Entertainment

Sri Lankan fashion designer Chathuri Samaraweera, the Founder and Artistic Director of the “ANAYA” Collection, has etched her name in history as the first Sri Lankan to showcase a collection at Paris Fashion Week 2025.

Unveiling her Spring/Summer 2026 womenswear line, titled “Balearic Dreaming,” Samaraweera captivated an audience of more than 100 industry insiders and fashion partners at an official sideline event held at the prestigious Hotel Le Marois in Paris.

Drawing inspiration from the tranquil charm of the Balearic Islands, her collection blended soft blues, rose-gold hues, and lively ocean-inspired tones, reflecting her signature sophistication and effortless elegance.

The showcase marked a defining moment for Sri Lanka’s presence in global fashion, spotlighting a designer whose artistry and imagination have elevated her to the world stage.

In a congratulatory message, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in France described Samaraweera’s milestone as a “proud moment for the Sri Lankan fashion industry,” stating on Facebook:

“Chathuri’s journey from Sri Lanka to the global stage is a testament to her vision, creativity, and dedication.”

After over 30 years in the film industry, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) has finally won his first National Film Award for Best Actor.

On Tuesday, President Droupadi Murmu presented SRK with the award at the 71st National Film Awards ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi. He received the honour for his performance in Atlee’s film Jawan, which released in September 2023.

Dressed in a black suit, Khan appeared overjoyed at the event. His manager, Pooja Dadlani, also attended.

Shah Rukh had already been announced as the Best Actor winner in August and shared an emotional video expressing his gratitude to fans, his team, family, and colleagues.

“Thank you for honouring me with the National Award… Overwhelmed with the love showered upon me,” he said. He also thanked his Jawan team for their hard work and support, as well as his wife and children for understanding his dedication to cinema.

In Jawan, Shah Rukh played a dual role, blending action, emotion, and intensity, making the film one of the biggest hits of 2023.

The actor flew back from overseas where he is shooting his upcoming film King, in which he will share the screen with his daughter Suhana and Deepika Padukone.

Deepika expressed her excitement about working with Shah Rukh for the sixth time, sharing a heartfelt Instagram post about the lessons she learned from him during Om Shanti Om, nearly 18 years ago.

The duo’s past hits include Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Pathaan, and Jawan, proving once again their strong on-screen chemistry.

Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, has already secured the UK’s biggest opening week of 2025, after selling 304,000 copies since Friday.

The total eclipses the first-week sales of her last two studio albums: 2024’s The Tortured Poets Departent (270,000 copies) and 2022’s Midnights (204,000).

With just three days counted, she has achieved the UK’s biggest first-week sales since Ed Sheeran’s Divide sold 672,000 copies in 2017.

The star is also on track to have the biggest-selling album of the year overall. The current title holder is Sabrina Carpenter, who appears on Life of a Showgirl’s title track. Her Short N’ Sweet album has shifted 444,000 copies since January.

Swift has also broken records in the US, where she notched up 2.7 million sales on Friday alone.

That marks Swift’s biggest sales week ever, and the second-largest sales week for any album since 1991, when modern chart methodology began.

Only Adele’s 25 has done better - selling 3.378 million copies in its first week in 2015.

The Life of a Showgirl has also smashed the US record for the most vinyl albums sold in a single week.

Swifties snapped up 1.2 million copies on wax - at least in part because the star released eight collectable variants of the record.

The previous single-week record was also set by Swift when her last album, The Tortured Poets Department, sold 859,000 copies on vinyl in its first week.

Swift’s sales figures are all the more impressive because album sales elsewhere in the industry are in a state of perpetual decline.

In the UK, only one other album has shifted more than 100,000 copies in a week this year - Sam Fender’s People Watching.

Ed Sheeran’s latest, Play, sold 67,000 units when it came out last month.

During the summer, two albums (Reneé Rapp’s Bite Me and the Oasis compilation Time Flies) topped the charts with fewer than 20,000 sales.

Not content with chart domination, however, Swift topped the cinema box office this weekend, selling $46m (£34m) in tickets for her 89-minute film Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl.

Essentially an album launch event, the screenings included the premiere of her music video for The Fate Of Ophelia, behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the album, and Swift’s commentary on the songs.

Mixed reviews Swift’s 12th album was written and recorded during stolen moments on the European leg of her Eras Tour last summer.

It captures the star as she falls in love with American Footballer Travis Kelce; interspersed with cautionary - and sometimes catty - tales about the music industry.

