Hugh Jackman’s wife didn’t want him to play Wolverine

Hugh Jackman’s role has earned him millions of dollars and an enviable group of supporters among the movie-going public. PHOTO: FILE

Actor Hugh Jackman, whose longest running role as the clawed mutant Wolverine has earned him the greatest publicity to date, admitted that his wife warned him against the role because she thought of the idea of him playing Wolverine was ‘ridiculous’.

The Australian actor, who has played the role of the clawed mutant Wolverine in all the X-Men movies since the first X-Men was released in 2000, is now a fan favourite character and even had a stand-alone sequel in 2013 called The Wolverine which took place after the events of the first X-Men movie. With a major role or cameo appearance in all the blockbuster film instalments of the series including the most recent release, X-Men: Days of future Past, Jackman has built a solid fan base by reprising this character’s role, but he admits his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, was against her husband taking on the role at first and urged him to decline it.

In an interview Jackson said, “She read three pages and was like, ‘You got claws coming out of your hands? This is ridiculous. Don’t do it’.” However, the counsel might have been ill-advised given the movie’s phenomenal success at the box office and she seems to have retracted her statement. She later told her husband she is glad he ignored her advice, reported the Times of India.

With talents ranging over acting, singing and dancing and quite a few awards to his name, Hugh Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in a number of films and stage musicals. However, needless to say, his greatest fan base has been built through the comic-book movie franchise, X-Men. His role has earned him millions of dollars and an enviable group of supporters among the movie-going public.

Prankster hits Brad Pitt in the face at 'Maleficent' premiere

Cast member Angelina Jolie and actor Brad Pitt wave at fans as they arrive at the premiere of ''Maleficent'' at El Capitan theatre in Hollywood, California May 28, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS

An infamous red carpet prankster struck actor Brad Pitt in the face as he signed autographs at the Hollywood premiere of a film starring his partner Angelina Jolie on Wednesday, police said.

Pitt, a Golden Globe-winning actor, was at the premiere of “Maleficent”, at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California, when Vitalii Sediuk leaped over a fence and hit him, said Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Gus Villanueva.

Pitt was not seriously hurt and authorities quickly subdued Sediuk, who was arrested for misdemeanor battery and remained in police custody on Wednesday night, Villanueva said. Sediuk is now being held pending payment of $20,000 bail.

“The officers who were handling him said it looked like it was intentional, but at this point, it remains to be determined,” said Sergeant Leonard Calderon for LAPD Hollywood.

Sediuk, 25, is a Ukrainian television reporter who has often pranked celebrities at red carpet events.

In previous exploits, Sediuk has hugged actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s crotch at a Santa Barbara Film Festival event, stormed the stage during singer Adele’s Grammy acceptance speech, and been slapped by Will Smith after kissing the actor at a Moscow premiere.

Sediuk did not appear to be armed at the time of the attack on Pitt, and investigators have not yet determined a motive, said Villanueva, adding that he was likely to be arraigned on Thursday.

“Maleficent” is Disney’s modern reimagining of the “Sleeping Beauty” fairytale, and Jolie stars as its villain

Did you know? Shaan is expecting an apology from Ali Zafar

Various eminent personalities of the film industry have expressed their displeasure over singer Ali Zafar’s reaction to Shaan Shahid’s negative comments on artistes going across the border to work. Writer-director Mohammad Pervaiz Kaleem said that Shaan evidently loves his country and advocates national integrity while singer Ali Zafar is ignorant about such patriotic emotions. “Our country is our identity. What is appreciable is to use our talent for our own country. Ali Zafar needs to call Shaan Shahid and apologise to him,” added Pervaiz, reported Roznama Express.

Other renowned individuals from the world of entertainment such as director Altaf Hussain also spoke up, saying that those artistes who, because of monetary greed, fall into India’s lap clearly cannot appreciate their own country. He further spoke about Shaan’s father’s patriotism and how Shaan hasn’t let go of his nationalistic roots. Hussain encouraged Ali Zafar to apologise for his unacceptable behaviour.

Filmmaker Chaudhry Ijaz Kamran said that when someone loves their country, they use their talents for the good of their country. “Ali Zafar’s sentiments might be favourably inclined towards India but Shaan Shahid had rejected an offer to work in Bollywood for the sake of his country and instead placed greater importance in offering his services to the Pakistani film industry. Shaan’s families’ services for this country are not hidden from anyone. Ali Zafar needs to respect his seniors and apologise to Shaan for his non-serious attitude,” the filmmaker added.

