Tag: Bollywood

  • ‘Every actor has the right to protect themselves’: Anil Kapoor wins landmark case against AI

    ‘Every actor has the right to protect themselves’: Anil Kapoor wins landmark case against AI

    Veteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor has won a landmark case preventing his image from being used in any manner by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

    The actor filed a case with the Delhi High Court, after numerous morphed videos and emojis featuring his iconic phrase ‘jhakas’ from the 1985 film ‘Yudh’ went viral on social media.

    The suit had asked for protection for the actor’s personality rights including his name, image, likeness, voice against any misuse on social media, and listed various instances of how the actor’s attributes were being misused. After a detailed hearing, the court sided with Anil Kapoor by acknowledging his personality rights, and restrained users from misusing the attributes without his permission or consent.

    Speaking to Variety, Anil Kapoor said he was happy with the order.

    “I’m very happy with this court order, which has come in my favor, and I think it’s very progressive and great for not only me but for other actors also. Because of the way technology and the AI technology, which is which is evolving every day [and] which can completely take advantage of and be misused commercially, as well as where my image, voice, morphing, GIFs and deep fakes are concerned, I can straight away, if that happens, send a court order and injunction and they have to pull it down.”

    “It’s not only for me,” the ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actor stressed. “Today, I’m there to protect myself, but when I’m not there, the family should have the right to protect my [personality] and gain from it in future.”

    “My intention is not to interfere with anyone’s freedom of expression or to penalize anyone. My intent was to seek protection of my personality rights and prevent any misuse for commercial gains, particularly in the current scenario with rapid changes in technology and tools like artificial intelligence.”

    AI is a central element to the SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood. Anil Kapoor expressed solidarity with the ongoing strike.

    “This [the court order] should be great positive news for all of them to a certain extent. And I am always, completely with them in every which way, and I feel their rights should be protected, because everybody, big, small, popular, not popular, every actor has the right to protect themselves and their rights.”

  • Pakistanis may soon get to watch Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’

    Pakistanis may soon get to watch Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’

    For fans in Pakistan who are bummed out on missing the opportunity to watch Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’ in theatres, there is finally a chance to see the film because the action thriller is coming to OTT platforms quite soon. According to India Today, the film is set to release on streaming platforms with a special twist: it will include scenes that were omitted from the theatrical release.

    While the film was approximately two hours and 45 minutes long, the OTT release is expected to be 3 hours and 15 minutes with the extra scenes.

    There is no release date confirmed yet by the team or Netflix.

    ‘Jawan’ has recently broken records, becoming one of the fastest Bollywood films to join the 500 crore club, beating Shah Rukh Khan’s previous film ‘Pathaan’ and Sunny Deol’s ‘Gadar 2’ according to Bollywood Hungama.

  • Naseem Shah bowls over another Bollywood ‘maiden’

    Naseem Shah bowls over another Bollywood ‘maiden’

    Looks like Naseem Shah is not only raking up trophies, but also the hearts of millions of girls, Bollywood being no exception.

    After actress and model Urvashi Rautela, another Indian actress, Isha Shah, has expressed her admiration for the cricket star.

    According to The Times Of India, the ‘Hate Story 4’ actress told media outlets she admired the cricket player “He (Naseem) is very good looking…  and woh bahut zyada reels pe India me bhi trend kar rahe hain.”

    Isha Shah definitely confirmed that she has a thing for the 20-year-old bowler when she said: “Khuda ne banaya to kya banaya, Naseem Shah banaya.”

    Previously, model and actress Urvashi sparked rumors about having a crush on Naseem, when during the exhilarating match between India and Pakistan on September 3, she shared a post on her Instagram stories of her watching the match on the screen where Naseem Shah was featured.

    READ MORE: Urvashi Rautela is still crushing on Naseem Shah and here’s proof

    Naseem Shah had denied reports that he was linked with the Bollywood actress in a press conference.

