title: Sri Lanka

text: The 2011 Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum, described Sri Lanka's economy as transitioning from the factor-driven stage to the efficiency-driven stage and that it ranked 52nd in global competitiveness. Also, out of the 142 countries surveyed, Sri Lanka ranked 45th in health and primary education, 32nd in business sophistication, 42nd in innovation, and 41st in goods market efficiency. In 2016, Sri Lanka ranked 5th in the World Giving Index, registering high levels of contentment and charitable behaviour in its society. In 2010, "The New York Times" placed Sri Lanka at the top of its list of 31 places to visit. S&P Dow Jones Indices classifies Sri Lanka as a frontier market as of 2018. Sri Lanka ranks well above other South Asian countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) with an index of 0.750.


title: Sri Lanka

text: By 2016, the country's debt soared as it was developing its infrastructure to the point of near bankruptcy which required a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF had agreed to provide a US$1.5 billion bailout loan in April 2016 after Sri Lanka provided a set of criteria intended to improve its economy. By the fourth quarter of 2016, the debt was estimated to be $64.9 billion. Additional debt had been incurred in the past by state-owned organisations and this was said to be at least $9.5 billion. Since early 2015, domestic debt increased by 12% and external debt by 25%. In November 2016, the IMF reported that the initial disbursement was larger than US$150 million originally planned, a full US$162.6 million (SDR 119.894 million). The agency's evaluation for the first tranche was cautiously optimistic about the future. Under the program, the Sri Lankan government implemented a new Inland Revenue Act and an automatic fuel pricing formula which was noted by the IMF in its fourth review. In 2018 China agreed to bail out Sri Lanka with a loan of $1.25 billion to deal with foreign debt repayment spikes in 2019 to 2021.


title: Sri Lanka

text: In September 2021, Sri Lanka declared a major economic crisis. The Chief of its Central Bank has stepped down amid the crisis. The Parliament has declared emergency regulations due to the crisis, seeking to ban "food hoarding".


title: Sri Lanka

text: Tourism, which provided the economy with an input of foreign currency, has been significantly impacted as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has an extensive road network for inland transportation. With more than of paved roads, it has one of the highest road densities in the world ( of paved roads per every of land). The road network consists of 35 A-Grade highways and four controlled-access highways. A and B grade roads are national (arterial) highways administered by Road Development Authority. C and D grade roads are provincial roads coming under the purview of the Provincial Road Development Authority of the respective province. The other roads are local roads falling under local government authorities.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The railway network, operated by the state-run National Railway operator Sri Lanka Railways, spans . Sri Lanka also has three deep-water ports at Colombo, Galle, and Trincomalee, in addition to the newest port being built at Hambantota.


title: Sri Lanka

text: In June 2021, Sri Lanka imposed a nationwide ban on inorganic fertilisers and pesticides. The program was welcomed by its advisor Vandana Shiva, but ignored critical voices from scientific and farming community who warned about possible collapse of farming, including financial crisis due to devaluation of national currency pivoted around tea industry. The situation in the tea industry was described as critical, with farming under the organic program being described as ten times more expensive and producing half of the yield by the farmers. In September 2021 the government declared an economic emergency, as the situation was further aggravated by falling national currency exchange rate, inflation rising as a result of high food prices, and pandemic restrictions in tourism which further decreased country's income.


title: Sri Lanka

text: In November 2021, Sri Lanka abandoned its plan to become the world's first organic farming nation following rising food prices and weeks of protests against the plan. As of December 2021, the damage to agricultural production was already done, with prices having risen substantially for vegetables in Sri Lanka, and time needed to recover from the crisis. The ban on fertiliser has been lifted for certain crops, but the price of urea has risen internationally due to the price for oil and gas. Jeevika Weerahewa, a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, predicted that the ban would reduce the paddy harvest in 2022 by an unprecedented 50%.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has roughly 22,156,000 people and an annual population growth rate of 0.5%. The birth rate is 13.8 births per 1,000 people, and the death rate is 6.0 deaths per 1,000 people. Population density is highest in western Sri Lanka, especially in and around the capital. Sinhalese constitute the largest ethnic group in the country, with 74.8% of the total population. Sri Lankan Tamils are the second major ethnic group in the island, with a percentage of 11.2%. Moors comprise 9.2%. There are also small ethnic groups such as the Burghers (of mixed European descent) and Malays from Southeast Asia. Moreover, there is a small population of Vedda people who are believed to be the original indigenous group to inhabit the island.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sinhala and Tamil are the two official languages. The constitution defines English as the link language. English is widely used for education, scientific and commercial purposes. Members of the Burgher community speak variant forms of Portuguese Creole and Dutch with varying proficiency, while members of the Malay community speak a form of Creole Malay that is unique to the island.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Buddhism is the largest and is considered as an "Official religion" of Sri Lanka under Chapter II, Article 9, "The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana".


title: Sri Lanka

text: Buddhism is practised by 70.2% of the Sri Lankan population with most being predominantly from Theravada school of thought. Most Buddhists are of the Sinhalese ethnic group with minority Tamils. Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 2nd century BCE by venerable Mahinda Maurya. A sapling of the Bodhi Tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment was brought to Sri Lanka during the same time. The Pāli Canon ("Thripitakaya"), having previously been preserved as an oral tradition, was first committed to writing in Sri Lanka around 30 BCE. Sri Lanka has the longest continuous history of Buddhism of any predominantly Buddhist nation. During periods of decline, the Sri Lankan monastic lineage was revived through contact with Thailand and Burma.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Although Hindus in Sri Lanka a religious minority, Hinduism has been present in Sri Lanka at least since the 2nd century BCE. Hinduism was the dominant religion in Sri Lanka before the arrival of Buddhism in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism was introduced into Sri Lanka by Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka, during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa; the Sinhalese embraced Buddhism and Tamils remain Hindus in Sri Lanka. However, it was activity from across the Palk Strait that truly set the scene for Hinduism's survival in Sri Lanka. Shaivism (devotional worship of Lord Shiva) was the dominant branch practised by the Tamil peoples, thus most of the traditional Hindu temple architecture and philosophy of Sri Lanka drew heavily from this particular strand of Hinduism. Thirugnanasambanthar mentioned the names of several Sri Lankan Hindu temples in his works.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Islam is the third most prevalent religion in the country, having first been brought to the island by Arab traders over the course of many centuries, starting around the mid or late 7th century CE. Most followers on the island today are Sunni who follow the Shafi'i school and are believed to be descendants of Arab traders and the local women whom they married.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Christianity reached the country at least as early as the fifth century (and possibly in the first), gaining a wider foothold through Western colonists who began to arrive early in the 16th century. Around 7.4% of the Sri Lankan population are Christians, of whom 82% are Roman Catholics who trace their religious heritage directly to the Portuguese. Tamil Catholics attribute their religious heritage to St. Francis Xavier as well as Portuguese missionaries. The remaining Christians are evenly split between the Anglican Church of Ceylon and other Protestant denominations.


title: Sri Lanka

text: There is also a small population of Zoroastrian immigrants from India (Parsis) who settled in Ceylon during the period of British rule. This community has steadily dwindled in recent years.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Religion plays a prominent role in the life and culture of Sri Lankans. The Buddhist majority observe Poya Days each month according to the Lunar calendar, and Hindus and Muslims also observe their own holidays. In a 2008 Gallup poll, Sri Lanka was ranked the third most religious country in the world, with 99% of Sri Lankans saying religion was an important part of their daily life.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lankans have a life expectancy of 75.5 years at birth, which is 10% higher than the world average. The infant mortality rate stands at 8.5 per 1,000 births and the maternal mortality rate at 0.39 per 1,000 births, which is on par with figures from developed countries. The universal "pro-poor" health care system adopted by the country has contributed much towards these figures. Sri Lanka ranks first among southeast Asian countries with respect to deaths by suicide, with 33 deaths per 100,000 persons. According to the Department of Census and Statistics, poverty, destructive pastimes, and inability to cope with stressful situations are the main causes behind the high suicide rates.


title: Sri Lanka

text: On 8 July 2020, the World Health Organization declared that Sri Lanka had successfully eliminated rubella and measles ahead of their 2023 target.


