Celebrity news and gossip round-up, from Bollywood to Hollywood

New Batman film in the works, China loves House of Cards, ex-Miss World Priyanka Chopra breaks off Baywatch shoot to receive top award from India’s president, and more from world of entertainment

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Priyanka Chopra receiving the Padma Shri award from Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during a ceremony in New Delhi on April 12. Photo: AP

Published: 1:00pm, 13 Apr 2016Updated: 12:58pm, 13 Apr 2016

Rapper will.i.am “in Louvre

Musician will.i.am has revealed the results of his most unlikely collaboration yet after he was allowed to spend an “awesome” night inside the Louvre museum. The Black Eyed Peas frontman shot a video of his song Smile Mona Lisa in the Paris landmark as a tribute to his hero, Leonardo da Vinci – and found the place “so cool”, he decided to make a documentary about it.

Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am shows his love of art. Photo: AFP

In the music clip will.i.am appears in some of the museum’s greatest masterpieces, including as a gun-toting revolutionary in Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, while singer Nicole Scherzinger slips into the clothes of the enigmatic Mona Lisa. Also an actor, philanthropist and tech evangelist, will.i.am is Intel’s director of creative innovation as well as the man behind the Puls smartwatch. He sees many parallels between da Vinci and today’s tech pioneers.

AFP

Award for Bollywood star Chopra

Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has received a prestigious award from India’s president for her contribution to Indian cinema. Dressed in a lime-green sari, Chopra received India’s fourth-highest civilian honour from President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. The former Miss World ventured into Hindi cinema in 2003 with the film The Hero: Love Story of a Spy and Andaaz, and also has a singing career. Chopra, 33, who flew to India from her Baywatch shoot in Los Angeles to receive the award, said it was “the best award I have ever received”. In her role on US TV series Quantico, she plays an Indian-American whose fledgling FBI career and freedom are in jeopardy after a New York terrorist attack. Despite her growing fame in Hollywood, she says has no intention of abandoning her film career back home.
Associated Press

Despite terrible reviews for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros has approved a stand-alone Batman film starring, and most likely directed by, Ben Affleck. Photo: EPA

Affleck to direct Batman movie

Ben Affleck will direct a stand-alone Batman movie, says Warner Bros chairman Kevin Tsujihara. Affleck portrayed the caped crusader in this year’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and had been rumoured to be the studio’s top choice to helm the solo Batflick. Tsujihara confirmed the studio was moving forward with him in the director’s seat at CinemaCon, an annual gathering of theatre owners in Las Vegas. The project is part of Warner Bros’ plans for an expanded DC Comics cinematic universe, similar to that of Marvel’s own Marvel Cinematic Universe. Warner Bros has at least 10 features lined up for release in the next few years, including Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman and Justice League.
Associated Press