title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He is the son of Geneviève Dolan, a Quebecois teacher, and Manuel Tadros, a successful Egyptian-Canadian actor and singer of Coptic and Lebanese descent.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan attracted international attention with his directorial debut, "I Killed My Mother" (), which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in at the age of 19, using funds from his extensive work as a child actor. He reportedly began writing the script when he was 16 years old. He said in an interview with Canadian newspaper that the film was partly autobiographical.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film was at first financed solely by Dolan, but when need for more money arose, he asked Telefilm and the SODEC for subsidies. Each turned him down for different reasons. SODEC, who had loved the project but refused to finance it because it was submitted to a too commercial department, encouraged Dolan to submit it again in more appropriate "indie" department, which he did. In December 2008, SODEC gave him a $400,000 subsidy. In all, the film cost around $800,000 CAD. Dolan said that the system to acquire funding is "an obsolete financing mechanism that holds the creative assets of Quebec hostage".


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight program of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won three awards: the Art Cinema Award, the SACD Prize for screenplay, and the Prix Regards Jeunes. It also won a Lumière Award and four Jutra Awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, and Most Successful Film Outside Québec, beating out Denis Villeneuve's film (2009) in what was deemed an "upset".


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan later said that the film was "flawed" and Peter Brunette of "The Hollywood Reporter" called it "a somewhat uneven film that demonstrates a great deal of talent". Brunette also called the film "funny and audacious", while Allan Hunter of "Screen International" said that it possessed "the sting of shrewdly observed truth".


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film received the Claude Jutra Award (now known as the Canadian Screen Award for Best First Feature) at the Genies, and the Toronto Film Critics Association awarded Dolan the inaugural $5,000 Jay Scott Prize for emerging talent. "I Killed My Mother" was named one of Canada's Top Ten features of the year by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and chosen as Canada's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2010 Academy Awards, though it failed to receive a nomination from the academy. Distribution rights were later sold to more than 20 countries. Due to legal problems experienced by the film's U.S. distributor, Regent Entertainment, it was not released theatrically in the U.S. until 2013, and once released, it earned little at the box office.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The second feature film Dolan directed, "Heartbeats" (), was financed privately. The film follows two friends who are infatuated with the same mysterious young man and their friendship suffers. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard category at the 63e Festival de Cannes in May 2010 where it received a standing ovation. It won the top prize of the Official Competition at the Sydney Film Festival in June and screened at several film festivals throughout 2011, but failed to find audiences in non-French-speaking countries. It received several Genie nominations and the AQCC (Québec association of film critics) award for Best Film.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: His third film, "Laurence Anyways", was selected to compete in the section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Suzanne Clément's performance in the film won the section's award for Best Actress. The film received praise or qualified praise from critics. A critic for MTV's "The Out Take", which focuses on LGBT films, called the film "the best film of the year." Despite the praise, the film was not released commercially for a year. Upon release, the film struggled at the box office, and only grossed roughly $500,000 in Canada.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: In May 2012, Dolan announced that his fourth film would be an adaptation of Michel Marc Bouchard's play "Tom at the Farm" ("Tom à la ferme"). It received its world premiere in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on 2 September 2013 and won the FIPRESCI award. Though "Tom at the Farm" played the festival circuits in 2013, it was not released in the U.S. until 2015. In an August 2015 interview, Dolan said: "No one knows me in the States, because the movies have been released in such an awkward, irregular fashion, all by different distributors... I don't want to sound pretentious, but it's puzzling."


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan's 2014 film, "Mommy", shared the Jury Prize in the main competition section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival with Jean-Luc Godard's film "Goodbye to Language" (). The jury president for the 2014 festival was Jane Campion and, upon receiving the award, Dolan stated: "The Piano" [Campion's film] was the first film that I watched that truly defined who I am... It made me want to write films for beautiful women with soul and will and strength. To even stand on the same stage as you [Campion] is extraordinary.The film was singled out by critics as Dolan's "most mature" film to date and proved to be a breakthrough in his career as a director. It was his first film to achieve significant success at the box office, grossing over $3.5 million domestically in 2014, becoming the highest-selling film in Quebec for 2014. According to the "Montreal Gazette", over one million people saw the film in France. "Mommy" won the César Award for Best Foreign Film in 2015.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan's next film was an adaptation of the play by , titled "It's Only the End of the World". The film stars , , , and . Filming commenced in late May 2015. The film was an official selection for the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, in competition for the Palme d'Or, though it did not win.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film premiered to polarized reactions from festival audiences and critics, with "Vanity Fair" calling it "the most disappointing film at Cannes." "The Hollywood Reporter" called it "a cold and deeply unsatisfying" film and "Variety" dubbed it "a frequently excruciating dramatic experience". During the festival, Dolan spoke out against the negative criticism in the media. The film also received positive reviews from critics, including "The Guardian", which called it a "brilliant, stylised and hallucinatory evocation of family dysfunction".


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan stated that "It's Only the End of the World" is his best film and the one he's the most proud of. The film won the Grand Prix and the Ecumenical Jury Prize. It was also featured in competition at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2016, and later screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in Quebec and France on 21 September 2016. In France, "It's Only the End of the World" was released to 391 screens, where it debuted at number one at the box office and sold 1,034,477 tickets. It was chosen as Canada's submission for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In December 2016, it made the shortlist of nine films under consideration for nomination as Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated in January 2017. On 7 December 2016, the film was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual Canada's Top 10 list.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: , a French cinema website, gave the film an average of 3.3/5, based on a survey of 44 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 44% approval rating based on 32 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""It's Only the End of the World" is stocked with talent and boasts a story steeped in conflict, but the end result proves a disappointing misfire from writer-director Xavier Dolan." At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 48, based on 11 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Xavier Dolan

text: For his work on "It's Only the End of the World", Dolan won the César Awards for Best Director and Best Editing at the 42nd ceremony on 24 February 2017. He also won 3 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Motion Picture, Best Achievement in Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: In March 2013, Dolan was in pre-production for his first English-language film "The Death & Life of John F. Donovan"; he co-wrote the screenplay with Jacob Tierney. The film follows John F. Donovan (Kit Harington), a Hollywood film actor whose life and career are turned upside-down when a gossip columnist (Jessica Chastain) exposes his private correspondence with an 11-year-old British fan. The film also stars Susan Sarandon as Donovan's mother and Kathy Bates as his manager. In February 2018, Dolan confirmed via Instagram that Chastain had been cut from the film, and that the story had been altered throughout post-production.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, making it Dolan's first film to premiere at the festival. Following its premiere at the festival, it received universally negative reviews from critics. IndieWire dubbed the film Dolan's "worst" of his career. "The Guardian" gave the film one out of five stars, deeming it a "dubious mess". "Now" magazine called the film "mediocre at best". In a more positive review, "Screen International" wrote that the film "may revisit a lot of familiar territory for Dolan but on this form it is good to welcome him home."


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan's eighth film was titled . It centres on the titular Matthias (played by Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) and Maxime (played by Xavier Dolan), lifelong friends whose relationship is tested when they act in a short film whose script calls for them to kiss each other, leaving them both questioning their sexual identities when the experience awakens their long-dormant feelings for each other.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 22 May 2019. It was released theatrically on 9 October 2019 by Les Films Séville. In May 2020, Mubi acquired distribution rights to the film in the U.S, U.K, Ireland, Australia, Latin America, and India. In December 2019, the film was named to TIFF's annual year-end Canada's Top Ten list. The film was nominated for seven awards at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Funk and Best Editing for Dolan. It won for Best Supporting Actress for Bernard, Best Music for Jean-Michel Blais, and Most Successful Film Outside Quebec.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: In 2015, Dolan was selected to serve on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Also that year, he directed the music video for "Hello", the lead single from the album "25" by Adele. The video broke the Vevo record for most views in 24 hours, over 27.7 million views. The video was also notable for featuring footage shot in IMAX. Dolan received the Juno Award for Video of the Year for directing the video.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan played supporting roles in two 2018 American films: "Boy Erased", opposite Lucas Hedges and Troye Sivan, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival; and "Bad Times at the El Royale", as a British-accented music producer, Buddy Sunday. He appeared in the horror follow-up "It Chapter Two", which was released in September 2019. He has also starred in "Lost Illusions", an adaption of by , directed by Xavier Giannoli.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: In December 2021, Dolan confirmed via Instagram the end of the shooting of his first TV Drama, "The Night Logan Woke Up", based on Michel Marc Bouchard's play of the same name.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Dolan has said that he is not particularly influenced by any specific directors, though in 2009, Dolan identified Michael Haneke as one of his favourite directors for his precise camerawork and strong writing, citing Haneke's "Funny Games" and "The Piano Teacher" as favourites.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: At the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Dolan said that "The Piano" by Jane Campion was a major inspiration for him. He has also cited seeing the film "Titanic" as an early influence on his decision to enter the film industry. He has mentioned paying tribute to "My Own Private Idaho" with a sequence in "I Killed My Mother", and that he was influenced by the frog rain scene at the end of "Magnolia", but said in 2013:What I'm trying to say is that I'm not that influenced by directors... I've read basically every review of my films because I'm crazy and I focus on what's negative and I want to know what people think—and why they think it. So many times I've been bullied into references and influences that were never mine by viewers that would project their opinions and associations and assumptions on me... But let's get real: ideas travel and everything's been done, it's all a matter of interpreting things again now.


title: Xavier Dolan

text: Note: Many films that are dubbed in French are also dubbed in the French spoken in Québec or in one of the versions of French known as international French. DVDs may be labelled VQ for "version Québécoise", which uses a Québécois accent and terms unique to that variety of the French language, or VFQ for "version francophone québécoise", which presents a generally neutral accent but pronounces English words in a way found in North America rather than in France.


title: Rakı

text: Rakı or raki (, ) is an alcoholic drink made of twice-distilled grapes. It is the national drink of Turkey. It is also popular in other Balkan countries as an apéritif as well as in Kazakhstan. It is often served with seafood or meze. It is comparable to several other alcoholic beverages available around the Mediterranean and the Middle East, e.g. pastis, ouzo, sambuca, arak and aguardiente.


