Latest news with #Mr.X
Egypt Independent
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Egypt Independent
Ahmed Fahmy reveals the real reason behind deleting video with Hana al-Zahed on Facebook
Actor Ahmed Fahmy revealed the reason behind why a video shared on his official Facebook was deleted. The clip was from the movie 'Mr. X,' which brought him together with his ex-wife, actress Hana al-Zahed. In the scene, Fahmy is shown confessing to her that he is 'Mr. X,' with the caption saying 'If this proves to you that I am… Surprise, isn't it?' 'To clarify, the post that was posted on my page and removed was an unintentional mistake by a member of the social media team at the company that manages my account. It was a simple matter and not intentional.' He continued, 'Whatever I want to say, I say it directly, without hints or anything else. All due respect to all my colleagues, and good luck to everyone.' Zahed and Fahmy separated in late 2023 after a four-year marriage. Neither party revealed the reason for the split. Zahid has expressed her appreciation for the experience, stating that she had overcome the divorce and was now in a better place. Fahmy, on the other hand, indicated that he was the one who made the decision to separate and that he did not intend to marry again. Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
‘Mr India' was originally conceived for Amitabh Bachchan and not Anil Kapoor, says Javed Akhtar: ‘If this voice is so popular, so effective'
Anil Kapoor 's 'Mr India' was one of the most popular movies of the actor. Over the years, it has remained iconic as it was way ahead of its time. Every song, the concept and Kapoor's performance continues to be spoken about, till date. But did you know that the film was originally conceived for Amitabh Bachchan after getting inspired by his baritone voice by writer duo Salim Javed ( Salim Khan , Javed Akhtar ). Operation Sindoor 'Pakistan army moving its troops in forward areas': Key takeaways from govt briefing 'Pak used drones, long-range weapons, jets to attack India's military sites' 'Attempted malicious misinformation campaign': Govt calls out Pakistan's propaganda In a recent interview, Javed Akhtar revealed how exactly the concept was developed but things didn't work out as Salim and Javed split. Later, Akhtar developed the script of 'Mr India', all by himself. He said, 'He had to do the mahurat, and because of some reason, they recorded the voice of Amitabh and played it during the muhurat shot. So, that gave me an idea — if this voice is so popular, so effective, why can't we make the Invisible Man with him? We wouldn't have to take his dates also. Most of the time, we could shoot and he would later dub his voice… That is how the idea started.' He further revealed that the children's angle was added as kids would be fascinated with the idea of an invisible man. When Javed developed the final draft, entire screenplay, dialogue alone after his split with Salim Khan, he did not find anyone who was ready to believe in the script and produce the film. Akhtar said, 'I developed it completely on my own, wrote the screenplay, dialogue. People were like, 'Arey invisible man… arey ye effect… yeh iss tarah ki films thodi chalti hai… it's a gimmick… woh thodi hit hoti hai… pehli bani Mr X, Ashok Kumar was the hero… then Mr X in Bombay… itna badi hit nahi hoti aisi films.'' (People said, 'Oh, invisible man… these kinds of effects… these kinds of films don't usually work, it's a gimmick… they get a little popular, that's it… there was Mr. X with Ashok Kumar, then Mr. X in Bombay, films like these never become major hits).' Boney Kapoor eventually decided to produce it as he liked the concept and wanted to make a film for his younger brother and a big actress like Sridevi . Regarding Bachchan's presence in the film, a while ago, in a book by Diptakirti Chaudhuri, titled 'Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters', she had revealed that during a chat with journalist Anita Padhye, Salim Khan had said, that Amitabh Bachchan believed that this concept of invisible man wouldn't work as fans come to see him in theatres. However, the writers believed that Bachchan's voice would be the star of the film.
