Tag: India

  • Celebrities donate to cinema for Gaza auction

    Celebrities donate to cinema for Gaza auction

    Louis Theroux, Aimee Lou Wood, Nicola Coughlan, Peter Capaldi, and Jenna Coleman are among the many celebrities who have donated items to help Cinema for Gaza.

    Famous musicians, filmmakers, actors, and photographers like Annie Lennox, Jonathan Glazer, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Misan Harriman, Gurinder Chadha, Juliette Larthe, and Naqqash Khalid have also donated to a Cinema for Gaza Auction.

    Film journalists and filmmakers Hanna Flint, Julia Jackman, Leila Latif, Sophie Monks Kaufman, and Helen Simmons have started Cinema For Gaza with a planned auction to help Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

    Many talented filmmakers from the UK and beyond have donated too. A-listers like Tilda Swinton, Jonathan Glazer, Ramy Youssef, Juliette Larthe, Peter Capaldi, Imelda Staunton, Brian Cox, Joseph Quinn, Mike Leigh, Misan Harriman, Joanna Hogg, Aimee Lou Wood, and Josh O’Connor.

    Juliette Larthe, who helped start PRETTYBIRD UK and made the award-winning movie IN CAMERA, is giving a mentoring session over Zoom. And the director of IN CAMERA, Naqqash Khalid, is giving a mentoring session and two tickets to see his movie.

    Some cool things in the auction are Tilda Swinton reading a bedtime story, special seats for the play Long Day’s Journey into Night with a chance to meet Brian Cox, signed movie posters from Jonathan Glazer, a photo taken by Misan Harriman, a small part in Gurinder Chadha’s next movie, handwritten lyrics to Annie Lennox’s song ‘Sweet Dreams’, and a Zoom serenade from Olly Alexander.

    Louis Theroux, Aimee Lou Wood from Sex Education, Nicola Coughlan from Bridgerton, and Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who have also given things to Cinema for Gaza.

    MAP helps Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees by giving them medical aid and working on building up local healthcare. Right now, they’re helping with the emergency in Gaza.

    The auction is online until Friday, April 12th, at midnight BST. You can bid on the lots here.

  • Remember Dil se? Priety Zinta shares first photoshoot pictures

    Remember Dil se? Priety Zinta shares first photoshoot pictures

    Bollywood star Preity Zinta recently shared a precious memory from her early days in the industry on Instagram. The post featured a snapshot from her very first photoshoot at the age of 20.

    In the caption, Zinta confessed to feeling clueless about posing for the camera back then. She wrote, “was going through some old stuff n found this photo! OMG!!! My first photo shoot ever… I was all of 20 & I thought I knew everything I needed to know about the world … except how to pose for a photo shoot.”
    Her candid reflection resonated with fans, who appreciated her honesty and humility.

    Since her debut in the 1998 film ‘Dil Se,’ Preity Zinta has captivated audiences with her charm and talent. Alongside her successful acting career, she is also known for her philanthropy and advocacy work.

  • Shoaib Akhtar loves the name given to him by YouTuber Shiraz

    Shoaib Akhtar loves the name given to him by YouTuber Shiraz

    Muhammad Shiraz, the rising child social media star from Gilgit Baltistan, has become incredibly popular worldwide with his charming village vlogs.
    The young Pakistani vlogger’s rise to fame has been very fast. He has over one million subscribers on YouTube and many fans love his fun TikTok videos too.
    Recently, Muhammad Shiraz talked about his love for cricket and said Shoaib Akhtar is his favorite cricketer. But, in a cute mistake, he accidentally called the former fast bowler “Shoftar Aftar”, praising his super-fast bowling.

    Fans loved Muhammad Shiraz’s cute mistake and quickly embraced the sweet nickname.
    The video became very popular and even caught the attention of Shoaib Akhtar. He shared it on his Facebook with a kind message, inviting the young vlogger to meet him in Islamabad someday. It was a warm invitation for a future meeting.

  • Sikh Yatrees to come to Pakistan for mela

    Sikh Yatrees to come to Pakistan for mela

    Sikh pilgrims will come to Pakistan on April 13 to participate in the celebrations of Khalsa Janma Day and Vasakhi Mela. Officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Pradhan and other Sikh leaders will be welcoming the guests.

