Category: 5. Entertainment

  • Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers for Aug. 10, #791

    Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers for Aug. 10, #791

    Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


    Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features a fun blue category, especially for bookworms like me. That purple category, though — no one does those random “look for a word inside of a word” categories like the Times. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

    The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

    Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

    Hints for today’s Connections groups

    Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

    Yellow group hint: To have an effect on something.

    Green group hint: Gather together.

    Blue group hint: Not nonfiction.

    Purple group hint: Look at a high-school or college schedule for hints.

    Answers for today’s Connections groups

    Yellow group: Influence.

    Green group: Amass.

    Blue group: Kinds of fiction.

    Purple group: Starting with math and science classes, for short.

    Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

    What are today’s Connections answers?

    completed NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 10, 2025, #791

    The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025, No. 791.

    NYT/Screenshot by CNET

    The yellow words in today’s Connections

    The theme is influence. The four answers are juice, pull, sway and weight.

    The green words in today’s Connections

    The theme is amass. The four answers are cluster, collect, concentrate and group.

    The blue words in today’s Connections

    The theme is kinds of fiction. The four answers are fan, historical, pulp and science.

    The purple words in today’s Connections

    The theme is starting with math and science classes, for short. The four answers are biopic, calcium, chemise and triglyceride. (Biology, calculus, chemistry and trigonometry.)


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  • Finneas and Ashe: ‘I said thanks for coming to Taylor Swift. At her own birthday party’ | Culture

    Finneas and Ashe: ‘I said thanks for coming to Taylor Swift. At her own birthday party’ | Culture

    Your duo name is The Favors. What is the biggest favour someone has done for you?

    Ashe: I had someone take my car all the way from LA to San Jose. Which is like, a five-and-a-half-hour drive – and then they had to take a flight home.

    Finneas: When I was 18, I had a crappy little car, and someone rented me an electric car for my birthday. I drove it up into the mountains, and it stopped. Because it was an electric car, it didn’t have a real key, and the key fob disconnected. I was stranded with my girlfriend at the time. My dad had to drive up to the mountains to rescue us.

    What are you secretly really good at?

    Finneas: Impressions. And I’m not doing one for you. The one I do the most is probably Benny Blanco.

    If you could be on any reality TV show, which one would you choose?

    Ashe: The Real Housewives of … probably Orange County, but if I had my pick: Salt Lake City. I don’t think I’m chaotic enough for those ladies, but Orange County I could manage.

    Finneas: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition with Ty Pennington. I loved Ty Pennington growing up.

    Ashe: Who was that “move that bus” guy?

    Finneas: Ty Pennington.

    Ashe: We should do a music video –

    Finneas: – of Extreme Makeover? We start by just demolishing a house that’s really good, and then we have to build a shitty house.

    What do you do when you can’t get to sleep?

    Ashe: Watch the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

    Finneas: I watch Family Guy. I find Family Guy very meditative. I’m comforted by it. If I’m watching a thriller or something, I’m gonna stay awake and pay attention. Family Guy is like, they’re gonna be fine.

    What film or book do you always return to and why?

    Finneas: Harry Potter. I’ve read the series many times.

    Ashe: Good Will Hunting. It’s sweet.

    Finneas: You know they’re gonna be OK.

    Ashe: I’ve been watching a lot of scary movies though recently, and I’m getting so desensitised that now I’m falling asleep to them.

    Finneas: Jesus Christ. What have you been watching?

    Ashe: The entire Conjuring series, because then there’s The Nun, and The Nun 2, and Annabelle. [My fiance] John is watching the movie through the reflection of the painting next to our bed because he’s too afraid.

    Finneas: I’d be big spoon for John but I would not be able to watch.

    When you go to a hotel, what’s the first thing you do?

    Ashe: Disinfect everything. I’m neurotic. I take my little antibacterial wipes, wipe down the handles and put the do not disturb sign on.

    Finneas: First thing I turn off whatever weird autoplay loop the TV is playing. I hate that!

