Post-apocalyptic 'The Last of Us' more timely than ever, say stars

NEW YORK - When "The Last of Us" the smash hit series about a post-apocalyptic society ravaged by a mass fungal infection - arrived on our screens in 2023, the real world was emerging from a pandemic.

Its timely premise evidently struck a chord, as the video game adaptation's debut season drew a record-breaking 32 million US viewers per episode, according to HBO.

Now season two, which premieres April 13 and hinges on themes of conflict and vengeance, will be equally relevant and prescient, promises returning star Pedro Pascal.

Part of the show's strength is its ability "to see human relationships under crisis and in pain, and intelligently draw political allegory, societal allegory, and base it off the world we're living in," said the actor, who plays lead character Joel.

Bella Ramsey plays Ellie, seemingly the one human immune to the deadly cordyceps fungus

AFP/File | Chris DELMAS

"Storytelling is cathartic in so many ways... I think there's a very healthy and sometimes sick pleasure in that kind of catharsis -- in a safe space," he told a recent press conference.

In the first season, smuggler Joel is forced to take teenage Ellie (Bella Ramsey) -- seemingly the one human immune to the deadly cordyceps fungus -- with him as he crosses the United States seeking his brother.

'Conflicts'

Kaitlyn Dever was originally in talks to play Ellie when a film adaptation of 'The Last of Us' was in development in the mid-2010s

AFP/File | Chris DELMAS

Although fans of the original video games will know what to expect from season two, HBO is trying to keep plot details of the dark and gritty second installment under wraps.

A recent trailer makes clear that Joel and Ellie have come into conflict with each other, and a new character Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) is a soldier on a murderous rampage.

In a quirk of fortune, rising star Dever ("Booksmart," "Dopesick") was originally in talks to play Ellie when a film adaptation of "The Last of Us" was in development in the mid-2010s.

Though the film collapsed, she became a fan of the games, and said getting cast as Abby -- a main, playable character in video game "The Last of Us Part II" -- for the TV series years later was "surreal."

"I was a fan of the game. It was a real bonding moment for me and my dad playing it together," she reflected.

"And to have it come back around, what, 10-plus years later?... It just felt right. Abby felt right."

'The Last of Us' co-star Gabriel Luna said there is 'a huge catharsis element' to watching the second season at a time when, in the real world, conflicts are raging and alliances are fracturing

AFP/File | Chris DELMAS

Gabriel Luna, who returns as Joel's brother Tommy, agreed with Pascal that "there's a huge catharsis element" to watching the second season at a time when, in the real world, conflicts are raging and alliances are fracturing.

"The first season, we made a story about a pandemic, fearing that maybe there was a fatigue. But I think the experience that everyone had just gave them an entry point to what we were doing," he said.

He continued: "I think the second game... and the second season is about conflicts. Where do they start? And who started it?

"Right now, all over the world, we're dealing with these conflicts... People are stuck in the wheel of vengeance. Can it be broken? Will it be broken? And that's where we are."

By Andrew Marszal, Post-apocalyptic 'The Last of Us' more timely than ever, say stars

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Shakira kicks off first world tour in seven years

RIO DE JANEIRO - Shakira launched her first worldwide tour in seven years from Rio de Janeiro this week for her latest Grammy-winning album "Las mujeres ya no lloran" (Women Don't Cry Anymore).

The Colombian singer-songwriter treated fans at the 46,000-capacity Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium to the top hits from her 12th album on Tuesday.

"Music heals," Shakira told the audience. "Loving somebody else is a very good thing, but it's better to love oneself."

She notably performed "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53," a track that alludes to her highly publicized separation from former Spanish footballer Gerard Pique in June 2022.

"She has been through a very difficult time in her personal life," said Juliana Modenesi, a fan who traveled 600 kilometers (370 miles) to see her perform for the first time.

"She has reinvented herself and today, she is stronger than ever."

AFP | Pablo PORCIUNCULA

It is the first tour since 2018 for Shakira, who shot to fame with her 2001 hit song "Whenever, whenever."

She entertained the crowd with a blend of styles from pop and reggaeton to salsa and Dominican bachata during her two-and-a-half-hour performance.

The show came just a few days after she received a Grammy for best Latin pop album, which she dedicated to migrants in the United States who are facing deportation under President Donald Trump.

She also performed some of her classic hits including "Hips Don't Lie," "Chantaje" and "Waka Waka," the official song of the 2010 football world cup in South Africa.

With more than 90 million records sold worldwide and four Grammy Awards under her belt, among many other prizes, Shakira is one of the most popular Latin artists of all time.

She is set to perform nearly 50 dates in Latin America by the end of June, followed by more in the United States and Canada.By Lucía Lacurcia Shakira kicks off first world tour in seven years

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How to watch a scary movie with your child

Carol Newall, Macquarie University

On Halloween, the cinemas and TV channels are filled with horror movies. But what should you do if you have a young child who wants to watch too?

Many of us have a childhood memory of a movie that gave us nightmares and took us to a new level of fear. Maybe this happened by accident. Or maybe it happened because an adult guardian didn’t choose the right movie for your age.

For me it was The Exorcist. It was also the movie that frightened my mum when she was a youngster. She had warned me not to watch it. But I did. I then slept outside my parents’ room for months for fear of demonic possession.

Parents often ask about the right age for “scary” movies. A useful resource is The Australian Council of Children and the Media, which provides colour-coded age guides for movies rated by child development professionals.

Let’s suppose, though, that you have made the decision to view a scary movie with your child. What are some good rules of thumb in managing this milestone in your child’s life?

Watch with a parent or a friend

Research into indirect experiences can help us understand what happens when a child watches a scary movie. Indirect fear experiences can involve watching someone else look afraid or hurt in a situation or verbal threats (such as “the bogeyman with sharp teeth will come at midnight for children and eat them”).

Children depend very much on indirect experiences for information about danger in the world. Scary movies are the perfect example of these experiences. Fortunately, research also shows that indirectly acquired fears can be reduced by two very powerful sources of information: parents and peers.

In one of our recent studies, we showed that when we paired happy adult faces with a scary situation, children showed greater fear reduction than if they experienced that situation on their own. This suggests that by modelling calm and unfazed behaviour, or potentially even expressing enjoyment about being scared during a movie (notice how people burst into laughter after a jump scare at theatres?), parents may help children be less fearful.

There is also some evidence that discussions with friends can help reduce fear. That said, it’s important to remember that children tend to become more similar to each other in threat evaluation after discussing a scary or ambiguous event with a close friend. So it might be helpful to discuss a scary movie with a good friend who enjoys such movies and can help the child discuss their worries in a positive manner.

Get the facts

How a parent discusses the movie with their child is also important. Children do not have enough experience to understand the statistical probability of dangerous events occurring in the world depicted on screen. For example, after watching Jaws, a child might assume that shark attacks are frequent and occur on every beach.

