Morning Tidings

Tag: films

  • Armie Hammer under investigation for sexual assault

    Armie Hammer under investigation for sexual assault

    Actor Armie Hammer is under investigation for sexual assault, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

    Hammer’s attorney denied the allegation.

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    Hammer is the main suspect in a sexual assault that was reported to police on Feb. 3, LAPD spokesman Officer Drake Madison said. Police would give no further details on the incident or who made the report.

    Earlier Thursday at a video news conference, a woman said that on April 24, 2017, in Los Angeles, Hammer raped her for four hours, slammed her head against a wall and committed other violent acts against her.

    The Associated Press does not generally identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

    The woman appeared on camera but identified herself only by her first name, Effie.

    “During those four hours I tried to get away but he wouldn’t let me,” she said through tears. “I thought that he was going to kill me. He then left with no concern for my well-being.”

    The woman’s attorney, Gloria Allred, said they had given evidence to Los Angeles police, including photos of Effie’s injuries. Allred declined to say when they made the report, and would not confirm that it was the one made in February that the LAPD is investigating.

    Effie was 20 when she and Hammer met on Facebook and began a relationship in 2016, and they had their last contact last year, Allred said.

    Hammer’s attorney said in a statement that from the beginning he has maintained that all of his interactions with Effie and every other sexual partner “have been completely consensual, discussed and agreed upon in advance, and mutually participatory.”

    The statement called her allegations “attention seeking and ill-advised” and said “her own correspondence with Mr. Hammer undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations.”

    “With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight,” Andrew Brettler said.

    The statement included a screenshot that Brettler said was a text message exchange in July of last year between Hammer and Effie, in which she expresses a desire for rough, forceful sex with him, and he responds by saying he no longer wants a relationship with her.

    The 34-year-old actor was married at the time to television personality Elizabeth Chambers. They divorced last year.

    Hammer first gained fame through playing twins in 2010’s “The Social Network,” and is best known for his starring roles in 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name” and 2013’s “The Lone Ranger.”

    Most recently, Hammer starred in the Netflix remake of “Rebecca.” A sequel to “Call Me by Your Name” with Timothée Chalamet has also been in development.

    Allegations of sexual violence in recent months have derailed Hammer’s career.

    Earlier this year, an Instagram account began posting screenshots of text messages allegedly from Hammer as far back as 2016. Allred would not comment on whether her client was behind that account, @houseofeffie. When those text messages began appearing in media reports, Hammer called them “vicious and spurious online attacks against me.”

    After those texts were published, Hammer departed the comedy “Shotgun Wedding,” in which he was to star alongside Jennifer Lopez, shortly before production was to begin. He soon after departed the Paramount+ series “The Offer,” about the making of “The Godfather.”

    Hammer was also dropped by his agency, WME.

  • These former prisoners serving life imprisonment are now acting in Tamil films

    These former prisoners serving life imprisonment are now acting in Tamil films

    ‘MetroPlus’ sits with a group of pre-lifers who make their acting world famous in the Tamil film ‘Pagaiwanuku Arulavai’ directed by Anees.

    It was the first time that 44-year-old S Satyamurthy faced the camera. Originally from Salem, Satya, who is now a resident of Chennai and is an LIC agent, went on the set Pagivanuku Arulvai Last month, the film’s director donated to a prisoner’s organization asked by Anees.

    Until the cameras stopped rolling, Satya was overcome by wuzu; This was a serious drawback to the days he spent in Puzhal Central Prison (and before that in Vellore Central Prison) – in 2002 after serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on a murder charge.

    Sathya is one of at least 40 former prison inmates who will receive acting credits in Anees’ upcoming film which is set in a prison. Produced by 4 Monkey Studios, Pagivanuku Arulvai, Starring M Sasikumar, is expected to be released in May 2021. “People called home from the set of the film to say that Mr. [Anis] We have also been made prisoners in the film, ”said R Srinivasan, 43, a friend of Sathya and another former life guard.

    Life beyond prison

    It is at Anees’ office in Valsaravakkam, Chennai that I meet Sathya, Srinivasan and eight others, all of whom are in their forties and have served between 14 and 25 years on murder charges.