    Ashe: You’re always in fancier hotels!

    Finneas: Even now in shitty ones, they have it everywhere. If I don’t do that and I get all my bags and maybe I go take a shower, then I come out and realise I’ve been hearing the same loop for two hours. That shit drives me insane. Like a lot of yellow cabs in New York, they always have the TV playing. I always turn the sound off, and I’ve had many cab drivers be like, “I’m glad you did that.”

    What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had?

    Finneas: Growing up in LA, they have you do a thing that as a kid, you’re like, “sweet” – and then as an adult, you’re like, “that was child labour”. It’s called market research. They’re like, do you want to watch a show or play a game and then talk to a panel of adults who are working on the thing for many hours in exchange for literally $15? Like, a crazy low number for a day’s amount of work! You’re probably eight. You’re very young. And you get a dial that you turn as you watch the show for like, “I’m enjoying it” or “I’m not enjoying it”.

    Ashe: We should do one of those now.

    Did any of the shows make it to air?

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    Finneas: I mean, it wasn’t –

    Ashe: Family Guy.

    Finneas: I did it for the Tony Hawk video game one time, and I was like: yes, I love Tony Hawk! But also, it’s not done? You’re playing, then you get into an area and it’s all white. They’re like, “oh, we haven’t build this area”. Well, that’s lame! Come back to me when it’s done!

    What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

    Finneas: A guy who’s a mastering engineer once said to me, “Listen man, if something ever goes wrong, you just rock out.” Just rock out, man. I sometimes think, damn, I really am doing that. I had a show recently where shit was going wrong, and I was like: time to rock out, dude. What’s my alternative here? Oh, my flight’s delayed four hours? Let’s rock out, dude.

    Ashe: That’s my new favourite advice. My mum was always like, just remember there’s no ceiling to what you can accomplish. I don’t know if that’s always common with parents. [Most are] like, don’t dream too big or you might fail, you’re gonna disappoint yourself. But she was very “go for it, babe”.

    What’s been your most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?

    Ashe: Finneas took me to a really fun Halloween party once, and I’d had a few drinks. I was dressed as Marie Antoinette, with blood on my neck.

    Finneas: Her hair was amazing. It was real up.

    Ashe: I saw Margot Robbie out of the corner of my eye, and I was liquid … stoked.

    Finneas: Liquid brave.

    Ashe: And I went up to her and I said, “Hey, you know what sometimes happens? People say we look alike.” It’s criminal to say that out loud to the person! She obviously is the coolest person ever, so she was like, we should start a band. What a sweetheart for making me not feel miserable in that moment.

    Finneas: I watched Ashe go do it, being like, oh my god oh my god oh my god.

    Ashe: Then I walked over to Finneas like, ‘Do you want to meet Margot Robbie?’

    Finneas: I’m trying to think of something cringey for me … I said thanks for coming to Taylor Swift. At her birthday party. She said, “Thank you so much for coming” and I said, “Thank you for coming!”

    We have to end on a really serious question. What is the ideal length of men’s shorts?

    Ashe: [Stands up and gestures at her knees.]

    Finneas: Oh, low. That’s the San Jose in you, dude, that’s like a Billabong.

    Ashe: No! I’ll pull it up. [The invisible shorts are now at mid-thigh.]

    Finneas: I will answer with another question: what kind of material are we working with inside the short? Is it a bathing suit? Is there a mesh? Is there something inside to keep it safe?

    OK, let me rephrase. What is the ideal length and material of men’s shorts?

    Finneas: Linen’s nice, but yeah – it depends on what kind of boxers I have on under there. There’s a length that’s unsafe.

    Ashe: Too short is obnoxious. It’s not really LA for dudes to wear shorts.

    Finneas: I don’t feel good in shorts.

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  • Justin Bieber and Son Jack Blues Cuddle in Adorable Photos

    Justin Bieber and Son Jack Blues Cuddle in Adorable Photos

    Justin Bieber is soaking up some quality time with his 11-month-old son, Jack Blues.