title: Rakı

text: In Crete, "tsikoudia" is a pomace brandy that is sometimes called "rakı". It is used to make "rakomelo", which is flavoured with honey and cinnamon. Rakomelo is served warm during winter months. Cretan Raki does not contain anise, so it is not to be confused with the Turkish version.


title: Rakı

text: The term "raki" entered English from Turkish . The Arabic word ( ), means "distilled", other variants being "araka", "araki", "ariki". The Teleuts, who are a Turkic ethnic group living in Siberia, use the term "arakı" for wine and other alcoholic drinks. Additionally, in Ancient Greek the Grape (main ingredient for wine) was called ῥάξ ().


title: Rakı

text: Where or when raki was first produced is unknown. It is first mentioned by the Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi during his travels in 1630. In his "Book of Travels" he reports that ancient people produced their own raki in small towns.


title: Rakı

text: Until the last decades of the 19th century, the production of raki was done exclusively "at home", ie there was no mass industrial production. Colorless alcoholic beverages had long been consumed throughout the Mediterranean, known by various names: tsipouro, raki, arak, grappa. These are distilled from the by-products of wine, exploiting the vineyard as much as possible.


title: Rakı

text: In the Ottoman Empire, until the 19th century, meyhanes run by Rûm (Greeks) and Albanians would mainly serve wine along with meze, due to religious restrictions imposed by various sultans. Although there were many Muslims among meyhane attendants, the authorities could, at times, prosecute them. With the relatively liberal atmosphere of the Tanzimat period (1839–1876), meyhane attendance among Muslims rose considerably, and raki became a favorite among meyhane-goers. By the end of the century, raki took its current standard form and its consumption surpassed that of wine.


title: Rakı

text: During this period, rakı was produced by distillation of grapes pomace () obtained during wine fermentation. When the amount of pomace was not sufficient, alcohol imported from Europe would be added. If aniseed was not added, it would take the name ('straight rakı'), whereas rakı prepared with the addition of gum mastic was named ('gum rakı') or ().


title: Rakı

text: With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the modern-day Republic of Turkey, grape-based rakı began to be distilled by the state-owned spirits monopoly Tekel, with the first factory production taking place in 1944 in Izmir. With increasing sugar beet production, Tekel also began to distill the alcohol from molasses, and a new brand of raki made from sugar-beet alcohol was introduced under the name ('new rakı'). Molasses gave a distinctive bitter taste and helped increase the drink's popularity.


title: Rakı

text: Today, with increased competition from the private sector, and the privatization of Tekel in 2004, several new brands and types of raki have emerged, each with its own distinct composition and production method, although the overall qualities of the drink have generally been kept consistent. These include , , , , , , and . , another recent brand, is aged in oak casks, which gives it a distinctive golden colour.


title: Rakı

text: Raki is traditionally produced from raisin/grape spirit called "suma" that is distilled to a maximum of 94.55% abv. This spirit is not highly rectified spirit and unlike other flavoured spirits Raki producers consider that the "suma" has an important role to play in the flavour of Raki itself.


title: Rakı

text: The "suma", or "suma" mixed with highly rectified spirit, is diluted with water re-distilled with aniseed and the spirit is collected at around 79-80% "abv". The flavoured distillate is diluted and sweetened and rested for minimum of 30 days prior to sale in order to allow the flavours to harmonize.


title: Rakı

text: In Turkey, rakı is the national drink and is traditionally consumed with chilled water on the side or partly mixed with chilled water, according to personal preference. Rakı is rarely consumed without the addition of water. Ice cubes are often added. Dilution with water causes rakı to turn a milky-white colour, similar to the louche of absinthe. This phenomenon has resulted in the drink being popularly referred to ('lion's milk'). Since ('lion') is a Turkish colloquial metaphor for a strong, courageous man, this gives the term a meaning close to 'the milk for the strong'.


title: Rakı

text: Rakı is commonly consumed alongside meze, a selection of hot and cold appetizers, as well as at a ('rakı table'), either before a full dinner or instead of it. It is especially popular with seafood, together with fresh arugula, and melon. It is an equally popular complement to various red meat dishes like kebabs, where it is sometimes served with a glass of .


title: Rakı

text: The founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was very fond of rakı, drinking up to a half-litre daily (he died from cirrhosis of the liver), and his late-night sessions were his favourite place to debate issues with his closest friends and advisors.


title: Rakı

text: Standard rakı is a grape product, though it may be produced from figs as well. Rakı produced from figs, particularly popular in the southern provinces of Turkey, is called "incir boğması", "incir rakısı" ("fig rakı"), or in Arabic, "tini". Tekel ceased producing fig rakı in 1947.


title: Rakı

text: There are two methods of Turkish rakı production. One method uses raisins and other grapes. "Yeni Rakı" is produced from raisins and "Tekirdağ Rakısı" is produced from grapes. Fresh grape rakı is like ouzo but has a higher alcohol content.


title: Rakı

text: Suma rakı, i.e. distilled rakı prior to the addition of aniseed, is generally produced from raisins but raki factories around established wine-producing areas like Tekirdağ, Nevşehir, and İzmir may also use fresh grapes for higher quality. Recently, "yaş üzüm rakısı" ("fresh-grape raki") has become more popular in Turkey. The maker of a recent brand, "Efe Rakı", was the first company to produce raki exclusively of fresh grape suma, called "Efe Yaş Üzüm Rakısı" (Efe Fresh Grape Raki). "Tekirdağ Altın Seri" (Tekirdağ Golden Series) followed the trend and many others have been produced by other companies.


title: Rakı

text: The best-known and popular brands of rakı, however, remain "Yeni Rakı", originally produced by Tekel, which transferred production rights to Mey Alkol upon the 2004 privatization of Tekel, and "Tekirdağ Rakısı" from the region of Tekirdağ, which is famous for its characteristic flavour, believed to be due to the artesian waters of Çorlu used in its production. "Yeni Rakı" has an alcohol content of 45% and 1.5 grams of aniseed per liter; "Tekirdağ Rakısı" is 45% ABV and has 1.7 grams of aniseed per liter. There are also two top-quality brands called "Kulüp Rakısı" and "Altınbaş", each with 50% ABV.


title: Rakı

text: "Dip rakısı" ("bottom rakı") is the rakı that remains in the bottom of the tanks during production. Bottom rakı is thought to best capture the dense aroma and flavour of the spirit, and is also called "özel rakı" ("special raki"). It is not generally available commercially; instead, rakı factories reserve it as a prestigious gift for large clients.


title: Rakı

text: Aniseed-flavoured Rakı, has been celebrated as a festival in Adana and Northern Cyprus since 2010. World Rakı Festival in Adana, emerged from a hundred-year tradition of enjoying Adana kebab, with liver, şalgam and rakı. The event turned into a nationwide popular street festival, street musicians playing drums and zurna, entertain visitors all night long at the second Saturday night of every December. North Cyprus Rakı Festival is a week long festival taking place in Girne, Lefkoşa and Gazi Mağusa.


title: Rakı

text: In Crete "tsikoudia" is a pomace brandy that is sometimes called "rakı" but made from grapes. It is used to make "rakomelo", which is flavored with honey and cinnamon and is served warm during winter months.


title: Han Lue

text: Han Lue is a fictional character in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, portrayed by Sung Kang, who, like the character himself, is of Korean descent. The character appears for the first time in the film "Better Luck Tomorrow", later appearing in "" in Tokyo as the mentor of Sean Boswell, seemingly dying in an explosion after a collision three-quarters of the way through the film. Han's status as a member of Dominic Toretto's crew was shown in the subsequent films "Fast & Furious", "Fast Five", "Fast & Furious 6", and "Furious 7" as well as the short film "Los Bandoleros", all set between the events of "Better Luck Tomorrow" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". He most recently appeared in "F9", his first appearance set after the events of "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift".


title: Han Lue

text: The character originally appeared in "Better Luck Tomorrow", directed by Justin Lin. When Lin was recruited to direct "", he pitched the idea of adding an Asian character to be the "cool guy" specifically with Han Lue in mind. Kang was only supposed to appear in a one-off but was brought back in the subsequent prequel films due to positive responses from audiences.


title: Han Lue

text: Director Justin Lin and portrayer Sung Kang have both stated in interviews that the Han seen in the "Fast & Furious" franchise is the same character featured in "Better Luck Tomorrow", with that film serving as the character's origin story. In the film, Han and his friends, still in high school, engage in more and more criminal activities until one of the group members is killed. Han’s cousin is left with brain damage after attempted suicide.


title: Han Lue

text: Living in Tokyo, Han uses his new-found wealth to start his own garage, as well as purchasing various expensive, modified tuner cars to store in the garage. Han also keeps himself occupied with various women, with a club attached next door to his garage. Additionally, he becomes involved with Tokyo's elite street racers and one of its most prominent drifters. At some point, he acquired a 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec-S and rebuilt and restored it from the ground up, the car later being referred to by Twinkie as the Mona Lisa of the Drifting world.


title: Han Lue

text: Han also affiliates himself with Takashi, the nephew of Kamata, a Yakuza boss, securing profits from various business ventures. Unbeknownst to either Kamata and Takashi, Han begins stealing money from their operation and does so without either of them noticing for some time.


title: Han Lue

text: When Han meets Sean Boswell, Boswell crossed Takashi's unspoken boundaries by speaking to his girlfriend, Neela. Han questions why Takashi is still bothering with “high school girls” when Takashi decides to confront Sean. When Sean accepts Takashi's challenge to drift, Han gives Sean the keys to his Nissan Silvia, curious to see what Sean is made of.


title: Han Lue

text: While Sean loses the race, destroying his car in the process, Han is intrigued by what he saw in Sean for merely challenging Takashi. The following day, Han meets Sean outside of his school and demands that he get into his car. Han makes a point to tell Sean that he is in his debt and would be his personal “errand boy” on account of the car that he owes him. Sean is willing to agree to the terms so long as Han teaches him how to drift.


