Latest news with #BFI
News18
32 minutes ago
- Politics
- News18
BFI interim panel seeks Vijenders expertise to improve training setup
New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Indian boxing's interim committee chief Ajay Singh on Thursday said he has 'requested" Olympic medallist pugilist Vijender Singh to lend his expertise by overseeing 'some training camps" and offering suggestions for improvement. Vijender, who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Games, remains India's only male boxer to have finished on the podium at the Olympics. 'Vijender is quite involved with the activities. Of course, he is a huge inspiration for boxers. But we also want to use his skills and his expertise to oversee some of our training processes and give us some suggestions on how to improve," Singh told reporters. 'Because you know, many times boxers have the skill but it becomes a mindset issue," he added. The boxer-turned-politician has also plied his trade in the professional circuit, but hasn't competed there since 2022. Singh added that Vijender's involvement is in its early stages. 'He is just starting now and I have requested him to oversee some of the training camps and come back to us with suggestions on how we can improve training," Singh said. Indian boxers endured a disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics, returning empty-handed after a qualification phase that saw only six of them make the cut. Currently, Dharmendra Yadav is coaching the senior men's team, while D. Chandralal is in charge of the elite women's squad. 'BFI elections will be held in the month of August. We did start the process of elections in March. But it was held up to various litigation," Singh, who is eyeing a third consecutive term as BFI president, said. 'The world body subsequently created an interim body, which has been asked to conduct elections. So the elections will be held towards the end of the month, maybe 27th or 28th." The tenure of the previous BFI office-bearers ended on February 2. Elections were originally scheduled for March 28 but were stalled following legal disputes and a series of appeals and counter-appeals. Looking at various venues for World Boxing Cup Final ================================= India will host the World Boxing Cup Final in November, but the venue is still being finalised. While New Delhi, which has hosted the Women's World Championships thrice, was initially considered the frontrunner, other state associations have also expressed interest. 'We have to select the location. The World Boxing team will be coming also to see. Initially, our thought was to host the championship in Delhi. (But) some other states have requested that we should consider. So we will see," Singh said. Meanwhile, the BFI announced a prize purse of Rs 17.5 lakh for the 17 Indian medal winners from the recent World Boxing Cup legs in Brazil and Kazakhstan. Gold medallists will receive Rs 2 lakh each, silver winners Rs 1 lakh, and bronze medallists Rs 50,000. India-China set to build strategic boxing ties ============================= Singh revealed that China has expressed interest in forming a strategic partnership with India in boxing, which will include bilateral training camps. 'So China has approached us. I think, given India's importance in the world of boxing and the quality of Indian boxers, many countries are approaching us and saying that 'can we have practice sessions with you, training camps with you, etc'," Singh said. He confirmed that the Indian junior boxing team will travel to China for a training camp ahead of the Asian Championships. 'So we think that the China camp, China relationship is a useful one. Because both teams are quite strong. And our boxers will get very good exposure. So we are starting with our juniors going to China for a camp before the Asian Championship," he added. PTI APA APA AH AH view comments First Published: News agency-feeds BFI interim panel seeks Vijenders expertise to improve training setup Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Sport
- Hans India
BFI announces Rs 17.5 lakh prize money for World Boxing Cups medallists
New Delhi: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has announced a prize purse of Rs 17.5 lakh to reward the 17 Indian boxers who brought home medals from the recent World Boxing Cup legs in Brazil and Kazakhstan. Each gold medallist will receive Rs 2 lakh, silver medallists Rs 1 lakh and bronze winners Rs 50,000 as India builds momentum toward the World Boxing Cup Finals to be held in New Delhi later this year. The announcement comes at a time when India's national core group continues high-intensity training at the Patiala camp in preparation for two key international events: the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool in September and, later, the World Boxing Cup Finals on home soil. In a further boost to the development pipeline, the BFI has been approached by China to explore a strategic partnership spanning junior, sub-junior, and elite levels, including potential joint training camps and sparring exchanges. Commenting on the pugilists' success and the path forward, BFI president-chairman of the Interim Committee, Ajay Singh, said, 'I want to congratulate our boxers for a fantastic showing on the world stage. Our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. India has made a huge mark in the first two cups and our fifth in the world. It's a matter of pride. When you go to these championships, people come up to congratulate the contingent, to tell us what a great job India is doing in boxing. We have also been approached by China for a strategic relationship for boxing development, reflecting how highly the world is looking at Indian boxing.' 