Where Bollywood Comes Alive
Posts tagged influential
Arshad Warsi against jail term for Shiney Ahuja
12 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
The ‘Munnabhai’ actor blogged about his feelings, pointing out that Kasab is “still enjoying our hospitality”
Smrity Sharma | TNN (MUMBAI MIRROR.COM; March 31, 2011) Arshad Warsi (Pic: BCCL)
After actor Shiney Ahuja was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of raping his 18-year old domestic help, back in the film industry some celebs are seeing the 7 year jail as a bit too harsh for the actor.
One of the filmwallahs to stand up for Shiney is Arshad Warsi. Lashing out at the judgment, Arshad blogged, “Murderers, terrorist and corrupt politicians are walking free and Shiney Ahuja gets 7 years imprisonment. Judiciary should stop targeting actors so blatantly.”
As the star started receiving flak from some about having a soft corner for ‘rapist’ Shiney, he clarified he stand, “I am NOT saying Shiney’s right but don’t forget that Kasab is still enjoying our hospitality.”
He further lamented on the fact about influential people getting away even after committing the gravest of crimes, “Do u know the number of rapes that happen in our country on a daily basis by influential and connected people? Those cases are not even registered.”
Peepli Live at Sundance-Co director shares his experience
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Mahmood Farooqui (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 01, 2010)
// // // The Sundance ‘thing’ started for us in the shuttle as we travelled from the airport at Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, to Park City where the festival is mainly held. We were sharing the cab with an Iranian origin investment banker from London who had come to attend the premiere of his Arab-origin, New York-based girlfriend’s first film, The Imperialists are still Alive. Sitting at the front was a sales agent from L.A who was good friends, believe it or not, with Gulshan Grover and had helped produce Deepa Mehta’s Earth: 1947. It was all very international and also very US.
Our first screening of Peepli Live took place at the Egyptian theatre, down Main Street, the only screening venue which is located in the Park City. The quaint theatre hall was completely full and the first public screening of the film and also the premiere, went down much better than we expected. A hall full of Americans seemed to enjoy every nuance of what is a very Indian film. The Q and A afterwards, and this was true of every subsequent screening, had charged up Americans wanting to unravel complex economic issues of rural India.
The festival itself is spread out over several theatres several miles from each other and they are all unconventional venues. The Temple theatre is a Jewish synagogue, the Library is located at a school, The Yarrow is a hotel, Prospector is a lodge while the Eccles, the largest of them all, is More >
He’s a ‘small-time actor’ and no rapist, Shiney’s lawyers tell court
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Shiney Ahuja
Swati Deshpande | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; September 30, 2009)
Mumbai: He’s a “small-time actor’’, and while he may be no “saint’’, he’s “no rapist’’ either. This is what actor Shiney Ahuja’s lawyers said, seeking bail pending trial on charges of raping his 20-year old maid at his Andheri home one morning.
In a fresh bid for freedom after spending more than 100 days in jail, the 35-yearold actor–through his counsel Shirish Gupte along with Shrikant Shivade–said the “victim has not even used the word ‘rape’ in her statement to the magistrate regarding the June 14 incident’’. She “had no external injuries, creating doubts over her claim that she resisted him’’, they said. The complainant had called Ahuja many times from her cellphone the previous night, said Gupte.
Forensic experts have said earlier that the absence of external injuries did not mean there was no rape. A woman could be forced into the act by the threat of violence, experts reasoned.
The panchnama noted that when he was arrested on June 15, Ahuja’s left wrist and right little finger had a “nail mark’’ which the actor claimed were sustained while he was working out, and not from the victim’s nails.
The DNA analysis showed no profile was obtained from the victim’s vulval swab, but did find some evidence to match Ahuja’s “control blood component’’ in one of her smear slides. “The reports fail to conclusively establish rape,’’ Ahuja’s plea said, suggesting it was “a consensual act’’.
Saying bail was More >