title: Han Lue

text: When Sean falls out of favor with his father, Lieutenant Boswell, Sean comes to live in Han's garage. While there, he works on the cars available to him in the garage and Han teaches him how to drift properly. As Sean improves, Han's situation is complicated when Takashi becomes more forceful in threatening Sean to stay away from Neela. Eventually Takashi confronts Han about the money he's been stealing from his uncle. Han does not attempt to defend his actions to Takashi.


title: Han Lue

text: He merely states that the "side deals" he made while under the protection of Takashi's word were in the nature of their business. He goes on to say that Takashi needed him and that he would’ve amounted to nothing if it wasn't for his help. When Takashi becomes distracted by the presence of Neela, Han takes his chance and climbs into his car and escapes.


title: Han Lue

text: Takashi and his friend, Morimoto pursue him through the streets of Tokyo, but they are unable to catch him. He protects Sean and Neela from Takashi, allowing them to get ahead of him. When Han finally reaches the intersection of the road, Han's car is t-boned by a Mercedes S-Class. Han's car is flipped onto its top. Han, unable to escape the car, is supposedly killed in the explosion. Boswell, enraged at Han's death, attacks Takashi but the film leaves the possibility that someone else killed him.


title: Han Lue

text: Some time after Han's death, Sean Boswell meets Dominic Toretto after he requests an audience with him at the parking garage. Dom races Sean with the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner he won from Han years before.


title: Han Lue

text: In "Los Bandoleros", Han visited Mexico "(off-screen)", where he met Dominic "Dom" Toretto and established a friendship. Han begins “running” with Dom for unspecified reasons. Dom wins 1970 Plymouth Road Runner off of Han in a race.


title: Han Lue

text: Han arrives in the Dominican Republic when Toretto is preparing for a new job regarding the transportation of gas. He is picked up at the airport by the likes of Cara and Malo, friends of Dom. He is later taken to Rico Santos' house, where Dominic lives, and they have dinner with the rest of the Santos family. He takes an immediate attraction to Cara, who shares a mutual attraction for him.


title: Han Lue

text: Later, he follows Dom and Santos to the prison where Tego Leo was being kept before Santos helped him escape. When Dominic takes to take them to a secluded club to meet the man responsible for the transport of their score, Dominic tells him to drive around the block or wait in the car. Han instead decides to enter the club where he mingles with Cara and Malo at the bar.


title: Han Lue

text: When Cara asked how he met Dom, Han briefly explained how they first met each other in Mexico. Malo, realizing that the two were attracted to each other, asked if they wanted a room. Cara instead gives him her drink and she and Han leave the bar.


title: Han Lue

text: Han is seen only in the beginning of "Fast & Furious". He along with Letty Ortiz, Toretto, Tego Leo, Rico Santos, and Cara (Han's then-girlfriend), are hijacking a fuel tanker in the Dominican Republic. Han and Cara hijack the first two tankers while Leo and Santos hijack the other two tankers, not before the truck driver gives them a little problem after seeing Letty on top of the tanker and notices that the hijacking is going on. After the hijacking is done, Toretto learns from Han that the authorities are investigating their previous locations and heists, leading to the disbanding of the crew. Toretto and Han part on good terms, with Han expressing interest in going to Tokyo, indicating that this takes place before the events of "Tokyo Drift."


title: Han Lue

text: Han is recruited for a heist in the events of "Fast Five" as a precision driver and a "chameleon". During the events of the film, he starts to fall in love with another member of the crew, Gisele Yashar. When Brian and Dom are chased by corrupt cops under Hernan Reyes payroll, he and Roman come to their aid by knocking out the police cars. At the end of the film, Han and Gisele are seen traveling Europe, wealthy from the heist and in a relationship.


title: Han Lue

text: When Han and Gisele arrive in London, they're given the details of their situation with Owen Shaw and Letty Ortiz by Luke Hobbs. During their first encounter with Shaw's team, Han, Brian and Gisele are attacked by the sniper Adolfson, who fires on their cars once they reach Interpol.


title: Han Lue

text: Brian, Han and Gisele are pinned down long enough for Vegh, Jah and Klaus to escape. Brian follows after them, but Gisele runs out into the open to fire on Jan and Klaus's getaway car. At the last second, Han is able to pull her out of the way and the two take cover behind a fire hydrant as Adolfson fires on them multiple times before escaping.


title: Han Lue

text: During the team's attempt to stop Owen and his team from hijacking the military convoy, Han and Gisele pursue Denlinger on their motorcycles, a Harley Davidson XR1200 and Ducati Monster. Gisele is the first to reach Denlinger, hangs on the side of his Land Rover and is nearly crushed on the side of oncoming truck, but Han jumps onto the Land Rover in time to swerve the vehicle out of the way and save her life.


title: Han Lue

text: When Mia Toretto is taken prisoner by Shaw, Dominic and the others are forced to let Shaw and Riley Hicks, a double agent working with both Owen and Hobbs, go to ensure her safety. However, as soon as they're allowed, they go after the plane Shaw is planning to take off on with Mia. Gisele and Han are one of two teams designated with the task of keeping the plane on the ground using the harpoons. During their efforts, Gisele is pulled out of their car by Adolfson. Han follows after her, climbing onto the top of their car.


title: Han Lue

text: Though Gisele is able to fend him off, she is knocked off of Adolfson's car. Han is able to save her at the last moment. Gisele, realizing that Adolfson is about to kill Han, lets go of Han's arms and allows herself to fall, Han is unable to save her. Before she is killed from the fall, she shoots Adolfson, knocking him off balance. A devastated Han attacks Adolfson and throws him off of the car and into the turbine of the plane.


title: Han Lue

text: The plane crashes. Dominic escapes the burning plane by car. Mia and Brian approach Han and attempt to comfort him when they realize what has happened to Gisele.


title: Han Lue

text: With their records cleared by the pardons provided by Hobbs, Han and the others return to Los Angeles. While speaking with Roman Pearce and Tej Parker, Han ultimately decides to go to Tokyo.


title: Han Lue

text: In the post-credits scene of "Fast and Furious 6", Han's death from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" is shown and it is revealed that Owen's brother Deckard Shaw drove the car that crashed into Han's and caused his death.


title: Han Lue

text: Han's death is seen again in "Furious 7" through archival footage from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" and "Fast & Furious 6", occurring at the same time the same pack bomb delivered to Dominic's house goes off. Han's death was the reason Dominic appeared in Tokyo at the end of "Tokyo Drift" - to retrieve his body back to Los Angeles for burial. After racing with Sean Boswell, Dominic receives several of Han's personal items, including a photo of Gisele. The crew attended Han's funeral in Los Angeles a few days later, with Dominic spotting Han's killer Deckard Shaw watching from a distance, and giving chase, leading to their confrontation.


title: Han Lue

text: While on a mission that would lead them to Tokyo, Letty and Mia discover that Han is alive, having used Deckard Shaw's attack on him to fake his death with the help of Mr. Nobody. He explains that after the death of Gisele, Mr. Nobody had approached him as Gisele was once an operative under his supervision, believing he was trustworthy due to their relationship. Agreeing to work for him, Mr. Nobody helped Han fake his death at the hands of Deckard Shaw and keep his survival a secret, becoming an agent in order to keep focused and possibly heal from Gisele's death.


title: Han Lue

text: These events would imply that Han is the reason why Mr. Nobody would assist Dom and the crew in their fight against Deckard Shaw.


title: Han Lue

text: One day on a mission, Han witnessed the assassination of his targets, the parents of a girl named Elle, whose parents were in possession of a powerful weapon called Project Aries. While she hid from the assassins, Han intervened and killed them to save her, deciding to take Elle in and protect her from the man who sent them named Otto. During this time, both he and Elle formed a sibling bond, one that helped him move on from Gisele. He then returns with Elle to rejoin Dom's team stop Otto and Cipher's plan of acquiring a weapon that can instantly take control of the entire world's computerized and nuclear power, of which Elle's DNA is the key to its activation.


title: Han Lue

text: He is later seen among the several members at the partially re-built Toretto house in L.A., reuniting with his Tokyo crew; Sean, Twinkie and Earl, who are overjoyed to see him alive. He joins the Toretto and Tokyo crew at the table for a dinner meal, alongside Elle, waiting for Brian O'Connor to arrive.


title: Han Lue

text: The film's end credit scene shows Deckard Shaw is interrogating a Russian criminal before answering the door to shockingly find Han, who has come to confront the man who tried to kill him.


title: Han Lue

text: Han is known for consuming snack products. As pointed out by Gisele in "Fast Five", this is part of his constant need to occupy his hands, as he is a former smoker. According to director Justin Lin, this is an Easter egg reference to the character's previous appearance in "Better Luck Tomorrow".


title: Han Lue

text: Following the death of Gisele in "Fast & Furious 6", Han leaves the United States to live in Tokyo, setting up his appearance in "". Han was initially the only character from "Tokyo Drift" to appear in the subsequent films, before Sean Boswell's appearance in "Furious 7". Both Sung Kang and Justin Lin have stated the surname "Seoul-Oh" that Han uses in "Fast & Furious 6" and "Furious 7" is a fake ID, a play on the name "Han Solo". The revelation that Han Lue is alive in "F9" encouraged the use of the #HanIsAlive hashtag that "Star Wars" fans thought was referring to Han Solo, who died in "".


