Who's in
Former Miss World fires up wife-bashing crusade
Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai's new film in which she plays a victim of domestic violence could mark the high point of her career, trade pundits said, after the film opened in India last week.
Provoked is based on an autobiography by Kiranjit Ahluwalia who was jailed for burning her husband to death in 1989 after having endured a decade of rape and beatings.
The autobiography Circle of Light details how Ahluwalia was once threatened with a hot iron, which sparked the killing. "This role is meant for Aishwarya. She looks coy and vulnerable and evokes empathy. I would say this is the best role of her career," said Indu Mirani, editor of film website thirtymm.com.
Critics have often panned the former Miss World for her acting skills. But this time, Rai, 33, has garnered praise for her realistic portrayal a far cry from the trademark glitz of Bollywood films.
Ahluwalia was charged with murder in 1989 and sentenced to life, but the punishment was reduced after pressure from activists, who put the spotlight on domestic abuse.
Rai's acting was also lauded at the London premiere of the film this week. The film's prospects were expected to get a boost because of Rai's plans to marry actor boyfriend Abhishek Bachchan, son of Indian screen legend Amitabh Bachchan, later this month.
Hollywood's eyes on Princess Di
Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan (pictured right) is desperate to play Diana, Princess of Wales in a movie about the tragic royal's life. Lohan has confessed playing Diana who was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 is her dream movie role. She says, "It would be amazing. She gave back a lot and was an amazing woman."
Earlier this year, Lohan's mother Dina expressed her fears Lindsay would die in a similar manner to Diana, because she is pursued by paparazzi photographers, as the princess was on the night she died.
B.C. comic creator dies with pen in hand
Cartoonist Johnny Hart, whose award-winning B.C. comic strip appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers worldwide, has died. He was 76. Hart died on Saturday while working at his home in Endicott. "He had a stroke," his wife, Bobby, said. "He died at his storyboard."
B.C., populated by prehistoric cavemen and dinosaurs, was launched in 1958 and eventually appeared in more than 1,300 newspapers with an audience of 100 million, according to Creators Syndicate Inc, which distributes it.
"He was generally regarded as one of the best cartoonists we've ever had," Hart's friend Mell Lazarus, creator of the Momma and Miss Peach comic strips, said. "He was totally original. B.C. broke ground and led the way for a number of imitators, none of which ever came close."
Besides his wife, Hart is survived by two daughters, Patti and Perri. He was a native of Endicott, about 220 kilometers northwest of New York City.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/10/2007 page18)