    Photograph taken during a theater workshop held at Puzhal Central Prison in 2016; Filmmaker Anees and music composer Ghibaran are present.

    Photograph taken during a theater workshop held at Puzhal Central Prison in 2016; Filmmaker Anees and music composer Ghibaran are present. Photo courtesy: Special arrangement

    Anees takes the banker lightly because no one in the group is a stranger to him; He has been associated with her since 2016, when he first went to the theater to train inmates at the Pujhal Central Jail.

    Anees is the secretary of Prison Theater, an agency he co-founded with Vetri Durisamy, the son of former Chennai mayor Saeedai Duraisamy, who serves as its president.

    The group I meet includes’Sirai Gan‘B Manikandan – Known for his unstoppable ability to beat a rhythm from an empty vessel and repeat verses about life inside the prison. Mani has sung a song composed by Ghibaran Pagivanuku Arulvai. The 45-year-old ‘Thirukkural’ also has Munusamy who has two bachelor’s degrees, which he obtained inconsistently; Munusamy can recite the entire Tirukkural in error. Another, on a keyboard, specializes in playing a dholak, among others, while a third is an “excellent poet”, clarifying Anees – clearly, everyone has an eye for art.

    Finding out such talent – as a means of providing distraction or assistance in rehabilitation – was the aim when Anees went to prison in 2016.

    Sponsored by the Tamil Nadu government, the filmmaker also had the support of former Jail Superintendent-I, Pujhal, V Rukmani Priyadarshini.

    She says, “The aim was to improve through art.” We had to create people who had no experience of emotions… such as love, mercy and kindness, even if it meant artificially causing them. In a play, these convicts had the opportunity to become one with the role and feel these feelings. ”

    Emotionally Srinivasan also describes the time he spent in the workshop. He said, “We liked their way of communicating and teaching. He also ate prison food with us. We had all these new feelings that we wanted to connect with, and that meant that we were looking forward to the workshop the next day, ”he explains.

    This presents a frightening situation, especially as Srinivasan follows it, “There have been many times when many of us have woken up at night and felt as if we are going to ing ourselves off”. Prison life is hopeless. ”

    Blur

    This means a lot of prisoners that someone coming from outside treats them with respect – a privilege that has not been extended to them by society – and keeps a promise.

    Anees (in white T-shirt) with former life during the shooting of 'Pagivanuku Arulvai'

    In Anees (white T-shirt) with former life during the shooting of ‘Pagaiwanuku Arulvai’. Photo courtesy: Special arrangement

    Says Munusamy, “So many people come inside the jail and promise us jobs. But the words he spoke while we were closed and how he treated us while we were out. It was therefore surprising that Anees sir made his point. It was unexpected and so it was very sweet. “

    After a week-long workshop, Anees organized the first play, which was then titled Pujal Prisoners Hasiakararagal – Damu of 45-year-old Thiruvoor says that “we came to know that there were variations of laughter”. Since then the group has performed in at least three different locations, including SPACES in the city of Besant.

    With their screen debut imminent, is the group looking for opportunities in further films? Anees intervenes: “I have clearly told them that there is not an option. The last thing I want is for one of them to walk from one production office to another with their photos in hand. I want them to dedicate a little time from their routine to art… this venture [of making them a part of his film] They have to build a discussion to provide opportunities and break the social stigma against former prisoners. “

    Munusamy said that the stigma is real, often affecting your face and other members in the family. “A relative of mine is looking for a groom for his daughter and a possible coalition has come to know that there is someone in our family who went to jail for murder. He was a deal breaker. In villages, words kolagaara kudumbam (Killer’s family) is common usage. It is wrong to say, but it happens. Anees says: “I hope the stigma is broken.”

    Priorities matter

    While this group of former lifers exemplifies novel ideas such as using theater for the miracle of rehabilitation work, these initiatives are few and far between. Reason: Such harmony depends upon acceptance from the service of the jail authorities. Srinivasan’s comment: “The prison environment is a reflection of the mentality of the jail authorities.”