title: Sri Lanka

text: With a literacy rate of 92.9%, Sri Lanka has one of the most literate populations amongst developing nations. Its youth literacy rate stands at 98.8%, computer literacy rate at 35%, and primary school enrollment rate at over 99%. An education system which dictates 9 years of compulsory schooling for every child is in place.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The free education system established in 1945 is a result of the initiative of C. W. W. Kannangara and A. Ratnayake. It is one of the few countries in the world that provide universal free education from primary to tertiary stage. Kannangara led the establishment of the Madhya Vidyalayas (central schools) in different parts of the country in order to provide education to Sri Lanka's rural children. In 1942, a special education committee proposed extensive reforms to establish an efficient and quality education system for the people. However, in the 1980s changes to this system separated the administration of schools between the central government and the provincial government. Thus the elite national schools are controlled directly by the ministry of education and the provincial schools by the provincial government. Sri Lanka has approximately 10,155 government schools, 120 private schools and 802 pirivenas.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lanka has 17 public universities. A lack of responsiveness of the education system to labour market requirements, disparities in access to quality education, lack of an effective linkage between secondary and tertiary education remain major challenges for the education sector. A number of private, degree awarding institutions have emerged in recent times to fill in these gaps, yet the participation at tertiary level education remains at 5.1%. Sri Lanka was ranked 95th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 89th in 2019.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke served as chancellor of Moratuwa University from 1979 to 2002.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Radio Ceylon) is the oldest-running radio station in Asia, established in 1923 by Edward Harper just three years after broadcasting began in Europe. The station broadcasts services in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Hindi. Since the 1980s, many private radio stations have also been introduced. Broadcast television was introduced in 1979 when the Independent Television Network was launched. Initially, all television stations were state-controlled, but private television networks began broadcasting in 1992.


title: Sri Lanka

text: , 192 newspapers (122 Sinhala, 24 Tamil, 43 English, 3 multilingual) are published and 25 TV stations and 58 radio stations are in operation. In recent years, freedom of the press in Sri Lanka has been alleged by media freedom groups to be amongst the poorest in democratic countries. Alleged abuse of a newspaper editor by a senior government minister achieved international notoriety because of the unsolved murder of the editor's predecessor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, who had been a critic of the government and had presaged his own death in a posthumously published article.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Officially, the constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees human rights as ratified by the United Nations. However, several groups, such as Amnesty International, Freedom from Torture, Human Rights Watch, as well as the British government and the United States Department of State have criticised human rights violations in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE have both been accused of violating human rights. A report by an advisory panel to the UN secretary-general accused both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government of war crimes during final stages of the civil war. Corruption remains a problem in Sri Lanka, and there is little protection for those who stand up against corruption. The 135-year-old Article 365 of the Sri Lankan Penal Code criminalises gay sex, with a penalty of up to ten years in prison.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The UN Human Rights Council has documented over 12,000 named individuals who have disappeared after detention by security forces in Sri Lanka, the second-highest figure in the world since the Working Group came into being in 1980. The Sri Lankan government confirmed that 6,445 of these died. Allegations of human rights abuses have not ended with the close of the ethnic conflict.


title: Sri Lanka

text: UN Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay visited Sri Lanka in May 2013. After her visit, she said: "The war may have ended [in Sri Lanka], but in the meantime, democracy has been undermined and the rule of law eroded." Pillay spoke about the military's increasing involvement in civilian life and reports of military land grabbing. She also said that, while in Sri Lanka, she had been allowed to go wherever she wanted, but that Sri Lankans who came to meet her were harassed and intimidated by security forces.


title: Sri Lanka

text: In 2012, the UK charity Freedom from Torture reported that it had received 233 referrals of torture survivors from Sri Lanka for clinical treatment or other services provided by the charity. In the same year, the group published "Out of the Silence", which documents evidence of torture in Sri Lanka and demonstrates that the practice has continued long after the end of the civil war in 2009. On 29 July 2020, Human Rights Watch said that the Sri Lanka government has targeted lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists to suppress criticism against the government.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The culture of Sri Lanka is influenced primarily by Buddhism and Hinduism. Sri Lanka is the home to two main traditional cultures: the Sinhalese (centred in Kandy and Anuradhapura) and the Tamil (centred in Jaffna). Tamils co-existed with the Sinhalese people since then, and the early mixing rendered the two ethnic groups almost physically indistinguishable. Ancient Sri Lanka is marked for its genius in hydraulic engineering and architecture. The British colonial culture has also influenced the locals. The rich cultural traditions shared by all Sri Lankan cultures is the basis of the country's long life expectancy, advanced health standards and high literacy rate.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Dishes include rice and curry, pittu, kiribath, wholemeal roti, string hoppers, wattalapam (a rich pudding of Malay origin made with coconut milk, jaggery, cashews, eggs, and spices including cinnamon and nutmeg), kottu, and appam. Jackfruit may sometimes replace rice. Traditionally food is served on a plantain leaf or lotus leaf. Middle Eastern influences and practices are found in traditional Moor dishes, while Dutch and Portuguese influences are found with the island's Burgher community preserving their culture through traditional dishes such as lamprais (rice cooked in stock and baked in a banana leaf), breudher (Dutch holiday biscuit), and bolo fiado (Portuguese-style layer cake).


title: Sri Lanka

text: In April, Sri Lankans celebrate the Buddhist and Hindu new year festivals. Esala Perahera is a symbolic Buddhist festival consisting of dances and decorated elephants held in Kandy in July and August. Fire dances, whip dances, Kandyan dances and various other cultural dances are integral parts of the festival. Christians celebrate Christmas on 25 December to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and Easter to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Tamils celebrate Thai Pongal and Maha Shivaratri, and Muslims celebrate Hajj and Ramadan.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The movie "Kadawunu Poronduwa" ("The Broken Promise"), produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone, heralded the coming of Sri Lankan cinema in 1947. "Ranmuthu Duwa" ("Island of Treasures") marked the transition of cinema from black-and-white to colour. In recent years, movies have featured subjects such as family melodrama, social transformation and the years of conflict between the military and the LTTE. The Sri Lankan cinematic style is similar to Bollywood movies. In 1979, movie attendance rose to an all-time high but has been in a steady decline since then.


title: Sri Lanka

text: An influential filmmaker is Lester James Peiris, who has directed a number of movies which led to global acclaim, including "Rekava" ("Line of Destiny", 1956), "Gamperaliya" ("The Changing Village", 1964), "Nidhanaya" ("The Treasure", 1970) and "Golu Hadawatha" ("Cold Heart", 1968). Sri Lankan-Canadian poet Rienzi Crusz, is the subject of a documentary on his life in Sri Lanka. His work is published in Sinhala and English. Naturalised Canadian Michael Ondaatje is well known for his English-language novels and three films.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The earliest music in Sri Lanka came from theatrical performances such as "Kolam", "Sokari" and "Nadagam". Traditional music instruments such as "Béra", "Thammátama", "Daŭla" and "Răbān" were performed at these dramas. The first music album, "Nurthi", recorded in 1903, was released through Radio Ceylon. Songwriters like Mahagama Sekara and Ananda Samarakoon and musicians such as W. D. Amaradeva, Victor Ratnayake, Nanda Malini and Clarence Wijewardene have contributed much towards the progression of Sri Lankan music. Baila originated among Kaffirs or the Afro-Sinhalese community.


title: Sri Lanka

text: There are three main styles of Sri Lankan classical dance. They are, the Kandyan dances, low country dances and Sabaragamuwa dances. Of these, the Kandyan style is most prominent. It is a sophisticated form of dance that consists of five sub-categories: "Ves dance", "Naiyandi dance", "Udekki dance", "Pantheru dance" and "18 Vannam". An elaborate headdress is worn by the male dancers, and a drum called "Geta Béraya" is used to assist the dancers to keep on rhythm.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The history of Sri Lankan painting and sculpture can be traced as far back as to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. The earliest mention about the art of painting on Mahāvaṃsa, is to the drawing of a palace on cloth using cinnabar in the 2nd century BCE. The chronicles have a description of various paintings in relic chambers of Buddhist stupas and in monastic residences.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Theatre came to the country when a Parsi theatre company from Mumbai introduced "Nurti", a blend of European and Indian theatrical conventions to the Colombo audience in the 19th century. The golden age of Sri Lankan drama and theatre began with the staging of "Maname", a play written by Ediriweera Sarachchandra in 1956. It was followed by a series of popular dramas like "Sinhabāhu", "Pabāvatī", "Mahāsāra", "Muudu Puththu" and "Subha saha Yasa".


