Hollywood A-listers Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley and Michael Peña speak to WION's Zeba about their film 'Moonfall', a science fiction disaster film helmed by Roland Emmerich. From their filming experience to on-set chemistry and working on a film that pits Moon as a mystery object that is predicted to crash land on Earth, there's lots that the stars discuss.

Exclusive: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson & other stars of Hollywood

Young Indian origin golfer Akshay Bhatia made heads turn when he clinched&nbsp;The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour at Sandals Emerald Bay in January 2022. The 19-year-old teenager became only the third-youngest (after Australia's Jason Day and Korea's Sungjae IM) to win on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Akshay, whose family originally belongs to New Delhi, India made his professional debut at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. Since then, his rise up the ladder has been evident and the youngster recently sat down for an exclusive interaction with WION's Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo where he dwelled&nbsp;on&nbsp;his journey so far,&nbsp;decision to forego college education and&nbsp;his mentor fellow left-hander and the great, Phil Mickelson.

Sharing thoughts on his Korn Ferry Tour win, Akshay opined, "Yeah. I think the journey has played&nbsp;a big part in the lead-up&nbsp;to that win. I struggled for a long time but I was also playing against the best players in the world. I had three-four opportunities to be on the PGA Tour last season but&nbsp;it just wasn't my time yet. I had to keep learning. But I've enjoyed it and this is my first Korn Ferry Tour. To kick off&nbsp;with a victory, it is a great start to the year. Playing with a lot of PGA Tour winners&nbsp;has been great. Being one of the youngest players to be on the tour, it is just amazing."

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/exclusive-aus-open-2022-rafael-nadal-is-goat-hes-like-a-jekyll-of-hyde-says-indian-coach-nandan-bal-449123">EXCLUSIVE | Aus Open 2022: Rafael Nadal is G.O.A.T, he's like a Jekyll of Hyde, says Indian coach Nandan Bal</a>

Akshay shared his thoughts on the big decision of dropping out from college and turning into a professional at such a young age. He feels the gamble has paid off but there is always a chance to go back and complete his education if the opportunity&nbsp;arises. He lauded his family's support and said, "What I've learned from my parents is to be very family-oriented. It wasn't just my own discussion. It was a family discussion. I&nbsp;did a lot of things that some junior or ammeter golfers never did. For me, turning&nbsp;pro was to get my masters degree on the golf course. That's my college. My mom wanted me to go to school. Education is super important for me but it was just a little different for me. I was always ahead of the pack&nbsp;so I was ready to do it (turn professional). They supported me. It is something I'll never regret (forgoing education) and if I have time, I can always&nbsp;go back to school and get a degree."

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ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/exclusive-fans-love-big-three-aslan-karatsev-on-lack-of-support-for-daniil-medvedev-in-aus-open-final-450040">EXCLUSIVE | 'Fans love Big Three': Aslan Karatsev on lack of support for Daniil Medvedev in Aus Open final</a>

Not many get someone of the stature of&nbsp;Mickelson -- winner of&nbsp;45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021)&nbsp;and one Open Championship -- to mentor them at such a young age. Akshay feels he is truly blessed to be around his company and emphasised&nbsp;how big a role the 51-year-old has played in his career so far.&nbsp;"It is a dream to be able to spend time with him. He has been really gracious with his time. He has helped me a lot. He has a lot of belief in me. He maybe sees a bit of himself in me (also winning as an ammeter). Amazing to have a mentor like that. He won a major last year. He knows what feelings you get at the biggest stage. Any time I have to text or call him, he will always respond. I am excited to team up with him on tour in the future."

Young Indian origin golfer Akshay Bhatia made heads turn when he clinched The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour at Sandals Emerald Bay in January 2022.

Young Indian origin golfer Akshay Bhatia made heads turn when he clinched The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour at Sandals Emerald Bay in January 2022. The 19-year-old teenager became only the third-youngest (after Australia's Jason Day and Korea's Sungjae IM) to win on the Korn Ferry Tour. Akshay, whose family originally belongs to New Delhi, India made his professional debut at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. Since then, his rise up the ladder has been evident and the youngster recently sat down for an exclusive interaction with WION's Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo where he dwelled on his journey so far, decision to forego college education and his mentor fellow left-hander and the great, Phil Mickelson. Sharing thoughts on his Korn Ferry Tour win, Akshay opined, "Yeah. I think the journey has played a big part in the lead-up to that win. I struggled for a long time but I was also playing against the best players in the world. I had three-four opportunities to be on the PGA Tour last season but it just wasn't my time yet. I had to keep learning. But I've enjoyed it and this is my first Korn Ferry Tour. To kick off with a victory, it is a great start to the year. Playing with a lot of PGA Tour winners has been great. Being one of the youngest players to be on the tour, it is just amazing." ALSO READ | EXCLUSIVE | Aus Open 2022: Rafael Nadal is G.O.A.T, he's like a Jekyll of Hyde, says Indian coach Nandan Bal Akshay shared his thoughts on the big decision of dropping out from college and turning into a professional at such a young age. He feels the gamble has paid off but there is always a chance to go back and complete his education if the opportunity arises. He lauded his family's support and said, "What I've learned from my parents is to be very family-oriented. It wasn't just my own discussion. It was a family discussion. I did a lot of things that some junior or ammeter golfers never did. For me, turning pro was to get my masters degree on the golf course. That's my college. My mom wanted me to go to school. Education is super important for me but it was just a little different for me. I was always ahead of the pack so I was ready to do it (turn professional). They supported me. It is something I'll never regret (forgoing education) and if I have time, I can always go back to school and get a degree." × ALSO READ | EXCLUSIVE | 'Fans love Big Three': Aslan Karatsev on lack of support for Daniil Medvedev in Aus Open final Not many get someone of the stature of Mickelson -- winner of 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two PGA Championships (2005, 2021) and one Open Championship -- to mentor them at such a young age. Akshay feels he is truly blessed to be around his company and emphasised how big a role the 51-year-old has played in his career so far. "It is a dream to be able to spend time with him. He has been really gracious with his time. He has helped me a lot. He has a lot of belief in me. He maybe sees a bit of himself in me (also winning as an ammeter). Amazing to have a mentor like that. He won a major last year. He knows what feelings you get at the biggest stage. Any time I have to text or call him, he will always respond. I am excited to team up with him on tour in the future."