    The group with actor M Sasikumar (center) on the set of 'Pagaiwanuku Arulvai'

    Actor m. With Sasikumar (center) on the set of the group ‘Pagaiwanuku Arulvai’. Photo courtesy: Special arrangement

    Rukmani agrees. “This is true. For me, reform was a priority. As an officer, you need to work harder than ever to call on your duty to make changes sometimes because it is not easy for the government to sign such proposals.” . Some officers like to run a strict administration and there are others who encourage prisoners to cultivate crops. Therefore, the mindset really matters. “

    Now Superintendent of Vellore Central Jail, Rukmani, however, remarked that he is happy for his former inmates and will be watching a movie featuring “My Prisoners” in a theater when it is released. the feeling is mutual. Sathyamurthy says, “We know Rukmini Maam will be happy with our progress.”

    .

  • Three recent films explore the class divide in Indian society

    Three recent films explore the class divide in Indian society

    It was my daughter actually, raised outside India, who pointed it out. “Mum,” she asked puzzled, while on a holiday in India, “Why do Indians never make eye-contact with poverty?”

    Of course, the average Indian’s indifference to the unpleasant underbelly of society is well documented. But if three recent films are anything to go by, middle-class India seems to be waking up and seeing its other, poorer half and even saying a weak hello.

    Priyanka Chopra-Rajkummar Rao-starrer The White Tiger is the latest and biggest of these films. Based on Aravind Adiga’s 2008 Man Booker-winning novel, it is the story of a boy born into the darkness of rural poverty in Bihar who gets a driver’s job with his landlord’s son in the city and ultimately lifts himself into a life of riches as an entrepreneur.

    Written in the form of letters to the Chinese Premier, it is as much a Marxist indictment of India’s class divide as it is of the caste system which keeps people firmly in their ‘rooster coop’. The story has a violent resolution, but what struck me was that it is told in the first person by the protagonist himself.

    ‘The White Tiger’, as he likes to call himself, is one of a kind — a man who hates his past and wants to build his own future. He is uncouth, unremarkable, and unethical but we are forced to not just ‘see’ Balram Halwai but also hear him. Instead of being the unseen, unheard chauffeur, Balram actually decides his personal destination, drives himself to it, and takes us along on this compelling journey. The book has been around for 12 years, but films get made when there is a commercial audience for the theme, and this is a movie whose time has come.

    ‘The White Tiger’ makes no attempt at social upheaval or societal change, it simply portrays an individual’s triumph over his destiny.

    ‘The White Tiger’ makes no attempt at social upheaval or societal change, it simply portrays an individual’s triumph over his destiny.
     
    | Photo Credit:
    Special Arrangement

    The Lift Boy is the second of these films, exploring the theme of the class divide. Interestingly, reviews of the 2019 film describe it as a coming-of-age story, which it is in many ways. Raju Tawde, a young, carefree boy who has failed his engineering exam four times, has a reality check when his father suffers a heart attack. Forced to fill in for him as a lift operator in a posh Mumbai building, Raju discovers the varying attitudes of residents towards people doing menial tasks. Raju also discovers some uncomfortable truths about his own past, and makes a new friend. It is less brutal and stark than The White Tiger but the social divide between the ‘Lift Boy’ and those he serves is there for all to see.

    What’s interesting is the way the story bridges the social distance between the lift boy and the building’s residents with confidences exchanged in the privacy of the lift (almost like a confession booth in a church) and relationships built on empathy and financial assistance.

    Princess Kapoor confides to Raju that she is being dragged into Bollywood by her ambitious mother. It is interesting that the empathy seems to come from people outside the establishment who are either too young to share its prejudices or are complete outsiders. Pinky Madam, played by Priyanka Chopra in The White Tiger, is born and raised in the U.S., and feels domestic help should be treated with respect. She stands up for Balram Halwai when her husband’s feudal family ill-treats him and even takes him into confidence when she has had enough and wants to leave.

    By the end of the film ‘Sir’, we see the main characters not as employer and maid but as a man and woman bound by mutual respect and love.