Critical reviews have been mixed. Variety magazine called it “contagiously joyful” while the Financial Times said it “lacked sparkle”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show with Scott Mills, the star debunked rumours that it would be her last album.

Asked if she planned to retire for a life of domestic bliss, as some fans have suggested, the singer laughed: “That’s a shockingly offensive thing to say.

“It’s not why people get married - so that they can quit their job.”

(Source-BBC)

The makers of Spider-Man: Brand New Day have temporarily halted production after lead star Tom Holland was injured during filming.

As reported by The Sun, the 29-year-old actor sustained a concussion when a stunt sequence went wrong and was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film is scheduled for release on July 31, 2026. The cast also includes Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, and Liza Colón-Zayas.

Holland began shooting the project early last month and marked the occasion with a social media post showing himself in costume, captioned: “Are you ready? – 7.31.2026.”

In addition to reprising his web-slinging role, Holland is set to appear in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film The Odyssey, based on Homer’s legendary Greek epic. The story follows Odysseus’ long and perilous journey home from the Trojan War, confronting mythical beasts and divine retribution along the way.

The Odyssey arrives in theatres on July 17, 2026, boasting a star-studded lineup that includes Matt Damon, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, and Charlize Theron.

By Lakmal Gajabahu, Fashion Critic

There is a particular courage required to make fashion more than clothing — to make it a narrative, a provocation, even a cultural archive. Venuka Wickramaarachchi, one of Sri Lanka’s most versatile fashion and costume designers, has been quietly building such a narrative for more than fifteen years. With collections that have crossed stages in London, Milan, and Kazakhstan, alongside award-winning work for cinema and pageantry, he is carving out a voice that is both unmistakably Sri Lankan and unflinchingly global.

London: Tradition Meets Technology

At London Graduate Fashion Week, Wickramaarachchi’s “Transcend Through Historic Elegance” demonstrated a rare duality: garments rooted in Sri Lanka’s cultural memory, yet sculpted through modern 3D techniques. The collection felt like a dialogue between past and future — as though Kandyan motifs had been reimagined by a digital artisan. The architectural silhouettes invited comparisons with Iris van Herpen’s experiments in technology-driven couture, but with a warmth of storytelling that remained uniquely his own.

Milan: Fashion as Protest

In Milan, at the AQUA Fashion Show hosted by Ferrari Fashion School, his focus shifted to the environment. Rising sea levels — a looming threat for island nations like Sri Lanka — became both theme and metaphor. Flowing fabrics suggested fragility, while structured lines hinted at resilience. The collection was less about beauty in the conventional sense, and more about urgency. Like Stella McCartney’s sustainable campaigns, Wickramaarachchi’s Milan showcase reminded audiences that fashion can be both aesthetic and activist.

Kazakhstan: A Living Timeline

Perhaps his most audacious work came in Kazakhstan’s Aspara Fashion Festival, where he presented 23 national costumes narrating Sri Lanka’s history. Here was spectacle, yes, but also scholarship. Each design became a chapter: from the grandeur of ancient kingdoms to the influences of colonial trade. At times the scale tipped toward theatrical pageantry — inevitable when one attempts to condense centuries into garments — but the overall impression was profound. Wickramaarachchi had transformed the runway into a moving museum, a feat rarely attempted and even more rarely achieved.

Cinema and the Art of Authenticity

Parallel to his runway work, Wickramaarachchi’s reputation as a costume designer has been cemented in Sri Lankan cinema. Films such as Kusa Paba, Paththini, and Vijayaba Kollaya bear his signature — meticulous research, historical accuracy, and visual grandeur. His accolades, including the Lux Film Award for Best Costume Designer and the Presidential Special Jury Award, are not mere decorations; they signal an artist trusted to shape national stories through fabric. Like the great Eiko Ishioka, whose cinematic costumes became part of visual history, Wickramaarachchi approaches costume not as accessory, but as narrative itself.

Cultural Diplomacy Through Pageantry

The designer’s role as cultural ambassador is most evident in his pageant costumes, worn on global stages by Sri Lankan representatives at Miss International, Miss World Sri Lanka, Mrs. Sri Lanka World, and Mister Global. These are not gowns designed for fleeting applause; they are symbols. Rich in motifs, dramatic in execution, they assert Sri Lanka’s place in a fashion conversation often dominated by Western aesthetics. In this, Wickramaarachchi echoes designers like Guo Pei — transforming cultural pride into haute spectacle.