title: Han Lue

text: In the short film "Los Bandoleros" and the film "Fast & Furious", he was in a relationship with Cara until they broke up by the time the events of "Fast Five" takes place. At the end of the film and all of "Fast & Furious 6" he was in a relationship with Gisele Yashar until her death in the battle versus the henchmen of the Owen Shaw.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: Torquhil Ian Campbell, 13th and 6th Duke of Argyll (born 29 May 1968), styled as Earl of Campbell before 1973 and as Marquess of Lorne between 1973 and 2001, is a Scottish peer.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: The family's main seat is Inveraray Castle, although the Duke and Duchess spend time at other residences, including one in London.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: The Duke is the elder child and only son of Ian Campbell, 12th and 5th Duke of Argyll and Iona Mary Colquhoun, daughter of Sir Ivar Colquhoun, 8th Baronet. He was educated at Craigflower Preparatory School, Cargilfield Preparatory School, Glenalmond College, and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. At the last of these, he trained as a chartered surveyor.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: He served as a Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II from 1981 to 1983. He became a sales agent, salesman and company manager. Among his 29 titles are: Master of the Royal Household of Scotland, Admiral of the Western Coasts and Isles, and the Chief () of Clan Campbell.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: He is the captain of Scotland's national elephant polo team, which won the 2004 and 2005 World Elephant Polo Association World Championships. He represents Pernod Ricard distillers, promoting Scotch whiskies. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.


title: Torquhil Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll

text: On 8 June 2002 at St. Mary's Church, Fairford, Gloucestershire, the Duke married Eleanor Cadbury, a member of the Cadbury chocolate family. She is the daughter of Peter Hugh George Cadbury (previously chairman of Close Brothers Corporate Finance) and his wife Sally Strouvelle.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or Lok Nayak (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for leading the mid-1970s opposition against Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, for whose overthrow he had called for a "total revolution". His biography, "Jayaprakash," was written by his nationalist friend and the writer of Hindi literature, Rambriksh Benipuri. In 1999, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social service. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Jayprakash Narayan was born on 11 October 1902 in the village of Sitabdiara, Ballia district, United Provinces, British India (present-day Saran district, Bihar, India). Sitabdiara is a large village, straddling two states and three districts — Saran and Bhojpur in Bihar and Ballia in Uttar Pradesh. His house was near the banks of the flood-prone Ghaghara river. Every time the river swelled, the house would get a little bit damaged, eventually forcing the family to move a few kilometres away to a settlement which is now known as Jay Prakash Nagar and falls in Uttar Pradesh.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: He came from a Srivastava Kayastha family. He was the fourth child of Harsu Dayal and Phul Rani Devi. His father Harsu Dayal was a junior official in the Canal Department of the State government and was often touring the region. When Narayan was 9 years old, he left his village to enroll in the seventh class of the collegiate school at Patna. This was his first break from village life. JP stayed at a student hostel—Saraswati Bhawan—in which most of the boys were a bit older. Among them were some of Bihar's future leaders including its first chief minister, Krishna Singh, his deputy Anugrah Narayan Sinha and several others who were to widely become known in politics and academic world.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: In October 1918, Narayan married Braj Kishore Prasad's elder daughter Prabhavati Devi, a freedom fighter in her own right. After their wedding, since Narayan was working in Patna and it was difficult for his wife to stay with him, on the invitation of Gandhi, Prabhavati became an inmate at Sabarmati Ashram (Ahmedabad). Jayaprakash, along with some friends, went to listen to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad speak about the Non-co-operation movement launched by Gandhi against the passing of the Rowlatt Act of 1919. The Maulana was a brilliant orator and his call to give up English education was "like leaves before a storm: Jayaprakash was swept away and momentarily lifted up to the skies. That brief experience of soaring up with the winds of a great idea left imprints on his inner being". Jayaprakash took the Maulana's words to heart and left Bihar National College with just 20 days remaining for his examinations. Jayaprakash joined the Bihar Vidyapeeth, a college founded by Rajendra Prasad and became among the first students of Gandhian Anugraha Narayan Sinha.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: After exhausting the courses at the Vidyapeeth, Jayaprakash decided to continue studies in the United States.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: At age 20, Jayaprakash sailed aboard the cargo ship "Janus" while Prabhavati remained at Sabarmati. Jayaprakash reached California on 8 October 1922 and was admitted to Berkeley in January 1923. To pay for his education, Jayaprakash picked grapes, set them out to dry, packed fruits at a canning factory, washed dishes, worked as a mechanic at a garage and at a slaughterhouse, sold lotions and taught. All these jobs gave Jayaprakash an insight into the difficulties of the working class.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: After a semester studying chemistry at UC Berkeley, Jayaprakash was forced to transfer to The University of Iowa when fees at Berkeley were doubled. He was forced to transfer to many universities thereafter. He pursued his favourite subject, sociology, and received much help from Professor Edward Ross.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: In Wisconsin, Jayaprakash was introduced to Karl Marx's "Das Kapital". News of the success of the Bolsheviks in Russian Civil War made Jayaprakash conclude that Marxism was the way to alleviate the suffering of the masses. He delved into books by Indian intellectual and Communist theoretician M. N. Roy. His paper on sociology, "Cultural Variation", was declared the best of the year. He obtained M.A., Sociology from University of Wisconsin, and B. A., in Behavioral Science from Ohio State University.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Narayan returned from the US to India in late 1929 as a Marxist. He joined the Indian National Congress on the invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1929; Mahatma Gandhi became his mentor in the Congress. He shared a house at "Kadam Kuan" in Patna with his close friend and nationalist Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha) with whom he shared the most cordial and lasting friendship.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: After being jailed in 1930 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Basawon Singh, Yusuf Desai, C K Narayanaswami and other national leaders. After his release, the Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as president and Narayan as General secretary.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: When Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement in August 1942, Yogendra Shukla scaled the wall of Hazaribagh Central Jail along with Jayaprakash Narayan, Suraj Narayan Singh, Gulab Chand Gupta, Pandit Ramnandan Mishra, Shaligram Singh and Shyam Barthwar, with a goal to start an underground movement for freedom. Many young socialist leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Chhotubhai Puranik, Aruna Asaf Ali, etc. took part in underground movement. As Jayaprakash Narayan was ill, Yogendra Shukla walked to Gaya with Jayaprakash Narayan on his shoulders, a distance of about 124 kilometres. He also served as the Chairman of "Anugrah Smarak Nidhi" (Anugrah Narayan Memorial Fund).


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Between 1947 and 1953, Jayaprakash Narayan was President of All India Railwaymen's Federation, the largest labour union in the Indian Railways.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Narayan returned to prominence in State politics in the late 1960s. 1974 ushered in a year of high inflation, unemployment and lack of supplies and essential commodities. Nav Nirman Andolan movement of Gujarat asked Jayaprakash to lead a peaceful agitation. Following Jayaprakash Narayan's call for social justice, and a demand for dissolution of the Bihar assembly.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: The Bihar government used brutal force to suppress the movement and on 18 March 1974, police fired on unarmed demonstrators and eight people were killed in police firing. On 8 April 1974, aged 72, he led a silent procession at Patna. As, Jayaprakash Narayan crossed the barricaded area followed by Satyendra Narain Sinha, Shyam Nandan Mishra, Digvijay Narayan Singh & B.R. Chandwar, the procession was lathi charged. On 5 June 1974, Jayaprakash addressed a large crowd at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. He declared, "This is a revolution, friends! We are not here merely to see the Vidhan Sabha dissolved. That is only one milestone on our journey. But we have a long way to go... After 27 years of freedom, people of this country are wracked by hunger, rising prices, corruption... oppressed by every kind of injustice... it is a Total Revolution we want, nothing less!" In 1974, he led the students' movement in the state of Bihar which gradually developed into a popular people's movement known as the Bihar Movement. It was during this movement that JP gave a call for peaceful Total Revolution. Together with V. M. Tarkunde, he founded the Citizens for Democracy in 1974 and the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 1976, both NGOs, to uphold and defend civil liberties.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court. Narayan called for Indira and the CMs to resign and the military and police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders. He advocated a program of social transformation which he termed "Sampoorna kraanti", "total revolution". Immediately afterwards, Gandhi proclaimed a national Emergency on the midnight of 25 June 1975. Desai, opposition leaders, and dissenting members of her own party were arrested that day.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Jayaprakash Narayan attracted a gathering of 100,000 people at the Ramlila grounds and thunderously recited "Rashtrakavi" Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar''s wonderfully evocative poetry: "Singhasan Khaali Karo Ke Janata Aaati Hai".


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Narayan was kept as "detenu" at Chandigarh even after he asked for one month parole to mobilise relief in flooded parts of Bihar. His health suddenly deteriorated on 24 October, and he was released on 12 November; diagnosis at Jaslok Hospital, Bombay, revealed kidney failure; he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: In the UK, Surur Hoda launched the "Free JP" campaign chaired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Noel-Baker for the release of Jayaprakash Narayan.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Indira Gandhi revoked the emergency on 18 January 1977 and announced elections. The Janata Party, a vehicle for the broad spectrum of the opposition to Indira Gandhi, was formed under JP's guidance. The Janata Party was voted into power and became the first non-Congress party to form a government at the centre. On the call of Narayan, many youngsters joined the JP movement.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: Narayan died in Patna, Bihar, on 8 October 1979, three days before his 77th birthday, due to effects of diabetes and heart ailments. In March 1979, while he was in hospital, his death had been erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister, Morarji Desai, causing a grief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and the closure of schools and shops. When he was told about the gaffe a few weeks later, he smiled.


title: Jayaprakash Narayan

text: At the age of 17, Jayaprakash was married to Prabhavati Devi, daughter of lawyer and nationalist Brij Kishore Prasad in October 1919. Prabhavati was very independent and on Gandhi's invitation, went to stay at his ashram while Jayaprakash continued his studies. Prabhavati Devi died on 15 April 1973 after a long battle with cancer.


title: VH1

text: VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and the original owner of MTV, and launched on January 1, 1985, in the former space of Turner Broadcasting System's short-lived Cable Music Channel.


title: VH1

text: The channel was originally conceived to build upon the success of sister channel MTV by playing music videos targeting a slightly older demographic than MTV by focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music. Like MTV, VH1 ultimately drifted away from music videos and into reality television programming, albeit with a focus on music personalities and celebrities, and shows targeting African American audiences. VH1 is best known for franchises such as "Behind the Music", the "I Love…" series, the "Celebreality" block, "Love & Hip Hop", and "RuPaul's Drag Race."


