عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Crime Thriller Steals Best Pic at Bollywood Awards in UAE

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
TT
TT

Crime Thriller Steals Best Pic at Bollywood Awards in UAE

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Crime thriller "Drishyam 2" was crowned best picture as Bollywood glossed over its recent struggles with a high-octane International Indian Film Academy Awards show in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Director Abhishek Pathak's gritty remake of a Malayalam film took the top honor at the end of a four-hour ceremony of pumping dance routines that showcased the Hindi-language movie industry, AFP said.

Best director went to Ranganathan Madhavan for "Rocketry: The Nambi Effect". Hrithik Roshan won best actor for his role in "Vikram Vedha" and Alia Bhatt took best actress for "Gangubai Kathiawadi".

"Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva" picked up a number of prizes including best supporting actress for Mouni Roy and best female playback singer for star vocalist Shreya Ghoshal.

The IIFA awards, intended to reach an international audience, were held for the second year running in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates where more than a third of the 10 million population is Indian.

The Hindi-language film industry was worth $2.5 billion in 2019. India also releases hundreds of films in its 21 other official languages, churning out about 1,600 each year total.

But Mumbai-based Bollywood, the world's most prolific producer of movies, has been mired in crisis since the pandemic with ticket sales remaining low since cinemas reopened.

The rise in streaming services, competition from other parts of India and demand for meatier fare than Bollywood's trademark song-and-dance routines have all contributed to the slump, experts say.

However, superstar Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" smashed Indian box office records in January, in a positive sign for the industry.

Shiny gold shirt

Indian cinema also received a boost in March when viral dance hit "Naatu Naatu" won an Oscar for best song, a first for a film from the country.

"What does IIFA mean for (Indian) cinema? I think opening up to the global stage and also bringing us to the global stage as well, so it's exciting both ways," said actress Jacqueline Fernandez, wearing an Arab-inspired head covering.

Among the highlights, heart-throb Varun Dhawan, wearing a shiny gold shirt, rode onto the stage on a mini-dune buggy, and ceremony host Vicky Kaushal drew screams from the audience when he launched into a dance number.

Actor and eco-activist Dia Mirza reminded the crowd about pressing environmental concerns months before the UAE, one of the world's biggest oil producers, hosts the COP28 United Nations climate talks in November and December.

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan was awarded for his outstanding achievement in Indian cinema and Anil Kapoor won best supporting actor for his role in "Jugjugg Jeeyo".

"Darlings" took best original story, and best female debut was Khushali Kumar in "Dhokha: Round D Corner".

The IIFA show, one of a number of Indian awards ceremonies, has been held in several countries since its debut in London in 2000. Voting is done online by fans.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Blake Lively Sues ‘It Ends With Us’ Director Justin Baldoni Alleging Harassment and Smear Campaign

Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

Blake Lively Sues ‘It Ends With Us’ Director Justin Baldoni Alleging Harassment and Smear Campaign

Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)
Blake Lively attends the LACMA Art+Film Gala at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in Los Angeles, California, on November 2, 2024. (AFP)

Actor Blake Lively sued "It Ends With Us" director Justin Baldoni and several others tied to the romantic drama on Tuesday, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set.

The federal lawsuit was filed in New York just hours after Baldoni and many of the other defendants in Lively's suit sued The New York Times for libel for its story on her allegations, saying the newspaper and the star were the ones conducting a coordinated smear campaign.

The lawsuits are major developments in a story emerging from the surprise hit film that has already made major waves in Hollywood and led to discussions of the treatment of female actors both on sets and in media.

Lively's suit said that Baldoni, the film's production company Wayfarer Studios and others engaged in "a carefully crafted, coordinated, and resourced retaliatory scheme to silence her, and others, from speaking out."

She accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a "multi-tiered plan" to damage her reputation following a meeting in which she and her husband, actor Ryan Reynolds, addressed "repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior" by Baldoni and a producer Jamey Heath, who is also named in both lawsuits.

The plan, the suit said, included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and place news stories critical of Lively.

The alleged mistreatment on set included comments from Baldoni on the bodies of Lively and other women on the set.

Baldoni's attorney Bryan Freedman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lively's lawsuit. But he previously called the same allegations "completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious."

Lively's lawsuit comes the same day as the libel lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Baldoni and others against the Times seeking at least $250 million. The Times stood by its reporting and said it plans to "vigorously defend" against the lawsuit.

Others who are defendants in Lively's suit and plaintiffs in the libel suit include Wayfarer and crisis communications expert Melissa Nathan, whose text message was quoted in the headline of the Dec. 21 Times story: "‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine."

Written by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate, the story was published just after Lively filed a legal complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, a predecessor to her new lawsuit.

The libel lawsuit says the newspaper "relied almost entirely on Lively’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims and exposed her true motives. But the Times did not care."

A spokesperson for the Times, Danielle Rhoades, said in a statement that "our story was meticulously and responsibly reported."

"It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article. To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error," the statement said.

But Baldoni's lawsuit says that "If the Times truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claimed to have obtained, its reporters would have seen incontrovertible evidence that it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign."

Lively is not a defendant in the libel lawsuit. Her lawyers said in a statement that "Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms. Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today."

The romantic drama "It Ends With Us," an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni. Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centerstage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for "Deadpool & Wolverine" at the same time.

Lively came to fame through the 2005 film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," and bolstered her stardom on the TV series "Gossip Girl" from 2007 to 2012. She has since starred in films including "The Town" and "The Shallows."

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy "Jane the Virgin," directed the 2019 film "Five Feet Apart" and wrote "Man Enough," a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity. He responded to concerns that "It Ends With Us" romanticized domestic violence, telling the AP at the time that critics were "absolutely entitled to that opinion."

He was dropped by his agency, WME, immediately after Lively filed her complaint and the Times published its story. The agency represents both Lively and Reynolds.

Baldoni's attorney, Freedman, said in a statement on the libel suit that "the New York Times cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites."

"In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public," he added. "The irony is rich."