Bollywood
Shadow of new Covid variant on Oscar celebrations
Organisers are taking precautions to prevent the 2022 Academy Awards from being a super-spreader, as other awards shows and film festivals have proven to be in the pandemic era.
Attendees will have to show two negative PCR tests and be fully vaccinated in order to attend the festivities. On Friday, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences updated its COVID protocols and rules, announcing that people “..who tested positive for Covid and are within a zero to five-day window from the date of their first positive test, are not permitted to attend under any circumstances.”
There’s a reason that the rules are so stringent, reports ‘Variety’.
This year’s Academy Awards kicks off as Covid infections are once again on the rise.
On Thursday, public health officials announced that cases of BA.2, the new and highly contagious sub-variant of omicron, climbed 130 per cent in a week, though cases remain low. Adding to the unease is the fact that the BAFTA Awards on March 13 appears to have been a variable Petri dish with studios privately reporting that dozens of executives contracted Covid at the event — stars such as Kenneth Branagh and Ciaran Hinds and ‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who appeared at the show, also came down with the virus, reports ‘Variety’.
Add to that the spread of Covid at recent industry events such as, where ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ star Michelle Yeoh tested positive for coronavirus after the film premiered at the Texas festival. Some nominees are concerned that their recent bouts with Covid will prevent them from making the trip to the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are handed out.
Jamie Dornan recently told Variety at the Oscar Wilde Awards on Thursday that he’s hoping his ‘Belfast’ compatriots will be on hand.
“I can’t even imagine going on Sunday night without those guys,” Dornan said.
Don’t be surprised if Oscar co-hosts Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall deliver some Covid quips as a way of acknowledging the pandemic elephant in the room.
But the Oscars are but one stop on a long and boozy jaunt around Los Angeles on Sunday.
Winners, nominees, power brokers and press hop from the Governor’s Ball to the Vanity Fair party to soirees hosted by the likes of Apple, Neon and Warner Bros
That kind of marathon socialising could lead to more exposures. Several party and event planners tell Variety that they’re sticking to their protocols for now — most are requiring guests to show that they are full vaccinated (with booster, that is) and provide proof of negative test within 48 hours of the event.
However, none of the events have a mask mandate and the Oscars are only recommending that guests wear masks.
“People in Hollywood are willing to go to parties and possibly contract Covid because they don’t think it’s a big deal,” one party planner said.
“They see their friends and family getting it now and it’s seen more as an inconvenience than anything else.”
This source also opined, “It really is a brash display of privilege because probably most haven’t lost many people to the disease because they have money and access to health care when it was needed most during the worst part of the pandemic.”
Last night’s W magazine party was held outdoors at hotspot Gigi’s. A consistent question heard throughout the night was, “Are we all getting COVID now?” Guests nervously joked that Oscar weekend could be a “super spreader.” Mask-wearing at W’s party and a Vanity Fair party earlier in the evening at Mother Wolf was a rare sighting.
Denis Villeneuve was one of the few prominent people seen wearing a mask as his team hopped from a reception for Canadian filmmakers and Canada-based productions to the W party. It was also notable because the event was held largely outside, a sign that Villeneuve isn’t taking any chances about contracting Covid before Sunday’s ceremony where his sci-fi epic “Dune” is up for 10 awards.
Most event attendees seem unfazed, with much of Hollywood returning to hugging, handshaking and enthusiastic candle-blowing out in the case of Quentin Tarantino’s surprise birthday cake at W.
Since COVID upended life in 2020, the movie business has been through several peaks and valleys. Outbreaks on sets have become a staple of production, as have COVID bubbles, masks and frequent testing.
The entertainment industry has grown hopeful that the virus is fading at various points, only to have Delta and Omicron emerge as painful reminders that the credits have yet to roll on the highly contagious disease. A month ago, cases seemed to be falling and the business appeared poised to celebrate a return to normalcy. Now, that festive spirit is tinged with those old feelings of anxiety and unease that have been so pervasive over the last two years.
“It’s not over,” one Oscar attendee told Variety.
“We may wish COVID was finished, but it’s not done with us yet.”
Bollywood
Saif Ali Khan stabbing case: Actor met rickshaw driver in hospital ahead of getting discharged
Mumbai, Jan 22: A day after Saif Ali Khan was discharged, pictures of the auto-rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana posing with the Bollywood star in the hospital before he left for home started to do the rounds on social media.
Rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana was the one who took Saif to Lilavati hospital on January 16 after the Bollywood star was stabbed multiple times during a robbery attempt in his house in wee hours.