title: VH1

text: VH1's aim was to focus on the lighter, softer side of popular music, including US and international musicians such as Olivia Newton-John, Kenny Rogers, Carly Simon, Tina Turner, Elton John, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Sting, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, Kenny G, Michael Bolton, Anita Baker, Chicago and Fleetwood Mac, in hopes of appealing to people aged 18 to 35, and possibly older. Also frequently featured in the network's early years were "videos" for Motown and other '60s oldies consisting of newsreel and concert footage. It was introduced on January 1, 1985, with the video performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Marvin Gaye, who died a year before the network launched (the national anthem was also played at the launch of Cable Music Channel).


title: VH1

text: From the start, Video Hits One was branded as an urban version of its sister/parent channel. It played more jazz and R&B artists than MTV and had a higher rotation of urban-contemporary performers. Its early on-camera personalities were New York radio veterans Don Imus (then of WNBC), Frankie Crocker (then program director and DJ for WBLS), Scott Shannon (of WHTZ), Jon Bauman ("Bowzer" from Sha Na Na), and Rita Coolidge.


title: VH1

text: Later VJs included Bobby Rivers, who joined in 1987, Tim Byrd of WPIX-FM (the current day FM rebroadcast of WFAN), a station whose eclectic ballad-and-R&B oriented format mirrored that of VH-1, Roger Rose - Actor and comedian (Ski Patrol), and Alison Steele ("The Nightbird" of WNEW-FM). Rosie O'Donnell later joined the outlet's VJ lineup. O'Donnell would also host a comedy show featuring various comedians each episode. As an added touch to make the network more like a televised radio station, the early years of the network featured jingles in their bumpers produced by JAM Creative Productions in Dallas, who had previously made jingles for radio stations worldwide.


title: VH1

text: The format left room for occasional ad-libs by the VJ, a godsend for emcees such as Imus and O'Donnell. In true Imus style, he used a 1985 segment of his VH-1 show to jokingly call smooth-jazz icon Sade a "grape" for her oval-shaped head.


title: VH1

text: Typical of VH1's very early programming was "New Visions", a series which featured videos and in-studio performances by smooth jazz and classical and new-age bands and performers, including Spyro Gyra, Andy Narell, Mark Isham, Philip Glass, and Yanni. At first many different musicians guest-hosted the program, but eventually musician/songwriter Ben Sidran became the permanent host.


title: VH1

text: New Age music videos continued to play on the channel into the 1990s. They would be seen on the Sunday morning two-hour music video block titled "Sunday Brunch".


title: VH1

text: Once VH1 established itself a few years later, they catered to Top 40, adult contemporary, classic rock, and 1980s mainstream pop. For a time, even country music videos aired in a one-hour block during the afternoons. They started out using MTV's famous Kabel based credits for their music video credit tags. It was later replaced in 1991 by a larger, vertically oriented font, with the year the video was made added to the lower column that identified the label on which the album was released. In 1993, the name of the videos' director was included at the bottom of the credits.


title: VH1

text: During this time, they also had some non-music programming, such as a comedy hour hosted by Rosie O'Donnell with various amateur and veteran comedians, called "Stand Up Spotlight", an in-depth look at current movies called "Flix", and reports on good civilians and volunteers in the community, called "Good News People".


title: VH1

text: Every week, the Top 21 Video Countdown usually had a different guest host. Occasionally, they had themed countdowns as well, such as Elvira hosting creepy videos for Halloween in 1991.


title: VH1

text: Long blocks of music videos by a particular artist or band, theme, or years were also very popular in this era. One popular weekend program was called "Video Rewind", in which blocks of 1980s videos from one particular year would play for an hour. There was also a short-lived hour-long program called "By Request" in which viewers could call a 1–900 hotline number to request their videos.


title: VH1

text: Another program was "History of Music Videos A to Z", which would include mini-marathons of videos mostly centered around artists based on a given alphabetical letter. During Independence Day weekends all the way to 1998, a large percentage of their library of music videos would be shown. A weeknight 11p.m. hour-long broadcast of Madonna videos, titled "The Madonna Show", aired around that era. The videos were aired without introduction by a VJ and the program was soon shortened to thirty minutes, and then scrapped altogether.


title: VH1

text: Also in 1991, a popular morning program was introduced called "Hits News & Weather" that ran from 7am to 9am ET. (It later expanded to 10am ET.) It was composed of music videos both past and present along with a 90-second update of the day's news & weather provided by All News Channel. The updates were typically shown twice an hour during the program. A box displaying the minutes past the hour was shown below the logo during the period. It was discontinued a week before the channel was re-branded in the Fall of 1994. During the week prior, classic music videos from forgotten artists/bands aired, titled "Whatever Happened To...?"


title: VH1

text: The channel's playlist was gradually expanding, and, by 1994, included contemporary musicians such as Ace of Base, Melissa Etheridge, Sheryl Crow, Lisa Loeb, Amy Grant, Seal, and other slightly heavier, or more alternative rock-influenced music than what it had originally played, although favorites such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Rod Stewart, Cher, Elton John, Madonna, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson, and Céline Dion still continued to receive heavy play for several more years as well. VH1 to One was a program in the Video Hits One era that was very similar to Behind The Music. It profiled artists such as Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Paul McCartney, plus other various artists of interest at the time that were playing the network's chosen style of music at the time and their music careers. It was one of the programs that would continue into the incoming Music First era.


title: VH1

text: In order to reach a wider and younger audience, VH1 announced in late 1989 that in 1990 they would be holding a contest where the grand prize was a collection of 36 Chevrolet Corvettes, one for every model year from its introduction year of 1953, to the then current model year of 1989 (there is no model for 1983), all going to a single grand winner. All cars were to be certified as roadworthy and in "good" to "excellent" condition. The collection at the time had an estimated worth of over 1 million. Contestants entered by calling a 1-900 number and registering, at $2 per call. VH1 received over 4 million call-in entries. The winner was a man from Long Island, New York, who immediately sold the entire collection to artist Peter Max for $500,000. Max intended to use the cars for an art project, but it never got started and the entire collection was left in an underground parking lot in New York City for over 20 years, and deteriorated into poor condition.


title: VH1

text: On October 17, 1994, VH1 re-branded itself as "VH1: Music First", following a slight ratings decline in the early 1990s. By 1996, VH1 was heading down the same path as its sister channel, MTV, choosing to focus more on music-related shows than on music videos. Additionally, the network began to expand its playlist of music videos to include more rock music. Old episodes of "American Bandstand" could regularly be seen on the channel. By that time, the channel's ratings were beginning to fall.


title: VH1

text: As part of VH-1's re-branding as "VH1: Music First" in 1994, the channel launched a new series, the "VH1 Top 10 Countdown", replacing the old Top 21 Countdown, that counted down the top 10 music videos played on VH1 each week. A combination of record sales, radio airplay, video spins, message board posts, and conventional mail would decide the order of the countdown. A rotating cast of VJs picked up hosting duties for the show over the years. The series expanded from 10 to 20 music videos, becoming the "VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown", in 2001. The show was renamed "The 20" in early 2015, and ended later that year.


title: VH1

text: In the fall of 1996, VH1 premiered "Pop-Up Video", in which music videos were accompanied by "pop-ups" (also known as "bubbles" or "info nuggets")—small enclosed areas of the screen containing facts about the band artists, and videos such as career highlights, discography, biographical details, quotes, and anecdotes. For a time, this was VH1's highest rated show.


title: VH1

text: In February 1996, VH1 again hit it big with the premiere of the first of the network's flagship shows, "VH1 Storytellers". The show started with a broadcast of Ray Davies, during his "Storyteller" tour, and took its name from this first show. In each hourlong episode, artists appear in front of a (mostly small and intimate) live audience, interspersing musical performances with anecdotes related to the songs' meaning, the songwriting process, audience reaction, etc. Along with Davies, the series has featured a widely diverse list of artists, including Culture Club, Stone Temple Pilots, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kanye West, Tom Waits, and Def Leppard. Meat Loaf enjoyed the show's format so much that he bought the stage decorations from VH-1 and went on to do a "Storytellers" tour in 1998/1999.


title: VH1

text: VH1 scored another hit in August 1997 with the debut of "Behind the Music". The hourlong show features interviews and biographies of some of popular music's biggest stars qualified to be profiled on the series. The premiere episode featured Milli Vanilli. Episodes have ranged from Aaliyah to Stryper to Keith Moon, as well as others such as, Meat Loaf, Tori Amos, MC Hammer, Cher, Oasis, Steppenwolf, Fleetwood Mac, TLC, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Megadeth, Britney Spears, Selena, Petra, Pantera, and Eminem, with more episodes being produced periodically. By the late 1990s, the show began to run out of artists to profile, leading to the short-lived "BTM2" program, half-hour looks into bands and artists whose popularity was rising, but not yet at its peak.


title: VH1

text: Shortly after, VH1 created a companion series, "Legends" (originally sponsored by AT&T), profiling artists who have made a more significant contribution to music history to qualify as "Legends" (that is, those artists who have gone beyond the category of "Behind the Music" biographies). The artists profiled so far have included Aerosmith; the Bee Gees; David Bowie; Johnny Cash; Eric Clapton; The Clash; George Clinton; Sam Cooke; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; The Doors; John Fogerty; Aretha Franklin; Marvin Gaye; The Grateful Dead; Guns N' Roses; Jimi Hendrix; Michael Jackson; Eminem; Elton John; Janis Joplin; B. B. King; Led Zeppelin; John Lennon; Curtis Mayfield; Nirvana; Pink Floyd; The Pretenders; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Queen; Bruce Springsteen; Tina Turner; U2; Stevie Ray Vaughan; The Who, and Neil Young.


title: VH1

text: Founded in 1997 by John Sykes as VH1 Save The Music and funded by the first Divas concerts, the Save The Music Foundation became a standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2008. The mission of the organization is to help students, schools, and communities reach their full potential through the power of making music. Save The Music partners with school districts and raises funds to restore music programs in public schools. Since inception, STM has donated over $60 million worth of new musical instruments, equipment, and technology to 2,201 schools in 277 school districts around the country, reaching hundreds of thousands of students.