Diamaté and the Future

With the launch of Diamaté by Venuka in 2024, he entered a new phase. The brand, initially online, reflects his philosophy of versatility, sustainability, and global relevance. The Clásico line, crafted entirely from natural fabrics, demonstrated a willingness to challenge the dominance of synthetics in fast fashion. Plans for a flagship boutique in Sri Lanka, alongside global expansion, suggest ambition matched by infrastructure. Importantly, Diamaté also doubles as a training ground, with Wickramaarachchi mentoring younger designers — a reminder that cultural leadership is not just about personal success, but about legacy.

Forward Momentum

The horizon looks busy. Another film featuring his costumes will release at the end of this year, with a second already in preparation. More national costumes are being developed for global pageants. Diamaté is preparing for its international debut, while sustainability remains central to his mission. Each project reinforces his role not just as a designer, but as a strategist for Sri Lanka’s cultural identity in the global fashion ecosystem.

Venuka Wickramaarachchi’s work cannot be reduced to a single discipline. He is at once a couturier, a costume historian, a sustainability advocate, and a cultural diplomat. His designs may occasionally veer toward theatrical excess, but therein lies their strength: they refuse invisibility. In an industry often preoccupied with the disposable, Wickramaarachchi offers permanence — garments that tell stories, garments that remember, garments that matter.

The Luna-25 probe, Russia’s first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.

Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.

According to preliminary findings, the lander “has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon’s surface”, Roscosmos said. “Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful.” The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.

With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna programme, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.

The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on the lunar south pole, the first in history.

Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union’s ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.

Roscosmos boss Yuri Borisov had said the venture would be “risky”, telling President Vladimir Putin face to face in June that the probability of it succeeding was “around 70 percent”.

Source - AFP

--Agencies

In a stirring start to the ICC Women’s World Cup, Sri Lanka’s national anthem, “Sri Lanka Matha”, was delivered with solemn pride by singer Nuwandhika Senarathne, drawing widespread praise and emotional response from spectators and commentators alike.

The anthem performance came before the opening match between India and Sri Lanka at Barsapara Stadium, adding a poignant tone to the ceremony that also featured performances honouring the late Assamese icon, Zubeen Garg

 https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-cricket-worldcup-2025/videos/sri-lanka-players-sing-national-anthem-with-pride-cwc25

The seven actors in Aruna Jayawardene's film 'Maria' have shared the award for the best leading actor in feature length films at the 6th Hanoi International Film Festival.

They are the late Darshan Dharmaraj, Hemal Ranasinghe, Mahendra Perera, Dasun Pathirana, Priyantha Sirikumar, Ashan Dias and Suran Dasanayake.

Director Jayawardena and actor Ranasinghe attended the awards ceremony in Hanoi, Vietnam last night (12).

Selena Gomez has married music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, announcing the news in an Instagram post showing the couple kissing and embracing on a lawn.

“My wife in real life,” Blanco responded to the post Saturday by the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated performer. Gomez wore a white halter bridal dress with floral flourishes, and Blanco wore a tuxedo and bow tie, both custom-made by Ralph Lauren.

Paparazzi had snapped photos of a massive outdoor tent and other preparations in the Santa Barbara area.

Friends in the entertainment industry and brands she’s linked to responded with heart emoji and congratulations. “Our Mabel is MARRIED,” said the account of her “Only Murders in the Building” series, and her Rare Beauty line of cosmetics posted: “so happy for you two.” Best wishes were also sent by Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer and others.

Blanco, 37, and Gomez, 33, met about a decade ago and got engaged at the end of last year. They worked together on the 2019 song “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy.

Among the songs he’s credited on as a writer and producer: Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” “Circus” by Britney Spears and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.”

Gomez, whose hits include “Calm Down,” “Good for You,” ’’Same Old Love” and “Come & Get It,” has been in the spotlight since she was a child. She appeared on “Barney and Friends” before breaking through as a teen star on the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

She earned awards nominations in recent years for her ongoing role alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Gomez has a massive audience on social media with 417 million Instagram followers, the most for any woman on the platform.

(Source - AP News)

Actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has died aged 72.

He also appeared in ITV detective drama Cracker and the James Bond films Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough.

In a statement, his agent Belinda Wright confirmed the actor died in hospital near Falkirk in Scotland.

She described Coltrane as a "unique talent", adding his role as Hagrid "brought joy to children and adults alike all over the world".

"For me personally I shall remember him as an abidingly loyal client. As well as being a wonderful actor, he was forensically intelligent, brilliantly witty and after 40 years of being proud to be called his agent, I shall miss him.

"He is survived by his sister Annie Rae, his children Spencer and Alice and their mother Rhona Gemmell. They would like to thank the medical staff at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert for their care and diplomacy.