EXCLUSIVE | 'He sees a bit of...' - Akshay Bhatia on mentor Phil Mickelson, forgoing college education

WION had an exclusive conversation with one of the living legends of Indian classical music, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who believes in the healing power of music. Popularly known as the 'Sarod Samrat', or 'Sarod Maestro' he humbly calls himself 'Sarod ka ghulam'...which means a slave to the sarod.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on the power of music | WION Exclusive

The leading ladies of Netflix new thriller 'Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein' - Shweta Tripathi Sharma and Anchal Singh along with the series creator Siddharth Sengupta spoke to WION about their show, their favourite characters and why the story was based in small town of India. The show is currently streaming on Netflix India and also features Tahir Raj Bhasin, Saurabh Shukla, Bajendra Kala and Anant Joshi among others.

Dissecting 'Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein' with cast and director

Prominent Turkish TV journalist, Sedef Kabas, has been detained for "insulting" the nation's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could face imprisonment for the same. According to Turkey's state broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television, TRT Haber, Kabas was arrested at her home in Istanbul at 2am.

This happened after a live interview on opposition TV channel Tele1 where the journalist used traditional Turkish proverbs to make references to Erdogan. She did not directly use his name.&nbsp;

"A crowned head gets wiser, but we see that it is not true," she said.&nbsp;

Fahrettin Altun, head of Turkey’s communications directorate and Erdoğan’s chief spokesman, in a report by The Guardian, "The honour of the presidency’s office is the honour of our country ... I condemn the vulgar insults made against our president and his office."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mp-nusrat-ghani-alleges-she-was-sacked-job-in-pm-boris-johnsons-government-for-being-muslim-446911">Also read |&nbsp;MP Nusrat Ghani alleges she was sacked job in PM Boris Johnson's government for being Muslim</a>

Kabas was first taken to the police station and then to the prosecutor's office.&nbsp;

Accoridng to report by CNN, the cameras were already rolling when she was brought to the courthouse. She then appeared in front of the judge in Istanbul court after which she was immediately arrested.

Merdan Yanardağ, the chief editor of the Tele 1 channel criticised her arrest. &nbsp;He said, "Her detention overnight at 2am because of a proverb is unacceptable. This stance is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society.”

(With inputs from agencies)

Prominent Turkish TV journalist, Sedef Kabas, has been detained for "insulting" the nation's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could face imprisonment for the same.

Prominent Turkish TV journalist, Sedef Kabas, has been detained for "insulting" the nation's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and could face imprisonment for the same. According to Turkey's state broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television, TRT Haber, Kabas was arrested at her home in Istanbul at 2am. This happened after a live interview on opposition TV channel Tele1 where the journalist used traditional Turkish proverbs to make references to Erdogan. She did not directly use his name. "A crowned head gets wiser, but we see that it is not true," she said. Fahrettin Altun, head of Turkey’s communications directorate and Erdoğan’s chief spokesman, in a report by The Guardian, "The honour of the presidency’s office is the honour of our country ... I condemn the vulgar insults made against our president and his office." Also read | MP Nusrat Ghani alleges she was sacked job in PM Boris Johnson's government for being Muslim Kabas was first taken to the police station and then to the prosecutor's office. Accoridng to report by CNN, the cameras were already rolling when she was brought to the courthouse. She then appeared in front of the judge in Istanbul court after which she was immediately arrested. Merdan Yanardağ, the chief editor of the Tele 1 channel criticised her arrest. He said, "Her detention overnight at 2am because of a proverb is unacceptable. This stance is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society.” (With inputs from agencies)

Turkish journalist detained after 'insulting' Erdogan in TV interview

Not often does one get to make a living out of his, or her, passion. Moreover, not many manage to don, and perform, various roles while following their passion at a professional level.

