The hit docuseries on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls scores big as entertainment, but journalistic compromises make it little more than longform branded content

Not long after ESPN scored its first ever Academy Award for Ezra Edelman’s nonpareil OJ: Made in America, a masterclass in longform investigative journalism that drew comparisons to Mailer and Caro, the network announced another multi-part documentary series centering on an American sports icon. The Last Dance, a 10-part film jointly produced with Netflix, promised an unvarnished deep dive into one of the most transformative stars and feted dynasties in the history of sports: Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls.

The anticipation only mounted with the release of a glossy extended trailer at Christmas that teased never-before-seen footage and a star-studded roster of interviewees – Barack Obama! Justin Timberlake! – along with the participation of Jordan himself, who has spoken only sparingly about the Bulls’ imperious reign and dumbfounding break-up in the two decades since his playing days. Initially slated for a June release alongside this year’s NBA finals, ESPN swiftly moved up the premiere date to April after the coronavirus pandemic went scorched earth on its spring programming schedule.

The Gentle Barn is an animal sanctuary in California that is currently closed to human visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In order to allow their lonely animals some companion and fun, the farm invited five adorable puppies from a nearby pet shelter for a day of playtime, just before they go to their forever homes. 

Too cute to handle. 

Since time immemorial, a village in West Bengal has paid tribute to Shiva by self-inflicting pain. This year coronavirus put a stop to it.

Michael Vaughan has revealed that many former England players were jealous of Kevin Pietersen after the latter bagged a huge contract with the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In 2009, Royal Challengers Bangalore had bought Pietersen for $1,550,000, which made him the highest-paid IPL player along with Andrew Flintoff at that time.

"I think there was a lot of jealousy," Vaughan said in an interview with foxsports.com.au. "And the players will completely deny it now but I think there was at the time when Kevin was on a massive contract.

"There were all sorts of whispers and rumours of cliques in the team. There was a little band of a few; Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, (James) Anderson, (Stuart) Broad and Matt Prior. The whispers were they were on one side and Kevin was kind of standing on his own on the other side," the former England captain said.

The 45-year-old further said that while Pietersen was off the view that playing in the IPL would further the development of the one-day team, England players felt he was going after money.

"It wasn't anything other than that Kev (Kevinn Pietersen) around that time wanted to go to the IPL. That's how it all started to blow up and that's when those factions came into play," said Vaughan.

"He was saying to the team he wanted to play because it would further the development of the one-day team and all the one-day players would get the chance to play there and improve their game. They deemed that he just wanted to go for the money. He was on a big contract while not many of the other players were even getting sniffed at.

"It was very much Kevin against the team in terms of that one," he added.

During the course of the interview, Vaughan also said that Pietersen should have never played for England again after the infamous Text-gate scandal in 2012.

Pietersen, who was born and brought up in South Africa, was accused of sending texts to South African during a Test series between the two teams against his captain Andrew Strauss and a few of his team-mates.

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Hundreds of micro-pieces of human flesh were recovered from the blocked drainage of a housing society in Virar West on Tuesday morning. The matter came to light after the residents of Bachraj Paradise of Evershine Avenue complained of a choked drainage system and saw three pieces of human fingers floating in the drain, when it was opened for repair.

However, the police are yet to trace the head and bones of the body, and the gender of the deceased is to be ascertained. The pieces have been sent to Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina where "scientists will conduct a dactylography of the chopped fingers to ascertain its identity", said a source in the Palghar police station. (Dactylography is the scientific study of fingerprints to ascertain identity)

"Prima facie probe indicates that the killer has cut the body of the victim into pieces and flushed these down the toilet. The gradual accumulation and decomposition of flesh choked the drainage," said Gaurav Singh, superintendent of police, Palghar district.

A local resident, requesting anonymity, told mid-day that there had been a foul smell in the locality for 10 days. "We initially mistook it for the smell of an animal carcass from the nearby drain but we were shocked to see small pieces of human flesh floating in the drain when it was opened," the resident said.

The government hospital in-charge Dr Rugved R Dudhat, who visited the spot along with a forensic team, too said that his team has mistaken the pieces of animal flesh. "The overall weight of these pieces could be nearly 40 kg," he said.

The incident has terrorised locals but the police have said there's "nothing to fear as the local area is being properly scanned." Vijaykant Sagar, additional superintendent of police, Vasai division, said, "A case under section murder (302) and disappearance of evidence (201) has been registered at Arnala police station."

"More of them will be taken out from the drain on Wednesday. We have called in a team of fire brigade on the spot," Jayant Bajbhale, Deputy SP said. Arnala police have recorded the statements of many people and the suspect has been detained, said the source.

