HUMA QURESHI AND FILMMAKER GURINDER CHADHA AT A PRESS CONFERENCE TO PROMOTE THEIR FILM PARTITION 1947 IN AMRITSAR.

FIRST ODI: DHAWAN, KOHLISTAR AS INDIA ROUT SRI LANKA

BY 9 WICKETS

Deepika Padukone out of Forbes'list of highest paid actresses

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT KISSING INFILMS, ASKS 'A GENTLEMAN' DIRECTOR?

HARYANA WARRIORS COACH NEERAJ GOYAT WITH CO-OWNER SONU SOOD AT THE GRAND FINALE OF SUPER BOXINGLEAGUE AT DDA SQUASH AND BADMINTON STADIUM IN NEW DELHI.

Sidhwani, Zoya Akhtar shootingfor series 'Made In Heaven'

LOS ANGELES, (IANS) Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone hasdropped out of Forbes magazines World's Highest-Paid Actresses2017 list, which is led by Hollywood actress Emma Stone. Deepika,who was 10th in the 2016 list, has not been included this year despitehaving made her Hollywood debut with "xXx: Return of Xander Cage." Stonecollected $26 million due to her Oscar-winning performance in musical film"La La Land" and has surpassed Jennifer Lawrence, who claimed the topspot in 2016 and 2015, reports forbes.com. Stone spoke on gender parityearlier this year, sharing that her male co-stars have taken salary cuts so shecould receive equal pay. Actress Jennifer Aniston was runner-up with $25.5million. While she continues to receive millions in royalties even a decadeafter "Friends" ended, the actress, who appeared "The Yellow Bird," also mon-etizes different endorsements. Lawrence dropped down two slots to number threewith $24 million, almost half of her $46 million earnings in 2016. Melissa McCarthy($18 million), Mila Kunis ($15.5 million) and Emma Watson ($14 million) havecome fourth, fifth and sixth on the list respectively. Together, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined $172.5 million between June 1, 2016, and June1, 2017, before fees and taxes.

MUMBAI, (IANS) The team behind "A Gentleman" has deniedthat the censor board demanded a long kissing scene in themovie to be cut shor t. At a song launch event here on Wednes-day, lead actor Sidhar th Malhotra and co-director Raj Nidimoruclarified: "The kissing scene is there. It has not been cut."Sidhar th features in the movie with Jacqueline Fernandez. Rajadded: "I don't know what is the big deal about the kissingscene. But the fact is that it is not cut from the film. Most of thatrepor ts aren't right. When you see the film, you will see it."Directed by Raj and D.K., the film features Sidhar th in a doublerole. Asked if he would like to work more in the action genre,Sidhar th said: "I love the action genre. As someone who loveswatching action, I can't believe I am a par t of it now. So I amreally excited about a film that will enter tain people with action,give them a two-hour masala picture and still look extremelycool. "Af ter a long time we will see an enter taining action filmwhich has a lot of comedy in it, thanks to Raj and D.K." Theteam got together to launch a new song "Bandook Meri Laila".The film will release next week.

Actors with urban sensibilities not being appreciated on TV: Ekta KapoorMUMBAI, (IANS) TV czarina Ekta Kapoor says one of the reasons why she explored the digital space with video streaming serviceALT Balaji was that the small screen was not appreciating the actors with urban sensibilities. Ekta, who was present on Fridayfor the trailer launch of ALT Balaji's web show "Bose:Dead/Alive" was asked to share her thoughts about digital space and introducingher soap actors and actress to the platform."We are doing a new show with Rajiv Khandelwal and there are tonnes of other big names coming. I would love to rejoin with my actors,but the issue is television has become very mass, and actors with urban sensibilities weren't being appreciated on television, so wewere waiting for medium where we could do short format shows with them," said Ekta. "Bose:Dead/Alive", starring Rajkummar Rao inthe titular role, has been a major subject of curiosity for numerous admirers of the legendary freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose aswell as for the fans of the National Award-winning actor.

NEW DELHI, (IANS) Filmmakers Ritesh Sidhwani and Zoya Akhtarhave star ted shooting for a series titled "Made In Heaven" for thevideo-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video India. Sidhwanion Friday took to Twitter to share a photograph of himself withZoya along with the film's clapboard. The original series is beingshot here. "'Made in heaven' - The first day of shoot in Delhi withJames Farrell, Zoya Akhtar and Vijay Subramaniam," he captionedthe image. Sidhwani and Akhtar are co-producing the show undertheir banners Excel Media and Enter tainment and Tiger Baby Pro-duction, respectively.