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lankan literature spans at least two millennia and is heir to the Aryan literary tradition as embodied in the hymns of the Rigveda. The Pāli Canon, the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, was written down in Sri Lanka during the Fourth Buddhist council, at the Alulena cave temple, Kegalle, as early as 29 BCE. Chronicles such as the "Mahāvaṃsa", written in the 6th century, provide vivid descriptions of Sri Lankan dynasties. According to the German philosopher Wilhelm Geiger, the chronicles are based on Sinhala Atthakatha (commentary). The oldest surviving prose work is the "Dhampiya-Atuva-Getapadaya", compiled in the 9th century CE. The greatest literary feats of medieval Sri Lanka include "Sandesha Kāvya" (poetic messages) such as "Girā Sandeshaya" (parrot message), "Hansa Sandeshaya" (swan message) and "Salalihini Sandeshaya" (myna message). Poetry including "Kavsilumina", "Kavya-Sekharaya" ("Diadem of Poetry") and proses such as "Saddharma-Ratnāvaliya", "Amāvatura" ("Flood of Nectar") and "Pujāvaliya" are also notable works of this period, which is considered to be the golden age of Sri Lankan literature. The first modern-day novel, "Meena" by Simon de Silva appeared in 1905 and was followed by several revolutionary literary works. Martin Wickramasinghe, the author of "Madol Doova" is considered the iconic figure of Sri Lankan literature.


title: Sri Lanka

text: While the national sport is volleyball, by far the most popular sport in the country is cricket. Rugby union also enjoys extensive popularity, as do association football, netball and tennis. Aquatic sports such as boating, surfing, swimming, kitesurfing and scuba diving attract many Sri Lankans and foreign tourists. There are two styles of martial arts native to Sri Lanka: Cheena di and Angampora.


title: Sri Lanka

text: The Sri Lanka national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from underdog status to winning the 1996 Cricket World Cup. They also won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 played in Bangladesh, beating India in the final. In addition, Sri Lanka became the runners-up of the Cricket World Cup in 2007 and 2011, and of the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2012. Former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has been rated as the greatest test match bowler ever by "Wisden Cricketers' Almanack", and four Sri Lankan cricketers ranked 2nd (Sangakkara), 4th (Jayasuriya), 5th (Jayawardene) and 11th (Dilshan) highest ODI run scorers of all time, which is the second best by a team. Sri Lanka has won the Asia Cup in 1986, 1997, 2004, 2008 and 2014. Sri Lanka once held the highest team score in all three formats of cricket. The country co-hosted the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and 2011 and hosted the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.


title: Sri Lanka

text: Sri Lankans have won two medals at Olympic Games: one silver, by Duncan White at the 1948 London Olympics for men's 400 metres hurdles; and one silver by Susanthika Jayasinghe at the 2000 Sydney Olympics for women's 200 metres. In 1973, Muhammad Lafir won the World Billiards Championship, the highest feat by a Sri Lankan in a Cue sport. Sri Lanka has also won the Carrom World Championship titles twice in 2012, 2016 and 2018, the men's team becoming champions and the women's team winning second place.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series "Home and Away" (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Hemsworth started playing Thor with the 2011 film of the same name and most recently reprised the role in "" (2022), which established him among the world's highest-paid actors.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: His other film roles include the action films "Star Trek" (2009), "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012), "Red Dawn" (2012), "Blackhat" (2015), "" (2019), "Extraction" (2020), the thriller "A Perfect Getaway" (2009) and the comedy "Ghostbusters" (2016). Hemsworth's most critically acclaimed films include the comedy horror "The Cabin in the Woods" (2012) and the biographical sports film "Rush" (2013) in which he portrayed James Hunt.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Christopher Hemsworth was born on 11 August 1983 in Melbourne, to Leonie (née van Os), an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counsellor. He is the second of three sons, following Luke (born 1980) and preceding Liam (born 1990); both of them are also actors. His maternal grandfather is a Dutch immigrant and his maternal grandmother is of Irish descent; on his paternal line he is of English, Scottish, and German ancestry. He was brought up both in Melbourne and in the Outback in Bulman, Northern Territory. He has said, "My earliest memories were on the cattle stations up in the Outback, and then we moved back to Melbourne and then back out there and then back again. Certainly most of my childhood was in Melbourne but probably my most vivid memories were up there [in Bulman] with crocodiles and buffalo. Very different walks of life." He attended high school at Heathmont College before his family again returned to the Northern Territory, and then moved a few years later to Phillip Island.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth started his career by appearing in several television series. In 2002, Hemsworth starred in two episodes of fantasy television series "Guinevere Jones" as King Arthur, as well as making an appearance in soap opera series "Neighbours" and one episode of "Marshall Law". The following year, he appeared in an episode of "The Saddle Club". In 2004, Hemsworth auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter in Australian soap opera "Home and Away". He did not receive the part, but was subsequently recalled for the part of Kim Hyde. He moved to Sydney to join the cast, appearing in 171 episodes of the series. He left the cast of "Home and Away" on 3 July 2007. Hemsworth later remarked that although he became more visible after "Home and Away", his work on a soap opera did not earn him respect within the film industry.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth was a contestant on the fifth season of "Dancing with the Stars Australia", partnered with professional dancer Abbey Ross. The season premiered on 26 September 2006, and after six weeks, Hemsworth was eliminated on 7 November. Hemsworth's appearance in the franchise would almost cost him the role of Thor, as producers of the Marvel film franchise feared fans would be put off.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2009, Hemsworth played James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J. J. Abrams' film "Star Trek". The role was initially offered to Matt Damon, who turned it down; Abrams appreciated Hemsworth taking on the role. Josh Tyler of "Cinema Blend" was impressed with Hemsworth, describing the actor's scene as the "best five minutes I've spent in a movie theater this year." The film was a box office success, grossing US$385.7 million. That same year, Hemsworth played the character Kale Garrity in the thriller "A Perfect Getaway". It was a modest success, grossing US$22 million against a US$14 million budget, and received mixed reviews, but Hemsworth was praised for his "appropriately intimidating" performance of a "thuggish backpacker." Paul Young of "Screen Rant" also praised Hemsworth's performance as "solid."


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth went on to play Sam in 2010's "Ca$h" alongside English actor Sean Bean, which was the first film he shot when he arrived in the United States. The film's director, Stephen Milburn Anderson, said Hemsworth had only been in the United States for six weeks when he had auditioned for the role, recalling, "Here's a guy who is young, has the right look, is a very good actor and, let's face it, he's beautiful. So I say, we need to get this guy in. I was very impressed". In November 2010, "The Hollywood Reporter" named Hemsworth one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" onto the Hollywood "A-List".


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2011, Sony Pictures announced that Hemsworth would star in the thriller "Shadow Runner", but the film has yet to go into production. That same year, Hemsworth was cast as the superhero Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His first film in the franchise was 2011's "Thor". He and castmate Tom Hiddleston, who ultimately played Loki, had each auditioned for the role, for which Hemsworth said he gained 20 pounds of muscle. With a worldwide gross of US$449.3 million, "Thor" was the 15th highest-grossing film of 2011. The film received positive reviews, and Hemsworth's portrayal of the God of Thunder was praised by Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times". Hemsworth reprised the role the following year for the film "The Avengers" (2012) as one of the six superheroesalongside Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers / Captain America, Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner / Hulk, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanova / Black Widow, and Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton / Hawkeyesent to defend Earth from his adopted brother, Loki. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over US$1.5 billion worldwide. The ensemble cast was praised for their onscreen chemistry by Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone".


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth shot the horror film "The Cabin in the Woods" shortly after the release of "Star Trek", but it went unreleased until 2012. It garnered positive reviews, and his portrayal of Alpha male jock Curt Vaughan was described by Alison Foreman of Mashable as his "sexiest" role yet. Hemsworth later starred opposite Kristen Stewart in the film "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012) as the Huntsman. Although a commercial success, grossing US$396 million worldwide, it received mixed reviews. Critics were critical of Hemsworth and Stewart's onscreen chemistry, and Angela Watercutter of "Wired" felt the characters were "not fully fleshed-out." Hemsworth was cast as Jed Eckert in the 2012 "Red Dawn" remake after MGM saw dailies footage of a scene from "The Cabin in the Woods;" he was cast as Thor two days after being cast in "Red Dawn". The film was a box-office bomb, grossing only US$50 million against a production budget of US$65 million, and received negative reviews.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2013, Hemsworth starred in Ron Howard's sports drama film "Rush", as Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt. The film was critically praised and became a box office success, grossing US$98.2 million against a budget of US$38 million. Henry Barnes of "The Guardian" was impressed with Hemsworth's performance, praising the actor for delivering the "superb script" with "some mastery." Later that year, Hemsworth reprised the role of Thor for the sequel to "Thor" in "" (2013). Although a commercial success with a worldwide gross of US$644.6 million, the film became the lowest-rated film in the MCU franchise on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes at 66% approval rating. The chemistry between Hemsworth and Hiddleston was praised by critics; Ben Child of "The Guardian" wrote, "Thanks to Hiddleston and Hemsworth's impressive collective charisma, "Thor: The Dark World" is far from a franchise killer."