    On Saturday (Aug. 9), the 31-year-old pop superstar shared a series of heartwarming selfies on social media, showing sweet moments with Jack Blues, who will celebrate his first birthday on Aug. 22.

    In the Instagram carousel, Bieber posted three photos featuring the father-son duo, with Jack’s face intentionally kept out of view. In the first snapshot, the “Dadz Love” singer gazes into the camera while his son’s tiny feet peek into the frame. The next two images capture tender moments, with Bieber lovingly kissing the back of his Jack Blues’ head.

    Last month, Bieber — who shares Jack Blues with his wife, Hailey Bieber — also gave fans a peek at their little one during a visit to the recording studio, where he was likely working on his latest album, Swag. The project dropped on July 11 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

    Jack Blues and Hailey also appear in the music video for Justin’s new song “Yukon,” released on Aug. 5. The black-and-white visual, directed by Cole Bennett, shows the Bieber family basking in the sun aboard a sleek yacht resembling the logo of Justin’s new apparel brand Skylrk. The video captures tender moments as the couple cuddles their son and kisses his tiny toes while creating an adorable family portrait.

    “We shot this a couple weeks back over the course of a few days in Spain & Italy. Shot on FX3 & GoPro, printed on 16mm film. I’ll remember these memories for the rest of my life. Thank you for everything,” Bennett wrote on Instagram, tagging both Justin and Hailey.

    “Yukon” marks Jack Blues’ official music video debut, while Hailey has previously made appearances in several of her husband’s visuals, including DJ Khaled and Drake’s “Popstar,” Dan + Shay and Bieber’s “10,000 Hours,” and Ariana Grande and Bieber’s “Stuck with U.”

    Check out Bieber’s adorable father-son selfies on Instagram here.


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  • JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette seen in intimate wedding photos

    JFK Jr., Carolyn Bessette seen in intimate wedding photos

    Carole Radziwill is sharing rare photographs from the ultra-private wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.

    The “Real Housewives of New York City” alum shared exclusive photographs she took during the couple’s intimate 1996 ceremony with CNN in anticipation of the cable network’s three-part series “American Prince: JFK Jr,” which premieres Aug. 9.

    “It’s almost like they eloped with 30 of their closest friends. It was very much like that,” Radziwill told CNN about the Kennedys’ ceremony in a one-room church on Cumberland Island in Georgia. “You didn’t get the sense that anything was overly planned. They just let things happen the way they happened. And there was something so beautiful about that.”

    In one photo, the power couple cut their three-tier wedding cake while another features Kennedy Jr. pictured with a faith leader and his uncle Ted Kennedy. Kennedy, the longtime U.S. senator representing Massachusetts, died in 2009. Another snap captured the fashion power couple dancing after the ceremony as Bessette Kennedy wears her husband’s suit jacket.

    In one photo, JFK Jr. posed with his cousin – Radziwill’s husband Anthony Radziwill, who died of cancer in 1999 – while donning satin boxers and a tank top. Style icon Bessette Kennedy was snapped in her simple Narciso Rodriguez wedding dress.

    The former journalist Radziwill was a close friend of the son of former President John F. Kennedy and his fashion publicist wife until their tragic death in a plane crash in 1999. The “RHONY” star told CNN that, to prevent leaks, the couple did not provide a lot of information to their wedding guests ahead of the ceremony.

    “It became apparent pretty quickly that nobody in the world knew we were there or why we were there,” Radziwill revealed. “That in itself was magical, because we were just like, ‘Oh, my God, they pulled it off.’ Mostly Carolyn pulled it off, because she was determined to be married privately.”

    Radziwill said the simple nature of the ceremony added “an elegance to the casualness that I think is hard to replicate – certainly now and even then, it’s just who they were as human beings.”