Children need help to contextualise the things they see in movies. One way of discussing shark fears after viewing Jaws might be to help your child investigate the statistics around shark attacks (the risk of being attacked is around 1 in 3.7 million) and to acquire facts about shark behaviours (such as that they generally do not hunt humans).

These techniques are the basis of cognitive restructuring, which encourages fact-finding rather than catastrophic thoughts to inform our fears. It is also an evidence-based technique for managing excessive anxiety in children and adults.

Exposure therapy

If your child is distressed by a movie, a natural reaction is to prevent them watching it again. I had this unfortunate experience when my seven-year-old daughter accidentally viewed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which featured a monster with knives for limbs who ate children’s eyeballs for recreation.

My first instinct was to prevent my daughter watching the movie again. However, one of the most effective ways of reducing excessive and unrealistic fear is to confront it again and again until that fear diminishes into boredom. This is called exposure therapy.

To that end, we subjected her and ourselves to the same movie repeatedly while modelling calm and some hilarity - until she was bored. We muted the sound and did silly voice-overs and fart noises for the monster. We drew pictures of him with a moustache and in a pair of undies. Thankfully, she no longer identifies this movie as one that traumatised her.

This strategy is difficult to execute because it requires tolerating your child’s distress. In fact, it is a technique that is the least used by mental health professionals because of this.

However, when done well and with adequate support (you may need an experienced psychologist if you are not confident), it is one of the most effective techniques for reducing fear following a scary event like an accidental horror movie.

Fear is normal

Did I ever overcome my fear of The Exorcist? It took my mother checking my bed, laughing with me about the movie, and re-affirming that being scared is okay and normal for me to do so (well done mum!)

Fear is a normal and adaptive human response. Some people, including children, love being scared. There is evidence that volunteering to be scared can lead to a heightened sense of accomplishment for some of us, because it provides us with a cognitive break from our daily stress and worries.

Hopefully, you can help ensure that your child’s first scary movie experience is a memorable, enjoyable one.

Carol Newall, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood, Macquarie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Australia has a remarkable history of outdoor cinema. Here’s why Netflix will never beat it

Dendy Powerhouse Outdoor Cinema Ruari Elkington, Queensland University of Technology

In December 1916, as war raged in Europe, an entrepreneurial pearl diver took a chance on some bleeding-edge technology and installed an outdoor cinema in one of the country’s most isolated towns – Broome, Western Australia.

Ted Hunter didn’t know much about cinemas. Not many people did at the turn of the 20th century. But that didn’t stop him beginning what has become a long history of outdoor cinema exhibition in Australia.

Sun Pictures in Broome opened with Jack Hulcup’s 1913 silent film Kissing Cup, in which a “squire’s jockey” escapes kidnappers and gallops across the Isle of Wight in time to win the race. Huzzah.

More than a century later, Sun Pictures still stands – the world’s oldest operating open-air cinema.

Sun Pictures was often subject to tidal flooding prior to a levee built in 1974. Locals have shared stories of watching films with fish swimming around their feet. Wikimedia, CC BY-SA

While the Guinness World Record is a nice-to-have, Sun Pictures’ survival has been ensured not by the latest Hollywood blockbuster, but by what the cinema offers locals and visitors each night: a moviegoing experience that is at once unique and familiar.

Segregation at the movies

Before opening Sun Pictures, Hunter made his money as a master pearler. Pearl shells, which were turned into mother-of-pearl buttons, transformed the economic life of Broome in the late 1800s. Despite being so isolated, the pearling industry brought great riches to the town, while also entrenching workers along racial lines.

Racial segregation was firmly present in Broome’s “picture garden” for the first half of the 20th century. White Australians and their kids were seated in the middle, with Chinese and Japanese patrons behind them. Malays, Filipinos and First Nations people entered separately and were seated at the sides, or remained standing.

Aboriginal rights activist Charles Perkins would later directly challenge the segregation of Australian cinemas in his 1965 “Freedom Ride” throughout rural New South Wales.

Outdoors, from the comfort of your car

My colleague Tess Van Hemert and I have spent the past three years researching the cultures and practices of cinemagoing and how cinema sites shape this experience.

Outdoor cinemas – whether they be the picture gardens of Broome or the Yatala Drive-In – function as special sites of culture, connection and community.

During COVID lockdowns, social distancing measures particularly invigorated drive-in cinema attendance. But even after lockdowns ended, David Kilderry, the long-time operator of Melbourne’s Lunar Drive-in, remains clear on the appeal:

You could open up the car or even sit outside it and if cool, hop back inside and snuggle up in private. […] You can talk about the film as it runs. Kids can ask questions and parents can explain. Patrons can use phones during the film without interrupting others, and babies and infants won’t annoy other customers […] The drive-in has always been more than just a movie experience. It’s where the two icons of the 20th century come together: the motion picture and the automobile.

While the Lunar was shuttered in 2023, Kilderry said this decision was less about the 400,000 annual patrons and more about the land tax implications of keeping a site of that size viable.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for drive-ins. Kilderry notes many operators now own their land, rather than trying to constantly negotiate leases.

There are currently about 12 drive-ins running regularly across Australia, with a few more opening for the occasional screening. New drive-in developments are also planned for Perth, pending local consultations.

Connecting with others and the environement

Beyond drive-ins, Sun Pictures is in good company with a range of locations around the world that actively celebrate outdoor cinema.

During the European summer, open-air cinemas are popular in countries such as Germany and Italy. In Bologna, three large piazzas – Piazza Maggiore, Arena Puccini and Piazzetta Pasolini – are set up as cinemas for the annual Cinema Ritrovato festival.

Closer to home, the University of Western Australia’s Somerville Auditorium, framed by a “tree cathedral” of mature Norfolk pines, has long been a place of unique outdoor cinema experiences.

Perth Festival film programmer Tom Vincent understands the distinct pleasures of outdoor cinemagoing:

The m ost memorable cinemagoing anywhere will always engage the audience’s sense of place, usually through architecture and experience design. […] It includes a natural sensory mix that includes river breezes, ambient sounds and wildlife, alongside a sense of grandeur and good programming. Good outdoor cinema says ‘look, we are here, engage all your senses’.

But while seasonal outdoor cinemas such as the Moonlight Cinemas continue to operate around Australia – alongside local council park screenings – openings of new permanent outdoor cinemas are rare.

Phoebe Condon, manager of the new permanent Dendy Powerhouse Outdoor Cinema in Brisbane, explained how the site positions itself as a high-value leisure experience:

It’s more than just a night at the movies – it’s a destination […] What truly sets us apart from other outdoor cinemas is our focus on creating an elevated, year-round experience.

This framing of outdoor cinema as an “elevated experience” is vital. While the cost of cinemagoing has come up as a key consideration in our research (especially in the current economic context) the industry is quick to remind consumers it remains affordable compared with other out-of-home arts and leisure experiences such as live sports, music, comedy and theatre.

Despite legitimate cost-of-living concerns, census data continues to show cinemagoing as the nation’s most popular cultural activity.

