Actor and filmmaker Kamal Haasan said he has lost a great friend, following the sudden death of director R C Sakthi. He said everybody should have a great friend like the Tamil veteran. Sakthi died in Chennai on Monday at a private hospital from age-related ailments. He was 75. "He was part of my family. I've lost a great friend," said Hassan. "It started as a friendship and went on to become a familial relationship. I wouldn't say one can't find such a friend. I wish everybody should have such a friend." Haasan's career as a screen hero was launched in Sakthi's 1972 Tamil film Unarchigal. Sakthi, who directed 17 films, was best known for critically acclaimed movies such as Manitharil Ithanai Nirangala, Dharma Yuddham and Amma Pillai. – IANS
Bollywood censorship plan ditched
A directive to ban the use of 34 words in Indian films was dumped on Monday after a seven-hour meeting of the Central Board of Film Certification, The Times of India reports. Members had argued that chairman Pahlaj Nihalani had exceeded his brief and that the order he issued was outside the powers of the board. Nihalani had said that films containing words that have double meanings, any of 34 swear words, or those that glorify bloodshed or violence against women would not get certification. The order, sent to regional officers, sparked anger from filmmakers and other board members who said they had not been consulted. – The National staff.
Swift named 2014’s best-selling artist
Taylor Swift was crowned the world's top-selling artist in 2014 on Monday, although an industry group said that the Disney soundtrack Frozen would have beaten her. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said that Swift was the world's most popular recording artist last year based on physical sales, downloads and streaming. The group said she was also among the top five artists in the next largest markets of Germany, Japan and the UK. The IFPI said the Frozen soundtrack outsold Swift but the group, which did not give exact sales figures, awards the top rank only to an individual artist or band. Boy band One Direction, who will perform live in Dubai in April, was number two, followed by British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran and then more established acts Coldplay and AC/DC. – AFP
American Horror Story star dies
Ben Woolf, a star of the US TV drama American Horror Story, has died after being injured in a street accident. He was 34. Woolf died on Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his family at his side, his publicist Zack Teperman said.The 1.32 metre-tall actor was hit by the wing mirror of a passing vehicle on a street in the LA area on Thursday. The motorist, who stopped at the scene, wasn't cited or arrested. "He was a tremendous professional and an incredibly kind person, beloved by the `American Horror Story' family," broadcaster FX and the show's producers said.
His family said they were overwhelmed by the love and support they had received. Teperman called Woolf “one-of-a-kind,” a caring and hard-working man. – AP
Tributes paid to jazz great Clark Terry
Clark Terry, a Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter who played in the orchestras of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, on The Tonight Show and who collaborated with jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, has died at the age of 94. His wife Gwen Terry announced his death on his website but gave no further details. Born in St. Louis, Terry started playing music as a child. After a stint in the Navy from 1942 to 1945, he worked in several of bands, joining Count Basie's orchestra in 1948 and Duke Ellington's in 1951. In 1960, he joined the house band for The Tonight Show and remained there for more than a decade.Terry was a frequent performer and prolific recording artist with hundreds of records to his credit over his decades in the music industry. The list of famous names he recorded with included Ray Charles,
Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, wrote in December that Terry “was the first great jazz trumpeter I had ever heard actually playing live. His spectacular playing made me want to practice (of course) but his warmth and optimism made me to want to be a part of the world of jazz.” A strong proponent of jazz education, Terry taught at camps, clinics and festivals, and was an ambassador for the musical form around the world. In 2010, he was the given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. – AP
