The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Oprah Winfrey tells Harvard graduates to learn from mistakes Posted: 31 May 2013 06:55 AM PDT
In a commencement address at the Ivy League school outside Boston, Winfrey told the graduates that they were bound to stumble no matter how high they might rise, but that "there is no such thing as failure — failure is just life trying to move us in another direction". She said she was asked to speak at Harvard after her newly launched Oprah Winfrey Network had been declared a flop by the media, and that she wondered what she might tell graduates "in the very moment when I had stopped succeeding". Inspired by the words of a hymn and knowing she would be delivering the Harvard address, Winfrey, 59, said she found the determination to move forward. "I am here to tell you today, I have turned that network around," she said. "Learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter and particularly mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more of who you are, and then figure out what is the right next move." Winfrey joined a long list of politicians, policy makers, captains of industry and authors — including Bill Gates and J.K. Rowling — who have offered their wisdom and advice to Harvard's graduating classes. Long a fixture on Time Magazine's 100 most influential people list, Winfrey has been popular on the college commencement circuit, speaking at Stanford University, Duke University and Spelman College in recent years.
"It helped me decide that I wasn't just going to be on television every day," she said. "What became clear to me was that I was here on earth to use television and not be used by it, to use television to illuminate the transcendent power of our better angels." In the US political system and the media, she said, "we often see the reflection of a country that is polarised, that is paralysed and is self-interested". "We all know that we are better than the cynicism and the pessimism that is regurgitated throughout Washington and the 24-hour cable news cycle," Winfrey told the graduates. The vast majority of Americans realised that gun rights could be balanced with efforts to reduce gun violence, she said, and that US immigration laws could be enforced while offering a clear path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. "Your generation is charged with this task of breaking through what the body politic has thus far made impervious to change," she said. She said the Class of 2013 was "armed with more tools of empowerment than any generation in history", referring to social media and its potential for mobilising humanitarian efforts. Earlier in the day, Winfrey was also awarded an honorary doctorate. Boston Mayor Thomas Merino was among the other recipients of honorary doctorates at Harvard's 362nd graduation ceremonies. — Reuters |
| Producers pin hopes on jailed Bollywood actor Dutt’s new film Posted: 31 May 2013 06:24 AM PDT
Dutt, 53, went back to jail on May 16 to serve the remainder of a five-year sentence for firearms offences during the Mumbai bombings 20 years ago. The actor wrapped up work on pending Bollywood projects in the weeks before he reported to prison. "Policegiri", an action thriller that stars Dutt as an intrepid police officer, is the first featuring him in a lead role to open in Indian cinemas since his incarceration. Dutt had a brief guest appearance in "Hum Hain Raahi Car Ke", a romantic comedy that sank at the box office last week. The producer of "Policegiri" said Dutt would be missed at promotional events for the film. "I am hoping that fans will go out and watch this film," said Rahul Aggarwal, who is co-producing the film with his father. "There should be no sympathy, only affection for Sanjay Dutt." The Bollywood industry had reacted with shock to news of Dutt's sentencing in March, with the actor seen by fans as a victim of his fame. His hit film "Khal Nayak" in 1993 coincided with his initial arrest on conspiracy charges in the Mumbai blasts that year. The actor is best known for his role as a do-gooding gangster in the "Munnabhai" films of the past decade. A third film in the series was put on the back burner because of Dutt's imprisonment. But trade analysts are sceptical about the ageing Dutt's ability to best competition at the box office. The actor's last commercial hit was 2012's "Agneepath", in which he played a menacing villain with a shaved head. "He isn't the young Sanjay Dutt of 'Khal Nayak' fame anymore," Bollywood trade analyst Amod Mehra said. "He was a superstar then but look at his age now." — Reuters |
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