Entertainment: Diane Kruger bags best actress award at Cannes

Diane Kruger, a German- American actress won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival on May 28. She bagged the award for her performance in German drama In the Fade (Aus Dem Nichts).

Kruger’s ex-boyfriend and The Affair star Joshua Jackson was very happy at her achievement. He congratulated her in an Instagram post.

“Yes she Cannes. Having witnessed the integrity and dedication that you bring to every job, I'm over the moon to see you getting the recognition you deserve. Only question is what took 'em so long! CONGRATULATIONS, Josh #dianekruger, (sic)” he wrote.

The 40-year-old actress is best known for her role of Helen in the war film Troy. She has been praised for her role of detective Sonya Cross in crime series Bridges and has worked both in films as well as TV series.

My successes are a result of early failures: Aamir Khan

Often referred to as Mr Perfectionist, superstar Aamir Khan attributes his success to his early failures.

“It is now 27 years that I have been acting and very early in my career, I went through a phase that was a huge learning experience for me. The level of input that I have been putting has been the same right through but I made mistakes. So, what I am today is not just the result of my successes but also because of my failures. They taught me the most. That's why I have been able to build my career the way I have,” he said.

Aamir says that while his creative involvement has always been the same, he did go through a learning curve.

The 52-year-old actor has not had a flop since his Mela in 2000 and while Mangal Pandey was not a grand success, it managed to recover its costs.

Currently, Aamir is all set to reteam with his Dhoom 3 director Vijay Krishna Acharya and co-star Katrina Kaif for the Yash Raj project that also has his Dangal co-actor Fatima Sana Sheikh. But, it is working with megastar Amitabh Bachchan for the first time that he is most excited about.

Speaking on his film Dangal doing so well in China, Aamir said, “Why an actor connects to an audience is difficult to articulate. It is a very intangible thing, you cannot really pin it down. But I would like to believe that it is my films and my good work that has connected me to the people whether it is India or anywhere else in the world.”

As a producer and director, Aamir thinks, China has shown the way when it comes to taking the entertainment business forward and hoped the Indian government also will promote popular art and culture in a big way.

Farhan launches campaign to combat gender-based violence

Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar has on Tuesday launched a new campaign to combat gender-based violence that seeks to rope in youngsters to take the movement forward. His earlier campaign MARD – Men Against Rape and Discrimination failed to bring the expected changes,

‘#BasAbBahutHoGaya — #EnoughIsEnough’ was unveiled during a Facebook Live session with the actor-director announcing a short film contest for college students across the country.

“There are several aspects to this new campaign that will unravel in the coming months, but right now we are focusing on college students. We would like young people to make the film on their understanding about violence against women,” Farhan said.

Students would be required to make a two-minute long short film capturing different facets of violence against women by August 24. The winners of the contest will be announced on October 2, who then will get an opportunity to be part of the MARD concert that is scheduled to be held towards the end of the year.

Akhtar, who was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador to South Asia in November last year, has been bringing the issues of gender equality to the centre stage.

With inputs from NH Features