Judi Dench joins campaign to save cinema in Scotland

Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench has joined a campaign to save a small cinema in Scotland.

By becoming a patron of the Highland Theatre in Oban, the actress has followed in the footsteps of other celebrity supporters like Tilda Swinton, Dougray Scott, Robbie Coltrane and Rowan Atkinson.

The venue closed last summer after the owners went into liquidation, reports the Daily Star.

Officials at Santander bank, which has now taken over ownership, have agreed to postpone an auction to sell off the cinema so local residents can try and raise enough cash to buy it.

Scottish neighbours are hoping to raise 20,000 pounds to place a deposit down on the theatre, and hope to eventually collect the full 195,000 pounds asking price.

And Dench is now leading the campaign with her new patron status.

Town centre manager Campbell Cameron is hoping to reopen the Highland Theatre as the Phoenix Cinema.

"We are delighted that Dame Judi Dench has given us her support. She has an affinity with the area because she comes up here on her holidays," Cameron said.

SRK, Big B & Dench to work together

It cannot get any bigger or better than this! Two icons of Bollywood and a heavyweight Hollywood A-lister are coming together to support the cause of education among the underprivileged in India.

Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Judi Dench will be working in tandem to promote education among the low-income groups of the country with the sole aim that when these kids become bread-winners, they will have a better life and in turn provide better opportunities to their children.

And bringing these top actors together is none other than the Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty. His foundation has been silently working towards bettering the socio-economic conditions of the poverty struck groups but he believes that the time has come to go top gear. "It is unimaginable that even in the 21st century there is rampant illiteracy in India. We are making our presence felt in the world and this aspect is something that should definitely be tackled. Along with economy and cultural boom, India should not be spoken as a country that is also illiteracy stricken," Resul told TOI.

He added, "Without Amitabh Bachchan's blessing, my project would have not started at all. He has helped me with funds and goodness. It is time to implement new things. Just when I was planning different things, Judi Dench came to my rescue. She had spent eight weeks in the country while shooting her Hollywood project in Rajasthan. She saw the rich and the poor and was touched by the work that we were doing."

According to Resul, Judi will play a very active role in the project. "Judi has told me to draw plans and just tell her what is to be done and she will try her level best to do more than what has been asked of her," he said. SRK's inclusion certainly bolsters the plans further. "I have met Shah Rukh while working on his movie Ra.One.

 I told him all about our charity that is being supported by two big luminaries and he was more than keen to support. SRK is a silent benefactor and he too will be with us in this cause," Resul added.
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