title: VH1

text: In 1998, VH1 debuted the first annual "VH1 Divas" concert and featured the "divas" Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Celine Dion, and the "special guest" Carole King. The second installment of these "diva" shows was produced in 1999 featuring Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, Cher, LeAnn Rimes, Mary J. Blige, Billy Joel, Chaka Khan, Brandy, and special "divo" Elton John. It became a huge success and was featured in the following years starring Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Destiny's Child, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, Shakira, Deborah Harry, Anastacia, Dixie Chicks, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, and Jessica Simpson. Also in 1999, Donna Summer who was asked to do the "diva" concert, was given her own concert special by VH1 "Donna Summer Live and More: Encore". Some female artists such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Cher, Chaka Khan, and Billy Joel were featured in two or more VH1 divas concerts, with Cyndi Lauper appearing the most times, having been featured in four concerts. In 2000, Diana Ross, who has been asked several times to appear on previous editions, appeared in her own edition of the special, "VH1 Divas 2000: A Tribute To Diana Ross"


title: VH1

text: In 1999, VH1 aired its first original movie, a biopic on Sweetwater. Their third original movie (which aired in 2000), "Two of Us", focused on a fictional meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Over the next three years, they made over a dozen movies, including bio-pics on Jim Morrison and The Doors, Ricky Nelson, MC Hammer, The Monkees, Meat Loaf, and Def Leppard.


title: VH1

text: VH1 continues to air "Movies That Rock" on a regular basis, expanding to include movies not produced by VH1. The subject matter remains mostly focused on music and musicians.


title: VH1

text: In the late 1990s, VH1 continued to get more diverse and teen-based with its music selection, and with that, the network updated its 1994 "Big 1" logo. Various late-night rock shows have been shown on VH1, featuring alternative rock and metal videos from the 1980s and 1990s. VH1 eventually warmed up to harder rock acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Foo Fighters, the Stone Temple Pilots, and Metallica. Their new videos began being added into VH1's playlist right away.


title: VH1

text: Around late 2002, VH1 even began to play mainstream rap musicians. The latest videos by Eminem, Nelly, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, and Eve began to be shown in VH1's rotation and even started to cut up on VH1's top 20 countdown. VH1 also plays music from Latin artists such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias, Thalía, and Shakira.


title: VH1

text: "rockDocs" was the title under which VH1 aired various music documentaries, both those produced by VH1 and those produced by third parties. Such documentary series produced by VH1 include ""And Ya' Don't Stop"", a five-part series on the history of hip-hop and rap, a four-part series on the history of heavy metal, "", and "The Drug Years", which tells the story of different drug cultures that changed America. Films produced by other studios have also been aired as "rockDocs", including "Woodstock", "", "", "", "Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That!", a documentary on the Beastie Boys, and most recently "Last Days of Left Eye" which documented the last month of Lisa Lopes's life from the band TLC, and "N.W.A.: The World's Most Dangerous Group," featuring the narration of comedian Chris Rock, which chronicled the rise and fall of N.W.A.


title: VH1

text: VH1 endured criticism for "Music Behind Bars", which mainly focuses on musicians in custody. Critics have claimed prisoners, mainly those convicted of murder, should not be entitled to any exposure, especially nationally.


title: VH1

text: The channel aired "Where Are They Now?" from 1999 to 2002. It featured former celebrities and their current professional and personal status. Each episode was dedicated to a specific genre, ranging from past child stars to Aaron Spelling's notable productions, to controversial news figures.


title: VH1

text: VH1 also aired a series of promos in 2003, featuring animated kittens from the online animation website Rathergood, lipsyncing popular songs such as "I Love Rock n' Roll" written & performed by Alan Merrill of the Arrows since 1975 (US cover hit by Joan Jett in 1982), Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" and Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle". These spots were done by British animator Joel Veitch.


title: VH1

text: In August 2003, the network changed its focus again, dropping "Music First" from its name, and introducing a box logo. Having saturated its "Behind The Music" series (and spinoff "BTM2", a 30-minute version that told the stories of current chart-toppers), gotten past the point of showing music videos on a regular basis, the network began to target the pop culture nostalgia market. Following the controversy over the murder-suicide of a contestant from "Megan Wants a Millionaire", the channel toned down its reality programming. On July 1, 2007, VH1 and MHD simulcast the entire "Concert for Diana" live from London, England, on the birthday of Princess Diana, Princess of Wales.


title: VH1

text: VH1 would continue to air its music video blocks despite its decreasing reliance on such programming. Their main program block was seen from 3a.m. to 11a.m. ET. The overnight block was called "Insomniac Music Theater", later renamed "Nocturnal State" in August 2005. At of the beginning of October 2008, "Nocturnal State" was cut down to one hour, and "Fresh: New Music" was supplanted by additional hours of "Jump Start". In 2010, VH1 retired "Nocturnal State". Music Videos continued to be branded under "Jump Start" until January 5, 2013.


title: VH1

text: In 2002, VH1 broadcast a ten-part series entitled "I Love the '80s". The series was adapted from a BBC series, first broadcast in 2000, in which current entertainers and pop-culture figures offered their take on the trends, events, and personalities of another decade. The success of VH1's "I Love the '80s", coupled with the growing nostalgia for ever-more-recent times, led the network to create a parade of similarly themed programs. These ranged from 2003's "I Love the '70s", to further variants like "I Love the '80s Strikes Back", "I Love the '90s", and "". More recently, VH1 premiered "I Love the '80s 3-D" and "". So eager was the network to capitalize on the trend while it was hot, that it devoted a series to the 2000s, despite the fact that the decade had not yet ended ("I Love the New Millennium", broadcast in 2008, covered only the years 2000–2007). This was thought to be the final installment of the series until 2014, when "I Love the 2000s" continued the format.


title: VH1

text: The concept was broadened to include non-decade based installments, "I Love the Holidays" and "I Love Toys". The format of these shows has also been repeated for the weekly program "Best Week Ever".


title: VH1

text: VH1 also produces its "The Greatest" series in which a similar format is used to countdown lists like ""100 Greatest Artists of Rock and Roll"", ""The 50 Sexiest Video Moments"", ""100 Greatest Songs of Rock 'N' Roll"", ""100 Greatest Songs from the Past 25 Years"", ""100 Greatest One-hit Wonders"", ""100 Greatest Kid Stars"", and ""100 Greatest Teen Stars"". In 2001, Mark McGrath hosted VH1's miniseries ""100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock 'N' Roll"", which compiled a list of the moments in music history that changed its course and shook its foundations. Recently in late December 2009, an updated series titled ""100 Most Shocking Music Moments"" aired on VH1. In 2008 and early 2009, the channel premiered the ""100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs"", ""100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"", ""100 Greatest Songs of the 90s"", and ""100 Greatest Songs of the 80s"".


title: VH1

text: In 2004, VH1 began this mini-series category with ""50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs...Ever"". Additional series in this group include ""40 Most Awesomely Bad Dirrty Songs...Ever"", ""40 Most Awesomely Bad Break-up Songs...Ever"", ""40 Most Awesomely Bad #1 Songs...Ever"", ""40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs...Ever"", and ""40 Most Awesomely Bad Love Songs"".


title: VH1

text: In January 2005 VH1 launched its "Celebreality" programming block of reality shows featuring celebrities, anchored by "The Surreal Life", which mimics MTV's "The Real World", instead placing celebrities from the past into a living environment.


title: VH1

text: The word "celebreality" is blend of the words "celebrity" and "reality" and is generally used to describe reality TV shows in which celebrities participate as subjects. The term appears to have been coined by Michael Gross, writing for The Toronto Star on May 12, 1991. In his article, entitled "Celebrity's New Face," Mr. Gross used a hyphenated form of the word ("celeb-reality") to describe the tendency of certain contemporary celebrities to downplay the traditional trappings of Hollywood glamour. "You could see the new celeb-reality on display at this year's Oscars," wrote Gross. "It is Kathy Bates and Whoopi Goldberg, not Kim Basinger and Michelle Pfeiffer. It is Jeremy Irons in black tie and the sneakers he says keep his feet on the ground. It is Kevin Costner, fighting small, important battles, winning big, but reacting with modesty and going off to party privately. The new celebrities are human first, famous second."


title: VH1

text: The next known citation of the word is by Joyce Millman, writing for "The New York Times" on January 5, 2003. In an article entitled, "Celebreality: The 'Stars' Are Elbowing Their Way In," Ms. Millman wrote: "Celebreality, the junk genre du jour, turns the notion of reality TV upside down. Instead of real people acting like celebrities on shows like "Survivor", "Big Brother" and "The Bachelor", celebreality gives us celebrities acting like real people on shows like "The Osbournes", "The Anna Nicole Show" and "Celebrity Boot Camp." I'm using the term "celebrity" loosely here—we're not talking about Russell Crowe, Julia Roberts and Dame Judi Dench eating bugs and scrubbing latrines. No, the celebrities of celebreality are a motlier crew, like, well, Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil, the former rap superstar M. C. Hammer and the wee ex-Michael Jackson ornament Emmanuel ("Webster") Lewis. Those three will be setting up housekeeping together on Thursday in "The Surreal Life" on WB, a celebreality spin on MTV's "Real World." Not to be outdone, ABC sends a Baldwin brother (Stephen), a supermodel (Frederique) and a former "L.A. Law" star (Corbin Bernsen) to Hawaii for "Celebrity Mole Hawaii", beginning Wednesday."


title: VH1

text: Since 2004, VH1 has showed their appreciation for hip-hop and rock music by honoring pioneers and movements. Hip-hop musicians honored include Eazy-E, LL Cool J, The Notorious B.I.G., 2Pac, and Public Enemy. All of the shows have been taped in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. On May 25, 2006, Queen, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and Kiss were the inaugural inductees into the VH1 Rock Honors in Las Vegas. The ceremony aired on VH1 six days later. In 2007, ZZ Top, Heart, Genesis, and Ozzy Osbourne were inducted into the VH1 Rock Honors. 2008's sole Rock Honors inductees were The Who.


