Entertainment

Singer Sonu Nigam attacked by MLA’s ‘selfie-seeker’ son

Published

2 years ago

February 21, 2023

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Singer Sonu Nigam and his team were manhandled by Swapnil Phatarpekar, the son of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) MLA Prakash Phatarpekar, at a music event in Chembur late Monday evening.

Nigam told TOI, “I am okay, but my brother (friend Rabbani Khan) is hurt. And my bodyguard is hurt.” Rabbani is the son of the late guru of Indian classical music Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan whose students include the who’s who of playback singing from Lata Mangeshkar to A Hariharan and Nigam himself. The incident, which was captured on camera, took place after Swapnil Phatarpekar, son of MLA Phatarpekar, insisted on taking a selfie with the singer. Nigam’s team did not recognise him. This led to a scuffle as Swapnil and his supporters manhandled Nigam and his team as the singer was leaving the stage.

A video of the incident went viral. The stage was dimly lit and one person is seen pushing another off the stage. Rabbani told TOI, “The attack was sudden and without provocation. This person whom we do not know, approached Sonuji for a selfie. When his bodyguard resisted, the man pushed him off the stage. Then he came towards Sonu. As Sonuji caught my hand, the attacker threw me off stage too. I fell from a height of eight feet. I landed on my spine.”

Rabbani was treated as an outpatient at a local Chembur hospital and discharged. “My X-ray reports are awaited. The pain is immense and I hope there are no internal injuries,” he said.
Rabbani’s brother Murtuza, the eldest son of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, was upset by the attack. He said, “This should not happen with artistes. They are not involved in politics. It could have been worse. I am thankful to the Almighty that my brother is okay.” MLA Phatarpekar did not answer calls or messages seeking comment. Swapnil has previously been involved in controversy. In April 2022, the BJP had alleged that he was behind a midnight incident of stone pelting after their ‘Pol Khol’ rathyatra against corruption.

Chembur police confirmed the incident and were verifying the sequence of events and recording statements. They later began the process of registering an offence against the MLA’s son and his supporters.

Entertainment

Veteran singer Saman De Silva passes away

Published

8 minutes ago

April 27, 2025

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Veteran singer Saman De Silva, a renowned and popular Baila artist, has passed away, family sources confirmed.

Saman De Silva was widely celebrated for his contribution to Baila music.

Among his popular songs are ‘Niyare Piya Nagala’, ‘Punchi Kurulu Kuduwe’, ‘Suroopi Viroopi’ (Epa Epa Rewatenu), ‘Santhosa Wenna Preethi Wenna’, ‘Thana Nilla Dige’, and ‘Pura Handa Neguna’, all of which remain favorites among audiences.

Throughout his musical career, Saman De Silva travelled extensively, performing in many countries around the world.

He was an alumnus of Nalanda College, Colombo.

Entertainment

Boyce Avenue arrives in Sri Lanka

Published

2 days ago

April 25, 2025

editor

Popular music group Boyce Avenue arrived in Sri Lanka last night (April 24) to perform at an upcoming concert.

The band landed at Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport at 10:00 p.m. aboard AirAsia flight AK-047 from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

They were warmly welcomed by members of the Sri Lankan concert organizing team upon arrival.

The much-anticipated concert will take place at Waters Edge in Colombo, featuring performances by three Sri Lankan Western music groups alongside Boyce Avenue.

Entertainment

Ryan Gosling to star in new Star Wars film

Published

1 week ago

April 19, 2025

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Ryan Gosling is to star in a new Star Wars film, which is set to be released in two years’ time.

The new Disney project is titled Star Wars: Starfighter, and will be directed by Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy.

“The reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters,” said Barbie actor Gosling at a Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo.

“It’s filled with so much heart and adventure, and there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.”

Gosling’s lifelong passion for the franchise was on display at the event, which showed his childhood Star Wars bedsheets on screen.

“You can see from the picture, I guess I was probably dreaming about Star Wars before I even saw the film,” he said.

“And it’s probably framed my idea of what a movie even was,” he said.

Set to be released on 7 May 2027, the film is a standalone story and won’t follow the main plotline of the Skywalker family and recent sequels starring Daisy Ridley.

Not many details about the storyline have been revealed yet.

According to the Star Wars website, it is “set approximately five years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker” with Gosling playing a new character.

The new space adventure is “not a prequel, not sequel, it’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet”, added Levy.

The next Star Wars film release is set to be The Mandalorian And Grogu, a sequel to The Mandalorian starring Pedro Pascal and directed by Jon Favreau.

Gosling was nominated at the Oscars for his portrayal of Ken in 2023’s Barbie blockbuster, which also starred Margot Robbie.

The Canadian actor, known for roles in La La Land and The Notebook, also starred as a stuntman in last year’s The Fall Guy.

(BBC News)