    By the end of the film ‘Sir’, we see the main characters not as employer and maid but as a man and woman bound by mutual respect and love.
     
    | Photo Credit:
    Special Arrangement

    Similarly, in Sir, the third of these interesting films, the employer who starts noticing that his maid is a human being with her own dreams and aspirations, and later develops feelings for her, is an Indian who has lived in the U.S. I suppose, thematically, it is easier to introduce an outsider as an agent of change. Whether the agent of change succeeds in converting the establishment is an open question. Each film answers it differently. In The White Tiger, the change is brought about by Balram’s ambition and he manages to forge his own future — though his family is killed and others like him remain locked in the ‘rooster coop’. No attempt at social upheaval or societal change here, just an individual’s triumph over his destiny.

    In The Lift Boy, there is a change in Raju’s fortunes through a kindly benefactor, but it is not widespread change, or a shift in the general population’s attitudes towards domestic help — just a stroke of individual luck. This made the end a little implausible and spoilt an otherwise engaging film.

    For me, the film that really shifted the marker in terms of social change was Sir. It does not shout revolt, nor does it set out to shock. In fact, it meanders through scenes of daily drudgery almost in slow motion. Meals being cooked, meals being served, doorbells ringing, parcels being delivered, phones ringing… because that is what a maid’s life is like. But, by the end of the film, we see the main characters not as employer and maid but as a man and woman bound by mutual respect and love. It is a bold statement but made in the most gentle and sensitive way possible.

    Films don’t change society; they reflect it. And if these films are anything to go by, the right questions have begun to be asked. The way they are answered will determine how much India will change.

    The writer lives in London and is the author of East or West: An NRI Mother’s Manual On How To Bring Up Desi Children Overseas.

  • Bhumika Chawla on working in Telugu films ‘Seetimaarr’, ‘Paagal’, ‘Idhe Maa Katha’ and how there aren’t enough roles for female actors her age

    Bhumika Chawla on working in Telugu films ‘Seetimaarr’, ‘Paagal’, ‘Idhe Maa Katha’ and how there aren’t enough roles for female actors her age

    Actor Bhumika Chawla will be seen in a bunch of films soon, but admits that not enough interesting roles are written for women of her age

    There was a restraint and calmness with which Bhumika Chawla used to speak when she was one of the most sought-after leading women in Telugu and Tamil cinema a few years ago. The tide might have changed and she might be doing fewer films now, but the calm demeanour is intact even when she speaks her mind, without mincing words.

    This summer will see her in two Telugu films; she has completed filming a third one. “I take up a film only if it is worth my time. I want characters that give me scope to perform and make some impact. Not every story or character needs to have the potential to change society; sometimes I can do a film for fun, but there has to be something in it for me. I don’t want to be standing next to the hero doing nothing,” she says, on what keeps her going after two decades in cinema.

    Short but pivotal

    First up is director Sampath Nandi’s Seetimaarr, releasing on April 2, in which she is cast as Gopichand’s sister. She is then filming for a cameo appearance in director Naresh Kuppili’s Paagal starring Vishwak Sen, which is scheduled to release on April 30. “Kabaddi plays an important part in Seetimaarr and I motivate Gopichand to do his best. In Paagal, I have very few scenes, but they are intense.”

    Bhumika divides her time between Mumbai and Hyderabad. When she had to begin work for the new Telugu film Idhe Maa Katha in October, amid the pandemic, she approached it with trepidation: “I discussed it with my family and we agreed that invariably, we all have to step out. Film units were also working with all the necessary precautions. Any time I spotted someone without a mask, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell them. I would wash hands frequently, do steam inhalations and drink turmeric milk.”

    She had spent the lockdown months near Nasik, with her father, and says it was the best thing that had happened to her in years. “It was a tough time for everyone. I am thankful to God that I could spend time amid greenery, and it had a healing effect on me. We all forget that we need to slow down. We have no time to stand and stare,” she says, quoting WH Davies’ poem ‘Leisure’.

