Latest news with #GangLeader
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Anil Ravipudi confirms: Venky's in Chiru's next
After weeks of speculation, director has confirmed that Venkatesh is part of his upcoming film with Megastar . 'Yes, Venky garu being part of the film is like a surprise — let's maintain that. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now When he joins, it'll be a blast!,' Ravipudi said, in an interview with NTV. The director also offered a glimpse of Chiranjeevi's role, saying, 'Audiences will connect deeply with Chiranjeevi sir's role in this film, especially those who loved his cult classics like Gang Leader. It's going to be a surprise — something unexpected yet emotionally resonant,' he shared. plays the female lead in the film. 'Most of my films revolve around couples, be it F2 or Sankranthiki Vasthunam. There's so much conflict and emotion to explore in that space. The husband-wife dynamic will be there too, but with a fresh take. It's not just a comedy — around 70% is humour, while the rest is drama. There's also scale and action, blending Chiranjeevi sir's style with my own, especially in situational comedy,' he added. TNN
New York Times
29-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Larry Hoover, Former Chicago Gang Leader, Wins Commutation From Trump
When an Illinois judge sentenced Larry Hoover to up to 200 years in prison for murder in the 1970s, it was the sort of punishment that seemed destined to end his career as a Chicago gang leader. But in the decades that followed, prosecutors said, Mr. Hoover's power only grew as he directed one of Chicago's most powerful gangs, the Gangster Disciples, from behind prison walls. Young members would pledge allegiance to Mr. Hoover, whom they called their 'king,' and those who broke Gangster Disciple rules, prosecutors said, would face bloody retribution 'up to and including murder.' His influence continued to grow into the 1990s, when he was convicted of more crimes in federal court and shipped off to a supermax prison with a life sentence. On Wednesday, after years of lobbying from Mr. Hoover's supporters, including celebrities, President Trump fully commuted the federal sentence of Mr. Hoover, according to a White House official familiar with the matter. The commutation was not likely to bring Mr. Hoover, who is now 74 and largely a memory in his hometown, back to Chicago's streets. His state prison sentence remains in effect, with a projected parole date of 2062, when Mr. Hoover would be 111. But the president's decision showed his willingness to extend leniency to some prisoners, despite his frequent rhetoric about the danger of violent criminal gangs. Jennifer Bonjean, a lawyer for Mr. Hoover, said that the process to commute Mr. Hoover's sentence had been years in the making. The entertainer Ye, who was formerly known as Kanye West, lobbied Mr. Trump during his first term in office, she said, and others have joined the effort since then. 'There has been a lot of support from advocates who have been preaching 'Free Larry Hoover' for a long time,' Ms. Bonjean said. The process of lobbying Mr. Trump intensified this year, after Alice Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison in a drug conspiracy case and whose sentence was later commuted by Mr. Trump, was appointed a 'pardon czar' in the White House to advise the president on clemency, said Justin Moore, a lawyer for Mr. Hoover. The phone conversations between Mr. Moore and Ms. Johnson became more frequent in the last four to five weeks, Mr. Moore said, adding that Ms. Johnson had relayed that the president was 'very keen on releasing Larry.' White House officials declined to comment on the record. Mr. Hoover's legal team received word on Monday that the commutation was going to happen. 'This is an older gentleman who has a lot of health concerns and who has aged out of criminality,' Mr. Moore said. The specifics of what would happen to Mr. Hoover were unclear on Wednesday evening. Mr. Hoover remained in the federal Bureau of Prisons online directory, and two representatives for the Illinois Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to questions about the case. Mr. Moore said he was hopeful that Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a Democrat who is a frequent critic of Mr. Trump, would decide to commute Mr. Hoover's state sentence. Mr. Pritzker declined through a spokesman to comment. In Chicago, Mr. Hoover built a highly regimented gang that prosecutors said sold drugs, laundered money and ruled over large geographic territories where nonmembers would have to pay a 'street tax' in order to sell drugs, according to a 1995 indictment of Mr. Hoover and other gang members. 'This is in a very real sense an outlaw form of government,' Ronald Safer, the lead prosecutor, told jurors during Mr. Hoover's federal trial in 1997. The gang also expanded beyond the drug trade, starting businesses, leading voter registration drives and holding political rallies calling for education reform. 'They registered voters, which is a wonderful thing,' Mr. Safer said during Mr. Hoover's federal trial. 'The problem is, it was funded by drug money and supported by gang muscle.' In recent years, as Mr. Hoover has sought release from his federal sentence at the restrictive supermax prison in Colorado, his supporters have argued that he has been rehabilitated in prison, that he no longer wishes to lead the Gangster Disciples and that he still faces a long prison term in Illinois. 