Not often does one get to make a living out of his, or her, passion. Moreover, not many manage to don, and perform, various roles while following their passion at a professional level. Coach Sanjay Singh has done it all. From starting as a player to turning into a physio and honing his skills as an international coach, Mr. Singh has ticked several boxes while staying relevant in the field of tennis for years. Above all, his childlike passion remains infectious. Such has been his success story that Mr. Singh has taken Indian tennis into uncharted territory. After all, how often do we see Indian coaches being active in WTA or ATP tours? Also, have we often heard about Indian coaches for elite non-Indian tennis players? The answer to both the queries would have been in the negative if not for Sanjay Singh. However, Mr. Singh is one such personality who has single-handedly kept Indian tennis' flag high with his presence as a coach of Brazilian youngster Luisa Stefani and American star Hayley Carter. ALSO READ | Peng Shuai row: China hits back at WTA for 'politicising sport' after it suspends all tournaments in country In an exclusive interaction with WION news' Aditya Sahay, Sanjay Singh dwelled upon many aspects of his career, the several role transformations, satisfying journey with Luisa and Carter so far, the camaraderie with Indian tennis great Leander Paes and the state of affairs with regard to tennis in the cricket-crazy country. EXCERPTS: Like mentioned, not often do we see Indian coaches for foreign players. You have changed it all in many ways. How did it all happen? (Laughs) Well, I was a player initially. I was playing in Orissa Open. It so happened that I was playing in one court and the other player had a cramp. Because I used to work as the helper, I was asked to chip in and help. I assisted him and came back to play my match. At that time, I thought we don't have focus on working on players' fitness in India. So, I thought to take this up. That's where I started as a physiotherapist. During Davis Cup tie, Ramesh Krishnan's trainer didn't turn up, hence, they called me and I worked with him. When his trainer came back, Leander asked me to join him. There is no end to learning. You learn from small kids also. In India, they think they know everything. They don't respect others. Among Indian players, only few are travelling abroad for training and all. You need to have awareness and the learning ability within you. Always!. In one of your interviews, you rightly pointed out how India is a country where people like to stay in their own preconceived views or opinions. Many labelled you as 'one who gives massages to Leander Paes'. Was it a conscious effort to revamp your image or you never paid heed to all such claims? Before I started off, I was a tennis player. Since there was no body looking after the players' body, their demands off the court and their suffering, I started working on this aspect. With Leander, I used to work with him. But since my knowledge of tennis was always there, he kept me involved asking 'Dadda (brother), what to do, did I mess it up?' I never had to tell people what I was doing with Leander. We both knew where we were heading and that's what mattered. End of the day 'let the racket talk'. It (criticism) never bothered me as it was all behind my back. Hence, many talented players' careers are now over. They stop working on themselves after a bit of initial success. It is sad. Many didn't want to learn that often. Leander always tries to grasp more in every scenario. Unlike in India, I get much more respect in Florida. For our Prime Minister, they still call him as 'the chaiwala (tea-seller)' but one doesn't see, or acknowledge, his journey and development. We need to respect each other and see one's growth. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sanjay singh (@coachsanjaysingh) × Coming to Luisa Stefani and Hayley Carter! Both are different individuals and, hence, have different styles, strengths and weaknesses. While Stefani is the first Brazilian woman to feature in the WTA's Top 10 and occupies the ninth rank in doubles, American star Carter has also come a long way to sit at the 25th spot in doubles rankings. How did your association begin with the duo? What defines them of both? Can you highlight few areas where they have shown vast improvement under your watchful eyes? When I used to travel with Leander, my base was in Florida. During my off-season, I used to train at Saddlebrook Tennis Academy. Back then, I was asked if I can train this young girl called Luisa Stefani. I saw her and was floored by her talent and skills. I was like 'wow, this girl has fire, she is fast and comes to the net'. Since she wanted to be pro, she had to change her visa. She couldn't get the visa initially and, thus, went back. In 2018, she returned. Then we started playing and practicing. There was one month of intense training. Her parents then asked me to travel with her. So I started in April 2019. In May, she won the Italy Championship in England. Thus, she had a chance to enter the Wimbledon but she was alternate, hence, couldn't get in. The same fate followed in the US Open. On the other hand, Hayley was looking for a partner. Luisa asked me and I told her play with Hayley. They won the Uzbekistan Championship (i.e. Tashkent Open) in 2019 and then they lost the third round in Australian Open 2020. Luisa has a big serve whereas Hayley attacked the net more often. Only drawback was the overhead shot. That was the area we were lagging behind. But we started combining well and then after that Hayley got hurt in Wimbledon this year. Then we got Gabriela Dabrowski with Luisa. We reached the final of Cincinnati 2021 and semi-final of US Open. During the pandemic, we weren't training. We used to be in the bubble. We were getting tested. RT-PCR tests and being confined inside was the new normal. Mentally it was very tough and, hence, many players are now burning out. The only time they opened up little bit was during the Cincinnati (Open). Life was tough. We couldn't go out. One had to resort to Uber Eats. We used to have a table downstairs in the lobby where the food was kept by the Uber guy and then we had to take it. It was all about dealing with the bio bubble life and surviving (sighs). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sanjay singh (@coachsanjaysingh) × The world of sports knows a lot about Leander Paes. He remains the face of Indian tennis. Share your equation with him. How did it start and where is it at present? How has he helped in your transformation from being a physio to coach? See, it was during the Davis Cup tie in New Delhi when I met him. I used to work in the hotel as a helper supervisor. In 1996, it was tough for me to manage work and my tennis stuff. So I left my job and came on board with Paes. He wanted me to learn everything because he never trusted anyone else. Let me tell you, I used to travel with a stringing machine as he was playing so much. Everyday 7-8 rackets were used. But, Leander has always encouraged me. He used to ask me to interact with people, observe others and share inputs. He always believed in me. I used to be his brother, buddy and everything. He says he wants to retire in Wimbledon 2022. Let's see. He tells me 'Dadda, you will get me ready for Wimbledon'. We both call each other 'Dadda'. That sums up the whole equation, doesn't it? (smiles). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sanjay singh (@coachsanjaysingh) × ALSO READ | EXCLUSIVE | Dark clouds of struggle have a 'silver' lining for Mirabai Chanu's coach Vijay Sharma Lastly, thoughts on tennis in India. From Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza to Sumit Nagal, the sport has come a long way in the country but there obviously remains huge scope for improvement and participation among the youth. Your views regarding the status of the game in the country at present? In India, they should have a team who knows about the game firstly. Mr Sundar Iyer (Secretary of the Maharashtra Lawn Tennis Association (MSLTA) and Manager of Indian Davis Cup Team) is doing great in getting tournaments in India. He's doing very well. See, if youngsters play more tournaments, sponsor them. Work for the players. Give them their due by supplying resources and everything that matters to build their careers. Even a peon is getting an India jacket. Give it to people who need it more. They need to sponsor juniors so that they can play tournaments outside India. It helps in building their games at a young level. For the unversed, in Brazil there are 7-8 juniors playing on tours. How many in India? Hardly! For players, they should learn from Leander. If they do good in one game, they get complacent. Their collars go up after one good win. They don't know next week is a new week. Nowadays, we tend to go for shortcuts. Leander was never like this. Now I'm in states, when I see things there, players never have to worry about tennis court. Here, staff ask for INR 100 as court fees. Wherever you play, they will be charging you. How can a youngster manage all this, who is just trying to come up the ranks? Unless and until they change the entire system, nothing will happen. Hence, many players move abroad to train and manage themselves. Here for everything, they will charge and still not provide all facilities. They've to change a lot. We have to be player-friendly and not administration-friendly. India is such a great country. We have everything. But we face so many problems unnecessarily. Base has to change. Believe me, we have such great potential and that we can do wonders. But youngsters don't get support. In abroad, players get full support. Outside India, the association is taking care of players and coaches. In Brazil, association are paying for trainers who are travelling with players. Unimaginable. It cannot even be expected in India. Even such thinking is missing in the country. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sanjay singh (@coachsanjaysingh) × Luisa won the first medal for Brazil (bronze in women's doubles in Tokyo 2020). Their government called and felicitated me. As a foreign coach, they are calling and honouring me. This doesn't happen in India. The coach can give you the idea, but who will bring you to the court -- a trainer. If you have a Ferrari but the engine doesn't work properly, it is as good as a showpiece. Hence, a lot needs to change. Be more player-friendly, focus on coaches and trainers, give them their due and build youngsters' careers from the junior level itself.