DAMBULLA, (IANS) Power-packed innings from Shikhar Dhawan andskipper Virat Kohli guided India to a comfor table nine-wicket victoryover Sri Lanka in their first One Day International (ODI) at the RangiriDambulla International Stadium here on Sunday. Dhawan slammed132 runs in 90 balls while Kohli smashed 82 runs off 70 deliveries.Both players forged a 197-run par tnership for the second wicket, thehighest in Sri Lanka against Sri Lanka.It all went good for India in this match. After a little bit of punishmentinitially, their bowlers bounced back in style to restrict the hosts for216 and then Dhawan and Kohli applied themselves perfectly to chasedown the total with 21.1 overs (127 balls) remaining. This also helpedthem to record their biggest win, in terms of overs to spare, for atarget of over 200.Coming in to chase a relatively low total, openers Rohit Sharma andDhawan star ted the innings on a steady note but Rohit failed to sup-por t the Delhi batsman for long as he was dismissed in the fifth overwith barely 23 runs on the board. Incoming batsman and skipperKohli, along with Dhawan, then paced up the innings by thrashing theSri Lankan bowlers all around the park. It was raining boundaries inthe ground and stopped only after they reached the target.Dhawan slammed 20 boundaries and three sixes while Kohli hit 10boundaries and one six. Earlier, Sri Lanka wasted a good star t toallow Indian spinners to bounce back in style and restrict the hosts to216. For Sri Lanka, openers Niroshan Dickwella (64) and AnjeloMathews (36 not out) were the major contributors to the cause. Unlikethe Test series, which the hosts lost 0-3, Sri Lanka star ted the limitedovers campaign on a good note as their top order stood up to theoccasion. The top three batsmen maintained a perfect run-rate till thehalfway-mark of the allotted 50 overs. India's ploy to use pacer JaspritBumrah as the first change also failed as all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who wasbrought in for Bumrah, was smashed by the Sri Lankan batman. Pacer BhuvneshwarKumar also failed to click this time. But soon, after 12 overs, when the spinnerswere introduced, it was India gaining the upper edge as the Sri Lankanbatsman found it difficult to tackle them.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 22

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MIDWEEK HIT OR FLOPPARTITION: 1947 HIT

BREILLY KI BURFI HIT

TOILET: EK PREM KATHA BLOCKBUSTER

JAB HARRY MET SEJAL BLOCKBUSTER

MUBARAKAN HIT

MIDWEEK BOX OFFICEJAB HARRY MET SEJAL 110 CR

TOILET: EK PREM KATHA 100 CR

MUBARAKAN 62 CR

PARTITION: 1947 20 CR

BREILLY KI BURFI 10 CR

10songs

RADHA JAB HARRY MET SEJAL

SWEETY TERA DRAMA BAREILLY KI BARFI

BEECH BEECH MEIN JAB HARRY MET SEJAL

HAWA HAWA MUBARAKAN

TWIST KAMARIYA BAREILLY KI BARFI

HANS MAT PAGLI TOILET: EK PREM KATHA

PIYA MORE BAADSHAHO

HAWA HAWA MUBARAKAN

DUMA DUM MAST KALANDER PARTITION 1947

top

SONG FILM

MERE RASKEQAMAR1 BAADSHAHO

RUNNINGSUCCESSFULLY!

Bringing on Priyanka for series inspiredby my life perfect: MadhuriMUMBAI, (IANS) Bollywood's dancing diva Madhuri Dixit Nenewas surprised when she got to know about the development ofa series based on her life for US network ABC. She says get-ting Indian actress Priyanka Chopra on board as an executiveproducer is a right step. "I was pleasantly surprised in thesummer of 2016 when Sri (Rao) said he wanted to do a seriesinspired by my life in America," Madhuri said in a statement.The story would follow how Madhuri settles down with her bi-cultural family and tries to bring her colourful lifestyle to anotherwise dull town. In reality, Madhuri had taken a break fromshowbiz when she married Sriram Nene, who was based inUS back then and shifted to Denver from Mumbai to star t afamily. The mother of two sons returned to showbiz around fiveyears ago, and continues to be one of the most charming beau-ties in the Hindi film industry. Sri Rao, a New York-based writerfor shows like "General Hospital: Night Shift", will pen the pilotand executive produce the series, as will Madhuri's husband.The "Dil Toh Pagal Hai" actress added: "As Ram and I chattedwith Sri, the story evolved and Mark Gordon Productions cameon board, wanting to produce it. Bringing on Priyanka wasperfect in that she had experience with the landscape." In June,Madhuri had teased something new and exciting was going tobe announced. "Loving downtime in the US. Back up soon withannouncements. Til then enjoy," she had tweeted. ABC Studioswill co-produce the show with Mark Gordon Company (MGC).Priyanka currently stars on American show "Quantico", whichis going into its third season. Earlier this year, she made herHollywood debut with "Baywatch", and she is now shooting forromantic comedy "Isn't It Romantic" with Liam Hemswor th.

Ayushmann, Bhumi aredirector's delight: 'ShubhMangal Saavdhan' directorMUMBAI, (IANS) "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" director R.S.Prasanna says working with actors Ayushmann Khurrana andBhumi Pednekar is a fantastic experience. Asked about hisexperience of working with the duo, Prasanna said: "They(Ayushmann and Bhumi) are a director's delight, both on screenand off screen. They are fantastic to work with. I became ahuge fan of their work after 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha'. It was aunanimous choice to have them cast in our film. For me, it waslove at first sight when I met them."Prasanna talked about the stars when he attended a promo-tional event at Fever on Thursday. "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan"touches upon erectile dysfunction and premarital sex. It isreleasing on September 1. The director along with the cast ofthe film was present at the radio station for the release of anunplugged version of the song "Kanha" sung by Ayushmann.Speaking about the song, Ayushmann said: "It is a love song inthe film and our favourite too. I have sung the unplugged ver-sion of the song and we are very excited for the same."

