi

‘Birthday Forecast’

Moon square Jupiter on your solar return chart and will give amazing results. You may confront a tough challenge at your workplace. Your enemies will remain active. But you will possess qualities needed to overcome them. Your endeavours will be eminently successful. You may receive gifts from your in-laws. You may have to exert more but you will get success in your attempt. Love affairs will have a conducive atmosphere. Misunderstanding with your siblings or partner may eventually be resolved. You will face stiff challenges at every step. Health will remain balanced. You will also try hard to make your dreams and ambitions come true. You will have monetary gains. All old worries will get over. You may have new friends who will help you a lot in hours of need. You will give preference to your family matters over work.

‘Forecast for Today’

Aries : (March 21 – April 20)You will be involved in a rollicking affair with a person working in your office. It will be love at first sight. And you will make the first move. Your mate will reciprocate positively. You will also develop interest in writing, poetry or fine arts. You would be reading a lot to enhance your knowledge. Your behavior will appear noble and gentle.

Taurus : (April 21 – May 21) It is going to be a very good day. You will behave well with others and get along nicely. Your mate will enjoy good rapport with you. You will hold one-to-one discussion regarding your plans. Financially you will be well off. You will contribute to social work. And will support your colleagues and subordinates.

Gemini : (May 22 – June 21) Today you will be involved in your family matters. You have not been able to give full time to your family as you were kept busy in your office due to work pressure. There are some pressing issues that require urgent attention. You must take quick decisions on matters of vital importance involving day-to-day activities.

Cancer : (June 22 – July 22) It is going to be a testing day. Your loyalty will be doubted. This will give you pain. You will realize human nature is unpredictable and it is part and parcel of life. And will quickly get over it. You may have a sense of dissatisfaction. But it will be temporary. You may have to spend money on repairing your vehicle. Financial position won’t give you any worries.

Leo : (July 23 – August 23) It is going to be an exciting day. You will get involved in a cosy relation with a stranger whom you will meet outside. Love will bloom. And you would like to enter wedlock soon. Monetary conditions will keep getting better. Money and wealth will keep coming. You will receive acclaim for your efforts at your workplace. And you will be rewarded for your loyalty and dedication.

Virgo : (August 24 – September 22) It will be gainsaid period. You will get the pleasure of great wealth. Money inflow will be fast. You will get benefits at your workplace. There is also a great possibility of meeting your wishes. It will be a great time. Lovebirds will enjoy themselves to the fullest. And will get full happiness and satisfaction in their relations. Family will give consent.

Libra : (September 23 – October 23) It is going to be a great day. You will make progress at your workplace. And will win praise and appreciation of your peers and superiors for your efforts. Money inflow will be fast. You will come in contact with influential people. Your bonding with your mate will be excellent. And you could plan to go on a holiday with family.

Scorpio : (October 24 – November 22) Today you will make major gains. Money and wealth will keep coming. Your relations at your workplace with your subordinates and colleagues will get better. All of you will work as a team. And you will pay attention to your work. Relations with your partner will be perfect. You will be invited to public functions and remain in the spotlight.

Sagittarius : (November 23 – December 21) It is going to be a nice day. You will be busy in your office and will work till late to meet work-related deadlines. But you will enjoy your work. You will have wonderful time with your office colleagues. And will support each other in best possible manner. You will have financial gains. Family will support you. And your mate will be very accommodative and understanding.

Capricorn : (December 22 – January 20) It is going to be a good day. You will grow financially. Chances of getting involved with a person known to you are bright. Love birds will be devoted to each other and will be interested in marriage ties. You will get full back from your bosses at your workplace. Those in politics, media and business will shine. You will be socializing a lot.

Aquarius : (January 21 – February 18) Today important work at your office will be finalized. This will make everyone happy. Your stock will suddenly rise. And win lot of praise and appreciation. You would be cause of envy for others. But you will inspire your juniors. You would act as a friend, philosopher and guide for them. Your relations with your parents too would get better.

Pisces : (February 19 – March 20) Long pending property dispute in the family will get resolved by consensus. It will satisfy all family members. And they will be happy with their share in the division of property. You could also plan to go abroad for holiday with your family. Financially you will gain. There can be some auspicious functions too.

Iran condemns strikes as show of 'bad faith', warns of consequences

By AP

DUBAI, May 26: President Donald Trump insists a peace deal is close on the 88th day of the Iran war, but Iran on Tuesday denounced US airstrikes a day earlier as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations continue toward a possible deal to end the war.

The US military has characterised Monday’s strikes in southern Iran as defensive, saying targets included missile launch sites and boats placing mines, and said the US acted with “restraint” in light of the weeks-long ceasefire.

The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire,” Capt Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, said in a statement.

Iran’s foreign ministry called the strikes a cease-fire violation and warned that Washington would bear responsibility for “all consequences”, without details.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will leave no act of aggression unanswered,” it added in a statement.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Tuesday said it had shot down and deterred drones and a fighter jet that entered its airspace, according to Iran’s official Mizan news agency, which did not specify when the incident occurred.

It wasn’t immediately clear what the developments would mean for negotiations. The strikes came after Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghali-baf went to Qatar as part of the talks, which Trump said Monday were “proceeding nicely”.

The strikes were the lat-est flare-up in the fragile ceasefire that began April 7 and has largely held.

