KOLKATA: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed grief over the demise of ace filmmaker and poet Buddhadeb Dasgupta.“Anguished by the demise of Shri Buddhadeb Dasgupta. His diverse works struck a chord with all sections of society. He was also an eminent thinker and poet. My thoughts are with his family and several admirers in this time of grief. Om Shanti, a tweet read on the official Twitter account of PM Modi. As per reports, Buddhadeb Dasgupta died at the age of 77 early this morning. He was suffering from ailments related to his kidney.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called his death a ‘great loss’ for the Indian film industry. “Saddened at the passing away of eminent filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta. Through his works, he infused lyricism into the language of cinema,” she tweeted. “His death comes as a great loss for the film fraternity. Condolences to his family, colleagues and admirers,” she added.

Paying condolences to Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s family, President of India Ram Nath Kovind tweeted, “Buddhadeb Dasgupta enriched our arts and culture with his world-renowned films as well as poetry – both animated by a heartfelt lyricism. In his passing away, we have lost an extraordinary artist. My condolences to the bereaved family.” The National award-winning director had helmed movies like ‘Dooratwa’, ‘Grihajuddha’ and ‘Andhi Gali’, bringing the elements of Naxalite movement on the screen. He had won National Award five times in his career. ‘Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa’ was one of his famous Hindi features.

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar has paid tribute to former India boxer Dingko Singh, who died on Thursday after a prolonged illness.“RIP Dingko Singh. You will always be remembered for the glory you brought our country in the ring. Deepest condolences to the family,” Farhan tweeted. Along with his condolences, Farhan also posted a picture of Dingko Singh in his loving memory.Regarded as one of the finest boxers India has ever produced, Dingko Singh had clinched a gold medal at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. He was 42 when he breathed his last. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, paid his condolences to Dingko Singh’s family members. “Shri Dingko Singh was a sporting superstar, an outstanding boxer who earned several laurels and also contributed to furthering the popularity of boxing. Saddened by his passing away. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti,” PM Modi tweeted.

Dingko Singh had tested positive for coronavirus in May 2020 but the former boxer recovered soon. Last year in April, Dingko was airlifted from Imphal to the national capital for his liver cancer treatment. Meanwhile, on the work front, Farhan will be seen essaying the role of a boxer in Rakeysh Mehra’s ‘Toofaan’.

NEW DELHI: Gurmeet Choudhary has released a song with T-Series titled, Bedardi Se Pyaar Ka and was seen in sporting a cool tattoo. Gurmeet sent his fans in a frenzy when they saw him with a tattoo in the video and loved his versatility in looks. The perfectionist that he is, Gurmeet had dived into deep research on how to make his character in the song more realistic and thus had narrowed down on the temporary tattoo of music notes.

Not only that, it is said that Gurmeet did not just want to get any tattoo for the music video, he had a detailed discussion with his long time makeup artist Arvind Thakur, who made this tattoo and they discussed on which design would look the most appropriate based on the look he is sporting in the song.

Talking about it Gurmeet says, “This was a joint effort of my long time make-up artist Arvind Thakur and myself. We sat for hours before the shoot and started to discuss on different looks. He is master behind the art and had done a splendid job. It was very difficult to everyday nail the same design but he made sure to keep it intact and not hamper on the continuity. I am so glad that the final result has come out amazing and my fans are loving it.” 

NEW DELHI: Bollywood star Aamir Khan will battle former world champion Viswanathan Anand in a game of chess, an online Twitter handle dedicated to the game called Chess.com announced recently. Sharing that Aamir Khan is a big fan of the game, the forum tweeted about ‘the moment everyone had been waiting for.’

“The moment you all have been waiting for! Superstar Aamir Khan, an ardent chess lover, will be playing an exhibition match against former world champion Vishy Anand! Please feel free to donate generously to make this event a success,” read the post. A fan also shared photos of the two celebrities in the comments section, indicating how the duo had previously met and battled in a game of chess. The admirer wrote that the match would be ‘epic!’ Many other users expressed similar emotions in the comments. One wrote, “Wow, this is huge!”

The event is called ‘Checkmate Covid’ and is being organised to help raise fund for chess community members who have been dealing with the virus.

MUMBAI: Parineeti Chopra, conducted an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session on Instagram recently. And one of her fans asked her question about her Bollywood journey. When a fan asked Parineeti to say something about her lady crush Anushka Sharma, she revealed, “I went from handling her interviews for Band Baaja Baarat to becoming her co-star in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl within 3 months. So cool na? Have always looked up to her since that time @anushkasharma.” Anushka reposted Parineeti’s answer on her Instagram Stories and wrote, “Big hugs”.For the unversed, Parineeti used to work for Yash Raj Films before she got her big break as an actor in the industry. During ‘Band Baaja Baarat’, she used to handle the star cast’s interviews and PR. Then Parineeti made her acting debut with ‘Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl’, which also starred Ranveer Singh, Dipannita Sharma, and Aditi Sharma. In the movie, Ranveer played a con artist who duped three women of their money under the pretense of being in love with them.

MUMBAI: Minissha Lamba made her debut with Yahaan and also played important roles in moves like Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Bachna Ae Haseeno, Well Done Abba and Bheja Fry 2. Minissha was also seen doing television shows like Bigg Boss 8, Tenali Rama and Internet Wala Love. Minissha will soon be seen in a new venture Kutub Minar.

The actor spoke exclusively to The Daily Guardian about the new film and much more. You have a movie coming Kutub Minar? How excited are you for it and preparations made for the same? I am excited about it as it’s a unique story. I can’t wait to see how the film is received when it does come out. The story is set in a village. I play a role that I have never done emotionally before. And I think it will resonate in people’s hearts. A tear though your smile. To me that is when you know a story has really touched your heart. How has the lockdown treated you? Any new learning you discovered? The lockdown has treated me relatively well. No complaints. I am more of a home body so yes it has been easier. The biggest thing I have learnt is that we have all seen a life changing global event unravel in front of us.

We have seen you in television and films, which you enjoy more? I love sci fi futuristic shows, thrillers, dramas, mysteries, documentaries. Behind the scenes of makings of my favourite works. How would you define mental health? I don’t know about an absolute definition per se. But mental health is the most ignored part of our wellbeing in general. Humans are the most complex emotional creatures to have walked this planet. To ignore the emotional trauma’s we face and not factor it onto making us the people who we change into is gross negligence towards ourselves just like we would take a medicine/natural remedy to fix acidity/indigestion/headache/fever etc. Similarly we have to be mindful and aware on how to heal from hurt. Whether it may seem as unassuming as a work colleague giving you the cold shoulder or serious stuff like the breakdown of a vital relationship hurts and it needs to be fixed. One should be aware of that and takes steps towards doing right by one’s self.