Coltrane was made an OBE in the 2006 New Year's honours list for his services to drama and he was awarded the Bafta Scotland Award for outstanding contribution to film in 2011.

The Scottish star, whose real name is Anthony Robert McMillan, was born in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, in 1950.

Coltrane was the son of teacher and pianist Jean Ross and GP Ian Baxter McMillan, and was educated at independent school Glenalmond College in Perth and Kinross.

The actor's career began in 1979 in the TV series Play for Today, but he came to prominence in A Kick Up the Eighties, a BBC TV comedy series which also starred Tracey Ullman, Miriam Margolyes and Rik Mayall.

He also appeared in the 1983 ITV comedy Alfresco, with Fry, Emma Thompson, Siobhan Redmond and Hugh Laurie.

By 1987 he had a leading role in Tutti Frutti, about Scottish rock and roll band The Majestics, which also starred Emma Thompson and Richard Wilson. The year before he was in British crime film Mona Lisa, starring Bob Hoskins.

Coltrane gained further fame starring as criminal psychologist Dr Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the ITV series Cracker from 1993 to 1995 and in a special return episode in 2006.

The role secured him the Bafta award for best actor for three consecutive years from 1994 to 1996.

Arguably his best-known role came in the Harry Potter film series as he starred in all eight movies as Rubeus Hagrid alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

In 2016, he starred in Bafta-winning Channel 4 drama National Treasure, with Dame Julie Walters, about a comic and TV host accused of sexual abuse of women.

Late last year he appeared in the Harry Potter reunion TV special, which reunited the cast, although JK Rowling was absent and featured only in archive video clips.

Coltrane appeared alongside Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, along with Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman and Ralph Fiennes.

(BBC)

Actor Sai Pallavi received backlash online for wearing a swimsuit during a beach vacation with her sister. Social media users questioned her choice in light of her traditional image on-screen. However, her fans defended her.

Actor Sai Pallavi, known for her portraying traditional characters in Indian cinema, has recently become the subject of social media debate after photos of her wearing a swimsuit during a beach trip surfaced online. The pictures, shared by her sister Pooja, prompted a wave of critical comments regarding her attire, with many questioning the contrast between her real-life choices and her on-screen image.

The controversy began when Pooja posted pictures from their beach vacation, captioned, "Beach high #sunkissed @saipallavi.senthamarai (sic)." The images, showing both sisters in swimsuits, quickly went viral, leading to a flurry of reactions online.

Several social media users criticised Sai Pallavi for opting to wear a swimsuit, with one comment reading, "So onscreen traditional Sai Pallavi wears a bikini in real life (sic)." Another added, "Hence proved she belongs to all so-called heroine keep aside of traditional wear." Another questioned, "If Sai Pallavi wears sleeveless & short dress visits beach then which actress will protect our Indian culture? Give, answer for this all Sai Pallavi fans?"

In response, fans and supporters defended Sai Pallavi's right to choose her own clothing. One user wrote, "That’s Ms. Pallavi’s wish, what she wants to wear. What you expect to wear under water?? A saree?? C’mon (sic)." Another stated, "People wear a swimsuit while swimming!! People can wear what they are comfortable with. It’s their choice. Stop intruding in other people’s lives. And Sai Pallavi ma’am told about her preferences (modest, not traditional, don’t over-exaggerate) in movies, not personal life. Everyone can do what they feel is right. You have no right to ask. It’s their choice. Even in personal life she is simple and modest only. And we respect her for the person she is!! (sic)"

Supporters consistently emphasised the distinction between an actor's professional roles and their private life. Messages of encouragement further stated, "To those few people. FYI, a swimsuit is used for swimming!! People can do what they want or whatever they are comfortable with. It’s their choice. You have no right to intrude."

While Sai Pallavi herself has not publicly commented on the criticism, her fans spoke on her behalf. On the work front, Pallavi will be seen next in 'Ramayana' and an untitled film with Junaid Khan.

(Source - Indiatoday)

Sri Lankan author, educator and taxonomist, Rohan Pethiyagoda has been awarded the coveted Linnean Medal for Zoology 2022, considered the ‘Nobel Prize for naturalists.’

This is the first time a Sri Lankan has won the medal, which has been awarded annually by the Linnean Society of London since 1888 to distinguished botanists and zoologists across the globe.

Pethiyagoda is the second Asian to win the medal.

Pethiyagoda is one of the country’s leading naturalists and a taxonomist on freshwater fish of Sri Lanka. He is also an accomplished researcher who has authored numerous books and articles on zoology.