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It has been 23 years but Maratha Mandir is still in love with “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, which completed an uninterrupted run of 1,200 weeks at the city’s iconic theatre.

The 1995 film saw Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol emerge as a romantic heartthrobs in Bollywood, with stellar performances by Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Satish Shah and Himani Shivpuri, among others.

Shah Rukh took to Twitter Wednesday to express his gratitude for the love and adulation.

“A special journey that began 23 years ago, goes on even today. Your love has kept Raj & Simran’s story alive on the big screen for 1200 weeks non-stop. Thank you for falling in love with us so unconditionally for so many years! #23YearsOfDDLJ (sic),” he tweeted.

Kajol added, “1200 weeks and still running! Thank you all for all the love that you have been showering on #DDLJ for so many years! It was, it is and will always be an incredibly special film for all of us. @iamsrk @yrf #AdityaChopra.”

Fondly called “DDLJ”, the film is remembered for its picturesque European locales and Punjab’s mustard fields, which went to become one of many signatures of the film.

Songs like “Na jaane mere”, “Tujhe dekha” and “Ruk ja” by Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu on memorable tunes by Jatin-Lalit still rule the hearts of diehard romantics. Directed by Aditya Chopra, the film completed 20 years in 2015.

The 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will end in Goa on Wednesday with a glittering ceremony.

The closing ceremony will be held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigaon in the evening. Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons, Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, State’s Town & Country Planning Minister Vijai Sardesai and a host of celebrities will be present on the occasion.

The closing film of the festival is Sealed Lips from Germany.

Master writer Salim Khan will be honoured with the IFFI special award for his lifetime contribution to cinema at the closing ceremony.

More than 220 movies from 67 countries were screened at the nine-day event. 26 feature films and 21 non-feature films were screened in the Indian Panorama section.

While Israel was the focus country, Jharkhand was the focus state this year. This is for the first time that any state was made focus state at IFFI. Veteran Israeli filmmaker Dan Wolman was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening ceremony.

Another new section at IFFI this year was the screening of six Indian sports biopics as an extension of the Khelo India initiative.

In the international competition section, 15 movies were screened, out of which 3 were Indian.

At Masterclasses and In-Conversations, a host of film personalities interacted with delegates.

Two movies, Sholay and Hichki, were also screened at this year’s IFFI as part of a special package for visually-impaired persons.

Comedian Kevin Hart will host the next Academy Awards ceremony in February 2019, the “Ride Along” actor said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars and normally announces the host, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hart, 39, who also starred in 2017 film “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” follows talk show host Jimmy Kimmel who took on the gig in 2018 and 2017.

The job of hosting the Oscars is one of the most prestigious but also the most difficult in show business as hosts have to navigate the expectations of the A-list audience in the theater and millions tuning in on television, with a combination of topical and insider jokes.

Oscar nominations will be announced on January 22 next year, with the televised ceremony taking place LIVE in Hollywood on February 24.

At the start of 2018, veteran midfielder Sardar Singh made a comeback into the Indian hockey team.

The former captain was dropped for the Hockey World League finals in Bhubaneswar, in October, 2017, and was also not included in the Asia Cup Squad in December.

In his absence, India struck bronze in World League, and then followed it up with a win over Malaysia in the Asia Cup final to clinch the gold, under Manpreet Singh’s captaincy.

A month after Sultan Azlan, Sardar was dropped again from the team – and Manpreet was again handed the captain’s armband.

The theme, recurrent in Indian Hockey over the past few years has been of chopping and changing and in 2018, it was much the same.

Sardar was one of the big chapters in 2018. After being dropped from CWG squad, he made a grand return in June at the Champions Trophy, where India put on their best show this year. The side put on a fighting display against Australia in the final, but went down 3-1 in shootouts to finish in the 2nd position.

With his performance, he was retained in the Asian Games squad, where the defending champions suffered a humiliating defeat to Malaysia on penalties and failed to bag the gold medal.

After the tournament, Sardar Singh was dropped again for the Asian Champions Trophy and he decided to call it quits, meaning India would enter the World Cup without their most experienced man.

Men’s hockey team proved to be a serious disappointment throughout the year – they failed to bag a medal at CWG 2018, finished with bronze in the Asiad and their dream of a second World Cup title was left shattered with a 1-2 defeat to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

The “chopping-and-changing” was not limited to the players – it befell on the coaches once too.

Eight months after sacking Roelant Oltmans as the men’s team coach, the management once again made another change.

Former Women’s team coach Sjoerd Marijne, who took over the coaching duties from Oltmans, was sent back to his previous duties, and Harendra Singh was given the reigns as the head coach of the men’s team.

A diet of fast food, cakes and processed meat may significantly increase risk of depression.

The study by a University in UK found that eating foods which are known to promote inflammation such as those high in cholesterol, saturated fats and carbohydrates puts people at 40 per cent higher risk of depression.

The team analysed data from 11 existing studies that focused on the link between depression and pro-inflammatory diets encompassing more than 100,000 participants, between 16 to 72 years old, of varied gender and ethnicity, spanning the USA, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.

