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Video games have always been one of the favourite time pass or entertainment for a lot of youngsters across the globe. It does have an addictive impact on the minds of the person playing it, providing a deep sense of satisfaction and joy. Hence video games have so far never been out of fashion. Becoming the cherry on the cake, the pandemic era brought back the craze and allowed contribution of enough time for people to play and enjoy these games. Keeping the steep rise of demand in mind and the quality freak content, Netflix is all set to launch newest video games and targeting new hiring for the same. With this aim OTT platform Netflix is expanding into video games, for this purpose the company has hired Mike Verdu, who is a former Facebook and Electronic Arts executive, as its new vice president of game development. As per the reports, Verdu was previously the VP of content for Facebook Reality Labs, where he was in charge to look after Oculus Studios and the teams that brought second and third-party virtual reality games to Oculus VR headsets. At present Netflix Verdu will be reporting to Greg Peters, Netflix’s chief operating officer and chief product officer. This is being considered as the trump card move by Netflix, keeping in the mind the latest, market trends. The Liontree CEO Aryeh Bourkoff, who is also the banker behind the biggest media deals of 2021, which included WarnerMedia- Discovery merger and MGM’s sale to Amazon, has signalled this attempt to be made by Netflix soon in coming time, during a panel at the Tribeca X conference last month. It was determined in the panel that various big companies are now approaching towards offering as many products as it can. Be it Spotify offering video with Audio or Netflix offering audio, video as well as gaming products and Amazon offering content on OTT as well almost every sellable product under the sun. If these companies would have stayed limited to doing what they started off, there was no certainty of its survival on such large scale in the present scenario. Along with this Netflix has also waved the flags signalling its move towards podcast content as well in the coming time soon, for which the new hire of N’ Jeri Eaton is on the list. Source: The economictiomes.com

After the death of Akshay Kumar’s mother Aruna Bhatia in Mumbai, his friends and colleagues from the film fraternity offered condolences to the actor and his family on social media. Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Parineeti Chopra, Huma Qureshi, Emraan Hashmi, Abhishek Kapoor, Pooja Bhatt, Soni Razdan, Hansal Mehta and other celebs mourned the death of Aruna Bhatia on Twitter. She died due to age-related issues on Wednesday morning at Mumbai’s Hiranandani Hospital. Salman Khan, who co-starred with Akshay Kumar in films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi and Jaan-E-Mann, tweeted: “Dear Akki, very sad to hear of the passing of your mother. May she rest in peace. My deepest condolences to you and your entire family.” “Dear Akki, heartfelt condolences on your mother’s passing away. May Arunaji’s soul find eternal peace. Condolences to you and your family. Om Shanti,” wrote Ajay Devgn, who has worked with Akshay Kumar in Khakee, Insan, Suhaag and Sooryavanshi, which is yet to be released. Huma Qureshi, who was last seen alongside Akshay Kumar in Bell Bottom, wrote this in her tweet: “Sending you prayers and peace Sir. Om Shanti.” “Sorry to hear about aunty Akshay sir… We are praying for her and the entire family,” tweeted Akshay’s Kesari co-star Parineeti Chopra. Emraan Hashmi offered his condolences with these words: “So sorry for your loss .. heartfelt condolences to you and your family.” Comedian Kapil Sharma’s tweet read: “Dear Akshay paji, it’s very sad to hear about your mother passing away, my deepest condolences to you and family, god bless the departed soul.” Akshay Kumar shared the news about his mother’s death in a tweet that read: “She was my core. And today I feel an unbearable pain at the very core of my existence. My maa Smt Aruna Bhatia peacefully left this world today morning and got reunited with my dad in the other world. I respect your prayers as I and my family go through this period. Om Shanti.” Source: The news has been published by NDTV news network.  

With keeping best of promises to outperform the capabilities, Indian players said a heartwarming goodbye to Tokyo Paralympics. The closing ceremony concluded Paralympics with a grandeur. Tokyo Olympics had been a treat to watch when it comes to Indian athletes and the end of Paralympics has given a ray of hope for more endurance towards sports. Indian para-athletes concluded the event with a tally of 19 medals, which included five golds, to finish at 24th rank among 162 participating countries in the overall counting in the category of gold medals. With that the country was placed on 20th position for the overall medals (19) won by the Indian para-athletes. This total medal count also included eight silver and six bronze. This year one of its largest contingents of 54 para-athletes was sent from India to participate in Paralympics, who all competed in nine sporting events, among these 17 players left with medals including various winners like: Avani Lakhera (Gold- Bronze) and Sinnghraj Adhana (Silver- Bronze). A lot of expectations are poured by the country on the players for upcoming sports events to hold on national and international level. Source: thetimesofIndia.com

The 19-year-old shooter Avani Lekhara made history on Friday by winning two medals in the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. She has two medals by claiming the 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1 bronze to add to an unprecedented gold she had secured earlier. For Lekhara, she was competing in her debut game and made the country proud by qualifying second for the shooting event with a score of 1176, including 51 inner 10s.  On the day of the finals, the 19-year-old totaled 445.9 and managed to finish ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who lost her medal due to a poor third shot during the elimination. Lekhara also proudly became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal by winning the top 10 honours in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event.  Praising her tremendous performance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “More glory at the Tokyo #Paralympics. Elated by the stupendous performance of @AvaniLekhara. Congratulations to her on bringing home the Bronze medal. Wishing her the very best in her future endeavours. #Praise4Para” Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs joined in on the praise bandwagon and tweeted, “India’s Golden Girl – Amazing Avani!!! @AvaniLekhara has been absolutely awesome at #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics by winning her 2nd medal! History has been made! Third place medal in Women’s 50m Rifle 3P SH1 final.” Source: Times of India

