Feature

‘Pretty Woman’ director Garry Marshall dead at 81

Published

8 years ago

July 20, 2016

Los Angeles:Filmmaker Garry Marshall, who created the hit 1970s series “Happy Days” and directed the evergreen romantic drama “Pretty Woman”, died on Tuesday. Hollywood celebrities like Richard Gere and Mandy Moore mourned his demise.

Marshall’s publicist, Michelle Bega shared that the filmmaker breathed his last on Tuesday evening at a hospital in Burbank here. He faced complications from pneumonia after having a stroke, The Guardian reported.

A memorial is being planned for his birth anniversary on November 13.

Meanwhile, his funeral services will be private, and in lieu of flowers, the family has requested for donations to be made in the name of Garry Marshall to the Saban Community Clinic, the Intensive Care Unit at Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank and Northwestern University Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

Marshall’s career began in 1960 when he worked as a writer on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. In 1971 he wrote the pilot for “Happy Days”, which went on to debut as a series in 1974, and became America’s most popular TV show in 1976. The series ran from 1974 to 1984.

He spent the 1980s and 1990s directing films, including the blockbuster “Pretty Woman”, with actors Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, minting $463 million worldwide.

For veteran actor Gere, Marshall was a “mentor”.

“Garry of course was one of those truly important people one is blessed to meet in one’s lifetime. Besides being the pulse and life force of ‘Pretty Woman’, a steady helmsman on a ship that could have easily capsized.

“He was a mentor and a cheerleader and one of the funniest men who ever lived. He had a heart of the purest gold and a soul full of mischief. He was Garry,” Gere posted on social media.

The director also helmed movies like “The Princess Diaries” and “Runaway Bride”, which continue to run on the small screen every now and then.

Actress Mandy Moore, who made her debut with “The Princess Diaries” wrote: “What a gem of a man. He was just the kindest, the most patient, the most human and so, so wildly funny. He also did me the favour of a lifetime and gave me my very first job (at 16) on ‘The Princess Diaries’.

“Thank you for all the glorious means of laughing and crying and feeling whole and connected, Garry. Sending love to his family”.

Ashton Kutcher, who worked under Marshall’s direction in “Valentine’s Day”, shared: “I lost a friend and mentor. We lost a beautiful man and masterful story teller. Gary Marshall I love you. I hope I get to go where you are.”

Jessica Alba, who co-starred with Kutcher, said: “I had the honour to work with the legendary director. Thank you for your comedic genius! A true pioneer.”

Paying homage to Marshall, his colleague Henry Winkler wrote: “Rest in peace. Thank you for my professional life. Thank you for your loyalty, friendship and generosity. Larger than life, funnier than most, wise and the definition of friend.”

While actor Wendell Pierce referred to Marshall as a comic genius” and “a cultural icon who was brilliant till the end”, actress Sarah Paulson of “The Other Side” fame, said she is “forever indebted” to him.

“Thank you for taking a chance on me. I love you. On the wings on angels, rest now,” Paulson added.

Singer-actress Alyssa Milano recounted that apart from being a “wonderful director”, he was also “a gentle, loving and kind man”.

Hit singer Bryan Adams paid a tribute by writing: “R.I.P. Garry Marshall. It was a privilege to work with you. ‘Pretty Woman’.”

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Entertainment

Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists

Published

2 years ago

June 25, 2022

admink

The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index

Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.

The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports

Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.

All for the Tourists

The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.

“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.

To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.

Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market

With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.

Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.

Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.

Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting

Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.

Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.

The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.

If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.