'PARTITION: 1947': SERVES UPDELICATE BUT POWERFUL DRAMA

CAST: HUGH BONNEVILLE, GILLIAN ANDERSON,

MANISH DAYAL, HUMA QURESHI

DIRECTOR: GURINDER CHADHA

RATING: ****1/2

At the end of Gurinder Chadha's breathtakingly beautiful parable on political propen-sity, we are told that the director's grandmother was one of thousands of victims ofthe savagery that followed the Partition of India into two sloppy badly-cut halves.Thankfully, "Partition: 1947" ("Viceroy's House" in English) is neither sloppy, norbadly cut. Far from it. There is a delicacy and exquisiteness to the storytellingmissing in Gurinder Chadha's recent works, especially the hideous "It's A Wonder-ful Afterlife." And yes, this tale of history's anomalies is also whodunit. WinstonChurchill did it. He was responsible for the Partition of India. There, I said it.Gurinder Chadha agrees. There is a wonderful after-glow to this tale that lingerslong after it is over. Hugely verbose and yet not the least weighed down by theconstant exchange of political rhetorics, this is a film that revels in the its tendermoments as much as in its power subcontinental message on what happens to anation whenA it is divided by the supposedly enlightened Colonists called in tosave humanity from damnation.The elegantly-crafted saga unfolds on two levels of political intrigue. On one level,we have Lord Mountbatten (the judiciously cast Hugh Bonneville) and his saga-cious wife Lady Edwina (Gillian Anderson) arriving in India to sort out the mess thatthe Britishers have created over 300 years. On the other native level, a fantasty-fuelled romance unfolds between a Hindu orderly Jeet (Manish Dayal) and aMuslim girl Alia (Huma Qureshi) working for the Mountbattens. They have ahistory. So does the film.While the map-changing politics of the Mountbattens conveys a certain strengthand power of its own, it is the Alia-Jeet love story that had me gripped. The idea of

love during times of ravage and war is very David Leanish. That Chadha managesto pull it off is entirely due to her closeness to the trauma that defined India's divisioninto two messy halves. Yet, Chadha is able to pull back from the trauma and giveitA a hue of dispassionate humour and warmth. And yes, also a feeling of politicalcorrectness. The film is superbly shot by cinematographer Ben Smithard whoselenses explore the wide vistas not for impressive visuals, but to seek out thehuman face of a political tragedy so immense that it continues to resonate on thepolitics of the two countries.One of the many pleasures of watching Gurinder Chadha's Partition tale -- easilyher best work since the career-defining "Bend It Like Beckham" -- is to take in thetalented cast's character-assuming expertise. Hugh Bonneville lacks the mag-netic charm of the real Mountbatten. But he more than makes up for it with hisunderstanding of the anguished dilemma that Mountbatten went through. But it'sGillian Anderson's Edwina Mountbatten who in many ways, holds the plot together.As played by this accomplished actress. Edwina comes across as compassion-ate, caring and politically well-informed. In brief, the perfect Lady Mountbatten.Can't express the same level of satisfaction watching the actors playing distin-guished political leaders. Specially disappointing is the usually-brilliant NeerajKabi's hammy Mahatma Gandhi. Every time he opened his mouth, I squirmed.Made me miss Darshan Jariwala's Gandhi in Feroz Abbas Khan's film. Darshan bythe way, has a minuscule role in this film suffused with characters who walk in andout of a crisis that not even God could resolve. Om Puri in a relatively minor role is,his usual impressive self (God, how we miss him!).

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AMITABH BACHCHAN, KANGANA RANAUT, SIMI GAREWAL, AND RAKEYSH OMPRAKASH MEHRA AT THE INDIAN FILM FESTIVALOF MELBOURNE AWARDS.

Prasoon Joshi's appointment asCBFC a good sign: Bhandarkar

WISH 'BABUMOSHAI...' TEAMALL THE BEST: CHITRANGADA

ARJUN RAMPAL AND AISHWARYA RAJESH DURING THE SONG LAUNCH FOR UPCOMING FILM,DADDY IN MUMBAI.

MUMBAI, (IANS) She created a stir when she walked out of Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer"Babumoshai Bandookbaaz" but actress Chitrangda Singh wishes the team all the best, but refusedto divulge what issues she had with Director Kushan Nandy. "I wish them all the best. Whateverissues we had, I had with Kushan (Nandy) and it should be between us. I don't think we should be talkingabout them," Chitrangada told IANS on the sidelines of Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 whereshe walked for designer Neha Agarwal. Chitrangda walked out of the film citing discomfort shootingintimate scenes with co-star Nawazuddin but Nandy said the bone of contention was with regard to thescript. Model-turned-actress Bidita Bag later replaced her in the film. The actress started her careerbeing part of parallel cinema with films like "Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi" and "Yeh Saali Zindagi", but laterstepped into the commercial mainstream with films like "Desi Boyz" and "I, Me aur Main". About how sheselects her roles, Chitrangada told IANS: "I think the story needs to be good and the character has to beright. Sometimes I am offered lots of stuff which is women empowerment things but just illogical. "Theidea behind strong characters is not about being a superwoman, it's still about being rebellious in a lot ofways. I like these parts which are grey, right and wrong. It's not intentional, not being conventional. Yousee films like 'Simran', its superb..."Everything that sells or works is commercial so there is nothing intentional about not doing certainroles." So is she going to do films that depict women as sufferers and then finishing as winners?"Absolutely, why not. Films are reflections of what's happening in the society, right?. You make filmsabout them. I would love to be part of that if the character is written well. There is no such thing that I don'twant to do," said Chitranagada.

