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Marvel’s Black Panther filming gets underway
Marvel Studios has announced that filming has begun on its latest superhero epic which for the first time will feature a black actor, Chadwick Boseman, in the lead role. The news comes just after a record number of black actors were nominated for this year’s Oscars and as Hollywood pushes for more diversity. Boseman will play the lead role in the hotly anticipated Black Panther alongside a star-studded cast including Michael B Jordan, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker. The film follows the events after 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, in which Boseman appeared as Marvel’s first African superhero, but not in the lead role. The movie was the year’s biggest box office hit, amassing $1.15 billion worldwide. In Black Panther, T’Challa (Boseman) returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as its king. The movie is being filmed in Atlanta and South Korea and is scheduled for release in February of next year. -AFP
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Leading DJ boycotts the US over Trump
Leading techno DJ Dave Clarke says he will boycott the United States as a protest after the election of President Donald Trump. “I have maximum respect for the influence of American music and some US culture in my life but I will not be renewing my work visa,” said Clarke, who is British but based in The Netherlands. “I simply cannot consider coming to the US professionally when there is a Misogynist Narcissist Racist President in office, and to be fair maybe my work permit would not be renewed due to his ‘Hire American’ policy,” Clarke wrote on Facebook. Leading musicians both in the United States and overseas have unleashed a flurry of songs to protest Trump since the tycoon launched his presidential campaign. But calls for a boycott of the world’s largest economy and entertainment market have been rare. Clarke is a prominent force in techno, the genre of dance music that emerged in Detroit in the 1980s but is now primarily associated with Europe, and often infuses punk rock elements. -AFP
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Neil Young to induct Pearl Jam at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony
Pearl Jam will be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by frequent collaborator and rock legend Neil Young this spring. Young and Pearl Jam joined forces to play Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World at MTV’s Video Music Awards in 1993. Pearl Jam regularly covers the song on tour. Members of the band played on Young’s 1995 album Mirror Ball. Jackson Browne will induct folk legend Joan Baez, and Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush will present fellow progressive rockers Yes at the ceremony on April 7 in New York. -AP
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Prince’s siblings allege mismanagement of tribute concert
Two of Prince’s siblings have decried what they called mismanagement of the late pop icon’s tribute concert and sought a clearer accounting of the proceeds. Prince, who died suddenly in April, was remembered in a funk-driven, five-hour concert on October 13 in his native Minnesota that starred his friend Stevie Wonder. But the line-up emerged just a month before the show, which was moved to the 20,000-seat XCel Energy Center in state capital St. Paul from the newly built, 66,200-capacity US Bank Stadium in adjacent Minneapolis. In a court filing this week, Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson (pictured) and half-brother Omarr Baker asked that a special administrator that had been put in charge of the estate remain financially liable after it hands over control at the end of the month. The siblings said that the administrator, Bremer Trust, caused “damage to the Prince brand” and said the family had “no way of knowing who profited” from tickets, merchandise and other sales. -AFP
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Lakme Fashion Week to focus on inclusivity
The upcoming season of Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2017 will focus on inclusivity in fashion through its shows, designers and models. The five-day gala kicks off on February 1 at the Jio Garden in Mumbai. From the first ever plus-size show with a retail brand last season, Lakmé Fashion Week is taking the conversation on inclusivity further with a #TagFree show this season. The #TagFree show will be curated by Kshitij Kankaria, showing designers such as Dhruv Kapoor, Sanchita Ajjampur and Suket Dhir (pictured). The show will bring forth women from all walks of life who are labelled and stereotyped by society. Jaspreet Chandok, Head Fashion, IMG Reliance Ltd, said, “With the aim of evolving mindsets and creating a more inclusive conversation around fashion, we have opened our runway to diverse and unconventional models and are curating some path-breaking shows that will further highlight our commitment to continue the conversation on inclusivity which we started last season.” Purnima Lamba, head of innovations at Lakme, added, “We truly believe that beauty is about being confident and unique.”
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Protesters disrupt Padmavati shoot
Activists of a Rajput organisation, Shree Rajput Karni Sena, protested Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Padmavati over the weekend. Protesters damaged cameras and other equipment, forcing Bhansali to stop shooting. Vivek Singh of Karni Sena said: “We had earlier requested him (Bhansali) to show us the script which he did not do. We are against distorting of historical facts and we know that he has distorted historical facts.” Padmavati tells the story of Alauddin Khilji, the medieval-era Delhi ruler, who fell in love with Rajput queen Padmavati. Actors Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor star in the film. -IANS
