Tom Hanks among five Kennedy Center honorees

Plus: Japan-made Godzilla to return after Hollywood hit; Kareena Kapoor cameo in Badlampur; and Rajnikanth special on Vijay TV.

The Kennedy Center Honorees from left, the ballerina Patricia McBride, the actor Tom Hanks, the recording artists Sting and Al Green and the actress Lily Tomlin. Mike Theiler / Reuters

An actor hailed as "America's favourite son" and a musical genius who rose from a British shipyard town received America's highest honours on Sunday for influencing the country's culture through the arts. Tom Hanks and Sting joined Lily Tomlin, the singer Al Green and the ballerina Patricia McBride in being awarded this year's Kennedy Center Honors. President Barack Obama saluted them at the White House before the show. Top performers and power players from Hollywood, Broadway and Washington gathered for a gala performance hosted by Stephen Colbert. The ceremony will be broadcast on December 30. The filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who has collaborated with Hanks on many projects, said "America's favourite son" has opened a window on the nation with movies that include Philadelphia, A League of their Own, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan. – AP

Japan-made Godzilla to return after Hollywood hit

Godzilla is stomping back. And this time, it's made in Japan, like the original. The announcement this week from the Japanese film studio Toho comes after the success earlier this year of the Hollywood Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards, which grossed more than US$500 million (Dh1.8 billion) worldwide. Toho said in 2004 it had made its last Godzilla film, the 28th in the series centred on the irradiated monster, which first stomped into the world in 1954. But the latest Hollywood Godzilla, complete with spikes down its back and a terrifying roar, received relatively favourable reviews in Japan, unlike the 1998 Hollywood Godzilla, directed by Roland Emmerich, which purist fans hated. The Toho Godzilla is set for release in 2016, before Edwards releases his sequel for Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers in 2018. – AP

Kareena Kapoor cameo in Badlapur

The Bollywood A-lister Kareena Kapoor has confirmed that she will appear in a cameo in the new drama Badlapur, starring Varun Dhawan. The film is directed by Sriram Raghavan and has Dhawan playing two roles – "a carefree husband" and "a revengeful father". The ensemble cast includes Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Huma Qureshi, Yami Gautam and Divya Bharti. Badlapur is due for release in February. – IANS

Rajnikanth special on Vijay TV

The southern Indian superstar Rajnikanth is the focus of a special show that will be broadcast on the Tamil-language television channel Vijay TV on Friday, to coincide with the 63-year-old actor's birthday and the release of his new action thriller Lingaa. The show will feature the actors Karunakaran, Satish and Vidhyulekha and will be hosted by VJs Ramya and Balaji. The actors Manobala and Ramesh Khanna will also make an appearance. Lingaa is out in the UAE on Thursday. – The National staff