Gulzar's unreleased film 'Libaas' to hit theatres this yearMUMBAI, (PTI) In a treat for Gulzar fans on his 83rd birthday, his unreleased film "Libaas" is all set to hitthe big screen this year. The unreleased title, made in 1988, was languishing in the archives of theDirectorate of Film Festivals. Zee Classic with its brand proposition 'Woh Zamaana Kare Deewana' todayannounced the theatrical release of the movie. The plot of the film, which features veteran actors suchNaseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, is based on Gulzar's own short story 'Seema' from his 'RaaviPaar' collection. The story revolves around theatre director Sudhir (Shah) and his actor wife Seema(Azmi). Their life appears picture perfect, but appearances are often deceptive in the world of showbiz.The movie also features Raj Babbar, Sushma Seth, Utpal Dutt, Annu Kapoor and Savita Bajaj. The musichas been composed by one of Gulzar's frequent collaborators, R D Burman. "Libaas" was produced byVikas Mohan, whose dream will realised by his sons Amul Vikas Mohan and Anshul Vikas Mohan. Amultold PTI, "I'm lucky to be a part of this project. It couldn't be released at that time for some reason. Thiswas my father's life-long dream and I'm happy it's finally coming true. "The film will be in theatres by theend of this year. We will announce the release date in a few weeks, after further discussion." The film willbe distributed by Zee Studios in India. "Libaas" was shown at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI)in Goa after a gap of 22 years on November 22, 2014. It was also screened at the International FilmFestival at Bangalore in January, 1992. Gulzar, who is celebrating his 83rd bir thday today, is one of themost prominent and prolific names in Hindi cinema. Besides being a successful poet and lyricist, he hadan active career as a director that began with "Mere Apne" in 1971. He later went on to direct classicssuch as "Parichay", "Aandhi", "Mausam", "Angoor", "Ijaazat", "Lekin...", "Maachis" and "Hu Tu Tu".

Dharmendra debutson TwitterMUMBAI, (IANS) Veteran actorDharmendra has made his debut onsocial media website Twitter andhis actor son Sunny Deol has wel-comed him. Dharmendra, 81, onThursday made his debut on Twit-ter, with two photographs of him-self from the sets of his upcomingfilm "Yamla Pagla Deewana PhirSe". "Your love has encouraged meto come more close to you... So,here is me from the sets of 'YamlaPagla Deewana Phir Se'... New Be-ginnings, shoot mode, Hyderabad,"he tweeted. The "Sholay" actor has3,273 followers, among them sonsSunny and Bobby and grandsonKaran Deol, who is soon going tomake his debut in Bollywood with "PalPal Dil Ke Paas". Sunny on Thursdaytweeted that he and his brother Bobby"succeeded" in getting their father onthe micro-blogging website. "Me andBob eventually succeeded in getting dadhere... Welcome Dad," Sunny tweeted.The third part of "Yamla Pagla Deewana"is being shot in Hyderabad and alsofeatures Bobby and Sunny.

NEW DELHI, (PTI) Director Madhur Bhandarkar today said lyricistPrasoon Joshi will bring welcome changes with him in his role as thechief of the censor board. Joshi recently replaced Pahlaj Nihalani asthe chairman of the Central Board of Film Cer tification (CBFC)."Prasoon is an evolved personality with a sound adver tising back-ground. Impor tantly, he understand's the youth of this country. "Andhim becoming the chief of CBFC is definitely a good thing for theindustry and rightly so the whole of industry has welcomed it," saidBhandarkar, while launching the website of 'Chitra Bhar ti Film Festi-val' 2018. "Indu Sarkar", Bhandarkar's last film, set against the back-drop of Emergency, got mixed response at the box office but the direc-tor is happy with the result. "I am extremely happy with the response.This is the four th week and the movie is still running alongside all thebig-budget movies. This movie is for posterity and talks about anextremely impor tant chapter in India's history," he said. The Bhar tiChitra Sadhna will host three-day film festival from February 16, 2018.

Hindi films now portraying womenin a progressive way: KareenaMUMBAI, (PTI) Kareena Kapoor Khan says she is proud andhappy that Bollywood filmmakers are now showing women ina progressive way in movies. The actor attributes this changeto the influx of young writers in films. In an interview to PTI,Kareena says, "One can definitely see a change in the waywomen have been por trayed on screen in the Hindi film in-dustry. "The roles are now written by young directors, whohave been successful in highlighting the personality of womenwho are hardworking and successful. Films have now beenpor traying women in a more progressive manner."The 36-year-old actor, who was last seen in "Udta Punjab",welcomed her first child, Taimur Ali Khan, in December lastyear. Talking about balancing her work and motherhood, theactor says, "I have always maintained a personal and professionallife but now it's more difficult as Taimur is too young. I try to strike abalance. I have a great support system with (husband) Saif and myfamily." Kareena believes a modern Indian woman plays diverse roles inher life and she considers herself to be one."She is a multifaceted woman, lives her life to the fullest andfulfils her choices with confidence and style. I am proud to bea married, independent and working woman. I carry that withgreat honour and pride. Despite being married, I work andhave my own identity." Kareena is all charged up to beginwork on her next project "Veere Di Wedding" alongside SonamKapoor and Swara Bhaskar. However, she did not commenton the repor ts of her signing a biopic by Omung Kumar, an-other movie with Salman Khan and Karan Johar's next.Meanwhile, the "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" star is the muse of de-signer Anita Dongre's autumn winter campaign #IamAND,which celebrates the multifaceted personality of the modernIndian woman. "AND is one brand that has changed the fash-ion scenario in the country. With its new campaign, the brandconveys a very strong message of celebrating the multifac-eted personality of the modern Indian woman, which I trulyidentify with," says Kareena.