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Last week was a big loss for Indian cinema. We lost two stalwarts, Irrfan (Irrfan Khan) and Rishi Kapoor, who both passed away after struggling with cancer. Between them, they encompassed sort of polar ends of the film spectrum. Rishi Kapoor, born into the first family of Hindi cinema, was the son of Raj Kapoor and grandson of Prithviraj Kapoor. He did mainly romantic leads in 92 mainstream masala Bollywood films, his big hits including Bobby, Amar Akbar Anthony, Karz and Rafoo Chakkar.

Later, he also did the gutsy Kapoor & Sons and Mulk, that called out mainstream oppression of India's Muslims. Whereas Irrfan, son of a game hunter who also owned a tyre shop in Tonk, Rajasthan, was an outlier, who trained at the National School of Drama. He was one of the earliest Indian actors to carve a significant international career alongside his Indian films, in Hindi, and is best known for his roles in independent films. As I have already written about Rishi Kapoor on Facebook, I will focus on Irrfan here.

Irrfan did wide-ranging roles in over 150 films. His international films include Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, two Oscar-winners, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and Ang Lee's Life of Pi, Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988, debut feature for both) and The Namesake, Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited, The Amazing Spider-Man, Jurassic World, A Mighty Heart (with Angelina Jolie), Asif Kapadia's The Warrior, Anup Singh's Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, and Doob–No Bed of Roses. His best Indian films include Maqbool and Haider, both Vishal Bhardwaj's magnificent Shakespeare adaptations Haasil, Paan Singh Tomar, Talvar, Piku, Life in a Metro, Hindi Medium and Qarib Qarib Singlle.

Recalling some of my favourite Irrfan scenes:
Maqbool: When Tabu, the gang boss' mistress, points a gun at Irrfan, her secret lover, and says, "Meri jaan bolo," (say, my love), she makes him say it thrice, each time with greater feeling, before he slaps her.

The Namesake: Irrfan, an immigrant in the US, walks with his little son towards the end of a sea-lashed pier, and says, "Will you remember this day, Gogol?" "How long do I have to remember it?" Gogol asks. "Remember it always. Remember that you and I made this journey and we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go."

The Lunchbox: When Irrfan and Nimrat Kaur finally decide to meet at a restaurant, he watches her anxiously looking out for him, but leaves without meeting her, as he feels "too old." But his expressions, encompassing hope, regret, betrayal and acknowledgement of his age, shows a master at work.

Piku: The climax, in which Irrfan and Deepika Padukone comfortably play 'tuku tuku' badminton, and Deepika tells the maid, kal se aana (come from tomorrow). By which we understand that they will be together now. Irrfan brought such credibility to a role that might otherwise seem outlandish: an accomplished Indian woman architect openly having a relationship with a driver.

Qarib Qarib Singlle: Utterly charming, hilarious film in which again, both Irrfan and the incandescent Parvathy Thiruvothu bring credibility and charm to a ludicrous story: a man woos a woman by revisiting three ex-girlfriends with her. When they are alone in a cable car in Gangtok, he asks her, "Share karogi?", offering her bottled water, we smile, knowing they will be together. Life's like that. We need more women directors and writers. And fine actors like Irrfan. Even though, as we would say in Bambaiyya, "Ekich piece hai" (he's one of a kind).

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com

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Sunny Leone may have her hands full with household chores, but she has also been pursuing painting. She recently completed her 'piece of art', which the actor has titled Broken Glass. She flaunted her artistic streak on social media and wrote, "Finally, done with my lockdown art. It's called Broken Glass as it is sort of... like our lives at the moment. Everything might feel shattered but every piece is meant to be next to each other... to be made whole again. So, if we can work together, we will also feel whole again and come back together (sic)."

 

 

 

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Finally done my lockdown piece of art. Has taken 40days to complete. It’s called “broken glass” sort of like our lives at the moment. Everything might feel shattered, but every piece is meant to be next to each other to be made whole again. So if we can work together we also will feel whole again and come back together. Love you all.

A post shared by Sunny Leone (@sunnyleone) onApr 26, 2020 at 5:01am PDT

Sunny Leone and Daniel Weber have self-quarantined themselves along with the kids Asher, Daniel and Nisha. The entire Weber-Leone family have been updating their fans with sweet family posts on social media.

Sunny and her husband Daniel Weber have always been extremely protective about their children and are often spotted with them. And now, during the lockdown, are spending quality time with them at home.

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I worked with Chintuji in films like Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani, and Ghar Ki Izzat. As a newcomer, I would be in awe [of him]. An effortless actor, he would barely rehearse, but the director would always be happy with his first take.

