The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Rushdie says local government did not allow visit to Indian city Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:20 AM PST KOLKATA, Feb 1 — British author Salman Rushdie accused local authorities today of making it impossible for him to visit the Indian city of Kolkata to promote the film adaptation of his novel "Midnight's Children".  British author Salman Rushdie. — AFP pic Rushdie, in a statement, said he was informed that the police would refuse him entry and that the decision was at the behest of West Bengal state's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. He did not say who had told him this. The Indian-born author said a police source had issued details of his planned visit to the media. "This was a clear invitation to troublemakers to do their worst and about 100 people duly turned up at the airport to oppose my arrival. I can't help feeling that this too was a part of the authorities' plan," he said. The West Bengal government reiterated its stance that it did not have details of the author's visit. "We were absolutely in the dark about the invitation to Mr. Rushdie. It could be a private invitation, but we were not informed of it and it did not reach us," West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim told Reuters. Javed Shamim, joint commissioner of police in Kolkata, declined to comment. Rushdie said that he had been planning to participate in the International Kolkata Book Fair and had been asked by organisers to appear as a "surprise guest". "If they now deny this, that is dishonest. They actually paid for my plane ticket," he said. Tridib Chatterjee, honorary general secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which organises the Kolkata Book Fair, said it had not invited Rushdie. "He may be a great writer, but I am sorry to say that he is simply lying. We did not invite him," he told Reuters. Rushdie arrived in Delhi on Jan 22 and attended the film's premier in Mumbai yesterday before leaving the country. Last year, Rushdie scrapped a planned visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival after protests and death threats. Rushdie's abandoned Kolkata visit comes amid protests against Indian actor and director Kamal Haasan's "Vishwaroopam" film, which Muslim groups say targets their beliefs. — Reuters |
| ‘30 Rock’ closes its doors with a sentimental farewell Posted: 01 Feb 2013 08:18 AM PST  Actress Tina Fey holds her award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series backstage at the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 27, 2013. — Reuters pic The satirical show-within-a-show about the inside workings of a fictional television sketch series saw Tina Fey's hapless writer Liz Lemon try to round up her unruly cast for a last hurrah. Along the way, unpredictable sketch star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) causes chaos, self-centred actress Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) attempts to find her true calling on Broadway, and producer Pete Hornberger (Scott Adsit) finally achieves his dream to disappear without a trace. The show's simpleton page-turned-janitor Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer) finds himself in his element with his sudden promotion to head of television network NBC. But under the jokes, the cast showed some real emotion in yesterday's hour-long series finale. "There's a reason people don't say honest goodbyes. It's because when stuff is coming to an end, people freak out and they act crazy," Liz tells Tracy. Despite small audiences, "30 Rock" became a cult favourite, while Liz has been a hero for single geeky women as she tackled the male-dominated world of network television, with phrases such as "what the what," "blerg" and "I want to go to there" becoming popular. The show's finale comes after perpetual unlucky-in-love Liz finally got her happy ending earlier in the season with her marriage to hot dog vendor Criss Chross (James Marsden) and they adopt two children. But after grappling with the trials of being a stay-at-home mother, Liz and Criss agree to swap roles and she returns to work. Liz also finds peace in her dysfunctional relationship with suave, egotistical network executive Jack Donaghy (played by Alec Baldwin) Yesterday's show also saw the return of guest stars Julianne Moore and Salma Hayek as Jack's ex-girlfriends, Conan O'Brien as one of Liz's ex-boyfriends, along with appearances from "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" stars Ice-T and Richard Belzer and Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the US House of Representatives, as herself. "30 Rock" was inspired by Fey's stint as head writer for "Tomorrow Night Live." It has won multiple Emmys since its 2006 premiere but has always suffered from low audience ratings. In the show's prime in 2008-2009, an average of 7.5 million viewers tuned in each week, but the final season has garnered an average of 4 million viewers per episode. In honour of the show's finale, ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's announced a new flavour, the "Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt," which will be available this spring. "30 Rock," which is aired in more than 20 countries around the world, has skyrocketed Fey's career, and she has appeared in films including "Baby Mama," "Date Night" and the upcoming "Admission." Both Fey and Baldwin won the best TV comedy actor and actress accolades at the Screen Actor's Guild awards last Sunday, with Baldwin tweeting, "What a nice note for @nbc30rock to end on." — Reuters |
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