EXCLUSIVE | Who is Sanjay Singh? A close ally of Leander Paes & guiding light of Luisa Stefani-Hayley Carter

The past year in California has been the driest in a century. But on a recent mid-November afternoon, California was starting to look a lot like … Ireland.

 
At least it was in the edit bay for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” where visual effects artists were diligently tweaking the color scheme to better resemble that of the Emerald Isle. Slowly, the parched cliffs of Bodega Bay began to look like the grassy Slieve League cliffs. The golden, dusty hills of Sonoma County took on the verdant, rain-soaked hues of County Donegal. Several episodes of the coming season are set in Ireland, where they were also supposed to be shot before the pandemic intervened. That meant adding a lot of green and gray in post.

 
Clad in a black T-shirt emblazoned with a raised fist in support of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Rob McElhenney jumped up from the couch, as if yanked by an invisible string. He poked the screen with a decisive finger.

 
“Can we make the mountain closer to a darker rock?” He sat down, then jumped up again. “Can we darken the sky?” Then again. “Is that enough of a pinnacle?”

 
A big sigh. A pause. “I love this job,” he said.

 
Off-screen, McElhenney, who created and stars in “Sunny,” is in the midst of his own transformation, and it’s a lot harder when what you’re poking at is yourself. When the show returns to FXX for its 15th season on Wednesday, it will officially dethrone “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” as the longest running live-action comedy series in American TV history, and it has already been renewed through Season 18.

 
For McElhenney, it’s a milestone. But it’s also a midpoint, and a cause for reflection.

 
He is embarking on what he calls “the second half” of his career. Thanks largely to the longevity of “Sunny,” he is financially set for life — he doesn’t really &lt;em&gt;need&lt;/em&gt; to do anything more. And yet, in the past two years, he has co-created and stars in the Apple TV Plus comedy “Mythic Quest”; codeveloped and sold a third, to-be-announced scripted show; recorded a “Sunny” recap podcast; and is currently filming the docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham,” which will chart his journey as the new co-owner of a Welsh soccer team.

 
“I’m only 44,” he said. “So, am I going to sit back and just wait to die?”

 
Those who know McElhenney know complacency was never an option. They describe him as “the most driven man I’ve ever met” (“Sunny” executive producer and star Charlie Day); “the captain that you want on your ship” (his “Sunny” co-star and wife of 13 years, Kaitlin Olson); and “the ‘Rocky’ soundtrack in human form” (Megan Ganz, who created “Mythic Quest” with McElhenney and Day and is also an executive producer on “Sunny”).

 
Indeed, the boundaries between work and home seem blurry. Earlier that morning, McElhenney had ushered me into a detached home office behind the house he and Olson share with their two sons in Brentwood, California. His workspace, loosely inspired by a Pennsylvania log cabin, was recently enhanced with a section of the Paddy’s Pub set — complete with stools, flooring and a football-helmet-shaped neon sign — that he paid the “Sunny” art department to install.

 
A voracious reader — or, more often, listener — of memoirs by successful people (recent selections include one by Nike co-founder Phil Knight), McElhenney speaks with a measured, academic eloquence. He pauses only to sip water from an oversized Mason jar or tend to Moose, his and Olson’s rescue cat, who has a penchant for breaking the “no countertops” rule.

 
He’s not actually funny. Or so he repeatedly insists. And he is given more to soft-spoken contemplation than to punchlines as he drifts through philosophical musings about power and ethics, about where he’s from and where he’s heading.

 
“Sometimes I find myself doing too many things because I’m just like, Oh, I’m here, and I have this opportunity and this access — I want to take it all before I die,” he said, adding later, “At what point does the accumulation of experience become greedy?”

 
The McElhenney origin story he tells is a hero’s journey built in the grand tradition of the American dream: An outsider from a working-class Philadelphia family defies the odds to charm the Hollywood suits and achieve huge success with his buddies by his side.

