QuickE: Mahira Opens up on Trolls; Alia’s Altruistic Secret & More
Musicians choose to keep mum about royalty scam despite ED action, and other stories.
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1. Mahira Khan Breaks Silence Over Leaked Photos With Ranbir Kapoor
Earlier this year, leaked pictures of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan smoking with Ranbir Kapoor in New York went viral and the internet exploded. Apart from stirring up rumours about a possible affair, a torrent of crude judgments were unleashed on Mahira on social media. She was mercilessly trolled for ‘wearing a short dress’ and ‘smoking.’ Puritanical trolls attributed their fury to Mahira being a ‘Muslim woman’. She has finally decided to not keep mum about the controversy.
In an interview to the magazine Something Haute, she says, “I'm a very strong woman but when all of this happened, I was completely shattered and broken. I would think about posting a statement every day. Then I would stop myself because I just wouldn't know what to say.”
2. Is Alia Bhatt Shouldering Kalpana Lajmi’s Hospital Bills?
There is a lot of altruistic talk being heard in the media regarding various distinguished celebrities paying the seriously ailing filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi’s medical expenses.
However a source close to Kalpana puts all this unconfirmed talk to rest saying, “Kalpana’s medical bills which come to around 2.5 lakh rupees every week for the four dialysis that she undergoes, are borne entirely by Soni Razdan and her daughter Alia Bhatt. Soni is Kalpana’s closest friend and she has been monitoring the funds for Kalpana’s treatment.Every time the bills pile up Soni informs Alia who pays the bills.”
3. Royalty Scam: Musicians Choose to Keep Mum Despite ED Action
Eminent musician Shubha Mudgal filed an FIR last year against the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) alleging non payment of royalties. It has led The Enforcement Directorate (ED) to summon the heads of top Bollywood music companies like T-series, Yash Raj, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Sa Re Ga Ma Music for allegedly failing to pay royalties to lyricists and composers amounting to crores.
ED has now initiated an investigation against the companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
4. Padmavati Row: Distributors Refuse to Release Film in Rajasthan
Padmavati is facing fresh trouble in Rajasthan as film distributors have said that they will not buy its distribution rights unless a controversy surrounding the Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed movie is resolved.
Starring Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, the film is slated for release on 1 December.
Various Rajput groups, including the Karni Sena, have threatened to disrupt the screening of the movie, accusing Bhansali of “distorting” historical facts.
Stop the Blame Game: Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor on Delhi Smog
Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Dia Mirza and other celebrities have all come forward to speak on the issue of smog that is threatening the lives of citizens in the national capital, Delhi and NCR region.
With smog pictures and videos going viral on social media, the youngsters of B-Town also took to Twitter to spread the message of a cleaner and greener India by posting pictures and videos.
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