Why Neflix can’t replace cinemas

Our research on Australian cinemagoing supports broader arguments for a more holistic understanding of cinema’s value in society. Cinemagoing shouldn’t be compared to your Netflix subscription, but to other leisure activities people get up and leave the house for.

As the International Union of Cinemas notes, “films reflect national culture or subcultures and the wider world to the audience; they frame moral and political discussions; and they entertain and educate”.

We also know cinemagoing has never stood still. Ever since Hunter took a chance on outdoor cinema in 1916, these spaces have evolved constantly to respond to new challenges and shifting appetites.

But one aspect remains the same: whether sat under the stars, or parked in a lot, Australians continue to see the value in leaving their homes to connect and share in new stories on the big screen.

Ruari Elkington, Senior Lecturer in Creative Industries & Chief Investigator at QUT Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Rakul Preet shares her mantra of energy, good looks: 'Keep my karma clean, focus on my job'

Mumbai, (IANS) Actress Rakul Preet Singh, who is currently gearing up for the release of her upcoming Tamil vigilante action film ' Indian 2', on Tuesday conducted an 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) session with her fans on social media, and revealed about her mantra of energy, good looks, her favourite holiday spot in India, and her favourite cricket players.

Taking to Instagram Stories, Rakul answered the fun questions of the fans. She wore an off-shoulder blue jumpsuit, while she was promoting 'Indian 2'.

During the AMA session, a fan asked the diva about her mantra of energy and good looks. Replying to the same, Rakul said: "The mantra of my energy is to keep myself away from all the negativity. I just focus on my job, my people, my life, and I am really not worried about who is thinking what, and I try to keep my karma clean."

"And I think that what keeps me positive and kind of reflects on your skin. So, I think for each one of us, if we have a clear conscience, if we are happy from within, I think that' what is going to reflect on your face," she shared.

Speaking about her favourite cricket players, Rakul said: "It has to be Virat Kohli. I think he is amazing. And also Rohit Sharma."

Rakul also revealed her favourite holiday spot in India, saying, "Goa. I just love Goa." Rakul married actor-filmmaker Jackky Bhagnani on February 21, 2024, in Goa.

On how much time she spends in the gym, the 'Doctor G' actress added: "I spend about one hour and 15 minutes maximum, which also includes my mobility, and stretching in the end."

'Indian 2' is directed by S Shankar, and is jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Red Giant Movies. The movie is a sequel to the 1996 film 'Indian', and Kamal Haasan reprises his role as Senapathy.

Apart from Rakul, it also features Siddharth, SJ Suryah, Bobby Simha, Vivek, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Gulshan Grover, Samuthirakani and Nedumudi Venu in pivotal roles.Meanwhile, she next has 'Meri Patni Ka Remake', and 'De De Pyaar De 2' in the pipeline. Rakul Preet shares her mantra of energy, good looks: 'Keep my karma clean, focus on my job' | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

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Chekhov called The Seagull ‘a comedy’. The Sydney Theatre Company seems to forget it was a tragedy, too

Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre Company Alexander Howard, University of SydneyWhat is comedy?

This is the question I kept coming back to while watching Andrew Upton’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, which opened to warm applause – and a touch of controversy – at the Sydney Theatre Company on Saturday.

Theatre scholar Eric Weitz notes that comedy is a genre “with characteristic features”.

Laughter, humour, distraction. These are some of the terms associated with comedy.

Comedy is also restless. As Weitz acknowledges, comedy “embraces a range of subgenres” and often “cross-pollinates with other genres to form the likes of tragicomedy”.

These cross-pollinations can often confuse.

Consider the very first performance of The Seagull, subtitled “a comedy in four acts”.

The notorious performance at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on October 17 1896 was an unmitigated failure. The audience jeered; the reviews were scathing.

Chekhov reads The Seagull with the Moscow Art Theatre company, 1898. Wikimedia Commons

In a letter sent to the publisher Aleksey Suvorin the very next day, a wounded Chekhov declared he would never again “write plays or have them acted”.

The reason why the premiere went so badly has to do with audience expectations. As essayist Janet Malcolm explains, there were special circumstances on the night in question.

The performance was part of a benefit event for E. I. Levkeeva, a popular Russian comic actress, “and so the audience was largely made up of Levkeeva fans, who expected hilarity and, to their disbelief and growing outrage, got Symbolism.”

Primed for broad comedy, the audience didn’t know what to do with Chehkov’s groundbreaking spin on the genre, which broke with established realist modes and placed emphasis on metaphorical imagery and allegorical tropes.

While the play, which speaks to the themes of art and desire, has many funny moments, it simultaneously foregrounds discussions of mortality and depictions of madness. And it ends with a suicide.

Moreover, Chekhov’s play is one where, as the academic James Loehlin writes

the old win out over the young, where hope and the impulse for change are crushed, in part through their own fragility and lack of conviction, but in part by the proficient ruthlessness of the seasoned old campaigners, their elders.

I mention this because the serious and subtle aspects of The Seagull – many of which continue to resonate today – can get lost in modern takes on Chekhov’s play.

This is true of the Sydney Theatre Company’s production. Adapted by Upton and directed by Imara Savage, this version showcases the sound work of Max Lyandvert and features a meta-theatrical set designed by David Fleischer.

This version is set in contemporary rural Australia. Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre Company

The adaptation is set in contemporary rural Australia and uses anglicised character names. Upton and Savage stick with Chekhov’s formal structure, but privilege the comedic at the expense of pretty much everything else when it comes to delivery.

This has ramifications for how the adaptation pans out.

Success beckons, tragedy befalls

The play comprises four acts and centres on four characters who mirror each other.

Constantine (Harry Greenwood) and Boris (Toby Schmitz) are writers. Boris is famous. Constantine – a college dropout who fancies his chances as an avant-gardist – is most definitely not.

Irina (Sigrid Thornton) and Nina (Mabel Li) are actors. Irina, who is Constantine’s mother and Boris’s lover, is a renowned stage star. The ingénue Nina, who is dating Constantine, desperately wants to make it.

Success beckons, but tragedy eventually befalls Nina – who leaves Constantine for Boris – in the two year gap between the play’s third and fourth acts.

These characters are joined by several others, including Irina’s ailing landowner brother Peter (Sean O'Shea), and a depressive young goth, Masha (Megan Wilding). With the exception of one, every character in the play is morose.

With the exception of one, every character in the play is morose. Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre Company

The first act is structured around an abortive performance of an experimental theatre piece Constantine has worked up. Nina and Boris grow close in the second, while Irina holds court. At the start of the third act, it is revealed Constantine has tried to take his own life. Boris threatens to leave Irina for Nina. Hilarity ensues as Irina tries to win him back.

The atmosphere that the Sydney Theatre Company creative team establishes in each of these acts is lighthearted and largely humorous. Indeed, there are some moments, as when a gravely ill Peter convulses on the ground in the third act, when the onstage action almost tips over into outright farce.