 
Growing up in South Philly, McElhenney clung to TV comedies as a source of escape and connection. When he was 9, his mother moved out to be with the woman who is now his stepmother, and he and his two younger siblings sought stability in NBC’s Thursday night lineup, religiously watching “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties” with their father. During weekends at their moms’ house, it was “Golden Girls.”

 
Acting was initially a last resort. Small and not athletic but longing deeply for connection, the teenage McElhenney eventually abandoned his attempts to play a sport at his all-boys Catholic high school and answered the siren song of a nearby sister school, which needed boys for its production of Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.” After a brief stint at Temple University, he moved to New York and eventually Los Angeles to pursue acting.

 
The idea for one of TV’s most successful comedies was born modestly enough, coming to McElhenney in the middle of the night in 2004, two years after he moved to Los Angeles. He envisaged a scene in which a guy knocks on his friend’s door to ask for some sugar for his coffee. The friend tells him he has cancer. The first guy is really sorry to hear that — but he still needs the sugar.

 
As McElhenney put it, if the “maxim” of “Friends” was “I’ll be there for you,” then the one for “Sunny” would be “I’ll never be there.”

 
While living in a converted West Hollywood garage and working as a waiter, McElhenney approached his fellow aspiring actors Day, Glenn Howerton and Jordan Reid (then McElhenney’s girlfriend) with a script, and they shot the original pilot for “Sunny” on a hand-held camcorder. They shopped it around and, according to McElhenney, the fledgling FX offered the best chance for the team to retain creative control and to do the low-budget show their way.

 
“It was absolutely, 100% not what I was looking for,” John Landgraf, who was then president of entertainment at FX, said as he emphasized McElhenney’s total lack of experience as a writer, producer or showrunner. “But it was funny. He had a voice.”

 
FX paid them to shoot a more polished pilot and suggested it might have a better chance of standing out if they changed the characters from a group of self-involved actors in Los Angeles to a group of self-involved bar owners in McElhenney’s native Philadelphia.

 
As McElhenney, Howerton and Day waited to hear if the show would be picked up, FX came back with a question: Would they be willing to hire a different actress for the sole female lead, Sweet Dee, who served originally as a moralizing foil?

 
The guys agreed to find someone else, and Reid, who by then had split with McElhenney, was bumped, an experience she described in a 2016 essay for Observer as feeling like a betrayal by her friends. (Reid no longer begrudges the men for seizing their opportunity, she wrote in an email, and she and McElhenney each now say that they are once again friends. FX declined to comment on the casting issue.)

 
Olson auditioned and won the part, which was then reworked to match the debauchery of the male characters.

 
“Rob actually apologized to me that they didn’t do that already,” Olson said. “He definitely had a vested interest in making this character equal to the male characters, and it was very refreshing at the time.” 
Sixteen years after its debut, “Sunny” remains resolutely committed to its brand of crass nihilism in an age of kinder, gentler comedies like “Ted Lasso” and “Schitt’s Creek.” But while “Sunny” remains intent on “satirizing ignorance,” as McElhenney put it, he also admits there have been missteps, like the treatment of a recurring transgender character, who was referred to as a slur in a way that made it seem as if the show, rather than the characters, was advocating her mistreatment.

 
“We can’t retroactively change things,” he said. “What we’ve done is adjust for them.”

 
For example, McElhenney’s character, Mac, went on a rocky coming out journey across Seasons 11 to 13 that then culminated in a tonal shift as he performed a poignant, 4 1/2-minute interpretive dance after revealing his sexuality to his imprisoned father.

 
And then there was the blackface. In the wake of last year’s nationwide racial justice protests, Hulu, which streams “Sunny” in the United States, removed several episodes that depict characters, including McElhenney’s, in blackface. Rather than let the episodes disappear from collective memory, however, the “Sunny” team confronted them in a Season 15 episode that dives into issues of cancel culture, atonement and white saviorism as the characters film their latest sequel to the “Lethal Weapon” franchise.

 
This time, however, there are Black actors instead of blackface — including Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing Elvin on “The Cosby Show,” who had appeared in earlier episodes and in “Mythic Quest.” The new episode also has a Black director (Pete Chatmon) and Black co-writer (Keyonna Taylor).

 
Over the last few years, public discourse and their own evolving thinking convinced McElhenney and the rest of the creative team that they should diversify the show’s perspectives, although it was initially unclear how that would serve their bigoted main characters.

 
“At its foundation, it’s a show about five ignorant white people, right?” McElhenney said. “So, at first we thought, well, how does it even make sense to have different points of view in there?”

 
“Then we were like, Oh my God, of course,” he added. “Who could better understand how it feels to be in the wake of ignorant white people than people who aren’t ignorant white people? Ignorant white men, specifically.”

 
Women and people of color have increasingly been added to the “Sunny” fold, a course McElhenney continued when staffing and casting “Mythic Quest,” which was recently renewed for a third and fourth season. A workplace comedy set at a video game company, it stars McElhenney as an egomaniacal game creator opposite Charlotte Nicdao, a Filipina Australian actress in her first major Hollywood role.

 
Beyond McElhenney’s diversification efforts, Nicdao and Ganz said, he has also worked hard to offer guidance and opportunities for people who perhaps didn’t have as clear of a path forward in the industry as he did.

 
“As a woman, I’ve always felt uncomfortable asking anyone to take time out of what they’re doing to teach me something,” Nicdao said. “The thing that Rob has done is create this environment where I’ve never had to ask.”

 
“I have, for the first time, considered, oh, maybe I want to produce,” she added. “Maybe I want to direct. Maybe I would actually be capable of that.”