    READ MORE: Naseem Shah breaks silence on romantic reel with Urvashi Rautela

  • ‘Dilip Kumar once told me I smelt like Lahore’: Meera

    ‘Dilip Kumar once told me I smelt like Lahore’: Meera

    Actress Meera recently appeared on Mohsin Abbas Haider’s show ‘Public Demand’ where she opened up about meeting various Bollywood actors during her trip to India.

    Meera also met the legendary icon Dilip Kumar who invited the actress to dinner at his house, where she met his wife Saira Banu, staying there for three days. The ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ actor told Meera he knew she was from Lahore, because he could smell the scent of the city from her.

    “Aap kay badan say khushbu arahi hai Pakistan aur Lahore ki. Mehak raha hoon mein,” Meera recalled the ‘Tragedy King’ telling her.

    Meera also revealed that during her trips to India, she met Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan three times. The first time was after completing her film ‘Nazar’ and met the actor in London. The second time was at a dinner with celebrated director Yash Raj, Dilip Kumar and actress Rani Mukherjee. Her last meeting was at a birthday party held for actor Abhishek Bachchan, where she was invited along with actor Moammar Rana and singer Rafaqat Ali Khan by Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who had personally called the ‘Baaji’ actress and requested her presence at the party.

    Previously the ‘Mushkil’ actress was a guest at the comedy talk show ‘Hasna Mana Hai’ where she revealed that Shah Rukh Khan had personally wanted to cast her in his film ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’, but the offer didn’t work out as Meera revealed she wasn’t able to secure a visa to London.

    READ MORE: ‘Shah Rukh Khan, 365 days star Michele Morrone wanted to work with me’: Meera

  • Ananya Panday singles out two actresses as her closest friends

    Ananya Panday singles out two actresses as her closest friends

    Bollywood actress Ananya Panday spoke to The Times Of India about her close friendship with peers Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor, sharing that these two were her closest friends. The ‘Dreamy Girl’ actress revealed she liked Sara and Janhvi because the three of them have always looked out for each other.

    “It’s really good to have supportive contemporaries, we all know there’s heavy competition,” Ananya said, adding that she agrees with Sara’s comment about how only fellow actors can understand each other.

    Previously, Ananya had spoken about her childhood friendships with Suhana Khan and Shanaya Kapoor, and opened up about the trio having a collective dream to become actors.

    “You know we all had this collective dream while growing up. We all wanted to be actors. We used to play acting games together, do mimicry,” gushed the actress to Filmfare. “We have so many videos. Like Suhana would be the mother and Shanaya and I would be the daughters. And Suhana would be shouting at us because she was the tiny one. We have hours of footage. We’ve had so many memories and spoken about everything under the sun.”

  • Deepika Padukone charged an unheard of amount for ‘Jawan’

    Deepika Padukone charged an unheard of amount for ‘Jawan’

    Shah Rukh Khan’s action thriller ‘Jawan’ has received rave reviews from social media users and critics alike. A special appearance by his close friend and long time collaborator Deepika Padukone was singled out for praise as one of the best scenes in the film.

    The ‘Pathaan’ actress shocked social media when she revealed to Indian magazine The Week that she had charged Rs0 for her cameo and gave a special reason why she refused to take any amount for the appearances she made in films like ’83’ and ‘Cirkus’:

    “I wanted to be a part of 83 because I wanted it to be an ode to women who stand behind their husbands’ glory. I watched my mother do it. This was my homage to wives who make sacrifices to support their husbands’ careers. Other than that, any special appearance for Shah Rukh Khan, I am there. Same with Rohit Shetty.”

    The actress, who garnered applause for her stellar performance alongside King Khan for her first film ‘Om Shanti Om’ (for which hadn’t charged a single penny either!) said the duo call themselves each others’ lucky charms.

     “We are each other’s lucky charm. But honestly, we are beyond luck. We have a sense of ownership over each other,” the actress gushed about the Bollywood Badshah.