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2015, Hemsworth starred in director Michael Mann's action thriller "Blackhat", opposite Viola Davis. The film bombed at the box office and was poorly received. For many critics, a significant issue of the film was the casting of Hemsworth as a hacker; Christy Lemire of the "Chicago Sun-Times" remarked, "Anyone who makes [their] way in the world sitting in front of a computer screen all day is not going to look as hunky as Hemsworth." Hemsworth himself later admitted to being displeased with his performance: "I didn't enjoy what I did in the film," he commented. "It just felt flat, and it was also an attempt to do what I thought people might have wanted to see. But I don't think I'm good in that space." He reprised his role as Thor for the fourth time in the sequel to "The Avengers", "". In addition to the film receiving positive reviews and grossing over US$1.4 billion worldwide, Hemsworth also won the People's Choice Awards for Favorite Action Movie Actor. Hemsworth returned to the set of "Home and Away" in November 2014 to film a scene as an extra and not as his character Kim Hyde. The episode which he appeared in was broadcast on 19 May 2015.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: That same year, he co-starred in the comedy film "Vacation", along with Ed Helms, a revival of the film series that originally starred Chevy Chase. He was nominated for the MTV Movie Awards for Best Kiss with Leslie Mann. His last 2015 film was "In the Heart of the Sea", based on the book of the same name by Nathaniel Philbrick, with Hemsworth playing first mate Owen Chase. In an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", he said that to prepare for the role of starving sailors, the cast was put on a diet of 500–600 calories a day to lose weight. "In the Heart of the Sea" received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office disappointment, grossing US$93 million against a US$100 million budget, but Hemsworth received a nomination for Choice Movie Actor: Action at the 18th Teen Choice Awards.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2016, Hemsworth reprised the role of Eric the Huntsman in "", alongside Jessica Chastain, who played his love interest. Writing for IndieWire, Oliver Lyttelton criticised the onscreen chemistry between Hemsworth and Chastain, stating that "they're both struggling uphill against accents they're palpably not comfortable with, displaying zero chemistry, and frankly appearing to be in different films." The film underperformed compared to its predecessor, grossing only US$165 million. Hemsworth later joined the cast of the reboot "Ghostbusters" film, playing Kevin the receptionist. The film disappointed critically and commercially, but Hemsworth was praised for "deliver[ing] the most fun" by Caroline Westbrook of "Metro" and won the Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actor.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth reprised his role as Thor in "", released on 3 November 2017 in the U.S., and again in both the third and fourth "Avengers" films, "" and "" in 2018 and 2019 respectively. All three films were a critical and commercial success. Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com likened Hemsworth's acting to Cary Grant, stating that "Hemsworth's charisma holds ["Thor: Ragnarok"] together whenever it threatens to spin apart". Hemsworth won the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor. Meanwhile, in his review of "", Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" acknowledged "Hemsworth's Thor, endearing despite some ragged material and the actor's seemingly limited dramatic range" while praising Hemsworth in the MCU Infinity Saga finale "as the graceful, exuberant comic actor he was destined to be, while Thor morphs, alarmingly and charminglyyet still heroicallyinto a beer-bellied apparition who could pass for Jeff Lebowski."


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In 2019, Hemsworth also starred in a spin-off of the "Men in Black" series, titled "". The film grossed US$253 million worldwide and received generally unfavourable reviews from critics, who criticised the "lackluster action and forgettable plot," although the chemistry between Hemsworth and co-star Tessa Thompson was praised. The following year, he starred in the Netflix action thriller "Extraction", reuniting him with the Russo brothers, who served as producers. After being watched by 90 million households in its initial month of release, the film broke Netflix's viewership record previously held by "Bird Box". In 2020, Hemsworth reprised the role of Thor in the fourth film, "". Filming began in February 2021 in Australia, and it was released on June 23, 2022.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth was to reprise his role as George Kirk in the fourth film of the rebooted "Star Trek" film series, but he left the project in August 2018 after contract negotiations fell through; Hemsworth later said he found the script underwhelming. On 13 October 2020, it was announced that Hemsworth will star in the "" spin-off "Furiosa". Hemsworth will return as Tyler Rake in Netflix's "Extraction 2", a film that earned him $20 million.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: After appearing as Thor in the MCU franchise, Hemsworth's physique gained attention from fans. His exercise routines have been regularly discussed in the media, including "The Times of India", "Men's Health", MensXP, "Entertainment Tonight," and "Metro". He later created the fitness appCentr, which provides paying customers access to nutrition, wellness, and exercise routines. In 2014, he was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by "People" magazine.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth is an avid supporter of the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League. He was the star of the AFL's 2014 "Everything's Possible" campaign, donating the fees for his involvement to the Australian Children Foundation. Hemsworth was also the star in the AFL's 2017 "I'd Like to See That" commercial.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: As his career in Hollywood films has developed, Hemsworth has become one of the world's highest-paid actors. He appeared in "Forbes" World's Highest Paid Actors list in 2014, 2015, and 2018. Additionally, he ranked 31st in the magazine's list of Highest Paid Celebrities in 2018 and 24th in 2019 with estimated earnings of US$76.4 million.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In May 2020, Chris and his brother Liam were among the celebrities who read an instalment of Roald Dahl's children's fantasy novel "James and the Giant Peach" in aid of the global-non profit charity Partners In Health, co-founded by Dahl's daughter Ophelia, which had been fighting COVID-19 in vulnerable areas.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: Hemsworth began dating Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky in early 2010, after meeting through their mutual representatives. They married in December 2010. The couple have a daughter, India Rose, born in May 2012 and twin sons, Sasha and Tristan, born in March 2014. In 2015, the family moved from Los Angeles to Byron Bay, New South Wales, in his native Australia.


title: Chris Hemsworth

text: In episode five of his National Geographic documentary "Limitless" (2022), Hemsworth revealed that his maternal grandfather suffers from Alzheimer's disease. It was also revealed that Hemsworth himself has inherited two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from his mother and one from his father, which makes it eight to ten times likelier for him to eventually develop Alzheimer's disease than the general population. As such, Hemsworth plans to take an indefinite break from acting to spend more time with his family.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: K.G.F: Chapter 2 is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language period action film written and directed by Prashanth Neel, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the banner Hombale Films. The second installment in a two-part series, it serves as a sequel to the 2018 film "". The film stars Yash, Sanjay Dutt, Raveena Tandon, Srinidhi Shetty, Prakash Raj, Archana Jois, Achyuth Kumar, Rao Ramesh, Easwari Rao, Malavika Avinash and Vasishta N. Simha. It follows the assassin Rocky who after establishing himself as the kingpin of the Kolar Gold Fields, must retain his supremacy over adversaries and government officials, while also coming to terms with his past.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Produced on a budget of 100 crore, "K.G.F: Chapter 2" is the most expensive Kannada film ever made. Neel retained the technicians from its predecessor with Bhuvan Gowda handling the cinematography and Ravi Basrur composed the film score and songs. Dutt and Tandon joined the cast in early 2019, marking the former's Kannada film debut. Portions of the film were shot back-to-back with "Chapter 1". Principal photography for the rest of the sequences commenced in March 2019, but was halted in February 2020 owing to the COVID-19 lockdown in India. Filming resumed five months later and was completed in December 2020. Locations included Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore and Kolar.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: "K.G.F: Chapter 2" was theatrically released in India on 14 April 2022 in Kannada, along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam languages. It is also the first Kannada film to release in IMAX. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the direction, action sequences, cinematography and performances (particularly Yash, Dutt and Tandon), but the pace and writing attracted criticism. It recorded the second highest-opening day in India, set domestic opening day records in Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam, and surpassed the lifetime gross of its predecessor in two days to become the highest-grossing Kannada film. With earnings of crore globally, "K.G.F: Chapter 2" is the third highest-grossing Indian film worldwide, and the second highest-grossing film in India, and highest grossing Indian film of 2022. A sequel is in development.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: After detailing the events in "", Anand Ingalagi suffers a stroke and his son, Vijayendra, takes over to narrate the rest of the story. Rocky kills heir apparent Virat and takes over the K.G.F, keeping Reena hostage to ensure the cooperation of Guru Pandian, Andrews, Rajendra Desai, Kamal and Daya. But when Rocky demand to take Reena as his wife, Kamal got enraged and protests against Rocky. This leads Rocky to kill Kamal infront of everyone. He issues orders to start work in eight hidden mines. Meanwhile, Adheera resurfaces and kills all guards at an outpost. In a ruse to bring Rocky to Adheera, Andrews kills Desai to lure Reena outside K.G.F, and John captures Reena. Adheera shoots Rocky but spares his life, while his men roadblock all gold exports from K.G.F.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Meanwhile, Shetty ties up with other subordinates of Andrews across India's western coast and exterminates Rocky's allies with Inayat Khalil's newfound support, but Rocky's aides kill Shetty's associates and recapture the coast. A recuperated Rocky, along with Reena, visits Dubai to deal in gold with Khalil, and also buys Kalashnikovs from him. Rocky and his gang gravely wound Adheera and kill his henchmen with their newly acquired weapons. Exasperated with K.G.F, some central ministers had planned a no-confidence motion against the DYSS-supported government to bring Ramika Sen in power, but Rocky's henchmen threaten other ministers against the vote and the motion fails. Rocky also kills Shetty, gaining control over Bombay. Pandian warns Rocky of Sen's rising stature, but he disregards him.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: In 1981, Ramika Sen wins the Indian general elections and becomes Prime Minister. After CBI officer Kanneganti Raghavan briefs her about the situation in K.G.F, she issues orders to close all state borders and authorises Raghavan to raid Rocky's warehouses. A young Ingalagi is caught spying by Rocky's henchmen, but Rocky is impressed by his integrity. The CBI find nothing in their raids save for a 400 gram-gold bar. Rocky retrieves it from a police station and singlehandedly brings the place down with a DShK. Rocky halts all exports from K.G.F, which strains relations with Khalil, but continues the mining. His aides trace his biological father, a drunkard who abandoned his family, and pays the unaware man to take care of Shanti's newly shifted grave. Reena confesses her feelings to Rocky and they get married.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Rocky meets with Sen and hands her a file exposing his involvement in money laundering, but she cannot consider it as almost all her party members are complicit in the corruption. Still furious after his defeat, Adheera makes his way to K.G.F through a secret passage with Andrews, Daya and John, supported by Khalil's armada. Just as Reena reveals her pregnancy to Rocky, Adheera fatally snipes her. In the ensuing clash, Rocky's army kill Andrews and Daya, while Rocky kills John and chokes Adheera to death. Rocky and his henchmen disrupt Sen's speech at the Parliament and kill Pandian (who had staged the attack on Garuda for which Adheera was framed, and informed Adheera of Garuda's attack priorly. He was also the one who showed Adheera the secret passage, goaded Andrews into hiring Rocky, staged the no-confidence motion drama in Delhi, and persuaded Shetty to join forces with Khalil just to gain Rocky's trust).


