Sports diplomacy to highlight Pakistani talent in UAE

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Special Envoy Ambassador Javed Malik said on Wednesday sports played an important role in connecting people and promoting a sense of healthy interaction aimed at building positive relations between the communities.

“We always support such initiatives that bring people together, he said while speaking as the guest of honour along with diplomats from Sri Lanka and India who were joined by the Chairman of Dubai Cricket Council at the launching ceremony of T20 Super Stars Cricket Tournament being organized in Dubai under the auspices of Dubai Cricket Council.

Sixteen teams are taking part in the high profile tournament which also includes seven teams from Pakistan associated with various cities across the country who have been sponsored by local corporates in an effort to promote goodwill and friendship among the community, said a message received here from Dubai.

Speaking about the initiative, Ambassador Javed Malik said cricket was very popular in the sub continent. We enjoy watching our national teams. Tournaments such as this also give an opportunity to the community to actually play themselves.

“Several Pakistani players are part of these teams and it is good to see them performing at various levels of the game”, he added.
The tournament includes teams with players from UAE, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, Javed Malik said.

More than one million Pakistanis live, work and do business in the UAE and they play a vital role in supporting Pakistan’s economy through their remittances and act as a bridge that connects Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. Events such as these not only provide healthy recreation for our community but also go long way in promoting cordial people to people relations.

He appreciated the Dubai Cricket Council for their positive role in promoting the game of cricket in the UAE. (APP)

 

Kareena Kapoor: IIFA is a great platform to showcase our talent to world!

The entire film fraternity is exited about the upcoming 15th th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards which is to be held in the US, as they feel that this will provide a great platform and opportunity for Hollywood and Bollywood to come together and put the Indian cinema on the global level.

“The IIFA awards is a great platform for us to showcase our work to the world. We will bring the magic of Indian cinema to America. I have not been to Tampa Bay and I am looking forward to entertain my fans there,” Kareena said at the IIFA press conference at the US Consulate here.

Kareena was accompanied by her actor-husband Saif Ali Khan. Saif said “cinema brings us together. It is a chance to give Indian and international audience opportunity to witness celebration of Indian cinema and culture“.

Actor Anil Kapoor feels that IIFA awards will create a bridge between Hollywood and Bollywood. “In my days as a teenager, I used to travel by bus and used to get fascinated seeing the US consulate in Breach Candy. I always wanted to go there and get a visa for the US. I got chance to go there while doing films and I am happy about it,” Anil said.

The IIFA will be held from April 23 to 26. “I am excited by IIFA’s decision to hold this year’s awards ceremony in Tampa, Florida. Bollywood fans across the US will be thrilled that India’s biggest film stars are coming. We look forward to other Indian companies choosing the US as their travel destination and stand ready to assist,” Haas said.

The 15th edition of the awards will include multiple star-studded events like IIFA Rocks–a fashion and music spectacular–IIFA Magic of the movies and technical awards and IIFA awards.

The award show will be hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. Actors Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu and others will perform at the awards.

Mexico's got talent at the Oscars

MEXICO CITY — Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron appears among the odds-on favorites to take home a Best Director Oscar on Sunday for his space thriller “Gravity.”
The 52-year-old Mexico City native, Cuaron gained fame for his 2001 film “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” an insightful look at Mexican youth struggling with class, prejudice and sexuality issues.
Cuaron told the BBC he didn’t consider “Gravity,” with a screenplay he wrote with his son Jonas, as a science fiction movie, but rather a tale about a woman trapped in space. It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Emmanuel Lubezki, 49, also from Mexico City, is nominated for cinematography for "Gravity" as well. Lubezki and Cuaron have known one another since they were teenagers and have collaborated often, including the making of "The Children of Men" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien."
Before “Gravity,” which was released last fall, Cuaron directed such diverse Hollywood films as “The Little Princess,” “Harry Potter, Prisoner of Azkaban” and “The Children of Men.”
He created the sci-fi series “Believe,” which is set to debut on NBC this month.
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Cuaron has romped in other contests so far this year, including the Directors Guild of America, whose winners have gone on to win most of the Best Director Oscar statuettes in all but seven of the past 65 years.
When asked recently about the number of foreigners up for Oscars, Cuaron took the long view.

"This is an industry of immigrants," Cuaron said, speaking in Spanish, according to Agence France-Presse. "In the 30s and 40s and 50s the majority were German, Austrian and Hungarians."
"Among the virtues and defects of Hollywood, this is one of the great virtues," he added.

Less well known are the tenuous Mexican roots of Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, 31, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a sexually abused slave in “12 Years a Slave.”
Though raised in Kenya and educated in the United States, Nyong’o was born March 1, 1983, in Mexico City, where her democracy activist father had sought political asylum.
The family returned to Kenya shortly after Nyong’o was born. Mexico has a long tradition of giving asylum to political refugees.
After growing up in Nairobi — where her father teachers political science — Nyong'o earned an undergraduate degree at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and a Masters from Yale University’s School of Drama.