Indian Express
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Mr India was originally conceived for Amitabh Bachchan before Salim-Javed's split, Javed Akhtar reveals: ‘I developed it completely on my own'
It's hard to imagine Mr. India without Anil Kapoor, but veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar recently revealed that he wasn't the first choice for the role. In a recent interview with Mid-Day India, Javed revealed that the original inspiration behind the film came from none other than Amitabh Bachchan, who is known for his baritone. Recalling how the idea was sparked, he said that during a film's muhurat (launch), that was to be done by Amitabh Bachchan, the actor was not available in person. So, it was decided that his voice would be played at the muhurat. 'He had to do the mahurat, and because of some reason, they recorded the voice of Amitabh and played it during the muhurat shot. So, that gave me an idea — if this voice is so popular, so effective, why can't we make the Invisible Man with him? We wouldn't have to take his dates also. Most of the time, we could shoot and he would later dub his voice… That is how the idea started,' he shared. He also recalled how he wanted to weave in a children's emotional angle, believing kids would be fascinated by the idea of an invisible man. However, the idea came to a halt after his professional split with longtime writing partner Salim Khan. Returning to the development of Mr India, Javed recalled writing the story, screenplay, and dialogue on his own — but initially, there were no takers. 'I developed it completely on my own, wrote the screenplay, dialogue. People were like, 'Arey invisible man… arey ye effect… yeh iss tarah ki films thodi chalti hai… it's a gimmick… woh thodi hit hoti hai… pehli bani Mr X, Ashok Kumar was the hero… then Mr X in Bombay… itna badi hit nahi hoti aisi films.'' (People said, 'Oh, invisible man… these kinds of effects… these kinds of films don't usually work, it's a gimmick… they get a little popular, that's it… there was Mr. X with Ashok Kumar, then Mr. X in Bombay, films like these never become major hits). However, things changed when producer Boney Kapoor came onboard. According to Javed, Boney liked the concept and wanted to use it to launch his younger brother Anil Kapoor alongside a big-name actress — which finally got the film off the ground. Also Read | Javed Akhtar recalls drinking '18 bottles of beer' in one sitting after getting allergic to whiskey: 'Koi hai toh achi baat hai, nahi toh main akele pee leta tha' Javed said that many believed that the reason behind his split with Salim Khan was his closeness with Amitabh Bachchan, but that wasn't the case, which is why he stayed away from working with Big B for the next decade. 'Many people thought, because I was very friendly with Amitabh Bachchan, because I was closer to him, so I parted because of that. So for the next ten years, I didn't do any film with Amitabh Bachchan. I had some offers, but I didn't take them because I didn't want this tag on me that I broke this partnership because of some support,' he said. In the book titled 'Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters' by Diptakirti Chaudhuri, this incident is revisited in detail. As per the author, Salim Khan gave a lengthy interview to journalist Anita Padhye for her Marathi book 'Yahi Rang, Yahi Roop' where he spoke about the same. He shared that the director duo presented this idea to Amitabh but the Sholay actor wasn't keen on it. Apparently, Bachchan believed that the invisible-man concept wouldn't work as his fans came to the theatres to see him. The writers believed that Bachchan's voice would be the star of the show, and as per him, this triggered the end of their writing partnership.
CBC
17-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Former Ontario mayor dubbed 'Mr. X' banned from lobbying province for 2 years
The former mayor of Clarington, Ont. — who Ontario's integrity commissioner identified as "Mr. X" in a scathing report about the removal of land from the Greenbelt — has been banned from lobbying the provincial government for two years. Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake's office said in a statement issued Thursday that due to multiple transgressions over a period of several years, it was banning John Mutton from lobbying the province until April of 2027. "Mr. Mutton's several failures to register, use of contingency fees, and disregard of the conflict of interest prohibition undermine the Act's purpose of transparency and public confidence in the independence of public sector decision making," the report reads. "Given the significant number of serious contraventions going back several years, the Registrar decided to prohibit Mr. Mutton from lobbying Ontario public office holders, as defined in the Act, for a period of two years, in addition to publishing his name and a summary of his non-compliance." CBC News has reached out to Mutton, but did not immediately receive a response. The integrity commissioner's ruling outlines several contraventions, like in 2022, when Mutton didn't register after he lobbied two public office holders in an effort to get a client's lands removed from the Greenbelt. "In the course of his work for this same client, Mr. Mutton also contravened the Act by knowingly placing these public office holders in a position of real or potential conflict of interest by offering them gifts of a round of golf at a private golf course and tickets to a Toronto Raptors basketball game," the report reads. Asked about the issue Thursday at an unrelated news conference, Premier Doug Ford said he was only just hearing about this, but offered a "clear message" that people who lobby government have to follow the rules to do so. "If you don't follow the rules, you deserve a punishment. Simple as that," Ford said. In a statement, Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Mutton had repeatedly broken the law for almost a decade. "Our province is facing a lot of uncertainty right now — people are worried about their future, their livelihoods," she said. "People need a government they can trust to put their best interests first. "The Premier needs to clean up the culture of cash-for-access and preferential treatment that continues to plague his government so we can get to work strengthening Ontario." Mutton served as mayor of Clarington, a municipality with a 2021 population of about 101,000, from 1997 to 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile. The profile says he has been president and CEO of the development firm Municipal Solutions since 2006. The ban marks the latest twist in a controversy that erupted after successive reports from two independent legislative watchdogs revealed major flaws with the province's now-reversed decision to build homes on the Greenbelt — a vast 810,000-hectare area of protected farmland, forest and wetlands stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough meant to be permanently off-limits to development.