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Sen issues a death warrant against Rocky and enforces the Indian Army. Rocky evacuates K.G.F and leaves on a ship with his cache of gold. Before leaving, Rocky forms a new colony for all K.G.F workers. He signals the Navy to his location, but refuses to surrender. Sen issues orders to bomb K.G.F and Rocky's ship, and he drowns in the ocean along with the gold, which stays lost till date. A young Ingalagi decides to write a book on Rocky.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: In the mid-credits scene, three months prior Rocky's death, a CIA official hands over a file listing Rocky's crimes in the United States and 16 other nations, between 1978–1981, to Sen. In the present, the peon of the television news channel finds the final draft of "K.G.F: Chapter 3".


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Prashanth Neel, worked on the film's screenplay after the release of "Ugramm" (2014), and development of the film began in early 2015. However, he decided to split the film in two parts, as the narration of this story is in a non-linear format, and the decision to split the film into two parts, also had to with the commercial prospects. In an interview with "The Times of India", in October 2018, he added "The scale of the project is huge and we had a scope for a beginning, an interval and an end for both parts, so it made sense for us to release it as two parts". As for the decision to make it multilingual, he says that it was because the film is based on a unique idea and has a universal theme. In December 2020, Prashanth Neel said that there were no plans for a third instalment in the K.G.F franchise.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Prashanth Neel decided to rope in composer Ravi Basrur and cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda as a part of the technical crew for the second part of the film.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: While Yash and Srinidhi Shetty have reprised their respective roles, Sanjay Dutt was roped in for a pivotal role in February 2019. Media rumours that Raveena Tandon would appear in the film started making rounds as early as February 2019. A news report in "The Times of India" confirmed that Tandon will be seen in a "major role" in the film. Despite Srinidhi becoming a breakout star, post the release of the predecessor, she rejected seven films, in order to start shoot for the film. The makers hosted an audition in April 2019, for aspiring actors who want to become a part of the film's cast.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: On 29 July 2019, Sanjay Dutt was revealed to be playing the role of the main antagonist Adheera, marking his Kannada debut. He compared his character to Thanos, and revealed that it was "shown to be a dangerous character with scary makeup" and added that it was a role he was looking for. Raveena Tandon was reported to play the role of Prime Minister Ramika Sen, and stated that "it was a difficult character to portray".


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Telugu actor Rao Ramesh was cast in a pivotal role in May 2019, and Tamil actor Saran Shakthi was cast in August 2019. On 26 August 2020, when the filming resumed, Prakash Raj was also revealed to be playing an important character.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Before the release of its predecessor in December 2018, the makers shot 20% of its second part, and the crew went on double shifts till January 2019. On 4 January, it was announced that they have completed 15% of the shooting, and planned to resume the shooting of the film in the summer of 2019.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Filming for "K.G.F: Chapter 2" started on 13 March 2019 in Hyderabad, with a formal puja ceremony. After an initial round of filming near Bangalore in May 2019, Yash announced that he will join the sets only in June 2019. The film's shooting started on 4 June at the Lalita Mahal Palace in Mysore, although Yash joined the sets on 6 June. Later the shoot commenced in August 2019 at Cyanide Hills in Kolar Gold Fields. On 28 August 2019, N Srinivas, president of the KGF's National Citizens Party filed a petition against the makers and alleged that the film is being shot in the protected area of cyanide mound and is damaging the nature. The JMFC court has issued an injunction notice to the producer Kiragandur, also ordering to stall the shoot. On 4 September, the producers claimed that the stay order was issued a day before the makers planned to wrap the shoot schedule. The same day, the makers started shooting for the second schedule in Hyderabad. On 25 September 2019, Sanjay Dutt joined the sets of the film in Hyderabad. After winning the court stay order on 27 September, the makers returned to shoot the film at Cyanide Hills. On 14 October 2019, the makers returned to Karnataka, after filming the extensive schedule in Hyderabad.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: As of 27 January 2020, the makers completed 80% of the shoot. With the schedule being filmed in Mysore, the last leg of shoot was expected to be held in Hyderabad, and then in Bangalore and Kolar. On 3 February 2020, behind-the-scenes video of Yash shooting at the Infosys campus in Mysore went viral. On 10 February, Telugu actor Rao Ramesh joined the sets of the film. Raveena Tandon joined the sets of the film in Mysore on 12 February. After the second schedule of the film held in Mysore got completed, the makers headed to Hyderabad on 21 February. Raveena completed her portions on 28 February. The makers completed major portions in March 2020, with post-production works being kickstarted, but filming came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. Prashanth Neel claimed that Sanjay Dutt had completed shooting for the film, with only dubbing for his portions, is pending, after Sanjay Dutt was diagnosed with lung cancer, and left US for immediate treatment on 12 August 2020.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The film was resumed on 26 August 2020 at Bangalore post a gap of 5 months. Malavika Avinash and Prakash Raj joined the sets on this schedule. On 7 October 2020, Yash and Srinidhi Shetty resumed the shoot at Mangalore, with the team entering the final leg of shoot. Sanjay Dutt confirmed that he will join the shooting of the film on November, although he resumed the shooting only in December. The climax action scenes were filmed in December 2020 at Hyderabad, which were choreographed by action director Anbariv. On 20 December 2020, the makers announced that the climax scene of the film was completed. "K.G.F: Chapter 2" was produced on a budget of 125 crore, and is the most expensive Kannada film.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The film's music is composed by Ravi Basrur. The music rights are owned by Lahari Music and T-Series for south languages. The music rights of Hindi version was bought by MRT Music. Music sessions of the film began in April 2019, at Basrur's newly renovated recording studio in Bangalore. However, music production was disrupted in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was resumed during that May. After work on the film's music and score being completed, Basrur later edited the score and songs, during mid-2021. The Naik Brothers (Laxman and Sandesh Datta), recorded two songs "Toofan" and "Sultan", used in the Hindi-dubbed version of the film. They stated "We went there and he dubbed four songs in Telugu and Kannada in our voice. Later, COVID-19 lockdown happened. After a long wait of two years, they recorded two songs for the Hindi dubbed version titled Toofan and Sultan and finalised for the movie". The audio rights for "K.G.F: Chapter 2" were bought by Lahari Music and T-Series for . On 21 March 2022, the first single titled "Toofan" was released from the album. The song depicts the rise of Rocky (Yash) as a saviour of enslaved people in the gold mines of Kolar, as depicted in the . It crossed over 26 million views within 24 hours of its release. On 6 April 2022, the second single titled "Gagana Nee" was released, On 13 April 2022, the third single titled "Sulthana" was released. On 14 April 2022, the fourth single titled "Mehabooba" was released. On 16 April 2022, the makers released the soundtrack album, containing four songs. On 24 April 2022, the fifth single titled "The Monster Song" was also released.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: As a part of the promotional activities, a fictional newspaper named "K.G.F Times" was designed based on vintage newspapers. Starting from 4 to 10 January 2021, the makers unveiled the new editions of the film through their social media accounts.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The teaser trailer was initially scheduled to release on 8 January 2021, coinciding with Yash's birthday. However, after a few cuts from the teaser leaked through the internet, the makers unveiled the teaser on 7 January, ahead of the official launch. Instead of releasing the teaser in five languages, the makers released it as a single teaser featuring English dialogues. It became the most viewed and most liked teaser. The official trailer of the film was released on 27 March 2022 and became the most watched Indian trailer in 24 hours with 109 million views across five languages.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: "K.G.F: Chapter 2" was originally scheduled to release in theatres on 23 October 2020, coinciding with Dussehra festival. However, the release was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. In January 2021, the filmmakers announced that it will be released theatrically on 16 July 2021. However, it was postponed again for the same reason. The Karnataka State Anti-Tobacco Cell sent a notice to actor Yash, producer Vijay Kiragandur and filmmaker Prashanth Neel on 11 January 2021 as the makers failed to display the anti-smoking warning message, particularly in the sequences that involve Yash smoking. As per the law, anti-smoking warnings have to be displayed to stop fans from emulating it. On 22 August 2021, the new release date was announced as 14 April 2022. It was released in Kannada and dubbed versions of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam languages. It became the first Kannada movie to release in Greece. It is also the first Kannada film to release in IMAX. It is also the first Kannada film to release in South Korea. It was also the first commercial Kannada movie to release in Pakistan.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The movie was reported to release in more than 10,000 screens worldwide. In India, the film will be releasing in over 6000 screens. In North India the film will be releasing in more than 4500 screens, with the Hindi version releasing more than 1100 screens while in South India the film will be released in more than 2600 screens.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: KRG Studios acquired the Karnataka distribution rights. The Kerala distribution rights was brought by Prithviraj under the banner Prithviraj Productions. Dream Warrior Pictures acquired the Tamil Nadu distribution rights,