According to sources, this backlash from the film fraternity was a result of Shaan approaching the Urdu press, asking them to tilt the ongoing controversy in his favour.

In all honesty, Ali has nothing to apologise for and apologising to Shaan is nothing but bizarre.

Obsession over Shahrukh and Sachin continues

Bollywood super star Shahrukh Khan and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar are among the 100 most obsessed-over people on the web. PHOTO: FILE

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar are among the 100 most ‘obsessed-over people’ on the web, according to a list compiled byTime magazine. Even though the cricketer retired last year from international cricket, his popularity among the masses still seems intact.

The list is topped by former US president George Bush who has a score of 65.6 points. His successor President Barack Obama comes in at the second spot with 45.3 points. Tendulkar is ranked 68th on the list and has 23.98 points. Khan, however, comes in at the penultimate rank of 99 with a low score of 22.07. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is one rank above Shahrukh with 22.08 points, reported the Deccan Chronicle.

The list was compiled drawing parallels from the magazine’s annual 100 most influential people in the world list. They collected data about all the global leaders and celebrities online and from their Wikipedia pages. Factors that influenced the rankings were the number of links to other Wikipedia pages, number of external links, number of categories the person is in, total number of revisions to the page, number of unique individuals who have edited the page and number of anonymous edits.

The other noted sports personalities in the list are Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic at 61 and Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher at 77, who has been in a medically-induced coma since December 29, when he suffered brain injuries while skiing in the French Alps.

The list also includes singer Madonna, who secured the number three spot followed by Beyonce on number four, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at number 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin at number 27, Pope Francis at number 70 and talk show host Oprah Winfrey at number 95.

Senior Bachchan to attend acting workshops for Piku

Amitabh Bachchan will be sharing screen space with Irrfan Khan for the first time in the film and Deepika Padukone will be playing his daughter. PHOTO: FILE

MUMBAI: 

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan may be one of the most iconic stars actors of Indian cinema, but that hasn’t stopped him from taking part in acting workshops for Shoojit Sircar’s upcoming film Piku.

In the film, senior Bachchan will be seen with critically acclaimed actor Irrfan Khan for the first time. “This is the first time that Irrfan will be sharing screen space with Big B. He’s understandably excited and challenged. He asked Shoojit to create a comfort level between the two, especially since Big B and Irrfan share very intense dramatic sequences in Piku,” said a source close to the project.

Though Irrfan’s schedule is packed as he’ll be shooting in Mumbai and Los Angeles, he too, has agreed to participate in the acting workshops for the film along with Deepika Padukone and Bengali actor Jisshu Sengupta. Shoojit said it wasn’t easy getting these actors to spare time for the workshops.

“Bachchan sahab, Irrfan, Deepika and Jisshu are all extremely busy actors. But they had absolutely no hesitation in slicing precious meat out of their fat schedules to go through the rehearsals,” he said. The Madras Cafe director believes workshops are critically important forPiku.

“The emotions in the film are not cinematic. The feelings expressed have to be absolutely authentic. Luckily, I have actors who are more than willing to surrender to the project. They have been told that we cannot start shooting unless we do the workshops,” said Shoojit. “They’re all joining me for workshops for a couple of weeks before we begin shooting at the end of July,” he added.

US confrims that an American citizen had carried out suicide bombing in Syria

Abu Hurayra al-Amriki. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON: An American citizen fighting for a hardline militant group had carried out a deadly suicide bombing in Syria, US officials confirmed Friday, in the first such case in the war.

The State Department did not identify the man, said to have been behind a truck bombing on Sunday in the northern province of Idlib, but acknowledged concerns about the flow of foreign fighters into Syria.

“I can confirm that this individual was a US citizen involved in a suicide bombing in Syria. We don’t have further information beyond that to share at this time,” State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

The man went by the alias Abu Hurayra Al-Amriki, which translates as “The American,” she added.

Psaki agreed this is believed to be the first such suicide bombing carried out by an American since 2011, the start of a war in which more than 162,000 people have been killed.

Estimates of the number of foreign fighters who have flooded into Syria in the past three years range from between 9,000 to 11,000, with most believed to have come from neighboring countries.

Psaki could not give precise figures of how many Americans may be among them, although the New York Times said about 100 Americans are believed to have traveled to Syria, mainly to join the rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

“We’re engaged in a focused outreach effort with key partner governments regarding our shared concern over the flow of foreign fighters to the Syrian conflict,” Psaki said.