Though a little detached, he was always friendly. Chintuji [would arrive on set] at 10 am. He would often sit outdoors under a tree to have his make-up done. His make-up artiste, Shashi dada, would set out a neat table with the [products]. A tiny transistor radio would be turned on while the make-up was done. When done, Chintuji would impatiently pick up the sponge, rub it all over his face, and undo dada's effort, and then announce that he was ready.

As time went by, and we worked on more films together, including Bol Radha Bol and Saajan Ka Ghar, Chintuji [and I] would play Scrabble on set. I played well, but he was too good, and would often beat me. Nonetheless, I kept trying to win!

In September 2017, a charming script [of the upcoming film, Sharmaji Namkeen] was narrated to me. It was about a middle-aged gentleman called Sharmaji. I liked it immensely and found it amusing and heart-warming. It was tailor-made for Chintuji. Producer Honey Trehan wanted to hold a joint narration with the entire cast and crew. It seemed like a good ice-breaker.

Chintuji was reluctant, but agreed, because he said Amitabh Bachchan would do such sessions often. He said [he'd leave early] too, however, when the reading began, it was so joyful that he stayed till the end, and was the last to leave.

I last met Chintuji at HK hospital, where he had gone for a routine treatment, in early March.

A few days ago, I thought I should check on him. I heard the news [of his passing] this morning, and was devastated. I have many happy memories of him, and have laughed so much on the sets with him. I am going to miss him very much.

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For many, social distancing, self-isolation, and quarantine is the new horror. The prime minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi, has already asked people to stay indoors for some more time. As the lockdown has been extended until May 3, 2020, T&C applied, we are here to save you from some boredom and anxiety.

We are sure you must have already binged-watched every other show, but what we have for you right now is a list of horror films you can watch and get frightened instead of fearing the virus. The more you keep yourself occupied and busy, the less you'll feel anxious and worried due to the lockdown. So, let's take a look at the Netflix list right away!

Eli

Well, well, well! This one will test your patience, and the climax of the movie is worth it! Why, you ask? This obscure story shares a rare tale of a little boy named Eli, and his struggle to fight disease. As he and his parents decide to self-isolate (relatable much?) to fight against what has struck the kid, Eli unravels his truth, unknown and unwitnessed for so many years! 

The Ritual

Starring Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier and others, this one will make your heart skip a beat. It has scares, hidden truths, an unknown religious rite that takes the four friends, who have been exploring the woods of Sweden, down. Fair warning, not for the faint-hearted!

Apostle

Just like the Ritual, Apostle also has a history connected to the characters. In 1905, Thomas Richardson travels to a remote Welsh island to rescue his sister, Jennifer, who has been kidnapped and held for ransom by a mysterious cult. His journey unravels many realities but leaves him with the sacrifice of his own life as the only option to save everyone. Interesting, huh?

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House

This one got me for real! If you are alone at home, the suggestion would be to skip this one. If you are with your quarantine special, I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House will make a good watch. A nurse, who must take care of the house and its owner, a writer, ends up witnessing the reality of the haunted house. End? Well, we will leave it up to you to figure out what happens to the one who lives with an infected house.

Satanic

Satan's followers are scary, and if this entire plot of people worshipping Satan sends chills down your spine, abort mission! Right away! This too isn't for the ones who think Conjuring and Annabelle are scary. If that's what you think horror is, Satanic is surely not your cup of tea.

Scared already? Wait until you watch them all in a day, and share your experience with us! Also, stay tuned for the hidden gems on OTT platforms.

P.S: Stay tuned for our list of shows you can binge on this quarantine season, and don't let the boredom hit you even for a second!

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Actor Halle Berry has revealed that former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan once saved her life when they were filming "Die Another Day". Berry portrayed Jinx opposite Brosnan in the 2002 movie, which had marked his last outing as the suave British spy.

Talking to Jimmy Fallon on his "Tonight" show, Berry, 53, said during a scene, she started choking but Brosnan quickly came to her aid. "I was supposed to be all sexy, trying to seduce him with a fig, and then I end up choking on it and he had to get up and do the Heimlich," she said.

"That was so not sexy... James Bond knows how to Heimlich! He was there for me, he will always be one of my favourite people in the whole world," she added. The Heimlich manoeuvre is a first aid procedure used to treat upper airway obstructions by foreign objects. During the procedure, a sudden strong pressure is applied on a person's abdomen, between the navel and the ribcage. On the work front, Berry will be next seen in "Bruised" which also marks her directorial debut.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever

Extraction
On: Netflix
Director: Sam Hargrave
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Randeep Hooda
Rating: 

Takes a bit of an insider to know exactly how Bombay beat-cops randomly harass young adults milling around, minding their own business, outside clubs/bars past midnight — as if that's the biggest crime in town.