Excel Entertainment will produce abundant stories under its banner for Netflix users in 190 countries. For all Netflix buffs out there, Netflix has announced a strategic multi-year partnership with Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment on Wednesday. Excel Entertainment has given evergreen classics and trendsetters movies like  Dil Chahta Hai along with Rock On, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Lakshya, Toofaan and the Don franchise. Excel Entertainment will produce a variety of stories under its series banner Excel Media & Entertainment for Netflix members in over 190 countries commencing with two projects tentatively titled Dabba Cartel and Queen of the Hill. Dabba Cartel is a story of five housewives who run a high stakes secret cartel. Style, ambition, love, friendship and betrayal set in the backdrop of jazz rich 1960s Mumbai;Queen of the Hillchronicles the dynamic relationship between two ambitious women that will change the city forever. Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India, said, “We are excited to join hands with Excel Entertainment, one of India’s path-breaking creative studios. They have continuously pushed the boundaries of entertainment and given us stories that have stood the test of time. We are delighted to welcome them to Netflix.” Ritesh Sidhwani & Farhan Akhtar, Producers of Excel Entertainment,said,“Our partnership with Netflix marks a new global chapter for Excel Entertainment after 20 eventful years in storytelling. We’re excited with the opportunity to create a variety of extraordinary stories to entertain people in India and around the world. We are thrilled to begin this next chapter with Netflix.” Source: The news has been published from National Herald with a few edits from the ArdorComm News Network Team.

It has been an occasion of double celebration for India as two medals come home. Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar have won silver and bronze medals, in the high jump event at the ongoing Paralympics. Mariyaapan Thangavala bagged silver after making a mark of 1.86m, in the high jump, with that it is the second Paralympic medal for him after bagging a gold in Rio Olympic 2016. On the other hand, Sharad Kumar bagged a bronze in the high jump with a mark of 1.83m. Gold was clinched by Sam Grewe of the United States of America, after creating a benchmark of 1.88m in his third attempt. Nevertheless, another India and Rio bronze medal winner Varun Singh Bhati finished with the seventh position, with a mark of 1.77 m in the high jump. Source: hindustantimes.com

India is a country that prides itself upon its traditions, culture, art, scenic beauty and much more.Many states in India witness a high frequency of tourists from various parts of the world. Uttarakhandis one such state that is a mix of all good things combined.Recently, Uttarakhand’s CM announced Pawandeep Rajan, Indian Idol 12 winner as the art, tourism andculture brand ambassador. The singing sensation from Uttarakhand competed in a nine-month-longshow to win the trophy at the end. As a reward, he took a 25lakh cheque and a Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire home. Now, in a new win, he wasannounced as Uttarakhand’s art and tourism brand ambassador by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. They metin Dehradun at the CM’s residence where he has rewarded the title.On the topic, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami tweeted, “संगीत की दुनिया में “देवभूमि” का मान बढ़ाने वाले@RajanPawandeep को हमारी सरकार ने कला, पर्यटन और संस्कृति में उत्तराखण्ड का ब्रांड एम्बेसडर बनाने कानिर्णय लिया है। पवनदीप राजन ने सामान्य स्थितियों से उठकर अपनी प्रतिभा से देश-दुनिया में प्रदेश का नामरोशन किया है। Pawandeep’s joy was also shared by famous dancer Raghav Juyal who also hails from Uttarakhand. Heshared the pictures on Instagram from his account extending his congratulations.

PTI: Biographical drama “Thalaivii”, based on the life of actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, is set to release theatrically on September 10. The multilingual film, featuring Kangana Ranaut in the lead, was earlier scheduled to release in April but was pushed to later due to the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in the country. Zee Studios posted the film’s poster along with its new release date on its official Instagram page. “With a personality queen size, Jayalalithaa’s story has always belonged to the big screens! Embark on her inspiring journey from being a cine star to becoming one of the most influential CMs in theatres near you on 10th September,” the caption read. Directed by Vijay and written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, “Thalaivii” also stars Arvind Swami, Madhoo, Prakash Raj, Jisshu Sengupta, Bhagyashree, and Poorna. Apart from “Thalaivii”, Ranaut will also be seen in action film “Dhaakad” and “Tejas”. Source: The article has been published from a syndicated feed and The Hindu with a few edits by ArdorComm News Network.

The OTT platform so far became the primary source of entertainment, especially within the mobile-first market like India. Therefore, various OTTs are moreover interested in rolling out family-friendly content, as the family audience is believed to be forming a major part of the viewership and audience market. The OTT platforms are more focused on bringing back the family entertainment time from normal TV channels to streaming channels. In this phase historical fictions, biopics of national heroes, mythology, and comedy are segments where attempt to deliver OTT content that can include family and children together as the viewer is being worked on. To look at the recent examples in this phase we can see Disney+Hotstar bringing The Empire and SonyLIV is ready to deliver the Biopic titled Rocket Boys on Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. On the other hand, Netflix which noticed that more than 60% of its subscribers are watching kids and family content per month, will be all set to release over 50 original movies and shows targeted at the family and kids segment this year.  Source: livemint.com