    Rider’s high

    Bhumika Chawla

    Bhumika Chawla
     

    Director Guru Pawan’s Idhe Maa Katha is a road film in which Bhumika is one of the four principal characters. For this, she had to ride a heavy-duty bike. “I have ridden lighter bikes in the past, but never a Bullet. I trained for this film and discovered that there is better stability while riding at a speed of 60 to 80 kilometres/hour than at 20 to 40 kilometres/hour. I loved the adrenaline rush. Riding with the wind on my face gave me a high.”

    She doesn’t want to divulge more about the story or her character, but states that she liked how it shows that women need to rediscover themselves and realise their dreams, when life overwhelms them with responsibilities.

    Bhumika is also part of Tamil film Kannai Nambathey and the Hindi film Operation Majnu. She discloses, however, that she doesn’t come across interesting roles often. Film industries tend to slot female actors above 40 into sister or sister-in-law roles and she emphasises that those characters need to have depth and merit: “I am grateful for the opportunities I have had so far, but I also crave for the kind of films that Tabu or Vidya Balan get to do. Recently, I was also smitten by Sushmita Sen’s performance in Aarya. More stories and characters need to be written for women in our age group. It is not the audience that slots you, but the industry. As an actor, I want to do things I haven’t done before.”

  • Steven Spielberg to next direct film based on his childhood

    Steven Spielberg to next direct film based on his childhood

    Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams is in negotiations to star in the movie in a major role

    Veteran Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg will next direct a movie that is loosely based on his childhood growing up in Arizona.

    According to Variety, the new movie will be Spielberg’s follow-up project to his “West Side Story” remake, which is expected to release this year.

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    The filmmaker co-wrote the script with Tony Kushner, who previously worked with director on movies such as “Munich” and “Lincoln”.

    Oscar-nominated actor Michelle Williams is in negotiations to star in the movie in a major role.

    Though the plot details are scarce at the moment, the film will reportedly focus on the main character as a young child and teen.

    The protagonist will be living in Phoenix, Arizona, which is where Spielberg lived in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The film will also examine the character’s relationship with his parents and be split across time periods.

    The film will start shooting later this year with an expectation that it will be released sometime in 2022.

    Williams will next star in director Todd Haynes’ MGM movie “Fever”, and she is also reteaming with Kelly Reichardt on the A24 project “Showing Up”.

    The actor recently finished filming for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, a sequel to her 2018 hit “Venom”, co-starring Tom Hardy.

  • Bollywood’s association of beauty with fair skin unchanged

    Bollywood’s association of beauty with fair skin unchanged

    A team of researchers used artificial intelligence to detect social bias trends prevalent in Bollywood movies for decades

    (Subscribe to our Today’s Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)

    What can an automated computer analysis say about Bollywood? To begin with: its idea of beauty has been consistent over the past seven decades, according to a team a researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

    The $2.1 billion film industry continues to associate beauty with fair skin, making it one of the many social biases Bollywood has remained consistent with, the team at CMU’s Language Technology Institute said.

    The team collected 100 Bollywood movies spanning 70 years, and juxtaposed them against 100 top-grossing Hollywood films made during the same period. They also analysed subtitles of 1,400 films for gender and social biases in their statistical language models. And finally used artificial intelligence (AI) to make the observation.

    Also Read | Artificial Intelligence knows when you feel lonely

    They used a fill-in-the-blank exercise to assess specific statements like “A beautiful woman should have _____ skin”. The model predicted ‘fair’ after being trained on Bollywood subtitles data. The bias was less pronounced when the AI model was used on Hollywood subtitles, the team noted.

    The CMU team used the model to also understand gender diversity in the films. They used ‘Male Pronoun Ratio (MPR)’ metric to compare occurrence of male pronouns with total occurrences of male and female pronouns. Right from 1950 to now, the rate for both Bollywood and Hollywood movies ranged from 60 to 65 MPR, the team noted.

    The AI-powered method is said to be able to analyse 2,000 movies in a matter of days, compared with manual cultural studies that can consider up to 10 movies at a time, according to the team.

    The tool could also be used to rapidly analyse hundreds of books, magazine articles and social media posts to understand biases that may occur in them, the team said.

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