 
Likewise, Ganz, who met McElhenney when she joined “Sunny” as a writer and co-producer in 2016, said it was McElhenney who pushed her to make her directorial debut, in the second season of “Mythic Quest.” 
“Rob’s like a supportive bully, in that he encourages you very aggressively to step outside of your comfort zone,” she said. “He believes in you maybe a few feet further than you believe in yourself.”

 
His belief in others overflows from the abundance of confidence he has long had in himself and in his ideas. And that self-confidence is infectious. A few years ago, actor Ryan Reynolds slid into McElhenney’s direct messages. He was a fan of “Sunny,” and they developed an online friendship strong enough for McElhenney to ask Reynolds if he wanted to join him in buying a Welsh soccer club called Wrexham and make a documentary series about the experience. This was before they had even met in person. 
Reynolds said yes, and they’re currently shooting “Welcome to Wrexham,” for FX. It’s about an underdog soccer team but also about “community and what we inherit and what we leave behind,” McElhenney said — the type of big-picture questions he often finds himself pondering in the hours between his 5 a.m. wake-up time and his current nightly routine of drinking a large Manhattan and re-watching “Succession.”

 
As earnest as McElhenney is about the generous aspect of his second act — using his own success to create security and opportunity for others — he is aware that he’s partly motivated by self-interest. By elevating new talent around him, he is making his own projects better. It also makes him feel good.

 
“Am I doing it all in the service of something positive or good? I’d like to say that the answer is yes,” he said. “But sometimes, if I’m being honest with myself, maybe it is just that I don’t know what it is I’m looking for. Maybe when I find it, I’ll know.”

The past year in California has been the driest in a century. But on a recent mid-November afternoon, California was starting to look a lot like … Ireland. At least it was in the edit bay for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” where visual effects artists were diligently tweaking the color scheme to better resemble that of the Emerald Isle.