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  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Releases New "Battle Trailer" Featuring Tanjiro and Akaza – Crunchyroll

    Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Releases New "Battle Trailer" Featuring Tanjiro and Akaza – Crunchyroll

    1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Releases New “Battle Trailer” Featuring Tanjiro and Akaza  Crunchyroll
    2. New Footage of Tanjiro & Giyu vs Akaza Revealed in First Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle CM Trailer  Anime Corner
    3. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle dominates Japan box office, overtakes One Piece Film: Red with…  Hindustan Times
    4. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 Movie Box Office Collection Till Now and Total Prediction  Beebom
    5. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle release date, new trailer, and everything else you need to know  yahoo.com

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  • How OpenWav Wants to Revolutionize the Music Merch Business

    How OpenWav Wants to Revolutionize the Music Merch Business

    Over the past month and a half, K-pop veteran Kevin Woo’s career has skyrocketed thanks to the unexpected global takeover of Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters. 

    Woo’s been in K-pop for much of his life, starting with the boy band U-KISS back in 2008 before starting a solo career in 2018, but he’s having the biggest moment of his career today, after providing the singing voice for one of the characters in the film, Mystery Saja. Demon Hunters has drawn him over 100,000 new followers online, he says, and the soundtrack songs he’s on alone have pushed Woo’s monthly listener count on Spotify from just over 10,000 a few months ago to over 28 million. 

    “I loved the songs and knew they were great, but we didn’t know it was going to be anything like this,” Woo tells THR

    Now, Woo is looking to turn this unexpected moment of virality into a larger moment for the rest of his career, and he’s hoping to do it through a new, do-everything fan engagement app called OpenWav. 

    Last week, Woo sold about 2,500 tickets on OpenWav for a pop-up event in downtown L.A. timed to KCON, where he cosplayed as Mystery Saja and hosted a flashmob to the Demon Hunters track “Soda Pop” with over 2,000 fans in attendance. He started selling them in the app about a week earlier (most were free except for about 100 $50 VIP tickets) and through OpenWav, he also designed, listed and sold about 3,000 pieces of limited-edition merchandise in the three days following the event. The whole experience netted him “a healthy five figures” in revenue, a representative for the app says. 

    As Woo says, it’s a more realistic alternative to relying on streaming income, which remains paltry for all but the biggest acts in the business. 

    “It’s really hard to make a living just off of music; a lot of musicians have side hustles just to pay their rent, it’s incredibly difficult to monetize just off of streams,” Woo tells The Hollywood Reporter over Zoom. “But there’s a fan base that I’ve already built, and this is the time for me to take ownership of my music and events. OpenWav was willing to collaborate with me for that.”

    OpenWav was co-founded by longtime music-tech entrepreneur Jaeson Ma, a co-founder of the record label 88Rising. OpenWav officially launched in June, and rapper Wyclef Jean serves as Chief Music Officer. The app has received backing from the likes of Warner Music Group, the CAA-backed Connect Ventures and Goodwater Capital, among others. 

    Ma created OpenWav hoping it can give smaller acts a break from the streaming economy, calling the current dynamic “broken.” Rather than competing with the 100,000 songs uploaded every day on Spotify with the hopes of getting hundreds of millions of streams, Ma says the more sustainable option is finding “one thousand true fans,” the ones who will actually buy in not just on music, but with merch and tickets. Ma is one of many who are growing more focused on these so-called superfans, as the industry has identified that as an area of potential growth now that streaming is becoming increasingly saturated. 

    “Kevin’s the perfect artist to show this thesis, that a thousand fans can mean a sustainable career to build off of,” Ma says. “Back in March, we did a beta drop, Kevin had less than 10,000 monthly listeners. He had maybe 100 superfans on OpenWav. Two merch drops did over $20,000 in sales. It takes a million streams for a few thousand dollars, and that’s before what you pay for distribution, to your management. Do the math.”

    OpenWav takes a 20 percent cut of revenue on the service, while the artists keep the rest. Ma likens OpenWav to WeChat, the Chinese super-app where its users can do everything from send messages to pay their bills. Fan engagement, Ma says, is fragmented, and he hopes drawing fans to one spot where they can listen to music, talk directly with the artist and buy products will make it easier for artists to build and monetize from their fan base. 