Researchers said that an anti-inflammatory diet containing more fibre, vitamins (especially A, C, D) and unsaturated fats has the opposite effect, and could be implemented as a treatment for depression. Therefore, a Mediterranean diet of olive oil, tomatoes, green vegetables and fatty fish could help lower depressive symptoms.

Inflammation is the body’s natural defence system against infections, injuries and toxins. In order to protect itself from harm, the body releases proteins, antibodies and increased blood-flow to affected areas, causing redness and swelling.

However, chronic inflammation puts the body in a constant state of and has previously been linked to diseases such as cancer, asthma and heart disease. Such persistent inflammation, particularly in the brain, is believed to contribute to neuronal death.

India were 443 for 7 against Australia on the second day of the Melbourne Test.

Cheteshwar Pujara was at 106 and Virat Kohli at 82.

Earlier, on Day 1, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara were at the crease.

Hanuma Vihari was the wicket that fell. He was out for just 8 off paceman Pat Cummins.

India had won the toss and opted to bat.This is the third Test of the 4-match series. The series is currently tied at 1-1. India had won the first game at Adelaide by 31 runs. The Aussies bounced back with a 146-run win in the second Test at Perth.

This Melbourne Test is also known as the Boxing Day Test. The Boxing Day Test is a match held in Melbourne involving the Australian team and a team touring during the southern summer.

It begins annually on Boxing Day, that is one day after Christmas.

“Prime Minister Modi had said during his Bhutan visit that India and Bhutan are close not because we are very close but because we have opened our hearts to each other and I would like to quote that for the rest of my life,” said Prime Minister of Bhutan Dr. Lotay Tshering as he was accorded the ceremonial reception in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday.

The visit takes place during the Golden Jubilee year of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Bhutanese Prime Minister will lay wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. Dr. Lotay Tshering laying wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat, in Delhi

PM Narendra Modi welcomes Bhutan PM Dr Lotay Tshering during the Ceremonial Reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

PM of Bhutan Dr Lotay Tshering receives ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of PM Narendra Modi on his first overseas visit after assuming the office of the Prime Minister of Bhutan last month.

Prominent filmmaker-screenwriter Phani Majumdar was #BornOnThisDay. He is remembered for classics like Street Singer, Aarti and Oonche Log. In addition to his work in Hindi and Bengali, he was a pioneering figure of Magadhi and Maithili film industries. Majumdar also made Singaporean film The Legend of Hang Tuah (1956) in Malay.

starting in 1930s, with leading film director P.C. Barua at New Theatres Studio of Calcutta founded by B. N. Sircar, who during this period made classics like Devdas (1935). He moved to Bombay in 1941 and worked with Bombay Talkies studio, he made Tamanna (1942) with Suraiya and Mohabbat (1943) with Shanta Apte and Andolan (1951). He made films in Punjabi, Magadhi (Bhaiya, 1961) and Maithili (Kanyadaan, 1965).  His Oonch Log was actor Feroz Khan’s first hit and won the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film .

Noted film director-producer Shakti Samanta assisted Majumdar in Tamasha, Baadbaan and Dhobi Doctor at Bombay Talkies before working independently.

He was married to Monica Desai, sister of actress, Leela Desai.

Filmmaker Dev Benegal was #BornOnThisDay. Internationally acclaimed for his debut feature landmark comedy, National Award winning English August, he has also made noted films Split Wide Open and Road, Movie.

Dev Benegal is a New York based filmmaker. He is considered the pioneer of the next generation of Indian cinema with his first feature film English, August (1994) acknowledged as a landmark film in contemporary Indian cinema. It won the countries highest award in cinema- The National Award for Best Feature Film (English).

English, August was the first Indian film to be acquired for distribution by the 20th Century Fox. The film broke the stranglehold of Bollywood cinema and discovered a new young audience in India with its box office success.

It also won Silver Montgolfiere (Silver Grand Prix) at the 16th Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes France, 1994 the Gilberto Martinez Solares prize for the Best First Film 16th Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes France, 1994 and the Special Jury Award at the 12th International Festival, Torino, Italy, 1994.

English, August was amongst others an Official Selection at the 26th Annual New Directors New Films series presented by Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, 1997.

English, August became the first Indian independent film to break the stranglehold of mainstream Indian Bollywood cinema when it was acquired by 20thCentury Fox and became a theatrical success in the country. This has set of a trend of movies, which are part of the next generation of Indian cinema.

History

Benegal has a long history in Indian cinema. He has apprenticed with India’s legendary Animation guru- Ram Mohan after which he has worked with the arthouse filmmaker Shyam Benegal on his feature films Kalyug (1981) Arohan (1983) and Mandi (1983). He was closely involved in the research, making and editing of the definitive documentary on Satyajit Ray- Satyajit Ray, Filmmaker (1984).

In addition to his feature films Dev Benegal has directed award winning short films which have played at leading International Film Festivals. Among them ‘Shabana!’ (2003), on Indian film star Shabana Azmi, and ‘Abhivardhan: Building for a New Life’ (1992) a film on community efforts after the Tehri Garwal earthquake and a series of short films, ‘Kalpavriksha: The Tree of Life’ (1988), ‘Kanakambaram: Cloth: of Gold’ (1987), ‘Anantarupam: The Infinite Forms’ (1987).

Filmmaker Ardeshir Irani was Born On This Day