The past year in California has been the driest in a century. But on a recent mid-November afternoon, California was starting to look a lot like … Ireland. At least it was in the edit bay for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” where visual effects artists were diligently tweaking the color scheme to better resemble that of the Emerald Isle. Slowly, the parched cliffs of Bodega Bay began to look like the grassy Slieve League cliffs. The golden, dusty hills of Sonoma County took on the verdant, rain-soaked hues of County Donegal. Several episodes of the coming season are set in Ireland, where they were also supposed to be shot before the pandemic intervened. That meant adding a lot of green and gray in post. Clad in a black T-shirt emblazoned with a raised fist in support of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Rob McElhenney jumped up from the couch, as if yanked by an invisible string. He poked the screen with a decisive finger. “Can we make the mountain closer to a darker rock?” He sat down, then jumped up again. “Can we darken the sky?” Then again. “Is that enough of a pinnacle?” A big sigh. A pause. “I love this job,” he said. Off-screen, McElhenney, who created and stars in “Sunny,” is in the midst of his own transformation, and it’s a lot harder when what you’re poking at is yourself. When the show returns to FXX for its 15th season on Wednesday, it will officially dethrone “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” as the longest running live-action comedy series in American TV history, and it has already been renewed through Season 18. For McElhenney, it’s a milestone. But it’s also a midpoint, and a cause for reflection. He is embarking on what he calls “the second half” of his career. Thanks largely to the longevity of “Sunny,” he is financially set for life — he doesn’t really need to do anything more. And yet, in the past two years, he has co-created and stars in the Apple TV Plus comedy “Mythic Quest”; codeveloped and sold a third, to-be-announced scripted show; recorded a “Sunny” recap podcast; and is currently filming the docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham,” which will chart his journey as the new co-owner of a Welsh soccer team. “I’m only 44,” he said. “So, am I going to sit back and just wait to die?” Those who know McElhenney know complacency was never an option. They describe him as “the most driven man I’ve ever met” (“Sunny” executive producer and star Charlie Day); “the captain that you want on your ship” (his “Sunny” co-star and wife of 13 years, Kaitlin Olson); and “the ‘Rocky’ soundtrack in human form” (Megan Ganz, who created “Mythic Quest” with McElhenney and Day and is also an executive producer on “Sunny”). Indeed, the boundaries between work and home seem blurry. Earlier that morning, McElhenney had ushered me into a detached home office behind the house he and Olson share with their two sons in Brentwood, California. His workspace, loosely inspired by a Pennsylvania log cabin, was recently enhanced with a section of the Paddy’s Pub set — complete with stools, flooring and a football-helmet-shaped neon sign — that he paid the “Sunny” art department to install. A voracious reader — or, more often, listener — of memoirs by successful people (recent selections include one by Nike co-founder Phil Knight), McElhenney speaks with a measured, academic eloquence. He pauses only to sip water from an oversized Mason jar or tend to Moose, his and Olson’s rescue cat, who has a penchant for breaking the “no countertops” rule. He’s not actually funny. Or so he repeatedly insists. And he is given more to soft-spoken contemplation than to punchlines as he drifts through philosophical musings about power and ethics, about where he’s from and where he’s heading. “Sometimes I find myself doing too many things because I’m just like, Oh, I’m here, and I have this opportunity and this access — I want to take it all before I die,” he said, adding later, “At what point does the accumulation of experience become greedy?” The McElhenney origin story he tells is a hero’s journey built in the grand tradition of the American dream: An outsider from a working-class Philadelphia family defies the odds to charm the Hollywood suits and achieve huge success with his buddies by his side. Growing up in South Philly, McElhenney clung to TV comedies as a source of escape and connection. When he was 9, his mother moved out to be with the woman who is now his stepmother, and he and his two younger siblings sought stability in NBC’s Thursday night lineup, religiously watching “The Cosby Show” and “Family Ties” with their father. During weekends at their moms’ house, it was “Golden Girls.” Acting was initially a last resort. Small and not athletic but longing deeply for connection, the teenage McElhenney eventually abandoned his attempts to play a sport at his all-boys Catholic high school and answered the siren song of a nearby sister school, which needed boys for its production of Noël Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.” After a brief stint at Temple University, he moved to New York and eventually Los Angeles to pursue acting. The idea for one of TV’s most successful comedies was born modestly enough, coming to McElhenney in the middle of the night in 2004, two years after he moved to Los Angeles. He envisaged a scene in which a guy knocks on his friend’s door to ask for some sugar for his coffee. The friend tells him he has cancer. The first guy is really sorry to hear that — but he still needs the sugar. As McElhenney put it, if the “maxim” of “Friends” was “I’ll be there for you,” then the one for “Sunny” would be “I’ll never be there.” While living in a converted West Hollywood garage and working as a waiter, McElhenney approached his fellow aspiring actors Day, Glenn Howerton and Jordan Reid (then McElhenney’s girlfriend) with a script, and they shot the original pilot for “Sunny” on a hand-held camcorder. They shopped it around and, according to McElhenney, the fledgling FX offered the best chance for the team to retain creative control and to do the low-budget show their way. “It was absolutely, 100% not what I was looking for,” John Landgraf, who was then president of entertainment at FX, said as he emphasized McElhenney’s total lack of experience as a writer, producer or showrunner. “But it was funny. He had a voice.” FX paid them to shoot a more polished pilot and suggested it might have a better chance of standing out if they changed the characters from a group of self-involved actors in Los Angeles to a group of self-involved bar owners in McElhenney’s native Philadelphia. As McElhenney, Howerton and Day waited to hear if the show would be picked up, FX came back with a question: Would they be willing to hire a different actress for the sole female lead, Sweet Dee, who served originally as a moralizing foil? The guys agreed to find someone else, and Reid, who by then had split with McElhenney, was bumped, an experience she described in a 2016 essay for Observer as feeling like a betrayal by her friends. (Reid no longer begrudges the men for seizing their opportunity, she wrote in an email, and she and McElhenney each now say that they are once again friends. FX declined to comment on the casting issue.) Olson auditioned and won the part, which was then reworked to match the debauchery of the male characters. “Rob actually apologized to me that they didn’t do that already,” Olson said. “He definitely had a vested interest in making this character equal to the male characters, and it was very refreshing at the time.” Sixteen years after its debut, “Sunny” remains resolutely committed to its brand of crass nihilism in an age of kinder, gentler comedies like “Ted Lasso” and “Schitt’s Creek.” But while “Sunny” remains intent on “satirizing ignorance,” as McElhenney put it, he also admits there have been missteps, like the treatment of a recurring transgender character, who was referred to as a slur in a way that made it seem as if the show, rather than the characters, was advocating her mistreatment. “We can’t retroactively change things,” he said. “What we’ve done is adjust for them.” For example, McElhenney’s character, Mac, went on a rocky coming out journey across Seasons 11 to 13 that then culminated in a tonal shift as he performed a poignant, 4 1/2-minute interpretive dance after revealing his sexuality to his imprisoned father. And then there was the blackface. In the wake of last year’s nationwide racial justice protests, Hulu, which streams “Sunny” in the United States, removed several episodes that depict characters, including McElhenney’s, in blackface. Rather than let the episodes disappear from collective memory, however, the “Sunny” team confronted them in a Season 15 episode that dives into issues of cancel culture, atonement and white saviorism as the characters film their latest sequel to the “Lethal Weapon” franchise. This time, however, there are Black actors instead of blackface — including Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing Elvin on “The Cosby Show,” who had appeared in earlier episodes and in “Mythic Quest.” The new episode also has a Black director (Pete Chatmon) and Black co-writer (Keyonna Taylor). Over the last few years, public discourse and their own evolving thinking convinced McElhenney and the rest of the creative team that they should diversify the show’s perspectives, although it was initially unclear how that would serve their bigoted main characters. “At its foundation, it’s a show about five ignorant white people, right?” McElhenney said. “So, at first we thought, well, how does it even make sense to have different points of view in there?” “Then we were like, Oh my God, of course,” he added. “Who could better understand how it feels to be in the wake of ignorant white people than people who aren’t ignorant white people? Ignorant white men, specifically.” Women and people of color have increasingly been added to the “Sunny” fold, a course McElhenney continued when staffing and casting “Mythic Quest,” which was recently renewed for a third and fourth season. A workplace comedy set at a video game company, it stars McElhenney as an egomaniacal game creator opposite Charlotte Nicdao, a Filipina Australian actress in her first major Hollywood role. Beyond McElhenney’s diversification efforts, Nicdao and Ganz said, he has also worked hard to offer guidance and opportunities for people who perhaps didn’t have as clear of a path forward in the industry as he did. “As a woman, I’ve always felt uncomfortable asking anyone to take time out of what they’re doing to teach me something,” Nicdao said. “The thing that Rob has done is create this environment where I’ve never had to ask.” “I have, for the first time, considered, oh, maybe I want to produce,” she added. “Maybe I want to direct. Maybe I would actually be capable of that.” Likewise, Ganz, who met McElhenney when she joined “Sunny” as a writer and co-producer in 2016, said it was McElhenney who pushed her to make her directorial debut, in the second season of “Mythic Quest.” “Rob’s like a supportive bully, in that he encourages you very aggressively to step outside of your comfort zone,” she said. “He believes in you maybe a few feet further than you believe in yourself.” His belief in others overflows from the abundance of confidence he has long had in himself and in his ideas. And that self-confidence is infectious. A few years ago, actor Ryan Reynolds slid into McElhenney’s direct messages. He was a fan of “Sunny,” and they developed an online friendship strong enough for McElhenney to ask Reynolds if he wanted to join him in buying a Welsh soccer club called Wrexham and make a documentary series about the experience. This was before they had even met in person. Reynolds said yes, and they’re currently shooting “Welcome to Wrexham,” for FX. It’s about an underdog soccer team but also about “community and what we inherit and what we leave behind,” McElhenney said — the type of big-picture questions he often finds himself pondering in the hours between his 5 a.m. wake-up time and his current nightly routine of drinking a large Manhattan and re-watching “Succession.” As earnest as McElhenney is about the generous aspect of his second act — using his own success to create security and opportunity for others — he is aware that he’s partly motivated by self-interest. By elevating new talent around him, he is making his own projects better. It also makes him feel good. “Am I doing it all in the service of something positive or good? I’d like to say that the answer is yes,” he said. “But sometimes, if I’m being honest with myself, maybe it is just that I don’t know what it is I’m looking for. Maybe when I find it, I’ll know.”

