Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has reportedly expressed his sadness over the death of a fan at a railway station appearance in India this week. According to the Hindustan Times Khan, who was at Vadodara station promoting his upcoming film Raees, said the death of local politician Farid Khan Pathan from a cardiac arrest was "extremely unfortunate". The 51-year-old actor said his prayers were with the family of the deceased, who suffered the heart condition after the crowd went berserk in a bid to get a glimpse of the Khan. Two police officers were also reportedly injured in the incident. Pathan was said to be a relative of a journalist who was travelling in the same train as Khan. "We started the journey thinking we all will travel, spend time with each other when one of your own loses someone one on a trip like this, it saddens us all," the newspaper report quotes Khan as saying. He had boarded the train from Mumbai and was making his way to Delhi as part of a promotional campaign for the film. - The National staff
Stephen Colbert to host Emmys
Stephen Colbert will host the annual Emmy Awards telecast this year, which will be shown on his home network of CBS. The annual awards show honouring the best in television will take place on September 17 in Los Angeles. Colbert is host of the Late Show on CBS, and the former host of Comedy Central's Colbert Report. In talking about hosting the 69th Emmy telecast, Colbert made sly reference to the Trump administration's unprovable assertion that Trump's inauguration was the most watched ever. Said Colbert: "This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period. Both in person and around the globe." - Associated Press
Acting legends Jackie Chan and Salman Khan meet during press tour
Legendary action star Jackie Chan has met with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan during his visit to India promoting Kung Fu Yoga.
Salman posted a photograph with the Rush Hour star from their meeting on Monday on social media. The image shows the two actors posing with two stuffed panda toys, sharing a light moment for the camera. Kung Fu Yoga is part of the three-film agreement signed between China and India during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit to India. The film also stars actors Disha Patani, Sonu Sood, Amyra Dastur and Sonu Sood. Directed by Stanley Tong, the action comedy film was shot in India, Dubai and Beijing. — IANS
John Legend speaks out on racist jibes
Grammy award-winning singer John Legend says he wasn't hurt when a photographer called him a "monkey", but he is upset as racism still exists. The All Of Me hitmaker has criticised the paparazzi photographer, but says he wasn't upset by the comments as he is "smarter (and) stronger", reports mirror.co.uk. He said: "We were right next to each other and we looked at each other like, 'Did he really just say that?' And he really said it. He basically called me a monkey. Black folks have had to deal with being called monkeys for a long time and dehumanisation has always been a method of racism and subjugation of black people. That's just part of American history and it's part of the present, apparently. "We saw it with the former president Obama, whenever people wanted to discount him or discount his wife, they compared them to apes. And we've seen that frequently. You know, I'm not hurt by someone saying that to me because I'm smarter, I'm stronger. I look down on that person that would say something like that, but it's a shame that still exists." - IANS
Woody Harrelson talks Han Solo at Wilson premiere
Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson recently confirmed he's playing Han Solo's mentor in the next Star Wars movie, but the actor jokes about his own ability to lead. "I wouldn't choose me," the actor shrugged and then laughed at the premiere of Wilson at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah last week. Harrelson will play Garris Shrike. He also said the movie, which doesn't yet have a title, begins shooting in March. It also stars Aiden Ehrenreich as Han Solo. Donald Glover will play Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke has been cast as well but in an unknown role. The movie is scheduled to come out in May 2018. As for Wilson, it's adapted from a graphic novel of the same name about a curmudgeon, played by Harrelson, who reconnects with his long lost ex-wife, played by Laura Dern, and discovers they have a daughter he didn't know about.
Dern also walked Wilson’s red carpet on Sunday; a day earlier, she participated in the Women’s March in Park City. “I feel hopeful with the daily reminder that we peacefully protest, that we believe in our own internal revolution, that we honour our constitution and human rights which are women’s rights and civil rights,” she said. — Associated Press
Sprint buys share in Tidal
US wireless carrier Sprint Corp is to buy 33 per cent of Tidal, a music streaming service owned by rapper Jay Z, marking a move to more content driven services in a highly competitive wireless market. Sprint paid $200 million for the stake, and Jay Z and each of the company’s two dozen artist-owners will remain part owners, according to a person familiar with the deal. Sprint shares rose 3.4 per cent to $9.23 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The deal would make exclusive content from Tidal available to Sprint’s 45 million retail customers. Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure will join Tidal’s board. The partnership comes as wireless carriers try to capitalise on the popularity of music streaming services. In 2014, rival T-Mobile US said it would allow customers to listen to services like Spotify and Pandora without it counting toward their data use. Last year, it expanded the list, adding Amazon Music and ESPN Radio among others. Tidal calls itself an “artist-owned” service backed by Kanye West, Jay Z’s wife Beyoncé and Madonna among others, and is available in more than 52 countries.
Jay Z bought Tidal for roughly $56 million in 2015. Apple Inc was in talks to buy Tidal to boost its Apple Music service, according to a Wall Street Journal report in June. — Reuters