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Anil Thadani, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani acquired the distribution rights for the film's Hindi version under the banner AA Films and Excel Entertainment respectively.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The film was distributed in North America by Sarigama Cinemas. The Europe distribution was done through 4Seasons Creations Cinestaan AA distributed the film in Hindi language across various overseas nations. The United Kingdom distribution was done through Boleyn Cinemas. Radha Krishna Entertainments distributed the film in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The film was also distributed in Malaysia, Singapore, GCC regions and African nations.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Zee Network acquired the satellite rights of the Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam versions. Sony Max acquired the satellite rights of the Hindi version. The film's digital streaming rights are sold to Amazon Prime Video for all five languages.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: On 16 May 2022, Amazon Prime Video announced that the film is now available in all five languages for early access rentals at ₹199 on Amazon Prime Video India for both prime and non-prime customers. The film was digitally streamed on Amazon Prime Video from 3 June 2022 in Kannada and dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. The original Kannada-language version of the film was premiered on television on 20 August 2022 on Zee Kannada. The Telugu-language version was premiered on 21 August 2022 on Zee Telugu. The Tamil-language version was premiered on 31 August 2022 on Zee Tamil. The Hindi-language version was premiered on 18 September 2022 on Sony Max.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" gave the film four and a half stars out of five and was appreciative of all major aspects of production, opining that it "has a fresh, international look and doesn't look like a regional film at all." Subha J. Rao of "Firstpost" gave the film four stars out of five and found the writing and conception to be "far better" than "Chapter 1". Sunayana Suresh of "The Times of India" also gave it four stars out of five and similarly found that "Neel and Yash have managed to deliver a sequel that seems more immersive than the first part." Vivek MV of "Deccan Herald" rated the film three and a half stars out of five, as did Janani K of "India Today", who described the climax as "cathartic and brilliantly shot" but was critical of the uneven pacing throughout. With three stars out of five, Shuklaji of "The News Minute" wrote, "Despite the few shortcomings, viewers are bound to recall the film forever for its outrageous imagination and incredible technical finesse."


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Bharathi Pradhan of "Lehren" gave the film two out of five stars and stated that Rocky was "Don Of Indian Dystopia". Rohit Bhatnagar of "The Free Press Journal" rated the film two and a half stars out of five and wrote ""KGF: Chapter 2" has every possible ingredient to impress the janta, but finding realism is a big no-no". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave the film two and a half stars out of five and observed, "Testosterone, not rationale, is the driving force behind the K.G.F franchise," but praised the performances for putting "some muscle on a thin premise," and the production design. Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" gave one and a half stars out of five and was not impressed with the screenplay or momentum, writing that the film "swings haphazardly between the past and the present." With two and a half stars out of five, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in gave the film two and a half stars out of five and found the film to be "less chaotic" than "Chapter 1", but felt it "continues to suffer from leaps in the time-space continuum." Saibal Chatterjee of "NDTV" rated it two stars out of five and wrote, "The film is the handiwork of people who do not seem to have the foggiest sense of modulation, or of moderation, in the matter of pitching and sound design," but was appreciative of Yash's performance.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: Writing for News18, Sonil Dedhia called "K.G.F: Chapter 2" an "all-stops pulled out entertainment" film and opined that it "delivers the goods when it comes to non-stop thrills, mood, and style." Monika Rawal Kukreja of "Hindustan Times" felt the film was "worth the hype and one of the finest sequels to have come out in a long time," and described Yash as "just unmissable." Srivatsan S. of "The Hindu" labelled the film a "festival of male toxicity" but felt Neel had corrected "some of the wrongs of the first part," writing, "There is only one way to look at "K.G.F: Chapter 2" for it to work for you and that is to partake in the madness it offers."


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: "K.G.F: Chapter 2" collected worldwide on the first day of its release. On its second day, the film collected worldwide for a two-day total of , surpassing "K.G.F: Chapter 1"s lifetime gross of , and took its place as the highest-grossing Kannada film of all time. On its third day, the film estimatedly collected worldwide for a three-day total of . On the fourth day of its release, the film crossed mark at the worldwide box office. On the fifth day of its release, the film grossed more than worldwide. Collections on the sixth day stood at . The first week collection of the film was . The movie grossed in 14 days and became the 4th Indian movie to cross the 1000 crore mark worldwide and the second fastest movie to collect ₹1000 crore, behind "". While "Firstpost" reported that the movie grossed 1100 crores,


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: "Pinkvilla" reported the collection to be ₹1198 crores at the end of tenth week. The film grossed ₹1233 crores to ₹1240 crores and reached the ₹1250 crores mark globally. and became the third highest-grossing Indian film of all time.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: On the first day of release, "K.G.F: Chapter 2" collected at the box office, the second-highest opening day in India after "RRR". The Hindi version raked in at the box office on the first day, making it the highest-opening day collection for a film in Hindi, which is also higher than what any Indian film collected on the first day excluding south India. The film recorded the highest-ever opening day for a Kannada film in Karnataka. It also set opening day records in Malayalam (Kerala). With ₹442 crore gross at the end of four days, it occupied the first spot in the list of highest grossing domestic opening weekend. The Hindi version raked at the box office on the fifth day of its release. On the fifth day of its release, the Tamil version raked in around 62 lakhs in Chennai alone surpassing the collections of the Tamil film "Beast". The Hindi version managed to cross in 7 days making it the fastest one to do so and broke the previous record held by " (8 days)". The Hindi version collected in 12 days and became the 10th entrant in the 300 crore club in Hindi-language. The film grossed in India in 15 days run and become third highest-grossing film in India. The Hindi version earned in 16 days and became the third highest grossing film in Hindi language. The film grossed ₹100 crores in Tamil Nadu, making it the first Kannada and the second non-Tamil film to do so. With a collection of ₹105.70 crores in 26 days, it became the ninth highest grossing movie in Tamil Nadu. With a gross collection of ₹ 22.06 crores, it became the second movie to cross the ₹20 crore mark in West Bengal. It became the first film to gross more than ₹10 crore in Odisha and the fastest to reach the ₹50 crore mark in Kerala. In home territory Karnataka it has collected over in just 25 days of its release. The Tamil version collected over crore and become 9th highest grosser in Tamil Nadu.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The Hindi version netted more than breaking the record of "Dangal" (₹387.38 crore) and climbed to the second position behind "" (₹511 crore). With domestic collections of ₹1000 crores, the film became the second highest grossing film in India. The Hindi version managed to cross the net collection mark of - making it the second movie to do so after "". The film recorded 5.05 crore footfalls at the Indian box office in 26 days. The movie collected at the Indian box-office in 33 days and became the second highest-grossing film in India as well as the second Indian movie to gross ₹1000 crore at the domestic market. Movie collected gross from Karnataka, from Telugu states, in Tamil Nadu and from Kerala. from Hindi and Rest of India by the end of theatrical run. The gross domestic collection was reported to be ₹1008 crore.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The film has collected overseas. It debuted at the North American box office by collected more than $1 million in its premiere show. It collected $225,892 from 80 locations in Australia and a further $39,372 from 26 locations in New Zealand on the first day. In first weekend film collected $26,225,842 from 510 screens while Hindi version minted $9,30,527 from 268 screens in United States of America. In Canada collected $1,117,124 from 55 screens. Film grossed in United Kingdom from 182 screens. In other countries it collected in opening weekend. It became the first Kannada film to be screened in South Korea and the longest running Kannada film in Canada. It was also the first film to release in multiple languages simultaneously in Canada. In November 2022, "News 18" reported the worldwide gross theatrical collections to be ₹1500 crores.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: The film's mid-credits scene showcased the final draft of "K.G.F: Chapter 3", hinting at a sequel. In April 2022, Neel said: "If people love "K.G.F: Chapter 2", we could think of continuing the franchise." The same month, executive producer Karthik Gowda confirmed that a sequel was in development and pre-production had begun. In an interview with "Variety", Yash stated that he and Neel had conceptualised some scenes for the sequel.


