Former United States president Bill Clinton will give a eulogy at the funeral for boxing legened Muhammad Ali this Friday. The interfaith service will take place in the boxer’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, according to ABC News.
Reflecting on watching Ali light the Olympic torch in Atlanta while his hands shook from Parkinson’s Disease, Clinton said: “Once the most graceful, powerful athlete in the world, with his hands shaking, holding on, he did his job. And in the very end he was actually astonishingly good-humoured about the burden of his later years. So by the time he died, who he was as a person was greater than his legend.”
On Friday, an imam will lead prayers in the funeral home and then a procession will head through the streets of Louisville, travelling down the street named after him and through Ali’s old neighbourhood. The procession will end at Cave Hill cemetery, where he will be laid to rest. – The National Staff
Salman Khan will not appear in Divya Khosla Kumar's third film
Bollywood director Divya Khosla Kumar says that whilst Salman Khan is her favourite actor, her next project will not be with the superstar. After the success of her coming of age drama Yaariyan and the romance Sanam Re, both of which came out earlier this year, it was expected that the rising star would approach Khan for her third project, especially as she said as much when she directed his music video Honey Honey. But at a charity dinner on Friday she said the plans would be announced soon but that her forthcoming film would not feature the actor. - IANS
Elizabeth Banks drops Pitch Perfect direction for children
Elizabeth Banks, the actress who plays Gail, the leader of the Barden Bellas acapella group in the Pitch Perfect movies has pulled out of her role as director of the third instalment of the franchise. Banks, who produced the first movie and made her directorial debut with the second, has stepped down from the directorial helm for Pitch Perfect 3 saying that her two children take priority. She has two sons, Felix, 5 and Magnus, 3 with her husband Max Handelman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Banks, 42, said it was all about timing. The last film took much longer than anticipated and meant that she couldn't spend quality time with her children over the summer, she explained. This film is due out in December. – The National Staff
Freya to get a home and movie role
One of the loneliest dogs in the world has been given a lead role in the forthcoming Transformers film after the director took pity on her. Freya, a Staffordshire bull terrier, who has epilepsy and has spent six years in an animal shelter in the UK, was chosen by director Michael Bay to star in the next movie in the Transformers franchise after he read about her story. He announced the news on his Twitter feed writing: "Found this in the news last week in the UK. We gave the Loneliest Dog, a role in Transformers." BBC News reported the story, saying also that the director has promised to find her a permanent home. – The National Staff
Bollywood legend Sulabha Deshpande dies at 80
Sulabha Deshpande, a veteran of Bollywood Marathi cinema, stage and television has died at the age of 80. She was considered one of the finest actresses of her era and was also a pioneer of the experimental theatre movement that swept Bombay in the 1970s.
Her early notable films include the 1977 movie Bhumika about the showbiz industry and, in 1987, she won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Hindi-Marathi theatre acting. Later in her life she showed her versatility as an actress in her role as Mrs Godbole in English Vinglish, the 2012 comedy drama.
Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal told The Indian Express that she was "one of the great figures of Marathi cinema". According to him, she was equally well-known for her work in Hindi movies as well as in Marathi and Hindi theatre. "She was a wonderful actor, very disciplined and always a team person. She never had any airs about her and was always helpful to the actors that she worked with. I particularly remember her work in Bhumika (1977)," Benegal said. – IANS