    “There’s no other place where you can do all this in one space, and it can be overwhelming for artists to manage fans across so many different platforms,” he says. 

    The biggest selling point for artists, though, could be for merch. Ma spent the past year and a half securing partnerships with factories overseas to develop a drop-shipping platform where artists can sell merchandise without taking on inventory. In the app, artists can design a basic mock-up for shirts, phone cases and more; list them on their OpenWav shops right after; after which the merchandise is made to order and shipped from the factories.

    Woo himself calls that model “a testament to urgency” that comes with being an independent artist. “I’ve got this momentum with this film in my career and I’m able to act immediately, and I think Jaeson and OpenWav have understood that.” 

    Ma hopes OpenWav can empower artists to keep their independence and control over their careers, saying that “the message we keep telling independent artists is that you can own your music, your masters, your data, and that starts with owning the connection to your fans.”

    It’s a philosophy Woo is embracing. 

    “The strategy I have now is still me being the forefront and the captain of my own ship and taking what I need to get my music out there,” Woo says. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a traditional label, where they have full ownership of my career. I feel like I need to have the full say and control, and things like this help.”

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  • Blake Lively scores courtroom WIN over Justin Baldoni; Judge strikes actress’s deposition transcript from court docket |

    Blake Lively scores courtroom WIN over Justin Baldoni; Judge strikes actress’s deposition transcript from court docket |

    The legal showdown between Hollywood stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni just seems to be getting messier. After her recent filing, Judge Lewis J Liman has ordered the removal of the actress’s nearly 300-page deposition transcript from a court filing and delivered a sharp reprimand to Baldoni’s legal team for including it in the public records.The court also accused Baldoni’s team, lead by Bryan Freedman, of burdening both the actress and the justice system and also for potentially stirring up a scandal.

    Bryan Kohberger’s Murder House Photos Released: They’re Hard to Unsee | WATCH

    According to Variety, the dispute erupted when Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, attached the sealed transcript to a recent discovery motion, despite referencing only two pages of it. She said she believed Baldoni’s team submitted the transcript “solely for strategic media and public-relations purposes.” Her lawyers also argued the move was an attempt to sway potential jurors through the court of public opinion and make it appear as if she wanted the transcript sealed.Judge Liman didn’t mince words in his opinion, obtained by Just Jared, “The Wayfarer Parties’ attachment of the entire, nearly 300-page deposition—after citing only two pages… served no proper litigation purpose and instead appears to have been intended to burden Lively (and as a result, the Court) and to invite public speculation and scandal.”Freedman responded to the court, stating that the transcript was under seal. He even slammed Lively’s claim they were trying to make her defend the “continued sealing of the transcript.”“Lively has the option of moving to keep the document sealed; although it is puzzling why she seeks to conceal her own testimony in an action in which she is the plaintiff,” Freedman wrote.The judge in his opinion, stated, “The Wayfarer Parties have not even attempted to argue that the entire deposition was relevant. Nor could they. The conclusion is inescapable that the Wayfarer Parties filed gratuitous amounts of irrelevant pages so that, if Lively moved for continued sealing of the irrelevant pages, the Wayfarer Parties could then use Lively’s response for their own public-relations purposes. The Court has not only the power but also the responsibility to step in.”The judge ordered several filings to be sealed and granted Lively’s motion.While Baldoni’s team has denied wrongdoing, the ruling marks another victory for Lively in a case that has been drawing attention from all quarters. The high profile cast will has a court date set for March 9, 2026.


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  • How Bollywood’s lens on Kashmir has changed – DW – 08/09/2025

    How Bollywood’s lens on Kashmir has changed – DW – 08/09/2025

    From snowcapped mountains to a land scarred by conflict and calls for “azaadi” (freedom), Bollywood movies have shaped how the world sees Kashmir.