'But this is just the beginning. There are many Mary Koms and Vijender Singhs out there; we must nurture them and ensure they're prepared to deliver at the biggest stages, including the Olympics,' he added. The dual World Boxing Cup performance brought India a total of 17 medals, including 4 gold, with standout showings from Sakshi (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Nupur (80+kg) in Astana, and Hitesh Gulia (70kg) in Brazil. Notably, both Hitesh and Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) secured medals at both events - a gold and silver for Hitesh; two silvers for Abhinash - underlining consistency across weight categories. In addition to the gold medallists, India's medal tally included silvers for Pooja Rani (80kg), Minakshi (48kg), Jugnoo (85kg), and Hitesh and Abhinash in Astana, while Sanju (60kg), Nikhil Dubey (75kg), and Narender (90+kg) earned bronze. From the Brazil leg, bronze medals were also secured by Jadumani Singh (50kg), Manish Rathore (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), and Vishal (90kg). Speaking at the ceremony, guest of honour Vijender Singh, India's first Olympic boxing medallist, said, 'You all have done very well, all the boys and girls. We have to keep going. There are a lot of hurdles in life, and we have to move ahead without being satisfied, always hungry for more success.' The recognition reflects the Federation's continued push to reward performance and sharpen India's international boxing ecosystem with depth, structure, and continuity at its core. Earlier this year, India clinched a rich medal haul at the Asian Boxing U-15 and U-17 Championships, underscoring the strength of its talent pipeline. At the Thailand Open, India's second- and third-in-line boxers delivered silverware, showcasing bench strength across categories. Domestically, the recently concluded Elite Women's Boxing Tournament in Telangana offered high-quality exposure for top contenders and a platform to identify the next tier of national talent.
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Free screening of family-friendly Grand Prix of Europe coming to Ayrshire cinema
Grand Prix of Europe tells the story of Edda, a young mouse with a big dream of becoming a racing superstar. Cinema goers are in for a free treat later this month when Escapes brings a preview screening of the highly-anticipated Grand Prix of Europe to Ayrshire. The Astoria Cinema in Ayr is set to screen the animated adventure comedy featuring an all-star cast on Tuesday, August 5 at 11am. Directed by Waldemar Fast, Grand Prix of Europe tells the story of Edda, a young mouse with a big dream of becoming a racing superstar. An international co-production between Germany and the UK, the film features Ed and Edda, the mascots of the Europa-Park theme park in Rust, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025. Supported by the British Film Institute (BFI) and National Lottery funding, Escapes is a UK-wide programme which aims to shine a spotlight on the charm and uniqueness of independent cinema. The event brings free cinema to audiences across the UK continuing their mission to make independent film accessible to all. Preview screenings will take place on Monday, August 4 and Tuesday, August 5, before the film's official UK release on August 22. Featuring an all-star voice cast including Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Ed, Gemma Arterton as Edda, Hayley Atwell, Lenny Henry and Rob Beckett, Grand Prix of Europe is a family-friendly adventure which isn't just about speed. The Astoria is one of more than 100 cinemas nationwide that will be screening Grand Prix of Europe as part of the Escapes initiative which has seen more than 115,000 free tickets claimed since it launched last year. Tickets for Grand Prix of Europe are free and available for sign up now here.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
BFI announces ₹17.5 lakh in prize money for medallists of Brazil, Astana legs of World Boxing Cup