Concerns are mounting among Western powers that — like Afghanistan in the past — Syria is becoming a training ground for a generation of militants, who will return as battle-hardened veterans ready to carry out attacks both at home and abroad.

“We are closely tracking and closely working with our partners and allies about our concern about the growth of foreign fighters and the growth of extremism,” Psaki said, only days after US President Barack Obama unveiled a new $5 billion fund dedicated to the fight against terrorism.

Reports that an American had been involved in the Idlib bombing have been circulating for days. The New York Times, citing law enforcement officials, said he was aged in his 20s, of Middle Eastern descent and from the southern state of Florida.

A Syrian fighter from the Al-Nusra Front told the Times that Abu Hurayra was an Arab-American who spoke only poor Arabic, but was dedicated to the jihadist cause.

“He was a generous, brave, tough man, always on the front lines in battles,” the fighter told the US daily.

“When his turn came up” to carry out a suicide bombing, he “was very happy, because he will meet his God after that,” the fighter, who called himself Abu Abdulrahman, told the Times via Facebook.

A video released by Al-Nusra supporters, which was first reported on by the private terrorism watchdog SITE Intelligence Group, shows a huge explosion and footage of a young, bearded man cradling a cat and identified as the attacker.

Sach Mooch: How to be a diva like Narendra Modi

Memorise what I will tell you because if you want to be a world-class leader in the future, then you gotta be a coolio.

KARACHI: 

If Barack Obama were a republican and Imran Khan were a little ugly, they would be as popular as Narendra Modi. Modi has made conservatism and ethnocentrism hip, yet he looks like an uncle. That is his ‘oomph’ and ‘pizzazz’, as the new prime minister of one of the fastest developing countries of the world and biggest country of the region.

But how did Modi get this far — from selling tea at the railway station to running a whole country? Analysts would like you to believe that it was his political strategy and hard-line policies that got him where he is, but honestly, that’s all bull-crap! It is because he is cool. Write down, memorise and act on what I will tell you now, because if you want to be a world-class leader in the future, then you gotta be a coolio bro/girl!

First of all, Modi wears the most awesome hats. What do hats have to do with becoming a good leader? The Queen begs to differ. I will now showcase the range of hats Modi has worn, as style is very important if you are going to lead. It’s easy to spot the one you are following in a big crowd if he/she is wearing a flamboyant hat. And if the prime minister has style, even Alia Bhatt would know who he is — that’s a big deal, by the way.

Modi chills out with his mom, taking pictures and sharing them on his Facebook account with statuses such as “Chilling with mom, as she feeds me #ThrowBackThursday.” This lets your followers know that you also have a mom, makes them feel like you are one of them or else they might think you are an alien. Plus, moms are cool, especially when they are alive to see their 63-year-old son become the prime minister.

‘Should I be mean to Nawaz Sharif? Should I make fun of Rahul Gandhi? Should I keep a mullet? Wait, let me take a selfie!’ Modi is probably the first ancient and South Asian premier to endorse selfies. This is how he made all the 13 year olds vote for him. Oh wait, 13 year olds can’t vote. Still, got to prepare for the next elections!

Remember how in school there was one kid who was kind of geeky, his name would be long, unconventional and hard to pronounce or had thick glasses, weird hair and body odour or all of the above? This kid was always accepted because he chilled with the cool kids. That way, one did not have to make an effort, yet enjoyed the privileges of the hip crowd. That kid, ladies and gentleman, is Modi!

A typical Sunday for him includes having coffee with Amitabh Bachchan, sharing Rajnikanth jokes with Rajnikanth and ending the day with kite-flying lessons from Salman Khan, where Sallu heals Modi tenderly. By the way, what the hell is up with Rajnikanth? He looks like an old crazy chacha. Does he get a face job every time he prepares for a film?

Coming back to the topic, Sarah Palin, John F Kennedy and Imran Khan are some of the examples of good-looking leaders who gain extra attention simply because they are beautiful/handsome. This is not to undermine their leadership skills, but being easy on the eyes helps — that’s just how humans perceive other people.

You can call it the halo effect or that our perception of a perfect leader is that of a healthy and heroic-looking person. But the fact that Modi, despite being none of that, has made it… that, my friends, is swag! (Look up the term if you are too uncool to know it.)