    A powerful dialogue from Vishal Bhardwaj’s acclaimed 2014 film “Haider” transcends the screen, capturing the human stories of Kashmir — a Himalayan territory where breathtaking beauty and rich culture belie a decades-long conflict between India and Pakistan.

    “Are we here or not? If we are, where and if not, where have we gone? If we exist, for whom and when? Sir… were we ever there, or never at all?” the character Haider asks.

    The dialogue also raises the question of how India’s Hindi-language film industry, Bollywood, portrays Muslim-majority Kashmir.

    “Haider” is Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” set against the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict in the mid-1990s. The movie offers a delicate portrayal of violence, enforced disappearances and the psychological toll of conflict.

    Kashmir’s past as a cinematic paradise

    In the decades following India’s independence from colonial rule in 1947, Bollywood often depicted Kashmir as a romantic idyll: a valley nestled amid snowy mountains, vibrant tulip gardens and lush deodar and chinar trees.

    Poster for the 1992 Indian film Roja
    From ‘Roja’ onward, militants are frequently depicted as violent antagonistsImage: Ultra Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

    In “Barsaat” (1949), Raj Kapoor uses Kashmir less as a political subject and more as a scenic backdrop for romance — an escape from the humdrum of urban life.

    Later films such as “Kashmir ki Kali” (1964) continued the trend, while rarely acknowledging the people or politics of the region.

    According to author and filmmaker Sanjay Kak, Kashmir served as a playground, “where the fantasies of Indians could be played out, with Kashmiris playing bit parts somewhere in the background.” 

    Kak added that the post-independence period “was imbued with Nehruvian optimism of secularism and brotherhood.”

    The emphasis on the landscape over people’s lives — romance over reality — shaped the image of Kashmir as paradise on Earth, alluring tourists and captivating the international imagination, while laying the groundwork for Bollywood’s later engagement with the region’s politics.

    Kashmir militancy marks a turning point for Bollywood

    But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kashmir experienced violent anti-India militancy.

    An armed insurgency erupted in India-administered Kashmir after New Delhi was accused of rigging the 1987 assembly election in favor of an Indian nationalist coalition of political parties.

    The Muslim United Front (MUF), a coalition of Islamic parties that many predicted would perform well in the polls, lost the election.

    In response to the violence, the Indian government enacted counterinsurgency measures including the enforcement of laws such as the 1958 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which extends extrajudicial powers to security forces.

    These sociopolitical developments altered Kashmir’s cinematic image from paradise to a place of increased militarization, fear and communal divide — an image which still prevails.

    The Kashmir Files: Bollywood film that divides India

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    According to Meenakshi Bharat, author of “Hindi Cinema and Pakistan,” the turbulence of the 1990s brought Kashmir to the center of India’s political and emotional consciousness.

    “Hindi cinema, as the true mirror of the Indian imaginary, was compelled to take cognizance of this change,” she told DW.

    As a result, the film narrative shifted. Kashmir was increasingly portrayed as a battleground where Indian soldiers fought the Pakistan-backed insurgents.

    Films like “Roja” (1992) intertwined human stories with themes of conflict and militantism, and questions of freedom and identity.

    “This film truly marked the sad transformation of Kashmir as a love-setting to a threatened, ravaged ‘paradise’,” said Bharat.

    From “Roja” onward, militants are frequently depicted as violent antagonists — a portrayal that critics say risked reducing Muslim identity to militantism.

    Filmmaker Kak argued that “Roja” used Kashmir as a landscape in which Indians could reconstruct their fantasies about nationalism and patriotism.”

    Existential drama on screen

    By the early 2000s, films began to highlight the intricate social, political and emotional realities of Kashmir — including its history of conflict and the trauma experienced by its people due to ongoing violence.

    This unresolved grief — marked by disappearances, displacement and fractured families — deeply shaped the narratives, paving the way for stories that intertwined personal tragedy with military ideologies.