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has announced a prize purse of ₹17.5 lakh to reward the boxers who brought home medals from the recent World Boxing Cup legs in Brazil and Kazakhstan. Each gold medallist will receive ₹2 lakh, silver medallists will receive ₹1 lakh, and bronze winners will be given ₹50,000. The announcement comes at a time when India's national core group continues high-intensity training at the Patiala camp in preparation for two key international events: the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool in September and, later, the World Boxing Cup Finals on home soil. In a further boost to the development pipeline, the BFI has been approached by China to explore a strategic partnership spanning junior, sub-junior, and elite levels, including potential joint training camps and sparring exchanges. Commenting on the pugilists' success and the path forward, BFI President-Chairman, Interim Committee, Ajay Singh, said, 'I want to congratulate our boxers for a fantastic showing on the world stage. Our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. India has made a huge mark in the first two cups and is fifth in the world. It's a matter of pride. When you go to these championships, people come up to congratulate the contingent, to tell us what a great job India is doing in boxing.' READ: Nishant Dev extends perfect pro record with TKO win against USA's Evans 'But this is just the beginning. There are many Mary Koms and Vijender Singhs out there; we must nurture them and ensure they're prepared to deliver at the biggest stages, including the Olympics,' he added. The dual World Boxing Cup performance brought India a total of 17 medals, including four gold, with standout showings from Sakshi (54kg), Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) and Nupur (80+kg) in Astana, and Hitesh Gulia (70kg) in Brazil. Notably, both Hitesh and Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) secured medals at both events—a gold and silver for Hitesh; two silvers for Abhinash—underlining consistency across weight categories. In addition to the gold medallists, India's medal tally included silvers for Pooja Rani (80kg), Minakshi (48kg), Jugnoo (85kg), and Hitesh and Abhinash in Astana, while Sanju (60kg), Nikhil Dubey (75kg), and Narender (90+kg) earned bronze. From the Brazil leg, bronze medals were also secured by Jadumani Singh (50kg), Manish Rathore (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), and Vishal (90kg). Related Topics BFI
Telegraph
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The tragedy of Dorothy Dandridge, the ‘black Marilyn Monroe' who died with $2 to her name
When people think about the great, doomed female star of the 1950s, the first person who generally comes to mind, understandably enough, is Marilyn Monroe. Yet her friend, the equally doomed actress Dorothy Dandridge, who died 60 years ago and who is being commemorated in a short season of films by the BFI, is just as worthy of respect. For all the sorrows and difficulty that Monroe faced, she did not have the additional disadvantage of being born African-American at a time of great racial division – or, when it came to Hollywood, just plain racism. Even if the shorthand description of her as 'the black Marilyn Monroe' manages to be both reductive and vaguely patronising, Dandridge was not merely a victim. She was a pioneer, as well as a superlative actress. Still, as she remarked herself, 'If I were white, I would capture the world.' When Dandridge began her film career in 1940, in the picture Four Shall Die, it was a quickly forgotten B-picture most notable for her cinematic debut in an undemanding role as a murderess. Yet before then, she had already lived a life that had more incident than a dozen of her peers could handle. Born to a single mother in Cleveland, Ohio – her Baptist minister father had departed months before she was born – her circumstances were predictably poverty-stricken. But there was a potential redeeming feature in what she described as 'a crying childhood'. Dandridge's mother Ruby worked as a cook, but she also saw her daughter's talent as a performer. 'You ain't going to work in Mr Charley's kitchen like me,' she told Dorothy as a toddler. 'We're going to fix it so you be something else than that.' The grim reality of show business The solution was to take Dorothy and her sister Vivian, as well as her loathed, abusive Auntie Ma-Ma, on the road, and create a touring act named the Wonder Kids. As Dandridge later explained: 'Mother arranged with the National Baptist convention for Vivian and me to perform at churches in a different state each month.' Dorothy and Vivian therefore eschewed any conventional education, but learnt about the rigours of life on the road via performance. Dandridge later wryly described in her posthumously published autobiography Everything and Nothing as 'a little like having a deal with MGM for white folks'. It was an unpleasant, gruelling existence – when they were touring the South, they were exposed to constant racism, the hours were long, and pay was short – but it gave Dandridge a first-hand insight into the grim reality of what showbusiness at its least glamorous would entail. The Wonder Sisters became the Dandridge Sisters and they performed at several Harlem nightclubs, including the notorious Cotton Club, while still children. On one occasion, she was also given a valuable piece of advice, when sitting on the lap of Bill Robinson, famously known as 'Mr Bojangles'. 