HUMA QURESHI AND FILMMAKER GURINDER CHADHA AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ORGANISED TOPROMOTE HER FILM VICEROY'S HOUSE IN NEW DELHI.

TRIPLE TALAQ JUDGEMENT A VICTORY FORBRAVE MUSLIM WOMEN: SHABANAMUMBAI, (IANS) Veteran actress Shabana Azmi has welcomed the Supreme Cour t's ruling ontriple talaq and says the judgement is a victory for brave Muslim women in the country. "I welcome the SupremeCourt judgement on instant Triple Talaq. It's a victory for brave Muslim women who have waged a battle against it foryears," Shabana tweeted on Tuesday. The apex court, by a 3:2 majority judgment, held triple talaq being practised bythe Muslim community as "unconstitutional", "arbitrary" and "not part of Islam". Shabana is also a social activist andis active in supporting child survival and fighting AIDS and injustice in real life. She had participated in several playsand demonstrations denouncing communalism. Among the social groups whose causes she has advocated areslum dwellers, displaced Kashmiri Pandit migrants and victims of the earthquake at Latur. The 1993 Mumbai riotsappalled her and she emerged as a forceful critic of religious extremism.

FILMS ON SOCIAL ISSUES VITAL FOR OPENINGUP MINDS: PAKISTANI-NORWEGIAN DIRECTORNEW DELHI, (IANS) It is essential to make movies on social issues and human rights as they help to open up people'sminds, believes Norwegian-Pakistani actress-writer-director Iram Haq, whose film "What Will People Say" tells thestory of her family, community and culture. "What Will People Say" is about Nisha's double life -- obedient to hertraditional Pakistani upbringing at home, typical Norwegian teenager to her friends. It comes crashing down when herconcerned parents kidnap her and send her to Pakistan. She isn't the first female director to come up with such astrong subject. Directors like Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta have also made films on terrorism, homosexual relationsand rural Indian widows. Women seem to have natural inclination towards social issues and human rights. "I thinkwe all like to make movies about stuff we are interested in, and I am happy that you say that women have an interestin social issues and human rights because those movies are important for opening up our minds," Oslo-based Iramtold IANS in an exclusive interview via email. For Iram, it's her life which provides inspiration for her movies. Askedabout "What Will People Say", she said: "I was sent to Pakistan when I was a young girl, which I used as the maininspiration for this movie. I always find inspiration from my own life and my own emotions when I start to write, andI use that as a backbone to form my stories into fiction."

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hollywood

'BAREILLY KI BARFI': AN ENDEARINGROM-COM WORTH TASTING

CAST: AYUSHMANN KHURRANA, KRITI

SANON, RAJKUMMAR RAO, SEEMA PAHWA

DIRECTOR: ASHWINY IYER TIWARI

RATING: ***1/2

"Bareilly ki Barfi" is a sweet and delectable romance which beginson a predictable and somewhat placid note, but takes on aninteresting hue owing to the sudden twist the tale embarks uponand turning into a love triangle. Bitti Mishra (Kriti) is the only childof her parents Narottam Mishra (Pankaj) and Sushila Mishra(Seema). The apple of her father's eye, she is the quintessentialtomboy, who works in the electricity depar tment, smokes, drinks,does break dance, stays out late and watches English films all ofwhich her mother disapproves of.Being rejected by boys who come to see her for marriage, becomesher pet peeve as that causes her mother anguish. Dejected, Bittisets out to leave home. By happenstance, she picks up a book,'Bareilly ki Barfi', from the book stall at the station, which changesher life. She returns home and begins her search for the author,Pritam Vidrohi, as she feels the protagonist in his novel is hercarbon copy and he is thus someone who would understand her.How she uses Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurrana), the publisherof the book, in her quest, forms the crux of this two hour film.The characters and their lives are introduced to the audiencethrough a narrative by Javed Akhtar in the beginning of the film. Thecharacters are well-etched and developed thoughtfully withconsistency. Nitesh Tiwari's sharp writing laced with humourencapsulates the simplicity and warmth of a small town, which isevident in each scene through his characters. Director Ashwini IyerTiwari keeps the characters and their milieu real. It is the acewriting coupled with the strong performances that elevate the