As Chekhov himself insisted, different types of comedy – including farce – had roles to play in The Seagull. However, the overarching tonal emphasis in this adaptation causes problems in the play’s last act, which is set indoors during the Australian winter.

Peter, not long for the world, spends his time talking about how he regrets his entire life. The other characters fob him off. Constantine has made headway as a writer, but is deeply unhappy. He pines after Nina, who dropped off the radar somewhere between acts.

Mabel Li gives one of the standout performances. Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre Company

Time passes, and trivialities exchanged. A bedraggled Nina reappears. The story she tells is one of sorrow and woe. A genuinely moving moment, the speech is delivered with real affective intensity – undoubtedly the high point of the production.

However, the tonal chasm between the final act and the preceding three is simply too great.

In keeping with Chehkov’s original, comedy ultimately gives way to tragedy, but something seems to have been lost along the way.

The Seagull is at the Sydney Theatre Company until December 16.

If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Past Lives: a luxurious and lingering portrayal of lost love and identity in the Korean diaspora

Hyunseon Lee, SOAS, University of London

Past Lives is Celine Song’s debut film about Nora and Hae Sung who were deeply connected in childhood. The film focuses on them reuniting as adults after a long separation.

The film introduces global audiences to the Korean Buddhist concept of In-Yun – the connection, fate or destiny of two people. Past Lives takes this millennia-old philosophical idea of human relationships and transposes it into the digital age through the young Korean diaspora.

Audiences meet Nora and Hae Sung when they are 12-year-olds in Korea. They are sweetly obsessed with each other in the way children of that age can be. Just as their young love is blossoming, however, Nora emigrates with her family to Canada. They reunite 22 years later when Hae Sung visits Nora in New York, where she now lives with her American husband.

The film asks what would you do if someone from your past, especially your first love, reappeared later in your life. Would your perception of this person change? Would they still be a lover or could you be friends? What impact would it have on your current relationship? Would you always be wondering what life could have been like?

These questions take on double meanings when considered from a diaspora perspective. Nora’s first love, Hae Sung, is Korean but by the time the pair meet she has lost some of her connection to that side of herself. She has let her Korean name, Na-Young, totally go, she only speaks Korean with her mother and she talks about Korean culture from a distanced perspective. She is Korean but Hae Sung is Korean, Nora explains to her American husband in one particularly funny scene.

Their In-Yun (reunion) and the questions it brings up are as much about love as they are about identity and Nora’s connection, or disconnection, to parts of herself and her past.

Past Lives, then, is not about Korean culture in its entirety but about the Korean diaspora, here represented by an author and playwright who may well see herself as an American woman. In this way, it is a staunchly Korean-American film.

Korean masculinity through a woman’s eyes

Korean film is becoming increasingly transnational today and there is a growing body of work by the Korean diaspora. Past Lives joins films such as the award-winning Minari, which is about a Korean-American family that moves to a farm in search of its American dream.

Past Lives is notable, however, as a Korean diaspora film made by a woman. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film is its female perspective.

Like Minari, Past Lives allows viewers an insight into Korea and Korean-ness from the diaspora perspective. This is all tied up in the very Korean character of Hae Sung. Here, Celine Song has employed the rare female gaze to portray her leading man.

The camera sees him the way Nora (played by Greta Lee) does: as a small-minded Korean man of middle or lower middle-class who does not even dare to fight for her. The camera looks upon him not sexually but lovingly as it lingers over him in a sort of appreciation, highlighting his sensitivity through close ups, like how he readjusts his hair or backpack. It tends to highlight the boyish qualities he maintains because, in my eyes, Nora loved little 12-year-old Hae Sung, but adult Hae Sung is too Korean.

Hae Sung is explosively portrayed by the actor Teo Yoo, a member of the diaspora himself as German-Korean. When Nora and Hae Sung meet in New York, he speaks only the broken English of a typical young middle-class Korean engineer. Yoo does a wonderful job of communicating Hae Sung’s complex feelings through a very physical performance. His nervousness and hopefulness can be read on his face and the way he holds his whole body.

Showing emotion rather than telling

Past Lives is full of extremely long lingering shots and close-ups that highlight the emotions of its characters. Song is invested in showing how characters feel rather than telling. This is heightened by the minimal use of music, acoustics and carefully chosen dialogue by a small number of actors.

The same can be said for her establishment of place as audiences are shown long shots of the landscapes and streets of Seoul. This sort of camera work is steeped in a sense of remembrance of past lives and evokes a lost time and space in a cool, emotionally charged, nostalgic way. Again, Past Lives deftly translates emotions through visuals for audiences who might not fully understand the diaspora experience in words but might through feeling.

Such stylistic choices, in my opinion, recall slow cinema – an atmospheric form of filmmaking steeped in long takes which favours silence over long dialogue.

Past Lives is a romantic tribute to the longing of the Korean diaspora for a lost past and homeland, a captivating and sensitively constructed film that will be enjoyed by many. 

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Hyunseon Lee, Senior Teaching Fellow in Centre for Korean Studies, SOAS, University of London

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Five Senses Theatre's Vital Acting Classes in Andheri and Acting School in Mumbai

Five Senses Theater leading the Best Acting Classes in Andheri, Acting School in Mumbai, conduct acting courses and short term workshops. The primary thrust of the acting classes is to create an atmosphere in which the actor can build upon their own processes to get into the skin of their characters. The acting classes dives into advanced techniques like method acting, stella Adler acting techniques, Meisner acting techniques that entail in-depth script analysis, characterization process, scene design and construction, and much more. The Five Senses acting school run by NSD & FTII professionals. Five Senses Theater constantly evolving plays which are then staged at around the India and abroad, theatre festivals etc.

Posted By / Five Senses Theatre for publication.

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Don't panic! Carry a towel for your safety