'Keep away from the wolves like me,' the lascivious singer said. She had a few uncredited bit parts in pictures with unfortunately prophetic names like It Can't Last Forever, but the first project that would take Dandridge from jobbing bit-part player into a starlet was the picture Sun Valley Serenade, in which she performed the hit number Chattanooga Choo Choo. It was the breakout song from the film and was not only Oscar-nominated but established Dandridge as a name in her own right, rather than simply a beautiful face in a crowd. In 1942 she married the dancer Harold Nicholas in 1942, with whom she had a child, Harolyn, in 1943. But her daughter was born with brain damage and needed lifelong care and medical attention; Dandridge only acknowledged her existence publicly in 1963, for fear it would ruin her public image. 'I wanted nothing better than to hear him say, 'marry me'' With Harolyn placed in care, Dandridge spent most of the Second World War in London, rather than Hollywood, where she performed at the London Palladium between German bombing raids. 'It was in the shelters that I developed an affinity with the English which has been with me always,' she would write, and part of this affinity was to have a love affair with the suave actor, and future Rat Pack member, Peter Lawford. Yet she also knew that it would never turn into a serious relationship because of her skin colour, even as she mused: 'If I were honest with myself…I would have to admit that I wanted nothing better than to hear him say, 'marry me.'' A proposal did not come, and she returned to America, where she came to the attention of Columbia studio head Harry Cohn after appearing in the 1951 film Tarzan's Peril: coincidentally, or not, the year that her divorce from Nicholas was finalised, after he abandoned his family in 1948. Dandridge did not, of course, play the wholesome Jane – she was in the 'exotic' role of Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba – but was responsible for what the Motion Picture Association called the film's 'blunt sexuality' thanks to her 'provocatively revealing' costume. Fancying some of this blunt sexuality for himself, the notoriously predatory Cohn summoned her to his hotel suite in Las Vegas when she was performing in the city, and made it clear to her that, if she submitted to his advances, she would prosper. 'I was supposed to warm up, to register delight, happiness, gratitude,' she wrote. 'I was supposed to reach a sympathetic hand across the table, and he would pick it up from there. Maybe we would both stand. God knows what; maybe we would both get right down on the floor, for there wasn't even a casting couch in this barren office.' Dandridge had, however, seen off worse characters than Cohn, and dismissed his entreaties. 'I never reached out my hand,' she said. 'Monroe and I had a bond' Cohn may have closed Columbia off to her, but it barely seemed to matter. It was around this time that she first befriended Monroe, when the actress attended one of her shows at the Mocambo nightclub in Hollywood. The two had both attended The Actors' Lab in Los Angeles, where they first met in 1947, but true friendship would come half a decade later. 'She was one of the few stars who was always kind to me,' said Dandridge of Monroe. 'We had a bond, both being lonely in spite of the attention we got… She never treated me any differently than she would a white actress.' Their friendship lasted until Monroe's death in 1962. Dandridge was an enormous success on stage in Hollywood, New York – where she was the first black woman to perform at the Waldorf Astoria – and London alike, and she was prominently featured in a photo spread in Life magazine. As she put it, 'I didn't have to crawl into a strange bed with a strange-looking little man for it to happen.' During these performances, she was marketed and portrayed as the sexiest woman on the planet, something that was accentuated by cigarette girls selling copies of Alfred Kinsey's recent publication Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female while Dandridge was on stage. At this point, her career truly began to catch fire. Not only she did begin a love affair with Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and civil rights activist, but the two of them were cast in the Otto Preminger-directed film adaptation of Oscar Hammerstein II's Carmen Jones in 1954, after the two first appeared in the melodrama Bright Road the previous year. Preminger did not believe that the glamorous Dandridge would be convincing as the 'heatwave' Carmen, an ambitious factory worker who has an earthily opportunistic attitude towards sex. But she had an answer for that. 