title: VH1

text: "For What It's Worth" premiered on February 21, 2013, and only lasted the length of one season. The show featured hosts Gary Dell'Abate and Jon Hein appraising music and pop-culture memorabilia. The first episode featured musician Jack White at Third Man Records in Nashville, Tennessee, discussing a format of vinyl record he invented called the "Triple Decker Record". The show also chose Gary Sohmers, an appraiser from Antiques Roadshow, to be an expert appraiser on all six episodes.


title: VH1

text: Starting in 2011, VH1 has broadcast "Big Morning Buzz Live", a daily morning news and pop culture talk show hosted by Carrie Keagan, Jason Dundas and VH1 music expert Jim Shearer and, later, Nick Lachey. The show features entertainment news, celebrity interviews and musical performances. On June 3, 2013, VH1 premiered "The Gossip Table", another live daily entertainment news program featuring five entertainment columnists presenting entertainment news and gossip. Both shows have since been cancelled.


title: VH1

text: From April 28 to May 2, 2011, from Tampa to Cozumel music fans could experience non-stop music performances from headliners Train, Lifehouse, Colbie Caillat, and The Script. Other bands include Alpha Rev, Civil Twilight, Mat Kearney, One eskimO, SafetySuit, Thriving Ivory, Trailer Park Ninjas, and Ryan Star. The cruise is on The Carnival Cruise Line ship Carnival Inspiration.


title: VH1

text: On January 5, 2013, VH1 introduced a new logo that closely resembles their first. The logo has a "plus" sign in it, representing VH1's focus on music-related shows and events and pop culture-based reality programming. The network's main video block was "VH1 + Music", seen weekday mornings between 6a.m. and 11a.m. The new "Nocturnal State" block aired Mondays through Sundays between 3a.m. and 6a.m.


title: VH1

text: Since 2014, VH1 programming was noted to be shifting towards shows centered around African American personalities, similar to BET and its sister channels. In the first quarter of 2016, VH1 announced its highest ratings in six years and it was then the fastest-growing subscription channel in that same period. Thanks to the success of shows like "Love & Hip Hop", "Stevie J & Joseline Go Hollywood", "", and "Mob Wives", the channel has moved ahead as a Top Five network for adults. Conversely, "VH1 + Music" was discontinued and replaced by reruns of 1990s–2000s sitcoms shared with Paramount's other networks. Since then, the channel only carries music videos in continuity between shows.


title: VH1

text: VH1 has seen further shifts to its programming as part of Viacom's 2017 restructuring plan. Beginning with its ninth season, Logo TV original series "RuPaul's Drag Race" was moved to VH1. In 2019, as part of an expansion of MTV's "Wild 'n Out", new episodes premiered on VH1 from July 7, 2019, to September 15, 2019.


title: VH1

text: On November 9, 2022, it was announced that VH1 would move to BET Networks under Scott Mills. On December 12, 2022, it was announced that future "Drag Race" seasons would move to and premiere on MTV, though the "Celebrity" edition would remain on VH1.


title: VH1

text: Original programming currently seen on VH1 includes the "Love & Hip Hop", "Black Ink Crew", and "Basketball Wives" franchises. Other notable shows include "RuPaul's Drag Race" (which was moved over from Logo in 2017), reruns and new episodes (as of July 2019) of "Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out" (which originated on MTV), and "Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party". VH1's current programming is noted to predominantly focus on urban music genres and lean towards African-American personalities, similar to BET.


title: VH1

text: VH1 HD (launched in 2005) is a 1080i high-definition feed, with all major providers carrying the network; as of 2016 this feed is downgraded at a provider's headend to provide the network's standard definition channel on systems.


title: VH1

text: VH1 has launched spinoff digital networks as part of "The MTV Suite". Initially, four VH1 spinoff networks were formed, with another being made later on. By August 2016, all of VH1's spinoffs had been realigned with either MTV, BET, or CMT or were shuttered altogether.


title: VH1

text: VH1's website launched in the late 1990s. In 2003, MTV Networks "VSPOT", a broadband video channel that followed the model of MTV Overdrive, containing the shows aired by VH1 and music videos. Like Overdrive, it was coolly received due to a heavy reliance on broadband and advanced web technologies. VH1 returned to a traditional-style website in late 2007.


title: VH1

text: Out of the list of VH1 channels aired worldwide, Canada has never operated a VH1 branded channel. In 1998, CHUM Limited launched MuchMoreMusic, a sister channel to MuchMusic. As MuchMoreMusic, the network aired the majority of VH1's music and reality programming. It was closed in 2016 and the channel's license was replaced by Gusto, which was renamed to CTV Life Channel in 2019.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra Shah (, born 7 July 1947) is a former monarch who was the last King of Nepal, reigning from 2001 to 2008. As a child, he was briefly king from 1950 to 1951, when his grandfather, Tribhuvan, took political asylum in India with the rest of his family. His second reign began after the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre. Gyanendra Shah is the first person in the history of Nepal to be king twice and also the last king of the Shah dynasty of Nepal.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra's second reign was marked by constitutional turmoil. His brother King Birendra had established a constitutional monarchy in which he delegated policy to a representative government. The growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War during Gyanendra's reign interfered with elections of representatives. After several delays in elections, Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct authority in February 2005, asserting that it would be a temporary measure to suppress the Maoist insurgency after civil governments had failed to do so. In the face of broad opposition, he restored the previous parliament in April 2006. He was deposed two years later by the first session of the Constituent Assembly, which declared the nation as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and abolished the 240-year Shah Dynasty.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra was born in the old Narayanhiti Royal Palace, Kathmandu, as the second son of Crown Prince Mahendra and his first wife, Crown Princess Indra. After his birth, his father was told by a court astrologer not to look at his newborn son because it would bring him bad luck, so Gyanendra was sent to live with his grandmother.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In November 1950, during a political plot, both his father and his grandfather King Tribhuvan, along with other royals, fled to India, leaving the infant Prince Gyanendra as the only male member of the royal family in Nepal. He was brought back to the capital Kathmandu by the Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher, who had him declared king on 7 November 1950. Not only was Gyanendra crowned, but coins were issued in his name. The Rana prime minister provided a 300,000 rupee annual budget as expenditure for the king. After opposition to the hereditary rule of the Rana prime ministers from India, a deal was reached in January 1951, and Gyanendra's grandfather King Tribhuvan returned to Nepal and resumed the throne. The actions of the Rana regime to depose his grandfather and place Gyanendra on the throne were internationally recognized.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra studied with his elder brother King Birendra at St. Joseph's School, Darjeeling, India; in 1969, he graduated from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. He served as the chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Coronation of his brother King Birendra in 1975. He is a keen conservationist and served as chairman of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation (later known as National Trust for Nature Conservation) from 1982 until his reaccession to the throne in 2001.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra married his second cousin Komal Rajya Lakhsmi Devi on 1 May 1970 in Kathmandu. They have two children:


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra again assumed the throne after many other royal family members, including King Birendra, were assassinated on 1 June 2001 by Gyanendra's nephew Crown Prince Dipendra, who was titular king for a brief period before succumbing to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. These events and the ensuing investigation proved very controversial. A two-man investigation team appointed by Gyanendra and made up of Keshav Prasad Upadhaya, then-Supreme Court Chief Justice, and Taranath Ranabhat, then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, carried out a week-long investigation. After interviewing more than 100 people—including eyewitnesses, palace officials, guards, and staff—they concluded that Dipendra had indeed carried out the massacre, but they drew no further conclusions. As his nephew lay in a coma, Prince Gyanendra was named regent; but after King Dipendra's death on 4 June 2001, Gyanendra resumed the throne.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: During his early years on the throne, Gyanendra sought to exercise full control over the government, citing the failure of all the political parties to hold an election after the parliament was dissolved. In May 2002, he supported the popularly elected Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba when he dismissed the parliament elected in 1999. In October 2002, he dismissed Deuba and consolidated his power for the first time. During the years 2002 to 2005 he chose and subsequently dismissed three prime ministers for failure to hold elections and bring the rebels to a round table negotiation; he finally dismissed Deuba for the second time and took over as absolute ruler on 1 February 2005, promising that the country would return to normality within 36 months.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: His elder brother King Birendra had negotiated a constitutional monarchy during his rule in a delicate manner in which he, as king, played a minor role in government. Thus, Gyanendra's confrontational approach with the established political parties met with widespread censure.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: When Gyanendra took complete control for the second time, on 1 February 2005, he dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's government for failing to make arrangements for parliamentary elections and being unable to restore peace in the country, which was then in the midst of a civil war led by Maoist insurgents.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: but the period of direct rule was accompanied by repression of dissent. International organizations expressed grave concerns about the safety of journalists, following the king's decision to restrict civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the constitutional protection against censorship and the right against preventive detention.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In April 2006, the seven-party alliance and the then banned CPN Maoist party in an underground manner staged protests and strikes in Kathmandu against King Gyanendra's direct rule. The royal government exercised minimum restraint but declared a curfew to control the deteriorating situation, which was enforced with live firearms and tear gas. After 23 protesters were killed, on 21 April 2006, King Gyanendra announced that he would yield executive authority to a new prime minister chosen by the political parties to oversee the return of democracy. Several party leaders rejected the offer and again demanded that the King call a council to determine the monarchy's future role in politics. An agreement was reached between the parties under the supervision of the Indian ruling Congress that the monarchy would have a place in the new constitution. Girija Prasad Koirala was appointed prime minister in the interim. Girija Prasad, as the main leader, had talks with the King and the agreement for monarchy's position. As such, on 24 April 2006, Gyanendra reinstated the previous parliament in a televised address to the nation.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: The agreement between the parties and Gyanendra under Indian supervision was not honored by the parties. It is widely believed that Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was deeply convinced that as long as Gyanendra remained in the power structure, there was always danger to the democratic order in Nepal. On 10 June 2006, the Parliament scrapped the major powers of the king, including his right to veto laws. This ended the idea of a "King in Parliament", and he was reduced to a figurehead, though for a time he continued to offer felicitations and to receive diplomats. According to Article 167 of the constitution, all executive powers as well as those enjoyed by the king in the previous Constitution were now vested in the prime minister. All powers of the 239-year-old monarchy were stripped, making Gyanendra a civilian king.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Prime Minister Koirala, who had previously supported the continuation of the monarchy, said in March 2007 that he thought Gyanendra should step down. In June, Koirala repeated his call for Gyanendra to abdicate in favour of his grandson Prince Hridayendra.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: On 23 August 2007 Nepal's transitional government nationalised all the properties Gyanendra inherited from his brother, including the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. The move did not affect the properties he owned before his accession to the throne.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: It was announced on 24 December 2007 that, following the approval of the Nepalese Parliament, the monarchy would probably be suspended in 2008, as part of a peace deal with Maoist rebels. This was for a bill to amend the constitution to make Nepal a republic.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: On 27 May 2008, the meeting decided to give Gyanendra fifteen days to vacate the palace and decided that the first meeting would be held the next day at 11 am; however, it was delayed due to the indecision among the leading parties on power-sharing and the nomination of 26 members of the Constituent Assembly.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: On 28 May 2008, the monarchy was officially given no place in the amended constitution of 1990 and was replaced by a republic. This was done by the Constituent Assembly, without a referendum. Gyanendra accepted the decision in the following days. As he was required to leave Narayanhiti, he asked the government to make residential arrangements for him on 1 June, and on 4 June the government decided to give Nagarjuna Palace to Gyanendra.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra left the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu on 11 June 2008, moving into the Nagarjuna Palace. His new residence consists of ten buildings including the royal residence Hemanta Bas, three guesthouses (Barsha Bas, Sharad Bas and Grishma Bas), one office secretariat and one staff quarters. Gyanendra and his family moved into the two-storey Hemanta Bas. Following his departure, the Narayanhiti Palace was turned into a museum, while Gyanendra's diamond- and ruby-encrusted Crown and royal sceptre, along with all the other crown jewels and royal assets, became government property. The royal family's departure from the palace was reported as a "major symbolic moment in the fall of the Shah dynasty, which had unified Nepal in the 1760s".