• A still from the movie The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy in which two prominent characters (right) of the novel can be seen carrying a towel — the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. 
• When the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council was all set to demolish Earth to build a hyperspatial express, Arthur Dent was busy hyperventilating. Just earlier in the day, he was lying in front of a big yellow bulldozer in a vain bid to protect his house from being demolished to build a bypass. It was the town council’s idea to come up with the said structure. Ford Prefect, on the other hand, was succeeding in maintaining a semblance of calm as all this was transpiring.
• Prefect was from Betelgeuse. And he had his towel with him. “The towel”,) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, says, “is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” It goes on to expound that other than wrapping it around yourself for warmth, you can use the towel to wave as a distress signal when, for instance, you are trying to escape from the Earth in a hurry. 
• May 25 is celebrated the world over as Towel Day. This is the day when froods carry with them their towel for all the universe to see, and proclaim categorically what amazingly put together people they are. These are fans of Douglas Adams and his enormously intelligent and supremely witty oeuvre. Ask them what is the secret of life, the universe and everything, and they’ll unabashedly answer: 42. I know, because I do the same.
• Douglas Noel Adams was born on March 11, 1952, in Cambridge, UK. He famously joked that he was the first DNA to come out of Cambridge, referring to Watson and Crick’s discovery, and subsequent anno-uncement of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1953.
• Douglas Adams was tall. Even as a young boy atte-nding Brentwood School in Essex, he was nearly six feet tall. He often remarked that on class trips, his tea-chers wouldn’t say, “Meet under the clock tower,” or “Meet under the war mem-orial,” but, “Meet under Adams.”
• In 1971, an 18-year-old Douglas Adams was lying drunk in the fields of Innsbruck, Austria. He was travelling through Europe with a stolen copy of The Hitchhikers Guide to Europe. “I hadn’t read Europe in Five Dollars a Day,” he confessed years later, “I wasn’t in that financial league.” Enervated, looking up at the night sky, he thought someone ought to write The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and then promptly forgot about it.
• Until six years later. He was then at Cambridge, ostensibly studying for a degree in English, but mainly trying rather unsuccessfully to get a foot into Footlights. He missed a lot of deadlines on assignments, a trait which would be his for the rest of his life. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by,” he once remarked.
• Slowly and unsteadily, after a string of unsuccessful jobs (chicken shed cleaner, lift operator to a wealthy Saudi businessman), his writing career took off in the same fashion: slowly and unsteadily. The drunken thought that he first had while lying stargazing in Innsbruck revisited him, and he wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a BBC Radio Series. People loved it, and gradually enough it was adapted into various formats, including stage shows, novels, TV series, a computer game, and a feature film.
• Not just a brilliant mind, Douglas Adams had a compassionate heart as well. He was a gallant crusader for Save The Rhino International, and once climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in a rhino suit (while missing some deadlines) to raise awareness for the cause. The aye-aye lemur, the Chinese dolphin baiji, and the kakapo from New Zealand are the other animals that Douglas Adams travelled far to see and wrote about in The Last Chance to See.
• A larger-than-life man, Douglas Adams died of a heart attack in 2001. He was 49. Two weeks after his death, on May 25, 2001, Towel Day was organised for the first time. Descri-bing the choice of the day to pay tribute to the much-loved writer, towelday.org states: As the universe that Douglas Adams created was full of absurdity and randomness, it may be a fitting choice after all. Every year since then, Douglas Adams-o-philes openly carry their towels with them to work, to libraries, and just about anywhere. Notably, last year, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti read aloud a section from The Hitchhik-er’s Guide to the Galaxy from the International Sp-ace Station, and tweeted an image of her carrying her towel and wearing a T-shi-rt with the slogan, “Don’t Panic and carry a towel.”
• Towels are a good thing. Roosta knows. He’s accompanying Zaphod Beeblebrox to Frogstar — the most totally evil place in the Universe. The yellow stripes on his towel are rich in protein, the green ones have Vitamins B and C, and the pink flowers in it have wheat germ extracts. The brown stains are Bar-B-Q sauce. And the other end of the towel has antidepressants. Needless to say, he spends quite some time in routine towel maintenance.
• So there you have it. The nitty-gritty of Towel Day. Bring out yours, and wave it around. Who knows, you might just hitch a hike on a passing flying saucer. Or at the very least you’ll let the world know what a hoopy person you are. Which in hitchhiking slang translates to: There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.
• The author teaches chemistry at Women’s Christian College, Chennai. Source: http://www.asianage.com/: The Asian Age

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The reel deal

Springs native Director Amy Scott. Documentarians bring truth into focus at the Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival

By Indy staff: Nov. 13-15, Forty-seven films in three days. Tackling the 28th annual Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival can feel daunting, even for a film fanatic. That's why we recommend pacing yourself. This year's lineup includes 35 documentaries on topics ranging from homelessness and poverty to racism and suicide. But this is hardly new territory for RMWFF. As Executive Director Linda Broker explains, the festival's feature programming is traditionally dominated by documentaries. The selection committee includes community and board members in the process of whittling down the final lineup, Broker says, with quality and diversity as top priorities. But Broker is quick to clarify on the latter, saying that maintaining an open mind is key to ensuring that quality is not trumped by ideology: "It can't just be the diversity that we want to reflect." A case in point for this year's festival might be A Courtship by Amy Kohn. While typical RMWFF attendees may disagree with Kohn's point of view, "that doesn't make it a bad film," Broker says. "It's an excellent film and one that will hopefully expand people's mindsets." That said, camaraderie is always welcome in such situations, which is why it's important to take advantage of the filmmaker access RMWFF provides — about a dozen will be on-site this year. Through forums and Q&A roundtables, you have an opportunity to process what you've viewed by learning the story after the stories. — Vanessa Martinez

From Oyler: One School, One Year by Springs native Amy Scott.

Stories like those of filmmaker Amy Scott. Scott, who was born and raised in Colorado Springs, is a Baltimore, Maryland-based reporter for American Public Media's Marketplace radio show, and she stumbled on her topic while covering education in Cincinnati. Scott's documentary Oyler: One School, One Year (produced in association with Marketplace) tells the tale, she says, "of a public school principal fighting for his job, and one of his students fighting to be the first in her family to graduate from high school." More generally, though, it's about a public school trying to break the cycle of poverty in its urban Appalachian neighborhood.

Amy Kohn, A Courtship.

Oyler School is part of a national movement of what are called "community schools," loaded with services beyond academics, Scott explains. Within Oyler's walls, community members will find a health center, a vision clinic, a dental clinic, a food bank, parenting classes, and a preschool serving kids from 6 weeks to 5 years old. "The idea is that in order to help close the achievement gap for kids growing up in poverty, you really need to address the effects of poverty itself."Scott admits that it's kind of cliché, but making this film taught her the cold hard fact that "there really are no silver bullets in education." Despite tremendous progress in this neighborhood, it became obvious to her that the obstacles are enormous and that it'll take a generation or more to learn if this model really works. "The principal really sets out to take on, not only a school that's in the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state, but also the streets surrounding the school, the crime, and the poverty. And that's a lot to bite off." She admits her film is a little discouraging because it shows just how hard it is for any one person, or even a set of people to really make change in a system. "But they keep trying, so I hope there's a hopeful message as well." If you're a savvy film festivalgoer, you'll ply the visiting filmmakers with questions about the stories behind the stories as well — like those of Amy Kohn, filmmaker of A Courtship. (The festival will be your last opportunity to see the film before nationwide distribution via Video-On-Demand, beginning on Nov. 17.) The New York City-based reality television producer was researching the topic of arranged marriage for a possible new series when she read an article that mentioned the concept of Christian courtship, or the process of a woman turning over responsibility for finding her husband to her parents and God's will. "I'd never heard of anything like it before," Kohn says. But she thought it had a lot of themes — like vulnerability, how we look for love, and what constitutes a deal breaker in a relationship — that would appeal to both a Christian and a non-Christian audience. People she contacted were skeptical of a secular filmmaker, but her research finally led her to Ron White of beforethekiss.com. He and his wife Dawn agreed to share their story of acting as spiritual parents for Kelly, the 33-year-old woman featured in the film. The story behind the story? Kohn was dating at the same time Kelly was seeking love, but Kohn was going about it in about as different a way as possible ... online. "Kelly would never Internet date," Kohn says. "She believes that God is going to bring the person to her, and that doesn't mean going out and searching for him on the Internet." Even though online dating worked for Kohn (right after she finished shooting she met her now-husband), she said doing this film gave her the chance to reflect a lot on the pros and cons of the secular experience of dating — as well as the pros and cons of Christian courtship. "There's something relatable to the idea of, well, what if I could give somebody else this responsibility, and take away the work, and take away some of the pain or the vulnerability or the challenges. "It's a very complicated process, finding the right person," Kohn says. "Whatever you think about what they're doing, the reason they're doing this is that they think it's the right thing for their kids and their lives, and they actually think it's going to lead to better relationships. ... People may take something different away from [the film], depending on where they are on the political spectrum, but ... everybody finds her story relatable. They're rooting for her." — Kirsten Akens. Source: Article

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Prem is back!