'I'm an actress. I can play a nun or a bitch. I hurried to Max Factor's studio and looked around for the right garb. I would return looking like Carmen herself…I put on heavy lipstick, worked spit curls around my face. I made myself look like a hussy.' Her outfit was 'tousled hair, dark makeup, a tight skirt, revealing blouse, and the sexiest swinging hips in town.' The impressed Preminger not only cast her in the picture, but the two were sexually involved during filming – a necessary evil, according to Dandridge: 'He intimated that it was good for the picture, for the people involved…If star and director know each other heart and soul – and the rest – the spark of it all might well leap into the beauty of the film.' Less good for the picture was her pregnancy by the married (and unattractive) Preminger; at the studio's behest, she was compelled to have an abortion. Although Dandridge did not use her own voice in Carmen Jones – she would be dubbed by white mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, to incongruous effect – the role elevated her to stardom. She won rave reviews, was nominated for an Oscar and became the first African-American woman to appear on the cover of Life. Yet Preminger now operated more as Svengali than as director, forbidding her to take on the plum supporting roles that she might have expected (such as that of the beautiful slave girl Tuptim in the film of The King and I) and instead telling her that it was leads or nothing. 'No one will ever know how I wept' This was prima facie coercive control, and now would be recognised as such. It also made her miserable. 'I had bitter nights of weeping,' she wrote. 'No one will ever know how I wept. In the morning I rose like an automaton, went through my paces, off to the gym where I whirled like a dervish, then on through the rest of the dizzying day. Cold steak. Cold cucumbers. Cold.' Offscreen, Dandridge now found herself involved in a scandalous libel action against the gossip magazine Confidential, which accused her of having extramarital relations with white musicians. (A typical headline: 'Only the Birds and the Bees Saw What Dorothy Dandridge Did in the Woods'.) She won her case in 1957, but did not help her public persona by appearing in the film Island in the Sun, in which her character has an interracial relationship with the actor John Justin. By today's standards, the love affair is chaste indeed – meaningful glances and long embraces – but it was enough for the Motion Picture Association to suggest that the all-powerful Production Code had been breached, although it was later edited down into acceptability. She would later continue this controversy-courting by kissing the actor Curt Jurgens in the 1958 film Tamango – her first on-screen kiss with a white actor – and would reunite with Preminger for the 1958 adaptation of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The film should have been a colossal hit, but the now strained relationship between director and star, outrage from the black community about the musical's perceived racism and the miscasting of Sidney Poitier in the male lead made it was a flop. Today, it is barely available (and was absent from the BFI line-up) and the impact on Dandridge's career would be considerable. She never made another major Hollywood picture, and instead returned to the clubs that she had begun her career in, with considerably less success. 'I threw myself away on a few men' The last few years of her life were unhappy and unproductive in equal measure. There was a short-lived, failed marriage to the nightclub owner Jack Denison. She described this period as 'moving around in a neurotic haze, having spasms before or after singing, sneaking in drinks, taking pills to dehydrate myself. I threw myself away on a few men, thinking I might as well have an orgasm as there isn't much else.' Impoverished, she was forced to put her daughter in a state-run mental institution, and by the time of her death on September 8 1965, at the age of 42, a once-glittering career seemed to be over. Like Monroe, she was believed to have died of a drugs overdose, in this case an accidental surfeit of antidepressants. But it has been suggested that this was suicide, a theory bolstered by her remarks to her friend Geraldine Branton: 'Whatever happens, I know you will understand.' She died with just $2.14 in the bank. Since Dandridge's death, she has been regarded as a tragic icon, as well as a trail-blazer. Halle Berry played her in the 1999 TV biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, for which Berry won an Emmy and a Golden Globe; it was only fitting that, when Berry won an Oscar for Monster's Ball a few years later, she dedicated it to Dandridge. Coincidentally, the two were born in the same hospital, 44 years apart. The actress bitterly regretted her lack of relationship with her daughter, later writing: 'All the rest is nothing, and all the rest has been nothing. The work was nothing, the applause nothing, the fortune made, that was nothing, and who knows, perhaps in my fury I let it all go.' This was unfair. For all the torment and incident of her personal life, the vibrancy and modernity of her performances on screen transform any expectations of what an African-American actress should have been doing in cinema. Dandridge was a heroine to millions, and that, rather than being an unfit mother or washed-up performer, is how posterity should remember her.