That scene, so representative of the city's dying night life, occurs rather early on in Extraction. By the look of it, it is shot in Bombay — set in a lane that could easily pass off for back-alley of what used to be Elbo (and is now Glass) Room in Bandra.

Only that this is a proper, hardcore Hollywood production, directed by a first-timer (Sam Hargrave) who, until this shoot, had probably never been to India. The hero, Australian-born Chris Hemsworth, tops the world's highest paid actors' lists, and is widely adjudged 'world's sexiest man alive' in the western press. The script — or rather the lack of it (sadly) — is written by Joe of the Russo Brothers — their last film as directors being Avengers: Endgame (naam toh suna hoga!).

Up until that point in the film I speak of (above), the dialogues in Extraction are mainly in Hindi. This carries on for long passages in the picture thereafter; including a whole lot of Bengali, as the action in the film altogether, ostensibly, shifts to Dhaka.

What's there not to be pleasantly gob-smacked by all this shudh 'desiness' going on in a thoroughbred global stunt-actioner? But I speak too soon. For, the moment those fellows in police uniform approach a few kids outside a Bombay bar, one of the boys in the group is abducted, others shot at. And the thriller cuts to such a frantic chase, that all there's left to it are a series of set-pieces, involving grenades, gun-fires and mortal combat.

No issues with that, of course. Just that this is so much of a (critic-proof) genre film, it seems the filmmakers couldn't care two hoots about every moment from thereon — flowing as generically as the audiences would ever imagine them to.

But for the setting, obviously. Which, truth be told, is essentially a white man's gaze at what a rat-hole the size of hell would look like, with the military and ragtag militias being one and the same thing. Guns going off on streets all day, people flocking and flopping like packs of sardines or lemmings off cliffs. This is supposed to be Bangladesh on any given day. Though, am told this was shot in Ahmedabad.

Watch the trailer of Extraction trailer here

Recalling how some Indians outraged over poverty-porn in Slumdog Millionaire, as if Danny Boyle had built a set to defame Bombay (he hadn't; it was what it was) — desis should take mass offence at the portrayal of Dhaka. Relax, that's a joke; suggesting no such thing! This is a frickin' movie. Watch it for that — just as others will.

What you'll appreciate then is the sort of fire-power and raw energy that laces this dusty stunner throughout. For its setting, this is probably a Rohit Shetty actioner to the power 10, in terms of gritty realism. And maybe there's a template in it somewhere for something desi in the Fast and Furious space.

Basically, Sam Hargrave has come into direction after a heavy body of work as stunt coordinator in Hollywood. A story-line may not artistically be his strongest point. But hell yeah, he knows a thing or two about action.

As does Hemsworth — a one-man army, running around here with a loaded arms factory, ensuring bang for the buck. Speaking of which, ideally, this Netflix film would've been best enjoyed in a theatre. This must also be said for the relatively under-rated, but much superior Netflix thriller, Triple Frontier (2019). That was about a huge robbery, involving a Colombian drug-lord, gone bizarre. This one involves Hemsworth's character being hired to 'extract' or rescue the abducted son of 'Bombay's Escobar', who's been kidnapped by 'Dhaka's Escobar' (accha!). Besides the entire city of Dhaka, along with all exit routes closed, Hemsworth has to also take on the Indian don's henchman — for reasons that should only be unlocked by viewers.

Randeep Hooda plays this feisty antagonist — full-on kicking ass, firing on all cylinders, opposite Hemsworth, no less — in Steven Seagal hairdo from the '80s. That's where this film deliberately belongs, too. Pankaj Tripathi is the Indian don, Ovi Mahajan Sr. His missing son is named, Ovi Mahajan Jr (kuch bhi!). Young Priyanshu Painyuli — the super-fine 'find' from the film Bhavesh Joshi Superhero — is the Bangladeshi don.

But for so much delightful desiness in this grand deadliness, would one have even watched this flick with such keen eyes? Let alone responded to it in so many words? Good question.

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Priyanka Chopra Jonas has worked with Rishi Kapoor in Agneepath and has experienced his charm first hand. She even visited him in New York when he was there for his treatment with his wife, Neetu Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor’s demise has been a great loss to the industry and Priyanka Chopra Jonas has written a beautiful piece remembering him and his great work for Time magazine.

In the piece, she said, “From his first leading role in 1973’s Bobby, he was the keeper of our hearts, ushering in a new era of romance in Hindi movies. His charisma was in his extraordinary smile, one that made his fans go weak in the knees. And when he danced, he made us all want to jump up and join him.”