viewing experience fur ther.Rajkumar as Pritam Vidrohi is spectacular as he is every inch thesmall town, timid, boy who leads a basic life. He slips into theaggressive gunda avatar with equal ease and aplomb, altering hisbody language and mannerisms perfectly. He steals the thunderfrom every other actor in the film and is immensely endearing.Ayushmann delivers with sincerity and the metamorphosis of ahear t-broken boy to a boy madly in love and finally a guy who haslost his love is palpable and praisewor thy. Yet, he pales in com-parison to Rajkummar. Kriti por trays Bitti with confidence andhonesty. She is charming and holds her own although she is pittedagainst two good male actors.Seema Pahwa as the gregarious mother, desperate to get Bittimarried, if only to comply with societal norms, is a treat to watch.Pankaj Tripathi, renders an equally stellar per formance as hersubservient husband, who suppor ts his daughter, but maintains asilence to keep the peace in the house prevailing, venting out hisfeelings to the ceiling fan at night. Rohit Chaudhary who playsMunna, Chirag's devoted lackey is a competent actor as well andshines. The film is well-mounted and is true to its setting. The music ismelodious and "Sweety tera drama" is well-picturised and energetic. Thescreenplay and dialogues are what take this film to another level. Else, the basictale is fairly ordinary and cliched. The actors do justice and deliver,mouthing the well-written lines with conviction and panache,enhancing their characters all the way. Overall, "Barielly ki Barfi" isa tasty sweet treat to rev up your weekend.

'Deadpool 2' stunt persondead after on-set accidentVANCOUVER, (IANS) A female stunt person has died whileperforming a motorcycle stunt on the set of "Deadpool 2,"according to a statement f rom the pol ice here.WorkSafeBC, a statutory agency, which oversees occu-pational safety in the province, and The Coroners Serviceof British Columbia are leading the investigation, policesaid, repor ts cnn.com. The incident took place at the 1000Block of West Waterfront Road, Vancouver BC, near JackPoole Plaza, according to WorkSafeBC and the CoronersService. "We are deeply saddened by the accident thatoccurred on the set of 'Deadpool 2' this morning. Ourhearts and prayers are with the family, friends and col-leagues of our crew member during this difficult time," astatement from 20th Century Fox, the studio behind"Deadpool 2" read. Hours after the death, Reynolds re-leased his own statement on social media, saying: "To-day, we tragically lost a member of our crew while film-ing 'Deadpool'. We're hear tbroken, shocked and devas-tated... but recognise nothing can come close to the griefand inexplicable pain her family and loved ones mustfeel in this moment."He added: "My hear t pours out to them -- along with eachand every person she touched in this world." Productionon the sequel began in late June. At the time, Reynoldsmarked the occasion with a photograph posted to socialmedia captioned: "Feels good to be back." Since then,Reynolds, a Vancouver native, has shared numerous be-hind the scenes sneak peeks. Deadpool 2" is scheduledto release next year. The death is the second such occur-rence of a fatal on-set accident in recent weeks. JohnBernecker, a stunt performer for "The Walking Dead," diedin July after performing a fall on the show's Georgia set.

Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom'scosy night out LOS ANGELES, (IANS) Singer Katy Perry and OrlandoBloom have sparked speculations that they are back to-gether after they were spotted getting up close and per-sonal at a music gig here. They were seen getting cosy atEd Sheeran's concer t at Staples Center last week, re-por ts eonline.com. Perry and Bloom dated for about 10months and their representatives announced they hadcalled it quits in February. A fan's photographs of the twoin the crowd, with Perry appearing to lean back againstBloom, were posted on Instagram. They had floor seatsand both wore black baseball caps.

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 b o l l y w o o d

LAKME FASHION WEEK WINTER/FESTIVE 2017 IN MUMBAI

ADITI RAO HYDARI IN THE CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER JAYANTI REDDY. BHUMI PEDNEKAR IN THE CREATION OF RUCERU.

DIA MIRZA IN THE CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER FAABIIANA. ELLI AVRAM IN THE CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER MANOJ AGARWAL.

ILEANA D'CRUZ DISPLAYS CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER DE BELLE. KRITI SANON DISPLAY THE CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER ARPITA MEHTA.

MALAIKA ARORA DISPLAYS THE CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER RIDDHI MEHRA. NARGIS FAKHRI IN FASHION DESIGNER ANUSHREE REDDY'S CREATION.

PERNIA QURESHI WALKS RAMP FOR FASHION DESIGNERS MONIKA AND NIDHI. POOJA HEGDE DISPLAYS CREATION OF FASHION DESIGNER SONAAKSHI RAAJ.

FIRST ODI: DHAWAN, KOHLI STAR AS INDIAROUT SRI LANKA BY 9 WICKETS

DINESH BHATIA, INDIAN CONSUL GENERAL IN TORONTO FELICITATED THE INDIAN TEAM THAT WON 36 MEDALS IN THESEVENTH WORLD DWARF GAMES AT GUELPH.

Sreesanth approaches KeralaHC after BCCI fails to actKOCHI, (IANS) Former Indian pacer S. Sreesanth, who onAugust 7 got a huge boost when the Kerala High Court liftedthe life ban imposed on him by the BCCI, approached thecour t on Friday asking for relief as the Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) still has not acted in the matter.Sreesanth in his petition asked for the immediate interven-tion of the cour t saying that he wished to travel to play in theScotland League and the BCCI, despite the cour t lifting theban, has not given him an NOC to be submitted to the Scotcricket authorities. He said the Scotland League has reachedits last leg and any more delay could be detrimental to him. The courtwill take up his petition on Monday. Since his arrest in 2013,Sreesanth had his first outing on August 15 when he led a localteam in an exhibition match on a cricket pitch here. The now 34-year-old pacer, along with two other players, was exonerated in2015 by a Delhi court in the case registered by Delhi Policewhich invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised CrimeAct (MCOCA), but the BCCI Disciplinary Committee headedby present Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slapped a lifeban on Sreesanth. Following this, he approached the KeralaHC, which on August 7 lifted the life ban.