title: K.G.F: Chapter 2

text: In May 2022, producer Vijay Kiragandur stated they were planning to begin the sequel's production after October 2022, aiming for a 2024 release. "Going forward, we are going to create a Marvel kind of universe. We want to bring different characters from different movies and create something like "Doctor Strange"," Kiragandur added. However, executive producer Karthik Gowda called it a speculation, tweeting: "Hombale Films will not be starting "KGF 3" anytime soon." In June 2022, Neel asserted the possibility of "Chapter 3", stating: "We just want to take a big break and we will definitely come back to make that."


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed when Elizabeth was two years old. Anne's marriage to Henry was annulled, and Elizabeth was for a time declared illegitimate. Her half-brother Edward VI ruled until his death in 1553, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane Grey and ignoring the claims of his two half-sisters, the Catholic Mary and the younger Elizabeth, in spite of statute law to the contrary. Edward's will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Mary's reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Upon her half-sister's death in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, whom she created 1st Baron Burghley. One of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the supreme governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; however, despite numerous courtships, she never did. She was eventually succeeded by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland; this laid the foundation for the Kingdom of Great Britain. She had earlier been reluctantly responsible for the imprisonment and execution of James's mother, Mary, Queen of Scots.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was ("I see and keep silent"). In religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. After the pope declared her illegitimate in 1570 and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life, all of which were defeated with the help of her ministers' secret service, run by Francis Walsingham. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the major powers of France and Spain. She half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. By the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain.


title: Elizabeth I

text: As she grew older, Elizabeth became celebrated for her virginity. A cult of personality grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. Elizabeth's reign became known as the Elizabethan era. The period is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, the prowess of English maritime adventurers, such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, and for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, who enjoyed more than her fair share of luck. Towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Elizabeth is acknowledged as a charismatic performer ("Gloriana") and a dogged survivor ("Good Queen Bess") in an era when government was ramshackle and limited, and when monarchs in neighbouring countries faced internal problems that jeopardised their thrones. After the short reigns of her half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped to forge a sense of national identity.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace on 7 September 1533 and was named after her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Lady Elizabeth Howard. She was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. At birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the English throne. Her elder half-sister Mary had lost her position as a legitimate heir when Henry annulled his marriage to Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, to marry Anne, with the intent to sire a male heir and ensure the Tudor succession. She was baptised on 10 September 1533, and her godparents were Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter; Elizabeth Stafford, Duchess of Norfolk; and Margaret Wotton, Dowager Marchioness of Dorset. A canopy was carried at the ceremony over the infant by her uncle George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford; John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford; Lord Thomas Howard; and William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragon's death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession. Eleven days after Anne Boleyn's execution, Henry married Jane Seymour. Queen Jane died the next year shortly after the birth of their son, Edward, who was undisputed heir apparent to the throne. Elizabeth was placed in her half-brother's household and carried the chrisom, or baptismal cloth, at his christening.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth's first governess, Margaret Bryan, wrote that she was "as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever I knew any in my life". Catherine Champernowne, better known by her later, married name of Catherine "Kat" Ashley, was appointed as Elizabeth's governess in 1537, and she remained Elizabeth's friend until her death in 1565. Champernowne taught Elizabeth four languages: French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish. By the time William Grindal became her tutor in 1544, Elizabeth could write English, Latin, and Italian. Under Grindal, a talented and skilful tutor, she also progressed in French and Greek. By the age of 12 she was able to translate her stepmother Catherine Parr's religious work "Prayers or Meditations" from English into Italian, Latin, and French, which she presented to her father as a New Year's gift. From her teenage years and throughout her life she translated works in Latin and Greek by numerous classical authors, including the "Pro Marcello" of Cicero, the "De consolatione philosophiae" of Boethius, a treatise by Plutarch, and the "Annals" of Tacitus. A translation of Tacitus from Lambeth Palace Library, one of only four surviving English translations from the early modern era, was confirmed as Elizabeth's own in 2019, after a detailed analysis of the handwriting and paper was undertaken.


title: Elizabeth I

text: After Grindal died in 1548, Elizabeth received her education under her brother Edward's tutor, Roger Ascham, a sympathetic teacher who believed that learning should be engaging. Current knowledge of Elizabeth's schooling and precocity comes largely from Ascham's memoirs. By the time her formal education ended in 1550, Elizabeth was one of the best educated women of her generation. At the end of her life, she was believed to speak the Welsh, Cornish, Scottish and Irish languages in addition to those mentioned above. The Venetian ambassador stated in 1603 that she "possessed [these] languages so thoroughly that each appeared to be her native tongue". Historian Mark Stoyle suggests that she was probably taught Cornish by William Killigrew, Groom of the Privy Chamber and later Chamberlain of the Exchequer.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Henry VIII died in 1547 and Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward VI, became king at the age of nine. Catherine Parr, Henry's widow, soon married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, Edward VI's uncle and the brother of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. The couple took Elizabeth into their household at Chelsea. There Elizabeth experienced an emotional crisis that some historians believe affected her for the rest of her life. Thomas Seymour engaged in romps and horseplay with the 14-year-old Elizabeth, including entering her bedroom in his nightgown, tickling her, and slapping her on the buttocks. Elizabeth rose early and surrounded herself with maids to avoid his unwelcome morning visits. Parr, rather than confront her husband over his inappropriate activities, joined in. Twice she accompanied him in tickling Elizabeth, and once held her while he cut her black gown "into a thousand pieces". However, after Parr discovered the pair in an embrace, she ended this state of affairs. In May 1548, Elizabeth was sent away.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Thomas Seymour nevertheless continued scheming to control the royal family and tried to have himself appointed the governor of the King's person. When Parr died after childbirth on 5 September 1548, he renewed his attentions towards Elizabeth, intent on marrying her. Her governess Kat Ashley, who was fond of Seymour, sought to convince Elizabeth to take him as her husband. She tried to convince Elizabeth to write to Seymour and "comfort him in his sorrow", but Elizabeth claimed that Thomas was not so saddened by her stepmother's death as to need comfort.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In January 1549, Seymour was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower on suspicion of conspiring to depose his brother Somerset as Protector, marry Lady Jane Grey to King Edward VI, and take Elizabeth as his own wife. Elizabeth, living at Hatfield House, would admit nothing. Her stubbornness exasperated her interrogator, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt, who reported, "I do see it in her face that she is guilty". Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, aged 15. His will ignored the Succession to the Crown Act 1543, excluded both Mary and Elizabeth from the succession, and instead declared as his heir Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VIII's younger sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Jane was proclaimed queen by the privy council, but her support quickly crumbled, and she was deposed after nine days. On 3 August 1553, Mary rode triumphantly into London, with Elizabeth at her side.