    “I am one of the few people he is vulnerable with. There is so much trust and respect, and I think that luck is just the cherry on the top.”

  • AR Rahman apologises after Chennai concert stampede

    AR Rahman apologises after Chennai concert stampede

    Oscar winning music composer AR Rahman has addressed the controversial Marakuma Nenjam concert held in Chennai on September 10 where numerous fans reported cases of harassment, molestation and suffocation due to poor management, leading to a stampede. Speaking with The Hindu, the ‘Dil Se’ composer apologised and said he was “deeply disturbed” by the reports. The maestro said he would refund all the tickets, asking people to reach out to him through email to elaborate on other problems at the concert.

    “It was a tsunami of people and love that we were unable to handle. As a composer, my job was to give a terrific show, and I thought everything else would be taken care of. I was just thinking that it shouldn’t rain, and was happily performing inside, without any idea of what was happening outside. Our intentions were good, but I think the response was beyond our expectations. We are collecting the data now, and we will surprise fans with something soon.”

    The singer elaborated on the events of the evening and what had gone wrong:

     “The organisers (ACTC events) had put together about 46,000 chairs in the venue. In some sections, everybody sat on one side and didn’t move to the other side. Seeing this, the policemen on duty assumed that the venue was full and closed it. By this time, the show had already started inside.”

    Indian publication The Quint spoke with several women about the harassment and poor management they had witnessed at AR Rahman’s concert, describing how several children were crying after being separated from their parents and ambulances that couldn’t reach those who had fainted.

    A 22-year-old lawyer said she was groped multiple times for half an hour while trying to find the exit along with her mother.

    “I lost count of the number of times I got groped yesterday. After a while, I gave up and didn’t try to defend myself. I tried pushing them, punching them, but they kept touching me. So I had no choice but to stand still.”

    A 45-year-old corporate professional brought along her 10-year-old to the concert, said, “At one point I started crying in panic because of the stampede while collecting tags.”

  • ‘It’s disturbing that a film like The Kashmir Files is so popular’: Naseeruddin Shah

    ‘It’s disturbing that a film like The Kashmir Files is so popular’: Naseeruddin Shah

    Bollywood’s venerated thespian Naseeruddin Shah has spoken out against the rising popularity of propaganda films like ‘The Kerala Story’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’, both of which revolve around Islamophobic content. The former centers around the debunked claim that thousands of women in the state of Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and then recruited into ISIS. ‘The Kashmir Files’, a film about the mass evacuation of Hindus from Indian-occupied Kashmir, was slammed by critics for distorting facts.

    “Now the more jingoist you are, the more popular you become, because this is what has been ruling this country. It’s not enough to love your country but beat drums about it and you have to create imaginary enemies,” the veteran actor said while speaking to Free Press Journal.

    Shah said that filmmakers behind ‘The Kerala Story’ or ‘The Kashmir Files’ don’t realise that what they’re doing is harmful.

    “In fact, films like Kerala Story and Gadar 2, I haven’t seen them, but I know what they are about. It’s disturbing that films like Kashmir Files are so massively popular whereas movies made by Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha and Hansal Mehta, who are trying to portray the truth of their times, don’t get seen.”

    The ‘Masoom’ actor described the current environment “frightening” considering how filmmakers today are resorting to making movies on baseless accusations that trample down other communities:

    “It’s hard to resort to abstraction and capture life as it is. So regressive is a pretty mild word for what’s going on. It’s frightening when filmmakers are being coopted into making films which praise all the wrong things and run down other communities for no reason at all. It’s a dangerous trend.”

    The actor had previously written an open letter about the accusations of love-jihad on his 41-year-long marriage to Hindu wife Ratna Pathak, saying that he and his family were supportive of his wife’s decision to remain a Hindu.

    “As it happened, the subject of my wife Ratna converting to Islam was brought up just once by my mother and that as enquiry, to which, on receiving a reply in the negative, she concurred with a ‘Haan, mazhab kaise badla jaa sakta hai.’ Whether this statement of a woman weaned exclusively on a diet of the Quran makes more sense than the hate-filled rhetoric of ‘Hindus and Muslims cannot live together’, I will leave to the judgement of the reader.”