Everything that involves Salman Khan has to create a buzz. And, that is exactly what happened after Salman shared the first look of his film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. The internet went into a frenzy with almost everyone commenting or sharing the teaser of the film. In quintessential Rajshri films style, the two-minute video features hill-tops palaces, royal chandeliers and even horse-driven carts. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo marks the Wanted star’s return to Sooraj Barjatya’s camp after a gap of 16 years. Source: Article. Salman Khan’s ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ in censor trouble: The
glossy journey of Sooraj Barjatya's highly anticipated ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ met with a rough patch. Apparently, the film's Telugu version, which has been titled ‘Prem Leela’, has got into a pothole, as the title is not in-sync with the censor rules for dubbed films down south. A close source from the censor board says, "The title of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ in Telugu has been kept as ‘Prem Leela’. The two titles mean completely different things. As per guidelines the title of a dubbed film must convey the same meaning as the original title. If not, then the producers must apply for permission to use a

different title for the dubbed version of a film. The producers of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ have not applied for permission to use a different title in Telugu." Currently, the Telugu version of the film is uncertified due to unsuited dubbed title. While the nation is eagerly waiting for this family saga, it will be interesting to see whether ‘PRDP’ gets a green signal in this Telugu title war or not? Source: The Asian Age,

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Whyfor he’s back?

"Doctor, I cut the umbilical cord with a Swiss knife. Hope that’s okay?” This is what Shruti (Shruti Haasan), the annoying do-gooder, says to a doctor after she has extorted a baby from a screeching pregger in the back seat of Gabbar’s car. We neither see the doctor’s bewildered expression, nor do we hear the expletive the doctor may have mumbled. But this is a statement of much import. For this is exactly what director Krish should have said to A.R. Murugadoss from whose story and Tamil film (Ramanaa, 2002) Gabbar Is Back is derived. Except that Krish and his star Akshay Kumar haven't cut the umbilical neatly, but have smashed it to smithereens with stardom ka danda, wrenching it from all things that madeRamanaa a half-way decent film. For example, that one had a real-world setting where real-ish people operated; this one has stuttering links to reality solely for the purpose of manipulating our emotions in the crassest way possible. That one had music by Ilayaraja; this one has noise generated by Yo Yo Honey Singh, among others. Much like the 10 tehsildar who are kidnapped in the first few seconds of the film and dumped in a secret location, we are bewildered too when we are chucked in the middle of something that’s been going on for a while. We catch-up quick. Gabbar, aka Aditya (Akshay Kumar), heads a secret kill-the-corrupt mission. His honest  minions collect details of who got how much bribe and, depending on their score, bhrashtacharis are moved up and down the corruption rating chart. The one on top is dangled, every Friday, from a lamp post/bridge/flyover, garlanded with files on his corrupt compatriots and a CD from Gabbar where he announces his next target. Gabbar moves department-wise — PWD, police… — and his CDs contain such witty lines: “Our system is like bachche ka used diaper. Kuch geela, kuch dheela.” Taliyan, I say. Though the film's terrible background music is mixed with some of Gabbar Singh’s famous dialogues, there is nothing Gabbar like about Aditya. He’s neither menacing, nor memorable. Aditya holds a sober job and is a humshakalof many one-week-wonders Akshay Kumar has played in the past. Aditya has grabbed the alias because of the reputation of fear it carries, but the film does nothing to make the name fit the character. Because, well, it’s Akshay. Gabbar is on a killing spreeand in Mumbai’s police headquarters, where five nincompoop senior cops are busy chomping on samosas, constable Sadhu (Sunil Grover) is investigating and getting close to Gabbar. Gabbar’s anti-corruption crusade, meanwhile, takes him to a hospital where an instant connect is made with our own feelings about super-speciality, super-smug, super-chor hospitals. This all-violins-out
outing  leads to the film’s real villain, Digvijay Patil (Suman Talwar) who repeatedly announces, “I am a brand”. Instantly we know that Gabbar will bajao his band. But only after we are treated to a flashback starring a star and a tragedy that’s so fake that it’s laughable. This is followed by some more tacky fight scenes that involve the same-old slaps, flying kicks, humans smashing into glass windows, tables, chairs, cupboards, and when we finally arrive at the climax we find that this Gabbar doesn't just kill. He also delivers pravachans to the nation's youth who are weaving the future, one post at a time, on Twitter and Facebook. Director Krish and superstar Akshay’s GIB is a hectic, loud film that skids from one episode to another introducing characters — all prefabricated, one-dimensional ones necessary for simulating a vigilante melodrama — and pushing the story to its inevitable end. All vigilante films are devious. They cast us in the role of hapless onlookers as tragedies claim sweet innocents and the only thing left to do is to bay for blood. For our satisfaction, stars have been bludgeoning the corrupt for ages, and saying, take the law in your own hands. Though exploitative and formulaic, many were good films. GIB is a bad film that’s also disturbingly cynical in its plotting. Somewhere in the bombast and bakwas of GIB sits a tiny kernel of truth —  about our ironic, sad lives, about Bharat Sarkar that does everything unscrupulous under the aegis of Satyamev Jayate. The film dips into that — making us weep over our own frustrations, anger — and first lets us draw satisfaction from watching the powerful and corrupt quake with fear and die, and then, pandering shamelessly to our mob mentality, goads us to take action without accountability. The worst message possible in these moronic. Sure, somewhere the slaps that are delivered need to be delivered. Sure, some scenes are funny. But GIB says it’s noble to act, not introspect; that if you are angry, you must be innocent. That’s the biggest lie we tell ourselves. And GIBtells it again and again. The doofus played by Shruti Haasan is totally superfluous to the film. She irritates us with nonsensical chitter-chatter about “according to Google… as per Google…” I googled and, well, according to Google, Ms Haasan has had a successful lip and nose job. So that, perhaps, is why she was hanging around pouting — to exhibit her newly-remodelled face. I fear that in a year’s time all Bollywood actresses will look the same, their faces sitting somewhere in the face-card that moves from Aishwarya Rai to Katrina Kaif. That’s Bollywood’s template of beauty. It’s another matter that Aishwarya and Katrina may not look like themselves in a year’s time. Akshay Kumar sometimes uses a stunt in fight scenes and all villains stand around
as if in a game of Statue, waiting for his kicks to arrive. But he has very healthy gums. His dentist would be proud. He still, however, insists on wearing shirts with hoods. His wife should be worried. Source: Article, Gabbar has ‘nothing to do’ with Sholay: While his character is named after the iconic villain from Sholay, Gabbar is Back’s leading man Akshay Kumar says the film has no other connection to the classic Dharmendra-Amitabh Bachchan caper. “We have just two-three dialogues from Sholay, otherwise GIB has nothing to do with Sholay. The film begins with my character writing an anonymous letter to the (police) commissioner, about corruption. I can’t sign my real name, and Sholay happens to be playing in the background, so I sign it as Gabbar,” Akshay told us. About the South film Ramanaa of which GIB is a remake, Akshay says, “Our film is 60 per cent like Ramanaa but we have added a lot of real incidents. I was told not to watch Ramanaa and I prefer it that way. I don’t want to copy any actor.”  Source: Article, ‘Gabbar’s not a masala film’: Shruti Haasan, whose film Gabbar is Back releases today, isn’t very happy about it being projected as a masala film. “I don’t know why people call it a masala film. It’s an entertaining film with a message, which is a great balance.” Would that be her favourite genre? “Comedy is a genre I enjoy very much. I come across as serious, but I’m a goofball. I also want to explore action. I trained in it when was young, so maybe I could mix action and music. That'll be great! Maybe perform stunts with an electric guitar,” she says about her filmy fantasy. Shruti shares screen space with two other actresses in the film — Kareena and Chitrangada. How was that? “Kareena’s track is wonderful and it is integral to the story, so I like how it has turned out,” she said. Source: Article. Decoding Gabbar’s look: Akshay Kumar has a new look in Gabbar and the credit goes to his designer Rick Roy, who planned the look. “In terms of the look, we worked on his hair and beard first. I sat with Akshay and Shabina (the producer) on a style that will work for the character. We explained to him what we had in mind. Akshay was super supportive — he grew his hair and beard exactly the way we wanted it. After that, we worked on a colour palette. We didn’t want any costume to stand out randomly, so we used a lot of dull colours and matte fabrics for his shirts. The point was to give him the look of a no-fuss, cool common man.” Rick says he was impressed that despite being a star, Akshay never behaved like one. “I never heard him raise his voice on sets or throw a fit. It’s my second film with him in three years. Even on a stressful shoot day, you meet him in the morning and you feel happy and positive. Akshay doesn’t interfere. He is all about the character. When he sat with Shabina and me for the initial meetings where I explained the look, he saw the references and sketches I made and said, ‘Cool’. That was all. The only things he told me about were technical things like stretch and dupes and his stunt sequences.” Source: Article,