Negotiations centre in part on the Strait of Hor-muz, the crucial waterway off southern Iran through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US-Israeli strikes in February. Tehran retaliated by effectively closing the strait, stranding hundreds of ships and shocking the global economy.

The strait has become a powerful lever for Tehran in talks, joining the long-run-ning issue of Iran’s nuclear programme and highly en-riched uranium. Iran in turn wants the US to lift its mili-tary blockade of Iranian ports that began on April 17.

The strait also is cause for growing concern as supplies of fertilizer are also badly af-fected for vulnerable global farmers.

“What we are witnessing today is not only a geopo-litical crisis, it is a systemic shock to the global agrifood system,” the director-general of the UN’s Food and Ag-riculture Organization, Qu Dongyu, said Tuesday.

Trump has introduced a new angle in negotiations for a deal on the war, saying any agreement to end the war should include a requirement for several additional coun-tries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, a series of US-brokered diplomatic, economic and security agree-ments aimed at normalising relations with Israel.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020; Sudan, Morocco and Ka-zakhstan have followed. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognize Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recog-nised Israel in 1949.

Israel’s conduct against Palestinians, including in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has alien-ated Gulf Arab states and the wider Muslim world, but Trump has been keen to build on the Abraham Accords, forged during his first term. He even has suggested that Iran eventually could sign on.

Kyiv is warned to brace for possible major barrage

(AP)

KYIV, May 26: Russia fired more than 100 drones and two ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said Tuesday, as the country’s foreign ministry noted that Moscow’s recent threat to hit Kyiv especially hard from the air brought nothing new.

Russia on Monday urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic mis-sions, to leave the Ukrainian capital as quickly as possible and told residents to steer clear of military and govern-ment facilities. It said that “systemic strikes” on Kyiv were being prepared.

Russia has regularly bom-barded Kyiv, often causing

dozens of civilian casualties with every attack, since it launched an all-out invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia’s Foreign Minis-ter Sergey Lavrov told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone Monday that the US should evacuate its diplomatic staff from Kyiv, a foreign ministry statement said.

Rubio didn’t say whether the US State Department would take that step, but expressed concern during a trip to India that the “ter-rible” war in Ukraine could escalate further.

The Trump administra-tion has tried for more than

a year to stop the war. But its efforts yielded no significant breakthrough and are now on ice as Washington focuses on the Iran war.

No diplomats say they are leaving Kyiv

There were no announce-ments of diplomatic depar-tures from Kyiv. The Europe-an Union, French and Polish delegations publicly said that they would not leave.

The European Union summoned Russia’s rep-resentative in Brussels to convey its concerns Tuesday, with European Commission spokesperson Anita Hipper accusing Russia of “trying to sow panic.”

SEOUL, May 26: North Korea launched a close-range ballistic missile and other weapons toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, days after the leaders of Russia and China voiced their opposition to Western pressures on North Korea.

The missile fired from Jongju, a city near the North’s west coast, flew about 80 kilometres, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. North Korea launched other kinds of projectiles, it said.

South Korean media, citing the military, reported that the other weapons systems mobilised included multiple rocket launch systems. The reports said that the simultaneous launches of different kinds of weapons were likely meant to test the ability to evade South Korean and US defences. (AP)

(AP)

BEIRUT, May 26: Israel’s military clashed with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group Tuesday along a strategic river in Lebanon as Israeli troops tried to push farther north, just three days before Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are set to meet for direct talks in Washington.

A previously reached ceasefire appeared more nominal by the day, complicating efforts at a broader peace in the Iran war, as Tehran wants an end to the fighting to include Lebanon.

The Litani River has been a de facto boundary in Lebanon, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control despite the Washington-brokered ceasefire in place for over a month.

One Israeli strike kills 12, including several relatives

Tuesday’s intensified strikes and clashes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorised more intensive strikes targeting Hezbollah across Lebanon.

Meanwhile, an Israeli security official said the military had called up an additional battalion to Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel’s military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites across southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley area overnight, saying it targeted storage facilities, command centers and observation points used to attack Israeli troops and residents in northern Israel.

One strike hit the eastern village of Mashghara, killing 12 people including several members of a family, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Israel in recent days has intensified strikes in Nabatieh city and province, just north of the river. On Tuesday it warned city residents to leave.

Hezbollah meanwhile said it launched several rocket, artillery and exploding drone attacks on Israeli troops and vehicles mobilising along the river toward the Nabatieh villages of Yohmor al-Shaqif and Zawtar al-Sharqieh.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the militant group repelled attacks along the river banks.

Since the ceasefire, the Lebanese capital of Beirut has been spared from strikes, but Israel’s latest moves have caused fear.

Lebanon hopes for an agreement that sees Israeli withdrawal

The Lebanese government, which came to power on a platform of reform and disarming Hezbollah and other armed groups, hopes that the direct talks with Israel, opposed by Hezbollah, will lead to a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel says it will not withdraw until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat to residents of its northern towns.

Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting until Israel stops its daily airstrikes and withdraws its troops from Lebanon.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has boasted that it is using new fibre-optic drones that Israeli troops have struggled to intercept, hitting both Israeli forces and northern Israeli villages.

Israel has told people there not to gather in large numbers.