    READ MORE: Naseeruddin Shah opens up about ‘love jihad’ accusations on marriage to Ratna Pathak

  • Sharmila Tagore: not your typical saas and here’s proof from Kareena Kapoor

    Sharmila Tagore: not your typical saas and here’s proof from Kareena Kapoor

    Sharmila Tagore should share a page from her book on how to be an uplifting and generous saas to your newly wedded daughter-in-law, and maybe more women would want to get married.

    Kareena Kapoor was a guest on Express Ada where she spoke about her decision to marry actor Saif Ali Khan at the peak of her career. She opened up about people telling her she would be destroying her career.

    “Everyone was like, if you get married your career might be over and it would take a beating,” reports The Indian Express. “I was madly in love and I thought it is fine. If producers and directors would be like my career is over because I got married, then I think it’s maybe their loss. It’s a weird thing. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s see what happens.’ And I just did it.”

    The ‘K3G’ actress especially gave credit to her mother-in-law veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, whom she gushed about for giving her a lot of confidence when she needed it.

    “My mother-in-law also gave me a lot of confidence because she did amazing movies like Daag, Waqt and such beautiful films that she did after Saif was born. So she was like, ‘Don’t fall for the fact that producers won’t (cast you).’ She was like, ‘Challenge yourself, challenge them, and it will happen.’ And I was confident about it. I was just always worried about balancing my life in terms of how I would balance marriage. I was most concerned about that because I was like, ‘I do want to work’.”

    Kareena remained confident that she hadn’t given up her career, and was happy to witness how several other actors like Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt have gotten married at the peak of their careers, continuing to work afterwards.

    “I think it’s given a lot of girls confidence. Everybody started following suit and being a lot more confident. People earlier would not even talk about their relationships openly. There was a time when nobody wanted to be linked with anyone or the sight of having a relationship for a Bollywood actress was like, no.”

    Kareena also gave credit to Saif’s “relaxed” state of mind, emphasizing that he didn’t have any issues with the actress wanting to work after her marriage, crediting his upbringing in a family, “where women have always been at the forefront, be it his grandmother, his mother or his sisters.”

  • ‘Shah Rukh Khan was the first person to console me after Dilip died’: Saira Banu

    ‘Shah Rukh Khan was the first person to console me after Dilip died’: Saira Banu

    Yesteryear leading lady Saira Banu shared a heart warming story about Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan on her Instagram page. The actress revealed that the superstar was the first to console her after the death of her husband, legendary actor Dilip Kumar in . The thespian and Banu had been married for 54 years when the thespian died at the age of 98 years.

    In a detailed account, she wrote on Instgram page, that she first met the ‘Pathaan’ actor at an event where he appeared shy and reticent, resembling Dilip’s personality.

    When he bowed before Saira and asked for her blessings, the actress realised his hair resembled her husband’s.

    “Since that day, whenever Shahrukh and I met, he graciously lowered his head, allowing me to offer him my blessings. Interestingly, on one occasion, I forgot to run my hand through his hair, and immediately after, Shahrukh lowered his head, saying, “Aaj Aapne Mere Baalon Par Hath Nahin Phera”, and without hesitation, I lovingly ran my fingers through his hair, completing our familiar ritual.”

    Saira wrote about thf Bollywood Badshah being especially considerate when Dilip Kumar passed away.

    “In that moment,’ writes the ‘Junglee’ actress. “His affection for the ‘Kohinoor of Hindustan,’ Dilip Sahib, shone brightly as he was among the very first to offer his comforting presence in the face of adversity.”

    Saira also reflected how Shah Rukh’s respect and affection for her late husband shined when he came to their house to get the ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ poster signed by him, and which he has kept in his private theatre.

    Read her complete caption here