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra, in an interview with foreign reporters published on 9 April 2008, expressed dissatisfaction over the decision made by the interim parliament to abolish the monarchy after the 10 April Constituent Assembly election. The interview was published in Japan's leading newspaper, " Daily Yomiuri". Speaking to a select group of Japanese correspondents at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace on 4 February 2008, Gyanendra said, "[The decision] doesn't reflect the majority view of the people. This isn't a democracy."


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra also said that law and order in the country was deteriorating, and questioned the interim government's ability to govern the country even after he had accepted the road map of the seven-party alliance. Citing the recent survey which showed 49% of respondents favoured the continuation of the monarchy in some form, Gyanendra claimed, "A majority of the people find great meaning in the institution of the monarchy. In all clouds, there is a silver lining. Let us hope."


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra had broken his closely guarded silence in an interview with a Nepali weekly paper in which he said he remained silent to "let the peace process succeed". On 7 February 2008 the BBC reported Gyanendra as saying to Japanese journalists: "The Nepali people themselves should speak out on where the nation is heading, on the direction it is taking and on why it is becoming chaotic".


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: He claimed that his attempt on 1 February 2005 was for a good purpose—restoring peace and stability in the country. He said that his attempt was not a success and so the countrymen are suffering at present.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In an interview, Gyanendra's advisor, Bharat Keshar Singh, claimed that the bill passed by the parliament was a bluff. Replying to a question raised regarding the King's silence even after the bill was passed declaring the state a republic, he said that there was nothing for the King to respond to. He claimed that the parliament which declared a republic was reinstated by the King himself and had no authority to dethrone the same King. He claimed that the King was examining the activities of the government and the parliament and was waiting for a suitable time to respond to them. He said that no people would accept the "bill" unless decided by a referendum or elected members in the constituent assembly.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: On 15 January 2007 the interim parliament was set up with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) included, and on 1 April 2007, the interim government joined by the Communist Party was formed. On 28 December 2007, the Nepali interim parliament approved a bill for the amendment to the constitution of 1990 promulgated on 15 January 2007, with a clause stating that Nepal would become a federal democratic republic, to be implemented by the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly elections.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In 2020 the RPP-N submitted 2.35 million signatures to the Constituent Assembly demanding a referendum for the fate of the 240-year old monarchy and a Hindu state.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: The political parties and the King reached a secret deal known as the 5-point agreement on 24 April, 2006 where the political parties agreed to retain monarchy in Nepal but Shyam Saran played spoilsport and overturned the deal. Senior Journalist P. Kharel also revealed in an interview with BBC Nepali service that King Gyanendra lost his throne when he refused to make Nepal a protectorate like Bhutan. King Gyanendra's Honorary Royal ADC Late Bharat Keshar Simha also expressed the same during an interview with Jibram Bhandari on Sagarmatha TV.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In an interview with News 24 TV channel in 2012, Gyanendra stated that he would return as the King of Nepal, although he did not state a particular time frame. When asked if he would consider becoming actively involved in politics, he said that he is not a politician. He also dismissed the need for a referendum on bringing the institution of monarchy back into power. He asserted that since the politicians had not asked the people by a referendum to abolish the institution, a referendum to bring him back was not needed.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Gyanendra also stated in the interview with News24 that a written agreement existed between the politicians and himself that the constitutional monarchy would be returned when he gave up his powers to the politicians and restored the Parliament that he had sacked.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: On 8 July 2019, the former king's birthday was observed by thousands of Nepalese who marked the occasion by marching to his private residence at Nirmal Niwas Palace. The rally was organized by The Main Civilian Birthday Celebration Committee, however, the former king refused to give audience to the crowd as he didn't celebrate his birthday in public due to the demise of his relatives. Therefore, the visitors wrote birthday wishes on registers kept at the Nirmal Niwas Palace.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: In July 2019, the former king summoned acclaimed political analyst Surendra K.C. where the two discussed the current political environment of the nation. In an interview with Nepal Aaja, KC remarked that the former king did not show any active interest to return to the throne or into politics. However, KC did note that the former monarch showed great concerns for the condition of the Nepalese in times of economic turmoil and political suppression.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: During a private party at Trisara restaurant in Durbarmarg, a picture taken of the former king dancing caused significant unrest and outcry, most notably from Maoist leader Prachanda and Prime Minister Oli. Critics and citizens alike condemned the remarks of the politicians criticizing the former king's private affairs.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Soon after news emerged of a ten-day personal visit to Parbat district in 2012, ten political parties of the district organized a corner assembly at Shibalaya Chowk of Kusmabazaar, and decided to protest against Gyanendra's visit. Leaders speaking at the corner assembly called on Gyanendra to stop his visit and also warned that they would obstruct his tour forcibly if he started it. Nevertheless, Gyanendra left for Pokhara. There was no protest on the first day. He walked in the rain through the general public for more than one kilometre. However, the scheduled visit of Gyanendra to Myagdi was cancelled following opposition from different political parties. He had planned to worship at various holy shrines in the district.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Despite having all of the properties he inherited from his late brother King Birendra nationalized, the former king still retained all of his personal wealth prior to his enthronement. Having been a businessman, the former king is said to have inherited huge fortunes from his family members and still runs many lucrative businesses through investments and is widely believed to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His investment in Soaltee Hotel alone was estimated to be around $100 million in 2008 with a 40% stake.


title: Gyanendra of Nepal

text: Furthermore, the former king is reported to have 54% stake in Himalayan Goodricke Tea, 39% stake in Surya Nepal Tobacco, stakes in Annapurna Hotel which he inherited from aunt Princess Helen, large tea plantations in Itahari, and stakes in Himal International Power Corporation, Jyoti spinning mill in Birgunj, Narayanghat brewery, a Toyota and Tata distributorship, Laxmi Rosin Turpentine Pvt Ltd, Bhotekoshi power company, Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, Gorkha Lawrie Pvt Ltd, Amaravati Pvt Ltd, an island in the Maldives and oil interests in Nigeria.


title: Charlotte Le Bon

text: Charlotte Le Bon (born 4 September 1986) is a Canadian actress, artist, former model and television presenter. She is known for her work in the Canal+ talk show "Le Grand Journal", and the films "Yves Saint Laurent", "The Hundred-Foot Journey", and "The Walk". "Falcon Lake", her feature film directorial debut, premiered in the Director's Fortnight program at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It also screened at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. For her work on "Falcon Lake", LeBon won the award for Emerging Canadian Director at the 2022 Vancouver International Film Festival.


title: Charlotte Le Bon

text: Le Bon was born in 1986 in Montreal, to Brigitte Paquette and Richard Le Bon. Her mother and her stepfather, Frank Schorpion, are both actors. After studying visual arts, she began modelling at 16 years old and left Canada when she was 19 to model overseas. After spending brief periods in Tokyo and New York City, she eventually settled in Paris in 2010. She never enjoyed modelling, however, saying that "I was a model for eight years and really hated it." She then started doing ads for brands such as Si Lolita, Carte Noire and Garnier Fructis.


title: Charlotte Le Bon

text: Soon after, Le Bon was cast as "Miss Météo" on "Le Grand Journal", a news- and pop culture-based talk show on the French television channel Canal+, where she did daily weather reports in the form of comedy skits she wrote herself. Although the network wanted her back for a second season, she declined their offer in favour of embarking on a movie career.


title: Charlotte Le Bon

text: Le Bon's first film role was in the 2012 French comedy "". In 2013, she appeared in "Mood Indigo" and "The Marchers", and in 2014 she starred as Yves Saint Laurent's muse Victoire Doutreleau in the biographical film "Yves Saint Laurent", earning a nomination for a César Award.