It’s always sunny with Rob McElhenney

Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides has lauded his country's ties with India calling them "strong strategic, and indispensable" and highlighted how his country can become a "gateway for Europe" for Indian businesses and other people-to-people engagement.

Support enhancement of ties between Brussels & New Delhi: Cyprus FM Nikos Christodoulides

‘Soorma’ actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh recently got talking about his experience in the Bollywood industry and it’s not very pleasant.&nbsp;

Having featured in several Hindi films, Diljit knows the inner workings of the industry and has something to say to them: “Superstar honge apne ghar pe (Those actors can be lions in their own dens).”

In an interview, Diljit Dosanjh said that he doesn't care about making it big in Bollywood with a successful movie career as he is a good and successful Punjabi singer. Diljit Dosanjh said, “I have no desire of becoming a Bollywood star. I love music, and without anybody's say, I can make my music. No superstar can tell me that this music won't work, or that someone else's song would work better, none of this works on me. Punjabi artists are independent, and that's great freedom to have. Nobody can stop us, nobody can stop me from making music. I will keep making music for as long as I want to, and for as long as God allows me to. And I don't give a damn about getting work in Bollywood.”

On his experience, Diljit said, “If I speak up about it, it'll become a big deal. It's better to stay away from all this. Your eyes reveal everything. It isn't necessary to use words. And filmmaking is the kind of medium where it isn't necessary that you get lines. You have your face and your expressions and your eyes, which reveal everything. I'm not crazy about anybody; no actor, no director, nobody. They can be superstars in their own homes.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-sony-pictures-films-india-unveils-a-packed-slate-of-over-17-indian-and-hollywood-releases-414416" hreflang="en">Sony Pictures Films India unveils a packed slate of over 17 Indian and Hollywood releases</a>&nbsp;

Diljit Dosanjh, a popular Punjabi singer made a name for himself in Bollywood with films like ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Phillauri’, ‘Soorma’ and others. He will soon be seen in a Netflix film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar.

<h2><a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-ali-fazal-collaborates-with-arati-kadav-for-a-science-fiction-short-film-414410" hreflang="en">Ali Fazal collaborates with Arati Kadav for a science fiction short film</a></h2>

‘Soorma’ actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh recently got talking about his experience in the Bollywood industry and it’s not very pleasant. Having featured in several Hindi films, Diljit knows the inner workings of the industry and has something to say to them: “Superstar honge apne ghar pe (Those actors can be lions in their own dens).

‘Soorma’ actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh recently got talking about his experience in the Bollywood industry and it’s not very pleasant. Having featured in several Hindi films, Diljit knows the inner workings of the industry and has something to say to them: “Superstar honge apne ghar pe (Those actors can be lions in their own dens).” In an interview, Diljit Dosanjh said that he doesn't care about making it big in Bollywood with a successful movie career as he is a good and successful Punjabi singer. Diljit Dosanjh said, “I have no desire of becoming a Bollywood star. I love music, and without anybody's say, I can make my music. No superstar can tell me that this music won't work, or that someone else's song would work better, none of this works on me. Punjabi artists are independent, and that's great freedom to have. Nobody can stop us, nobody can stop me from making music. I will keep making music for as long as I want to, and for as long as God allows me to. And I don't give a damn about getting work in Bollywood.” On his experience, Diljit said, “If I speak up about it, it'll become a big deal. It's better to stay away from all this. Your eyes reveal everything. It isn't necessary to use words. And filmmaking is the kind of medium where it isn't necessary that you get lines. You have your face and your expressions and your eyes, which reveal everything. I'm not crazy about anybody; no actor, no director, nobody. They can be superstars in their own homes.” Sony Pictures Films India unveils a packed slate of over 17 Indian and Hollywood releases Diljit Dosanjh, a popular Punjabi singer made a name for himself in Bollywood with films like ‘Udta Punjab’, ‘Phillauri’, ‘Soorma’ and others. He will soon be seen in a Netflix film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. Ali Fazal collaborates with Arati Kadav for a science fiction short film

Did Diljit Dosanjh just take a dig at Bollywood when asked about his experience?

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Watch UK envoy to UN Barbara Woodward's interview with WION correspondent Susan Tehrani. She spoke about the WHO report on COVID-19, UK PM Boris Johnson's upcoming visit to India this month and more.

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UK envoy to UN Barbara Woodward on WION: "UK and India want to build back better post-COVID", Ambassador Barbara Woodward told WION correspondent Susan Tehrani. She also spoke about UK PM Boris Johnson's upcoming visit to India this month. Watch the interview.

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