'He spends 23 hours a day in a concrete cell no larger than a parking space,' his lawyers wrote in a court filing in 2022. 'For over two decades, he has had virtually no contact with the outside world. He is, quite literally, buried alive.' As recently as last fall, prosecutors had taken a dim view of Mr. Hoover's pleas. They claimed in September that Mr. Hoover 'remains the heralded leader of the GDs, despite the intensive monitoring to which he is subject,' and that he was 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' And though Mr. Hoover's state prison sentence in Illinois remains in effect, federal prosecutors said, he could be paroled by a state board in the coming years. Mr. Safer, who prosecuted Mr. Hoover in federal court and is now in private practice, said in an interview on Wednesday that he had not foreseen that the sentence would be commuted and was struggling to understand the thinking behind it. Mr. Hoover, he said, 'was the undisputed leader of perhaps the largest monolithic criminal organization that this country has ever known,' which had more than 30,000 members in 28 states and was responsible for the sale of over $100 million worth of drugs a year in Illinois alone. Mr. Safer said that he was hopeful that it would be arranged for Mr. Hoover to serve the rest of his state sentence in federal custody. 'I believe in mercy, I believe in redemption, and I believe in rehabilitation,' Mr. Safer said. 'But there are some crimes that are so heinous, so reprehensible, that they are not deserving of mercy.'
India Today
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Nani denies Salman's South ignores Bollywood claim: How did they turn superstars?
Actor Nani, in an interview, reacted to Salman Khan's statement in which the superstar told the media that the audience down South doesn't give importance to Bollywood films. The actor, who's promoting his film 'HIT 3' these days, spoke to DNA and asked how Khan and others from Bollywood ended up becoming nationwide superstars if their films didn't work in the known for 'Jersey', 'Hi Nanna', and 'Gang Leader', among others, added that he grew up watching Salman Khan movies, and he has seen people in South India raving about the superstar's screen presence. He also dismissed the idea that the South audience doesn't love Hindi 41-year-old said, "Nahi, waha nahi chale? Bina chale kaise superstar ban gaye? 100% chalti hai (No, they didn't work there? How did they become superstars if their film didn't work there? They definitely work, one hundred per cent), and we all love him." Nani went on to talk about Khan's superstardom. He shared that the actor's films are not just films but reflect his cultural relevance in a country which partially grew up on films. "We have all watched so many of Salman's films. Movies like 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!' hold cultural importance there. Didi Tera Devar Deewana and other songs — we used to play them at our weddings," he said those who say the South audience doesn't like Bollywood films are mistaken. He said Hindi cinema is the first love of the audience, and it is only now that the audience in the North has started expressing their fondness for the South films, which wasn't the case earlier."That (Hindi cinema) is original; this (Southern cinema) came later. The love South cinema is receiving now is recent. But the love Bollywood has received in the South has been there for decades. If you ask anyone there, 'What is your favourite Hindi film?', they will have childhood memories of Amitabh Bachchan. They'll talk about so many films," he also mentioned the popular Hindi films from the '90s and said, "We always watched Hindi films — 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 'Dil Toh Pagal Hai' were blockbusters in Hyderabad and other southern states. Everyone is now lapping up South films, but Hindi cinema was always embraced across the country."During a media interaction for 'Sikandar' which was released earlier this year, Salman Khan was asked to comment on the popularity of South Indian movies in the North and why Bollywood films are not doing that well at the box 59-year-old blamed the loyal audience for this lack of popularity. He said the audience down South is so loyal to their superstars that they don't express the same amount of love for anyone else, and therefore Bollywood films don't work there."When my film is released there, it doesn't get the numbers because their fan following is very strong. I'll walk on the street, and they'll say, 'Bhai, Bhai', but they won't go to the theatres. The way we've accepted them here hasn't happened there. Their films do well because we go and see them — like those of Rajinikanth Sir, Chiranjeevi garu, Suriya or Ram Charan. But, their fans don't go to see our films," he 'Sikandar' didn't do well at the box office. Meanwhile, Nani's 'HIT 3' seems to have attracted just the right amount of buzz among the audience. The action thriller is directed by Sailesh Kolanu, and also features Srinidhi Shetty, Adil Pala, Rao Ramesh, and Maganti Srinath, among others, in important roles. It is scheduled to hit the screens on May 1.
