Renee Zellweger slams media reports about her looks
Actress Renee Zellweger has criticised the media for discussing her appearance, saying she did not have any surgery to her face. In a blog post titled "We Can Do Better" on Huffington Post, the 47-year-old said she wanted to "make some claim on the truths of my life". She also expressed concern "that tabloid speculations become the subject of mainstream news reporting". She added: "Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes. This fact is of no true import to anyone at all, but that the possibility alone was discussed among respected journalists and became a public conversation is a disconcerting illustration of news/entertainment confusion and society's fixation on physicality." It had been suggested in some stories that Zellweger, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for Cold Mountain and will return as Bridget Jones in the third film in the series next month, had surgery to alter the shape of her eyes. – Reuters
Bradley Cooper developing ISIL TV drama
Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper is developing a TV mini-series based on a book about the rise of the militant group. Joby Warrick's 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS tracks the group's unlikely roots and transformation into the jihadist ensemble, from its origins in a remote Jordanian prison to Syria. The non-fiction book also spotlights the small band of American and international agents tasked with shutting down the group. Cooper, best known for his starring roles in movies such as American Sniper and The Hangover, is developing the mini-series for HBO through his production company, according to the cable channel. It will dramatise the events in the book. Warrick, a national-security reporter at The Washington Post, said the series would try to explain, educate and help clarify issues about the group and its motivations. – Reuters
Paltrow and Will.i.am to team up on TV
Gwyneth Paltrow is switching from movies to the small screen in a new reality-television show with music producer and rapper Will.i.am. The 43-year-old actress – who has her own lifestyle brand, Goop – and the Black Eyed Peas star will be joined by entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk on Planet of the Apps, a new series co-produced by Propogate and Apple in which the trio will serve as mentors and advisers to app developers, according to mirror.co.uk. Paltrow says it will be a great opportunity to share their experience to help app developers break through and create viable businesses that will improve peoples' lives. – The National Staff
Ali Fazal to star with Judi Dench
Indian actor Ali Fazal has been cast as the male lead opposite Academy Award-winning British star Judi Dench in the Hollywood film Victoria And Abdul. Fazal, who also featured in Furious 7, takes the title role of Abdul Karim, a young servant from India who became an unlikely confidant and teacher to Queen Victoria (Dench). The movie will be directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen), from a screenplay written by Lee Hall. Fazal said it had taken a long series of auditions to land the part but it was worth it to be performing with "the most-loved woman of Britain". The film is based on Shrabani Basu's book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closet Confidant, which tells the extraordinary story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's long rule. Dench previously played Victoria in John Madden's 1997 film Mrs Brown, which told of the monarch's friendship with her Scottish servant John Brown (Billy Connolly) after the death of her husband, Prince Albert. – IANS
Dishoom makes 500 Million Rupees in opening week
Director Rohit Dhawan's Dishoom – which was largely filmed in Abu Dhabi and stars Varun Dhawan, John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez – has earned 53.34 crore rupees (Dh29m) during its first week of release. The action movie tells the story of two cops – one from India, one from Abu Dhabi – who team up to search for a top Indian cricketer, who has been kidnapped. The film also stars Akshaye Khanna as a villain. – IANS