    The main ceremony will be held at Gurudwara Panja Sahib, Hasan Abdal, on April 14. The pilgrims will reach Nankana Sahib from Hassan Abdal on April 15 and on April 18, they will go to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, Narowal, reports The Express Tribune.

    On April 20, the yatrees will visit Aimanabad and reach Lahore where they will stay for one day.

    The Sikh pilgrims will return to India after completing their 10-day pilgrimage on April 22.

  • Fardeen Khan returns to acting after 14 Years with Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’

    Fardeen Khan returns to acting after 14 Years with Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’

    Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan is coming back to movies after not being in them for 14 years. He’s in a new movie by filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali called ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.’

    On Saturday, Netflix released a picture showing Fardeen Khan’s first appearance in the upcoming historical drama series, where he will play a character named Wali Mohammed.

    The caption said: “Wali Mohammed faces a tough battle between love and duty. He tries to balance what he wants with his duties as royalty. Fardeen Khan makes an amazing comeback as Wali Mohammed!”
    The show is about the courtesans of Lahore and life in the red-light district in old India. In the picture, Fardeen is dressed in old-fashioned clothes and has a mustache.

    Fardeen’s last movie was ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’. After that, he took a break from acting and stayed away from social media.
    The movie also features Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chaddha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sharmin Segal.

    The summary of the series says: “In Heeramandi, where there’s a fight for power, a young heir has to pick between love and taking over. This shakes things up. The story is set in India before it became independent, during a time when people were fighting for freedom. It’s a test for the tradition of tawaifs (courtesans).”

    ‘Heeramandi’ is said to be a big story about love, power, revenge, and freedom. The filmmaker has been working on it for 14 years because it’s his special project. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Prerna Singh produced it, with Moin Beg credited for the concept. You can watch ‘Heeramandi’ on Netflix starting from May 1st.

  • Nora Fatehi says early days in Bollywood were ‘painful’

    Nora Fatehi says early days in Bollywood were ‘painful’

    Nora Fatehi, the Canadian-born Bollywood actress and dancer who has shot to fame, reflected on her early days and struggles in Bollywood, describing them as “painful”.
    During a recent interview, Nora discussed the efforts she made to establish herself in the industry, and the challenges she faced during her initial days in India.

    “When I arrived in India, I had only 5,000 rupees, and at that time, I had no idea what 1,000 dollars meant. I used to live in an apartment with nine mentally ill girls, two of whom I shared a room with.”
    She alleged that the agencies through whom she wanted to enter the showbiz world were also involved in her harassment.
    “While living with nine girls in an apartment, I used to question myself about the difficult situation I had put myself in. Even today, those initial dreadful days still shock me,” she recalled.

    “In the beginning, talent hunting agencies made me work more and paid me less. I survived for a long time on just one egg and bread. It was one of the most difficult times for me. I also needed treatment after moving to India, but I did not have enough money to go to a good hospital for my treatment.”

  • India’s Congress party promises minority protection and jobs

    India’s Congress party promises minority protection and jobs

    India’s main opposition party Congress vowed Friday to protect minorities – generally seen as a reference to the country’s Muslims – while accelerating growth and jobs in a manifesto for an election it is widely expected to lose.

    Nearly a billion Indians will vote to elect a new government in six-week-long parliamentary elections starting on April 19, the largest democratic exercise in the world.

    Many analysts see Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) banner as a foregone conclusion.

    Congress led India’s independence struggle and dominated politics for most of the next seven decades but its secularist vision has since struggled against the BJP’s appeal to members of India’s majority faith.

    In its manifesto, Congress promised to protect “linguistic and religious minorities”.

    “The plurality of religions represents the history of India,” it said. “History cannot be altered.”

    India has a long and grim history of sectarian clashes between the country’s Hindu majority and Muslims, its biggest minority faith with 200 million members.

    Party leader Rahul Gandhi — the son, grandson and great-grandson of prime ministers — said the upcoming election was “fundamentally different” from any other in India’s history.