Australia's Hastings optimisticfor India seriesMELBOURNE, (IANS) Injured pacer John Hastings has ex-pressed confidence about gaining full fitness for Australia'supcoming limited overs tour to India from September 17 toOctober 11. Hastings is currently nursing a foot injury aftercomplaining of inflammation in his left foot during his En-glish county Worcestershire's four-day match against Sus-sex. The 31-year-old pacer is optimistic that he will be avail-able for selection for the upcoming limited-overs, featuringfive One-day Internationals (ODI) and three T20 Internationalsagainst India. "I had a bit of pain in my left ankle for a littlewhile and I thought I should get it checked out. Obviouslythere's a big summer coming up and a one-day tour to Indiaso I wanted to make sure I'd be cherry ripe, but I ended upwith a hot spot in my foot," Hastings was quoted as saying bycricket.com.au. "I'm in a moon boot for a couple weeks andthen I'll reload and hopefully be all right for the domestic one-day cup and that one-day series (in India)," he added. TheMRI scans have revealed inflammation and stress throughHastings' foot, and the pacer said the scenario could havebeen even worse. Hastings, who had played in six ofWorcestershire's 10 first-class matches this summer, hasbeen in the UK since the star t of the county season in April,besides also being a par t of the national squad for the ICCChampions Trophy in England in June.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 17After Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and put Sri Lanka in tobat, Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka gave the per fect star t totheir team as both forged a 74-run par tnership in 14 overs before thelatter was sent back to the pavilion by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal(74/1). Unper turbed by the fall of Gunathilaka's wicket, incoming bats-man Kusal Mendis (36) along with Dickwella continued the pace andbuilt up a 65-run stand for the second wicket. But just when thingsseemed good in the middle, Dickwella was adjudged leg before wicketoff Kedar Jadhav in the 25th over (139/2).It was just after Dickwella's wicket that the Sri Lankans lost the plot

and star ted losing their wickets at regular intervals. Apar t from thetop-three batsmen, no other player stood up to the Indian pressure andwent back to the pavilion one by one. Anjelo Mathews (36 not out)somehow managed to stick at the wicket but lack of support from the other endresulted in a low total for the hosts. Mathews apart, other middle-order batsmenUpul Tharanga (13), Chamara Kapugedera (1) Wanidu Hasaranga (2) scored a totalof 16 runs only. Lower-order players Thisara Perera (0), Lakshan Sandakan (5) andLasith Malinga (8) tried to make up for the middle-order collapse but failed and thus,after a perfect start, the Islanders were restricted to 216. For India, left-arm spinnerAxar Patel scalped three wickets while Bumrah, Chahal and Jadhav took twowickets each.

International cricket returns to Pakistan with WI, SL toursKARACHI, (PTI) International cricket is set for a comeback in strife-torn Pakistan with the West Indies, following in the footsteps of Sri Lanka,agreeing to play T20 matches in Lahore in November. The Pakistan Cricket Board

(PCB) on Monday confirmed tours by Sri Lankan and West Indies teams fromSeptember onwards besides a series of T20 matches against a World XI side inLahore.

"Cricket West Indies and PakistanCricket Board are advancing discus-sions that will see the West Indies teamplay the T20 matches with Pakistan inLahore in late November," said a state-ment released by the PCB. This will bethe first time in nine years that Pakistancricket fans will get to witness a sea-son of international cricket in their coun-try. No Test nation has toured the coun-try since the 2009 terrorist attack on theSri Lankan cricket team bus. The state-ment further added that the tour will besubject to the ICC World XI team's visitto Pakistan."My mission statement is to bring backinternational cricket to Pakistan andhopefully we will be able to announcethe full World XI side in next two to threedays," PCB chairman Najam Sethi tolda news conference. The World XI se-ries has been in discussions ever sincethe PSL final was held in Lahore inMarch this year. The government haspromised presidential-level security forthe week-long tour by the World XI side,which will be a 15-man squad com-prising players from all top Test-play-ing countries. The team will be led byAndy Flower as coach and also includesSouth Africans Hashim Amla, Faf duPlessis, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir.Sethi said two Australian playershad also confirmed their par tici-pation in the World XI side.

BAD START FOR INDIA ATWRESTLING WORLDSPARIS, (IANS) It was a bad star t for India as all four wres-tlers-- Yogesh Yogesh, Gurpreet Singh, Ravindar Khatriand Hardeep -- lost their opening round matches in theGreco-Roman category at the World Championships hereon Monday. In the 71 kilogram category, Yogesh wasoutplayed by Takeshi Izumi 1-3 while, in the 75 kg cat-egory, Gurpreet Singh lost to Mindia Tsulukidze of Georgia1-5 to bow out of the meet. Among the other grapplers,Ravindar, in the 85 kg category, was thrashed by ViktorLorinca of Hungary 0-8 and Hardeep lost to Vilius Laurinaitisof Lithuania 2-5. But if any of the wrestlers, who defeatedthe Indian players reach the final round, the Indians willplay the repechage rounds for the bronze medal.