• Movie name: Gabbar Is Back (U/A) 130 min
• Cast: Akshay Kumar, Shruti Haasan, Sunil Grover, Suman Talwar, Jaideep Ahlawat
• Director: Krish

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I am not ready for films yet: Karisma Kapoor

Karisma Kapoor says that being a mother is her first priority and films will have to wait

Gorgeous actress Karisma Kapoor s taking a break from films, but plenty of endorsements are keeping her busy. “For me family comes first and I have made a conscious decision to give them more time. Work will come second, which is also why I have taken up more endorsements. That way, I get to spend more time with the kids as well,” she says. She adds that it will take quite some time for her to come back to the silver screen. “Films take up such a huge portion of your time and I don’t think I’m ready for such a commitment. I don’t want to leave my kids for such long periods, so maybe a year or two and then if something interesting comes up I will work on it,” she explains. Talking about her kids, the “Master Of Multitasking” (mom) as she calls herself, says that she gives them the freedom to choose whatever they want to do. “I never influence them. I want them to choose whatever they want.” Talking about the Kapoor khandaan, she says, “We were brought up with values that stressed on family coming first. Which is why despite our busy schedules, we (Kareena as well) take time out to meet each other. It can be lunch, dinner or something as small as watching TV together,” she says. About the latest addition to the family, Saif Ali Khan, Karisma’s brother-in-law, she says, “He isn’t just my brother-in-law. We go a long way beyond that. We are colleagues and friends first. We always have so much fun with each other, we can talk about anything under the sun and we share almost everything that happens in our lives.”Source: The Asian Age, Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/

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Shruti Haasan quits dad Kamal Haasan film

Juggling both Bollywood and southern cinema, Shruti Haasan is one busy actress these days. Now as she has begun shooting for ‘Gabbar’ in Mumbai after an appendix operation, her date diary has been re-worked, and guess what, the actress has decided not to do her dad’s film. It’s heard that Shruti Haasan has walked out of Kamal Haasan’s next bi-lingual filmUthama Villain due to lack of dates. In place of Shruti, a newcomer will apparently be cast. Confirming the news, papa Kamal Haasan is quoted as saying, “Yes, our dates didn’t work out. But in a way it’s good. It’s too early for Shruti and I to share screen space together.” Kamal further elaborates that it would put pressure on both of them as performers, but he wants to work with beti Shruti in the future, when she is more experienced. Currently, Shruti has Bollywood flick Welcome Back in her kitty, apart from 'Gabbar' with Akshay Kumar. Akshara Haasan will be launched by R. Balki in his next, starring Dhanush andAmitabh Bachchan. Source: Article

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Movie : 'Woman In Gold' And 'Effie Gray'

Helen Mirren stars in "Woman in Gold."

By Jennifer Merin: Helen Mirren's performance as an octogenarian determined to reclaim her family's stolen art treasure is pure inspiration. Emma Thompson's screenplay brings the teenage wife of Victorian art critic John Ruskin to cinematic life (WOMENSENEWS) "Woman in Gold," which opens today, April 1, is a compelling truth-based drama about Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), a determined octogenarian who interrupted her quiet Southern California life to challenge the Austrian government to reclaim her family's stolen art treasure. In particular, she is focused on the iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer, Gustav Klimpt's renowned painting of Altmann's beloved Aunt Adele. The portrait, nicknamed Woman in Gold, had been seized, along with other valuable Klimpt paintings, by the Nazis from Altmann's family home in Vienna. After World War II, the painting was

taken by the Austrian government and put on permanent display in Vienna's Belvedere Museum. Discovering documentation of her family's ownership of the paintings, Altmann sought restitution, but was denied. The film's coverage of her high-stakes legal battle and its evolution will fascinate all who've had family treasures and legacy items stolen from them. But its focus on Altmann's character and unceasing determination in her quest for justice is what brings the story iconic stature. Dame Mirren's performance is pure inspiration. "Effie Gray" is actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson's take on the life and times of Euphemia Gray, a.k.a. Effie. She was the teenage wife of Victorian art critic John Ruskin, and she daringly escaped his marital neglect and the abuse of his domineering mother by becoming the lover of the pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. The movie is appropriately slow paced under Richard Laxton's richly nuanced direction and explores the underbelly of Victorian repression. Cinematography, costumes and art direction are superb. Dakota Fanning shows real guts as Effie, who ultimately trades propriety for true love laced with healthy lust. The irrepressible Thompson co-stars as Lady Eastlake, an enlightened elder advisor who guides Effie on her path to self-realization. Source: Womens eNews, Open Images In New Browser To Find Its Source Of Sharing..