    “It is between those who want to end India’s constitution and democracy and those who want to save it,” he said.

    The Congress manifesto, titled a “justice document”, offered “concrete guarantees unlike Modi’s empty promises”, said lawmaker and lead author P Chidambaram.

    The party has promised to address India’s “massive unemployment” on a “war footing”, adding that it would earmark half of all government jobs for women.

    Young people voted for Modi in droves when he was first elected a decade ago after he said he would create 10 million jobs a year.

    But a recent International Labour Organization (ILO) report warned that India was hamstrung by a “grim” crisis, with unemployment on the rise.

    Congress proposed an unconditional annual cash transfer of Rs 100,000 ($1,200) “to every poor Indian family”, without precisely defining who would qualify.

    The BJP is yet to publish its own manifesto.

  • Abrar Ul Haq makes musical comeback

    Abrar Ul Haq makes musical comeback

    Abrar Ul Haq made Bhangra popular in Pakistani pop music. His songs ‘Aaja Ni Baija Cycle Tey,’ and ‘Billo De Ghar’ are timeless hits played at every wedding. Bollywood recently remixed his song ‘Nach Punjaban.’ After quitting politics last year, Abrar Ul Haq has returned to making music.
    Abrar was a guest on Ahmed Ali Butt’s show where he said, “If we put a little effort into it, just like my songs from 15 to 20 years ago,
    such as ‘Jatt Charya Kacheri,’ at that time, no such songs were coming from India.

    They followed this trend, and after that, they started making songs in the same way. Anwar Aziz, our respected politician from Narowal, once met me in court and said there is a compliment for you, especially this Sikh guy is following your music style. Basically, Pakistan should take pride as we started the trend.”
    He was of the opinion that old singers are always angry at new talent. “This used to happen to me, and now singers of my generation are doing it to youngsters. Music of every generation should be respected and enjoyed.”

  • Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai owns Dubai properties worth crores

    Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai owns Dubai properties worth crores

    Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan owns properties worth millions of rupees in Dubai. She is among the highest-paid actresses in Bollywood. Even after becoming a mother and taking a break from films, she continues to increase her wealth through endorsements and other means. This is why she has also invested in properties worth millions in Dubai, besides India.

    According to reports from Indian media, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan owns a luxurious house in Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai. Its approximate value is 15 crore Indian rupees.

    The reports state that Aishwarya Rai’s total wealth is 776 crore Indian rupees. She charged around 10 to 12 crore rupees for working in a film.

    Aishwarya Rai started her career as a model in 1991. She won the Miss World title in 1994.

    Later, in 1997, she made her debut in Bollywood with the film ‘Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya’ and then acted in many blockbuster films.

    In 2007, Aishwarya Rai married Abhishek Bachchan, son of the legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan. They welcomed a daughter named Aaradhya Bachchan in 2011.

  • Indian government involved in killing of Pakistani nationals

    Indian government involved in killing of Pakistani nationals

    The Indian government has been involved in killing people in Pakistan since its adoption of a recent strategy to eliminate threats to Indian governments on foreign soil.

    A report printed in The Guardian revealed that India’s foreign intelligence agency allegedly began killing ‘hostiles’ as part of its new national security strategy in 2019, after the Pulwama attack in India when it was decided in Indian security circles that they needed a pre-emptive strategy.

    Recently, intelligence officials in Pakistan claimed almost 20 killings have been committed by Indian government on Pakistani soil. Mostly, people related to the Khalistani movement or Kashmir militant groups, have been targeted.

    Indian officials also stated that their new rogue strategy was inspired by the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Turkish soil. “What the Saudis did was very effective. You not only get rid of your enemy but send a chilling message, a warning to the people working against you,” he said.

    The killings in Pakistan are carried out by Indian intelligence sleeper cells in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). For instance, in the case of killing of Shahid Latif, the commander of Jaish-e-Mohammed, there were many failed attempts to kill him but ultimately it was an illiterate 20-year-old Pakistani who carried out the assassination in Pakistan in October, allegedly recruited by RAW in the UAE, where he was working for a minimal salary in an Amazon packing warehouse.