Rajesh Khanna episode over with Naseeruddin’s graceful apology: Akshay

Mumbai– Superstar Akshay Kumar said that the controversy over Naseeruddin Shah’s comment about his late father-in-law Rajesh Khanna has ended as Naseeruddin has has “gracefully appologized” and the matter should be forgotten.

Asked about Naseeruddin’s comment, Akshay said: “I am in this industry for last 25 years, just tell me if I have ever spoken anything about other actor. Some wise person has said that mind your own business and I feel I should do my own work…d who am I to comment on anyone.”

“Everybody has their own way of talking and everyone can speak their voice out. Now it’s a closed. Nasser Saab has gracefully apologized and I would appreciate if we all forget about this,” he added.

In an recent interview, Naseeruddin said that nothing has changed in Bollywood and it was the same as it was 50 years ago.

“The photography and editing is better but the subjects are as puerile as they were in the 1970s.”

“In fact, it was the 1970s when mediocrity came in Hindi films. That’s when the actor called Rajesh Khanna joined the industry. For all his success, I think Mr Khanna was a very limited actor. In fact, he was a poor actor. Intellectually, he wasn’t the most alert person I have ever met. His taste ruled the industry,” he said.

Hollywood should not be a benchmark for success: Varun Dhawan

Mumbai– Actor Varun Dhawan says that Hollywood should not be a benchmark for success in the Indian film industry, and that our industry should not ape them, but retain our culture.

At the launch of the Filmfare cover featuring him, here on Monday, Varun said, “I don’t think it should be a benchmark; it’s wrong. We are Indians, we have our own culture, we have our own standard. Obviously, there are so many things they do better than us, there are lot of things that we do better than them as well.”

“We have our own style. Technology-wise and VFX-wise, they are quite ahead and we should get inspired. But I don’t think we need to ape them. We have our own storytelling styles and methods and where song and dance is concerned, that is a part of Indian culture, part of Indian movies and I believe that should stay,” the actor added.

About Indian stars doing blink-and-miss roles in Hollywood, Varun said, “I think if an actor is really big over here, somewhere we have a responsibility to our fans, so we should do films where we could impact that film more, and the role has more meat as a performer and I think Priyanka and Deepika are really big, actresses, brilliant actors and they are really making us proud.”

Actresses Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have ventured into Hollywood and their films are scheduled to release soon while actors like Irrfan Khan and Om Puri among others have featured in substantial parts in numerous films.

Envy people who wear uniforms: Akshay Kumar

Mumbai–Actor Akshay Kumar, who will be seen in the role of a naval officer in his upcoming film “Rustom”, says he envies people who wear uniforms and that wearing a uniform brought about a change in his style of walking.

“When I’m getting ready, I wear my navy trousers and a banyan inside, till that time I am okay, normal. When the uniforms used to come, the badges, the cap, my walk completely changed; I started gliding. There is something about uniforms that it gives you a certain kind of responsibility; it just tells you, ‘you are the man, you take the charge, you do everything’.

“When you see the movie, you will see that my walk has changed while I’m entering the courtroom or anything. So I envy these people who wear uniform. That’s why I also did the contest that whenever you see a guy in a uniform, have a selfie,” Akshay said.

Akshay has previously donned the uniform as an army officer in “Holiday”, anti-terrorism secret agent in “Baby”, an Indian Air Force officer in “Andaaz” and as a police officer in films such as “Aan: Men at Work”, “Khakee”, “Mohra”, “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, amd “Khiladi 786” among others. He will also be seen in a lawyer’s uniform in his next film “Jolly LLB 2”.

Akshay plays a Parsi in the film. About how he prepared for the Parsi character, he said: “I have a Parsi secretary-manager, she is the reference point and my best friends in my school time, there was a guy whose name was Rustom, we used to call him Dodo. I know Parsis very well. I can speak a little bit of the language. The only thing I did was that I copied my manager’s father’s moustache.”

“Rustom” also stars Ileana D’Cruz and Esha Gupta.

Manoj Bajpayee distributes 1,000 pairs of shoes to students

New Delhi– Actor Manoj Bajpayee, who is awaiting the release of “Budhia Singh – Born To Run”, on Monday distributed 1,000 pairs of shoes to school children along with Sports Minister Vijay Goel here.

The actor says it was a small attempt to help children who are not able to afford them.

“It is a small attempt to help the children who couldn’t afford good sports shoes. The shoes that we gifted to the school children is a token of appreciation which I hope will be of great help to them,” Manoj said in a statement.

Manoj, who will be seen essaying the real life character of Biranchi Das — the man who coached a boy named Budhia to run for marathons — in the biopic, also urged everyone to support the film for the bright future of onscreen Budhia Singh, child artiste Mayur Patole.

Mayur, who lives in a ‘chawl’ in Pune, was selected for the role after director Soumendra Padhi auditioned 1200 children.

Produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Code Red Film Productions, “Budhia Singh – Born To Run” will hit the screens on August 5.

Manoj distributed the pair of shoes with Ajit Andhare, Chief Operating Officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, and Padhi at NP Boys Senior Secondary School at Mandir Marg here. Mayur was also present there.

Manoj added: “Budhia’s dream was to become a marathon runner. Similarly, Mayur’s dream is to become a doctor. Please help us to make this film big which will help children like Mayur make their dreams come true.”

The plot of “Budhia Singh – Born To Run” revolves around the life of Budhia Singh, who ran a record-breaking 65 km from Puri to Bhubaneswar in 2006 at the age of four and found a place in the Limca Book of Records. He was coached by Biranchi Das, who was actually a judo trainer.