Before leaving the hospital for home, Saif personally called the rickshaw driver to meet him at the hospital.
In one image, the auto-rickshaw driver is sitting next to Saif on the hospital bed as they smile at the camera. Saif’s bruised hand is on Bhajan Singh Rana’s shoulder. In another photograph, the duo are standing and smiling at the lens.
The 54-year-old star, who is married to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, thanked the rickshaw driver and told him to feel free to ask for help whenever he needed.
Saif along with his veteran-actress mother Sharmila Tagore, expressed their gratitude towards Bhajan Singh Rana.
As per sources, Saif praised the rickshaw driver for his work and said: “Keep helping others like this. And as for the fare that day, don’t worry, it will be taken care of.”
He jokingly added: “If you ever need help in life, remember me.”
When Bhajan Singh Rana was asked how he reached the hospital, as all the media personnel were present, he told Media: “I entered the hospital wearing a mask.”
The auto rickshaw driver said that he had first got a call from Saif’s personal assistant.
He said that he “ just prayed” that the actor gets well.
“I took a few selfies with him. I took a few photos with him.”
The driver recalled the night, when Saif was stabbed and said that the actor asked him to drive slowly as it was a “little painful.”
Bollywood
Feroz Abbas calls performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ at Taj Mahal ‘a tribute’
Mumbai, Jan 22: Feroz Abbas Khan is currently busy with ‘Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical’. As part of the musical, the iconic love song “Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” from the movie “Mughal-e-Azam” was staged at the Taj Mahal on 14th Jan 2025 this year.
“Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical” will take place till 23rd February, 2025. It will mark the end of the Delhi run for this epic masterpiece. Before performing in Delhi, the musical is expected to be performed in Mumbai at NMACC till 26th January 2025.
Talking about the emotional experience, Feroz Abbas Khan revealed, “We wanted to celebrate the enduring legacy of love by performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ in front of the Taj Mahal. Incidentally, Shakeel Badayuni who wrote this definitive love anthem also praised the Taj for being a monument to love in another famous song. In a way, our performance was a tribute to Shakeel saab, to Naushad ji who tuned both the songs, to the Taj and to love that transcends all barriers.”
He further added, “While distilling K Asif’s timeless epic into a stage production, we did not anticipate the momentous journey it would go on to undertake across the globe. The fact that we are now all set to stage our 300th performance in Delhi has an enormous personal significance for all of us.”
Meanwhile, producer Deepesh Salgia was quoted saying, “Shapoorji Pallonji has been associated with the magnificence of ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ for over 75 years in its cinematic as well as musical form. Be it the luxurious production canvas or the marketing campaign, we have always worked towards setting new benchmarks. In the same spirit, the performance at the Taj is our tribute to the concluding season of the musical in Delhi.”
The musical features more than 550 exquisite costumes, breathtaking sets, live singing, and stunning Kathak choreography.
Directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’ has been produced by Deepesh Salgia, under the assistance of Shapoorji Pallonji.
Bollywood
Saif Ali Khan case: Mumbai Police find clues from crime scene
Mumbai, Jan 22: The Mumbai Police have recovered a piece of cloth from actor Safi Ali Khan’s apartment which belongs to accused Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, the Bangladeshi national arrested in the attack case.
Sources said the Bandra police recovered cloth from Khan’s house, which the accused used to cover his face. The cloth fell from his face in Saif’s son Jahangir’s room during the scuffle.
The cloth can be seen in the CCTV footage when Shehzad is climbing up the stairs before committing the crime. The police have sent the cloth and hair samples for DNA testing to the forensic department.
Earlier, the officials said that Shehzad had entered the actor’s building, Satguru Sharan, in the Bandra area by scaling its compound wall and found the security guards sleeping.
Sources said that both the security guards in the building were sleeping when the attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.
The sources further said that as Shehzad found both the security guards sleeping, he entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera exists. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise. He also switched off his phone.
The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the building. Police took the accused wherever he went after fleeing from Saif Ali Khan’s house. Shehzad was taken to the garden near the Satguru Sharan building and then to the National College Bus Stop where he was said to have stopped and stayed for a while after committing the crime. During the probe, the police took Shehzad to the Bandra Railway Station from where he had fled. Police are trying to find out how he reached the station.
The police were trying to record the chain of events starting from Shehzad’s entry to the building to his fleeing before being arrested.
Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times by Shehzad inside his apartment in the early hours of January 16. The actor underwent emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged on Tuesday. Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.
A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.
Shehzad, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh was residing in Mumbai for over five months. He had been working odd jobs and was associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.
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