    Popular films of this period explored Kashmir’s deep pain and complex conflict, balancing the harsh realities — psychological trauma, widespread violence and human rights abuses faced by the Kashmiris — with the Indian national perspective focused on security and patriotism.

    This dual perspective still shapes how Kashmir’s story is told on screen.

    Bollywood’s ‘statist’ perspective shapes cinema narratives

    Kak describes Hindi cinema today as “statist,” meaning largely aligned with government narratives.

    Has abrogation of Article 370 curbed violence in Kashmir?

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    This has become more visible since August 2019, when New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which had allowed the region limited autonomy. India claimed that Kashmir’s semi-autonomy had been a “root cause” of anti-India militancy.

    “As the state’s position has shifted, so has the cinema,” Kak told DW.

    Contemporary films reflect this shift. “The Kashmir Files” (2022) reignited public debate by representing the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 as a “genocide” — a narrative championed by Hindu nationalist groups.

    However, critics said the film promotes a “one-sided” narrative that risks reinforcing anti-Muslim sentiment and deepening sectarian divides.

    Meanwhile, “Article 370” (2024) endorses the government’s stance on Kashmir, portraying the abrogation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status as heroic and necessary to restore order and national unity.

    Bharat views Bollywood as a mirror to subcontinental life capturing the prevailing political drives and sentiments.

    “It is difficult for the beautiful valleys to appear as an unblemished romantic setting,” she said.

    Bollywood’s Javed Akhtar: Secularism will prevail in India

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    Edited by: Keith Walker

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  • Chad Michael Murray recalls life-threatening illness at age 15: “I was on my deathbed” – The Express Tribune

    Chad Michael Murray recalls life-threatening illness at age 15: “I was on my deathbed” – The Express Tribune

    1. Chad Michael Murray recalls life-threatening illness at age 15: “I was on my deathbed”  The Express Tribune
    2. Chad Michael Murray reveals near-death health scare that led to blood transfusion, 2-month hospitalization  New York Post
    3. Chad Michael Murray recalls being on ‘deathbed’ due to health scare: ‘My intestines had twisted’  Page Six
    4. Chad Michael Murray Reflects on 2-Month Hospitalization at Age 15: ‘I Lost 50 Percent of My Blood’  AOL.com
    5. Chad Michael Murray Says He ‘Lost 50 Percent of My Blood’ During 2-Month Hospitalization as Teenager  Just Jared

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  • Rapper T-Hood fatally shot at Georgia home, Police investigation ongoing

    Rapper T-Hood fatally shot at Georgia home, Police investigation ongoing

    Rising rapper T-Hood, whose real name was Tevin Hood, has died after being shot at a residence in Gwinnett County, Georgia. He was 33.

    According to reports from Channel 2 Action News, the incident occurred on Friday evening around 7 p.m. at a home located on Lee Road in an unincorporated area of Lilburn, just outside Atlanta. Gwinnett County police responded to calls about a domestic dispute that had escalated into gunfire. Upon arrival, officers found Hood suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

    Emergency personnel administered life-saving measures on the scene before transporting him to a local hospital. Despite their efforts, Hood later succumbed to his injuries.

    Authorities confirmed that one person was detained for questioning at the scene, but no arrests have been made as of now. The investigation into the shooting remains active, and police have yet to release further details regarding the nature of the dispute or the individuals involved.

    Hood’s family confirmed his death to local media, and tributes have begun pouring in across social media platforms from fans and fellow artists. Known for his distinct voice and growing influence in Atlanta’s underground hip-hop scene, T-Hood had developed a loyal following through his music and viral social media content.

    His death comes just weeks after he posted an eerie comedy skit on Instagram in which he appeared in a cemetery dressed as a ghost — a video that some fans now find haunting in retrospect.

    Gwinnett County police continue to urge anyone with information about the shooting to come forward as they work to determine what led to the fatal confrontation.

    The hip-hop community mourns the loss of a rising artist whose career was tragically cut short.

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