India bag 321 medals at WorldPolice & Fire Games in LANEW DELHI, (PTI) India bagged a whopping 321 medals,including 151 gold, at the World Police and Fire Games inLos Angeles. Besides 151 yellow metals, India won 99silver and 71 bronze medals. The athletics team contrib-uted to the country's tally with 147 medals, including 61gold, 52 silver and 34 bronze. Wrestling, boxing, judo, ar-chery, swimming and shooting are the disciplines whereIndian spor tspersons dominated.

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MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2017 s p o r t s

SHILPA SHETTY AND HUSBAND RAJ KUNDRA DURING THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE INDIAN POKER LEAGUE 2017 IN MUMBAI.

ROBUST BLUELINER FOLKESRETURNS TO BRAMPTONBRAMPTON - The Brampton Beast, ECHL affiliate of theMontreal Canadiens, are proud to announce that ruggeddefenseman and Burlington, Ontario native Mike Folkes hassigned a Standard Player Contract (SPC) and will be patrollingthe Beast blue line for the upcoming 2017-18 ECHL season.Folkes, 28, will be entering his second season with the Beast.In 58 games played last season, Folkes established himselfas one of the league's top shutdown defensemen. In additionto his stellar defensive play, he contributed two goals and fourpoints with 34 penalty minutes. The 6'1" lefty played an impor-tant role in the club's inaugural Kelly Cup Playoff run duringthe 2016-17 season. In five games played, he stepped up hisphysical play and earned one assist and 15 penalty minutes.His experience with the club during their most recent playoffrun played a big role in his decision to return to the Beast foranother season. "I'm super excited to be back with the Beast,"Folkes said. "After getting knocked out last year, I feel like wehave some unfinished business. I definitely wanted to comeback and go fur ther in the playoffs. Hopefully we can bring home aKelly cup title this time. I think we're going to have a solid core group andhopefully we can make some noise this season." Prior to joining the Beastlast season, Folkes enjoyed a season overseas in the Elite Ice HockeyLeague (EIHL) as the assistant captain of the Manchester Storm. In 47games played, Folkes scored one goal and chipped in with four assistsand 79 penalty minutes. Coming into the 2017-18 season, Folkes hasappeared in a total of 140 ECHL contests with the Beast and the UtahGrizzlies, amassing a total of three goals, 13 assists and 160 penaltyminutes. Before joining the professional ranks, he appeared in 35games for Ohio State University from 2008 to 2011 beforejoining Carleton University, where he added another 55 gamesand 14 points (4G, 10A) to his resume from 2011 to 2013.

Indian juniors shine in Asiansquash championshipCHENNAI, (PTI) Indian juniors produced impressive perfor-mances in the Asian junior individual squash championshipin Jordan with as many as 10 players entering the semifinalsin various categories. In the boys' section, Tushar Shahani(U-17), Neel Joshi (U-15), Yuvraj Wadhwani and Par th Ambani(both U-13) have reached the last four. Among the girls, SunaynaKuruvilla and Ashita Pranaya Bhengra (both U-19) besides NavmiSharma (U-17), Yoshna Singh, Ananya Dabke (both U-15) and YuvnaGupta (U-13) made it to the semifinals, said a SRFI press release here.However, the big disappointment for India came with the exit of secondseed Abhay Singh in the boys under-19 section in the quarterfinal, losingto Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman, the 5/8 seed in five games. TheIndian had led by two games before slipping. The Pakistanplayer won 8-11, 9-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-9.

NEVER FOUND KUMBLE STRICT: WICKETKEEPER SAHAKOLKATA, (IANS) India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha on Friday said he never found former India head coach Anil Kumble "strict",adding incumbent Ravi Shastri always encourages them to go out there and kill the opposition. Leg-spin legend Kumbleresigned as coach before the West Indies tour after skipper Virat Kohli had raised objection over his style of coaching.Kumbe in his resignation letter had written that their relationship had become "untenable"."I did not feel that way. As a coach, he has to be strict in some way or the other. Some have felt he is strict, some have not. Ihave never felt that way under Anil bhai," Saha told repor ters on arrival from Sri Lanka where India completed a 3-0 white-wash. Asked to differentiate between the two coaches, Saha said: "Anil bhai always wanted us to score 400, 500, 600 andthe opponent will be all out by 150-200. That is not always possible. Ravi bhai always tells us to go out there hit the oppo-nent out of the park. This is the only difference I could see. Rest both were positive all the time."Moving on, the three-match sweep over Sri Lankan was India's 8th consecutive series win -- with the stretch beginning overthe Islanders in 2015. Since then, India have clinched Test series against seven different opponents: South Africa (3-0), WestIndies (2-0 overseas), New Zealand (3-0), England (4-0), Bangladesh (1-0), Australia (2-1) and Sri Lanka (2015 & 2017).Asked about India's imperious form. Saha said since their loss at Galle two years back, they have had a team meeting andthat was the cornerstone to their change in for tunes. "We lost the Galle Test. Then all the players had a meeting and we aremaintaining the momentum from there. It has helped us recharge our batteries. We stuck to a plan and have been executingit so far," the Bengal batsman noted.On a personal note, Saha said injury kept him out the last time India won against Sri Lanka, so he is happy to be par t of anhistoric triumph this time around. "I did not play in the first series. In the next two I played. I could not be there during serieswin last time, this time I was there to witness the 3-0 whitewash. So it's a good feeling," he felt. Saha played the first two Testsin 2015 and was replaced by Naman Ojha in the third as he was injured.

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