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Amitabh Bachchan gets honorary doctorate in Egypt

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan continues to win accolades and bring more pride to India. 

The latest is that the ‘Piku’ star has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate by the prestigious Egyptian Academy of Arts for his contribution to cinema.  Big B was in Egypt for ‘India By The Nile’ festival. “Prestigious Academy of Art in Cairo, decorates me a Honorary Doctorate...humbled and honoured. First for India!!” Amitabh Bachchan announced to his fans. During the ceremony held in Sayyed Darwish Hall, Giza, Amitabh Bachchan said, “Egypt and Egyptian people have always been my dearest friends and shall continue to be so for my entire life time”. The superstar also said that culture brings people together. “Culture is the soft power of the state and should be used to convert enemies into friends,” he said. Amitabh Bachchan has a great fan following in Egypt. Many of them personally wanted to meet the megastar, but couldn’t because of security. The humble superstar apologized to his ‘extended family’ of Egyptian fans on Twitter for not being able to meet them. Source: ApunKaChoice.com

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Emraan Hashmi is a darling: Amyra Dastur

Actress Amyra Dastur is simple, sociable and dreamy. The happy-go-lucky girl, who will be seen in Bhatt camps’ Emraan Hashmi-starrer Mr. X, reveals that before this project she was quite apprehensive about being stereotyped as a desi damsel because of Isaaq. “My debut flick Isaaq didn’t do well at the box office at all. On one end, it was panned in a major way but on the other, surprisingly, I received tons of appreciation from people who liked my performance. So that was the saving grace. However, after Isaaq, I started thinking that people will only offer me the role of a desi or village girl and I will soon be a victim of stereotyping. I am extremely thankful that nothing of the sort happened. Going from playing a village damsel in my first film to a high-end under-cover detective in my second is like a dream come true for me,” the actress reveals. She goes on to add that Mukesh Bhatt had approached her out of the blue for this movie. “I got a call from Mukesh ji from nowhere and he told me to come in to his office. He also informed me that he had been thinking about starting a project and had a feeling that they would need an actress just like me. After meeting him and Mahesh Bhatt saab, I got to know that they were not looking for someone who had got a pretty face but also someone who could act and was physically fit. However, they clearly told me that nothing was confirmed until the movie’s director Vikram (Bhatt) gave his nod. So, I had to meet the whole Bhatt khandaan before I got a final confirmation signal,” Amrya laughs. Talking about her role in Mr. X, she shares, “I am playing the role of a girl called Siya Verma, who has had a troubled life which the audience will get to see as the story unfolds in the latter part of the movie. She is an undercover detective and doesn’t trust men. Her love interest in the movie is Emraan who somehow gets into a big accident. Their life comes to a point where Siya’s sole aim is to hunt down Emraan’s character and put him to rest. She has a very cold personality as opposed to my real self but it was cool to play her as I got to do stunts and fights. As I was told that there will be a lot of running sequences involved throughout the movie, I did Pilates, weight training and yoga to prepare for the role,” Putting forth her initial reservations and reactions towards working with co-star Emraan Hashmi aka “Kissing King of Bollywood”, Amrya shares, “As soon as I heard Bhatt saab and Vikram (Bhatt) telling me that Emraan is going to be my co-star, the initial questions that I asked them were, ‘Are there going to be any kissing or intimate scenes? And was this a U/A or an A movie?’ Because I wasn’t sure if I’ll be comfortable doing intimate scenes. I told them clearly that I was totally not in favour of them also because I stay with my parents and family and I don’t think they would be comfortable with it either. Everyone just laughed and informed me that there weren’t going to be any intimate scenes and it was a U/A movie. As for kissing scenes, there were four in totality out of which two were with Emraan and in the rest I would be kissing no one. I just had to enact them and in the movie it would be shown as if I was kissing Mr. X (who is invisible). They also asked me if I’d be willing to wear a bikini and I told them that I won’t. However, I told them that I could wear a swimming costume instead. So they were fine.” Besides all of this, how was working with Emraan? “He is a darling in real life. I adore his sense of humour and he never once made me feel like he was a superstar and I needed to act like a junior or something. He is a completely normal guy with no airs about him,” she affirms. Source: The Asian Age

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I’m a mother and I look like one: Olivia Wilde

After giving birth to son Otis Alexander 11 months ago, actress Olivia Wilde has embraced her post-baby body. “I am not in perfect shape. In fact, I’m softer than I’ve ever been, including that unfortunate semester in high school when I simultaneously discovered Krispy Kreme and pot,” she said. “The photos of me in this magazine have been generously constructed to show my best angles, and I assure you, good lighting has been warmly embraced. The truth is, I’m a mother, and I look like one,” she added. Wilde, 31, who is engaged to Jason Sudeikis, is unapologetic about the transformation her body has gone through and does not mind sharing very intimate details about the first few weeks after delivery. Source: The Asian Age, Image: flickr.com

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Brad Pitt buys Bieber portrait for son

Los Angeles, May 5 (IANS) Actor Brad Pitt has reportedly bought a painting of singer Justin Bieber to gift to his son Pax, who is a fan of the musician. Pitt got the portrait by street artist Bambi after her agent offered him the artwork. "Pax loves Justin and so Brad thought this would be the perfect gift for him. Brad loves Bambi's unique style and this is his third purchase from her," dailystar.co.uk quoted a source as saying. "When he found out she'd done a piece with Justin, he knew he'd have to get it for Pax. The Justin artwork is done on a panel of wood and he loves how unique it is," added the source. The painting portrays the pop star alongside the words, "Rebel without a clue". Source: Article, Image: flickr.com

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Pantaloons associates with ‘Bang Bang’

The lead pair of forthcoming Bollywood release ‘Bang Bang’, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif took to the ramp to unveil a clothing line by Pantaloons, now a part of Aditya Birla Group, inspired by the film. Dressed in a semi-casual ensembles the pair looked relaxed and in their elements. While Katrnia Kaif looked pretty in a white top paired with ripped denim and a black jacket, Hrithik Roshan flaunted a white T-shirt and blue denim paired with a military green jacket. Besides interacting with the media, they also shook a leg on the ramp. Pantaloons has been shifting its focus to private fashion labels, which it believes can bring in better margins. The retailer recently launched three new private brands exclusively for men, infants and plus size individuals. These brands include Byford, a British country inspired sport lifestyle brand for men, Moda targets plus sized individuals and Chirpie Pie is created exclusively for infants in the age group 3-24 months. Source: Fashion United

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