“I had the privilege of working with him in Agneepath, in which he played a fierce, no-holds-barred character, someone to hate rather than love”.

Concluding her piece of work, she wrote, “To your beautiful family, Neetu Ma’am, Riddhima and Ranbir: the world grieves with you... I’m so grateful for having had the opportunity of knowing you personally as well—your candour, your laughter, your zest for life. That’s how I’ll always remember you.”

Also Read: After Rishi Kapoor’s demise, Ranbir Kapoor and Riddhima Kapoor have got Neetu Kapoor’s back

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, 67, who succumbed to cancer on Thursday, was an avid cricket fan with a feel for the history of the game.

Balvinder Singh Sandhu, the man who claimed the first West Indies wicket (Gordon Greenidge) in the fabled 1983 World Cup final at Lord's, remembered how Kapoor was happy to hear about past matches while a lot of his conversations with the departed film stalwart centered around India's 1983 triumph.

Sandhu was present on the sets of the 2011 film, Patiala House for which he had trained star actor Akshay Kumar, who played the role of a cricketer called Parghat Singh Kahlon.

Sandhu's special evening

"I was tucking into an early dinner one evening at Nottingham and Rishi comes to me and says that no one has dinner so early. He urged me to accompany him to a Trent Bridge bar and that's where we were for a few hours, sipping whiskey and talking cricket. I told him I was a big fan of his father, Raj Kapoor and we enjoyed a lovely, memorable evening," Sandhu told mid-day on Thursday.

The former swing bowler was amazed how Kapoor got immersed in his character, Gurtej Singh Kahlon (aka Bauji), who initially did not approve of his son Parghat (aka Gattu) playing cricket for England. "It was tremendous to see him display his skills before the camera. I told him that his performance was going to fetch him an award. He did it so well," remarked Sandhu.

Balvinder Singh Sandhu

Meanwhile, across the border, Pakistan's former wicketkeeper Wasim Bari said he cherished Kapoor's friendship ever since they met on his first Test tour to India in 1979-80. Kapoor met Pakistan cricket journalist Qamar Ahmed at a party during the series and expressed a desire to speak to Bari. Qamar arranged that and Rishi became good friends with Bari, then arguably, the No. 1 wicketkeeper in world cricket.

"I am very sad to hear the news of Rishi's death. I tried reaching out to him while he was undergoing his cancer treatment but couldn't. I remember being invited for a meal at his home and him even giving me a gift for my wife. My condolences to the Kapoor family, including Neetu," Bari, 72 told mid-day.

Those Sharjah trips

Meanwhile, Bari's former teammate and captain Zaheer Abbas recalled a great bond with Kapoor which got stronger during the departed actor's visits to Sharjah and Zaheer's trips to India.

Wasim Bari

"Rishi would always offer me a cigar and would cut and shape it for me," Zaheer told Qamar during a lunch meeting on Thursday.

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The field of bioengineered tooth has received a great deal of attention in the past few years as it has shown potential to regenerate.Bone marrow cells promote stimulation of bioengineered teeth.

Even though recipients who received liver grafts from older donors (70 and older) had improved outcomes with reduced mortality, graft loss and postoperative

Hepatitis B and C viral control was found to improve kidney transplant survival rates, stated study published in the Journal of Hepatology. Renal

Modified CRISPR gene editing tool could aid to develop fast-track therapies for HIV, sickle cell disease and, potentially, other immune conditions, according

Non-drug therapies given to military members with long-term pain may decrease the risk of long-term outcomes like alcohol, drug disorder, self-induced

Following the Hotel's reopening on 1st March 2020, Four Seasons Hotel Doha has unveiled the details of its complete interior design overhaul, courtesy of award winning and world-renowned interior designer, Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR). Following extensive renovations of the guestrooms, suites, floors, lobby and dining outlets, the Hotel has been reshaped into an unmatched luxury destination at the heart of Qatar's capital city. Within this urban sanctuary, a refreshed colour scheme, including a rich spectrum of blues and beige in the guestrooms, evoke the earth, sprawling skies and Gulf views of Doha, while verdant colors and patterns in the new Tea Lounge pay homage to the splendours of nature. The redesign continues to establish an elevated sense of place and time through a blend of classical and contemporary elements, and touches of Middle Eastern influences from the region, visible through the opulent and colourful chandeliers as well as the ornate furniture detailing. Qatari artwork ...

Shraddha Das has shared her hot bikini avatars from her recent vacation in Bali in Indonesia.

Rakul Preet Singh has sported two-piece bikini.