Holly to Bolly: Prince to be celebrated at Paisley Park, Akshay Kumar’s new film to be released in March, and more

Plus: Jazz musician Carlton Kitto dies aged 74, Blair Underwood praises Priyanka Chopra, 47th International Film Festival of India closes, and Broadway star and Tony-winner Fritz Weaver dies.

Celebration 2017 will be held April 20-23 during the anniversary of Prince’s death. Chris Pizzello / AP photo

Prince to be celebrated at Paisley Park

Influential pop star Prince will be celebrated with a four-day festival at his Paisley Park studios compound in Minnesota on the first anniversary of his death. Dubbed Celebration 2017, the event will take place from April 20-23, with tickets starting from $499 (Dh1,832). Musical artists confirmed to perform include Prince's principal band, The Revolution; Morris Day, and another Prince band, 3RDEYEGIRL. More acts are expected to be announced in the coming months. Prince, best known for songs like Purple Rain and When Doves Cry, died this past April 21 from an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. He passed away at his Paisley Park estate in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen and was 57. - Reuters

Jazz musician Carlton Kitto dies aged 74

Acclaimed jazz musician and Indian Bebop guitarist Carlton Kitto had died at the age of 74, following a prolonged illness. The news was confirmed by president Dickoo Nowroji of the Calcutta School of Music, where Kitto used to teach jazz. During his career, Kitto collaborated with many of his American jazz contemporaries, including Sonny Rollins and Chico Freeman as well as Indian musicians like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Louiz Banks. Born in Bangalore, and having started his early working life on the railways, Kitto went on to perform for countless celebrities over the years, including Queen Elizabeth II. - IANS

Blair Underwood praises Priyanka Chopra

American television actor Blair Underwood has praised the on-set conduct of his Quantico co-star Priyanka Chopra. "She is very gracious, she is very humble, she is always prepared, she is professional she is about her business," says the 52-year-old. Underwood has joined the cast of the US drama series to play the role of a CIA officer Owen Hall. Chopra, 34, portrays the bright FBI recruit Alex Parrish. "We watch the show through her eyes and her perspective, so she is very much the star of the show. She carries it with aplomb," Underwood added. - IANS

47th International Film Festival of India closes

The 47th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) drew to a close in Goa with the screening of South Korean film director Kim Jee Woon's, Age of Shadows. More than 300 films from 90 countries were screened during the nine-day event, including the opening film of After-Image which was written and directed by the late Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda. South Korea was the country of focus at this year's IFFI, and several films from the Asian nation were screened during the festival. Eminent South Korean film director Im Kwon-taek was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the festival and the Indian singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam was awarded the Centenary Award for Indian film Personality of the Year. - IANS

Broadway star and Tony-winner Fritz Weaver dies

Tony Award-winning character actor Fritz Weaver, who played Sherlock Holmes and Shakespearian kings on Broadway, has died aged 90. Weaver won a Tony award in 1970 playing a private-school disciplinarian in the play Child's Play and among his many television credits he had guest parts on Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I. and Gunsmoke. While the six-foot-three American star created memorable roles on television and in film, from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to Marathon Man, he was happiest when treading the boards. "The stage is where I began," he said in 1986. "That's where I have the most accumulated experience. Movies and television have always been a means of earning a living. And I'm growing more and more familiar with the vocabularies of both those things." - AP

Akshay Kumar’s new film to be released in March

The Bollywood action thriller Naam Shabana, starring actress Taapsee Pannu and actor Akshay Kumar, will hit screens in the spring of next year. 49-year-old Kumar took to Twitter to announce the release date of the film alongside a picture of his glamorous co-star. "Get ready to see the awesomeness of Taapsee in Naam Shabana on 31st March, 2017," he wrote. "This film belongs to you baby!" he added, directing the comment towards 29-year-old Pannu. The movie, which was shot at locations in India and Malaysia, was written and directed by Shivam Nair and also features the critically acclaimed Indian actor Manoj Bajpayee. - IANS