title: Elizabeth I

text: The show of solidarity between the sisters did not last long. Mary, a devout Catholic, was determined to crush the Protestant faith in which Elizabeth had been educated, and she ordered that everyone attend Catholic Mass; Elizabeth had to outwardly conform. Mary's initial popularity ebbed away in 1554 when she announced plans to marry Philip of Spain, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and an active Catholic. Discontent spread rapidly through the country, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus for their opposition to Mary's religious policies.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In January and February 1554, Wyatt's rebellion broke out; it was soon suppressed. Elizabeth was brought to court and interrogated regarding her role, and on 18 March, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Elizabeth fervently protested her innocence. Though it is unlikely that she had plotted with the rebels, some of them were known to have approached her. Mary's closest confidant, Emperor Charles's ambassador Simon Renard, argued that her throne would never be safe while Elizabeth lived; and Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner, worked to have Elizabeth put on trial. Elizabeth's supporters in the government, including William Paget, 1st Baron Paget, convinced Mary to spare her sister in the absence of hard evidence against her. Instead, on 22 May, Elizabeth was moved from the Tower to Woodstock, where she was to spend almost a year under house arrest in the charge of Sir Henry Bedingfeld. Crowds cheered her all along the way.


title: Elizabeth I

text: On 17 April 1555, Elizabeth was recalled to court to attend the final stages of Mary's apparent pregnancy. If Mary and her child died, Elizabeth would become queen, but if Mary gave birth to a healthy child, Elizabeth's chances of becoming queen would recede sharply. When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no one believed any longer that she could have a child. Elizabeth's succession seemed assured.


title: Elizabeth I

text: King Philip, who ascended the Spanish throne in 1556, acknowledged the new political reality and cultivated his sister-in-law. She was a better ally than the chief alternative, Mary, Queen of Scots, who had grown up in France and was betrothed to the Dauphin of France. When his wife fell ill in 1558, King Philip sent the Count of Feria to consult with Elizabeth. This interview was conducted at Hatfield House, where she had returned to live in October 1555. By October 1558, Elizabeth was already making plans for her government. Mary recognised Elizabeth as her heir on 6 November 1558, and Elizabeth became queen when Mary died on 17 November.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth became queen at the age of 25, and declared her intentions to her council and other peers who had come to Hatfield to swear allegiance. The speech contains the first record of her adoption of the medieval political theology of the sovereign's "two bodies": the body natural and the body politic:


title: Elizabeth I

text: My lords, the law of nature moves me to sorrow for my sister; the burden that is fallen upon me makes me amazed, and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey His appointment, I will thereto yield, desiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of His grace to be the minister of His heavenly will in this office now committed to me. And as I am but one body naturally considered, though by His permission a body politic to govern, so shall I desire you all ... to be assistant to me, that I with my ruling and you with your service may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth. I mean to direct all my actions by good advice and counsel.


title: Elizabeth I

text: As her triumphal progress wound through the city on the eve of the coronation ceremony, she was welcomed wholeheartedly by the citizens and greeted by orations and pageants, most with a strong Protestant flavour. Elizabeth's open and gracious responses endeared her to the spectators, who were "wonderfully ravished". The following day, 15 January 1559, a date chosen by her astrologer John Dee, Elizabeth was crowned and anointed by Owen Oglethorpe, the Catholic bishop of Carlisle, in Westminster Abbey. She was then presented for the people's acceptance, amidst a deafening noise of organs, fifes, trumpets, drums, and bells. Although Elizabeth was welcomed as queen in England, the country was still in a state of anxiety over the perceived Catholic threat at home and overseas, as well as the choice of whom she would marry.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth's personal religious convictions have been much debated by scholars. She was a Protestant, but kept Catholic symbols (such as the crucifix), and downplayed the role of sermons in defiance of a key Protestant belief.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth and her advisers perceived the threat of a Catholic crusade against heretical England. The queen therefore sought a Protestant solution that would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires of English Protestants, but she would not tolerate the Puritans, who were pushing for far-reaching reforms. As a result, the Parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on the Protestant settlement of Edward VI, with the monarch as its head, but with many Catholic elements, such as vestments.


title: Elizabeth I

text: The House of Commons backed the proposals strongly, but the bill of supremacy met opposition in the House of Lords, particularly from the bishops. Elizabeth was fortunate that many bishoprics were vacant at the time, including the Archbishopric of Canterbury. This enabled supporters amongst peers to outvote the bishops and conservative peers. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head, which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new Act of Supremacy became law on 8 May 1559. All public officials were to swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor or risk disqualification from office; the heresy laws were repealed, to avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters practised by Mary. At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552 "Book of Common Prayer" compulsory, though the penalties for recusancy, or failure to attend and conform, were not extreme.


title: Elizabeth I

text: From the start of Elizabeth's reign it was expected that she would marry, and the question arose to whom. Although she received many offers, she never married and remained childless; the reasons for this are not clear. Historians have speculated that Thomas Seymour had put her off sexual relationships. She considered several suitors until she was about fifty. Her last courtship was with Francis, Duke of Anjou, 22 years her junior. While risking possible loss of power like her sister, who played into the hands of King Philip II of Spain, marriage offered the chance of an heir. However, the choice of a husband might also provoke political instability or even insurrection.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In the spring of 1559, it became evident that Elizabeth was in love with her childhood friend Robert Dudley. It was said that his wife Amy was suffering from a "malady in one of her breasts" and that the queen would like to marry Robert if his wife should die. By the autumn of 1559, several foreign suitors were vying for Elizabeth's hand; their impatient envoys engaged in ever more scandalous talk and reported that a marriage with her favourite was not welcome in England: "There is not a man who does not cry out on him and her with indignation ... she will marry none but the favoured Robert." Amy Dudley died in September 1560, from a fall from a flight of stairs and, despite the coroner's inquest finding of accident, many people suspected her husband of having arranged her death so that he could marry the queen. Elizabeth seriously considered marrying Dudley for some time. However, William Cecil, Nicholas Throckmorton, and some conservative peers made their disapproval unmistakably clear. There were even rumours that the nobility would rise if the marriage took place.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Among other marriage candidates being considered for the queen, Robert Dudley continued to be regarded as a possible candidate for nearly another decade. Elizabeth was extremely jealous of his affections, even when she no longer meant to marry him herself. She raised Dudley to the peerage as Earl of Leicester in 1564. In 1578, he finally married Lettice Knollys, to whom the queen reacted with repeated scenes of displeasure and lifelong hatred. Still, Dudley always "remained at the centre of [Elizabeth's] emotional life", as historian Susan Doran has described the situation. He died shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. After Elizabeth's own death, a note from him was found among her most personal belongings, marked "his last letter" in her handwriting.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Marriage negotiations constituted a key element in Elizabeth's foreign policy. She turned down the hand of Philip, her half-sister's widower, early in 1559 but for several years entertained the proposal of King Eric XIV of Sweden. Earlier in Elizabeth's life a Danish match for her had been discussed; Henry VIII had proposed one with the Danish prince Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, in 1545, and Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, suggested a marriage with Prince Frederick (later Frederick II) several years later, but the negotiations had abated in 1551. In the years around 1559 a Dano-English Protestant alliance was considered, and to counter Sweden's proposal, King Frederick II proposed to Elizabeth in late 1559.


title: Elizabeth I

text: For several years she also seriously negotiated to marry Philip's cousin Charles II, Archduke of Austria. By 1569, relations with the Habsburgs had deteriorated. Elizabeth considered marriage to two French Valois princes in turn, first Henry, Duke of Anjou, and then from 1572 to 1581 his brother Francis, Duke of Anjou, formerly Duke of Alençon. This last proposal was tied to a planned alliance against Spanish control of the Southern Netherlands. Elizabeth seems to have taken the courtship seriously for a time, and wore a frog-shaped earring that Francis had sent her.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In 1563, Elizabeth told an imperial envoy: "If I follow the inclination of my nature, it is this: beggar-woman and single, far rather than queen and married". Later in the year, following Elizabeth's illness with smallpox, the succession question became a heated issue in Parliament. Members urged the queen to marry or nominate an heir, to prevent a civil war upon her death. She refused to do either. In April she prorogued the Parliament, which did not reconvene until she needed its support to raise taxes in 1566.


title: Elizabeth I

text: I will never break the word of a prince spoken in public place, for my honour's sake. And therefore I say again, I will marry as soon as I can conveniently, if God take not him away with whom I mind to marry, or myself, or else some other great let happen.


title: Elizabeth I

text: By 1570, senior figures in the government privately accepted that Elizabeth would never marry or name a successor. William Cecil was already seeking solutions to the succession problem. For her failure to marry, Elizabeth was often accused of irresponsibility. Her silence, however, strengthened her own political security: she knew that if she named an heir, her throne would be vulnerable to a coup; she remembered the way that "a second person, as I have been" had been used as the focus of plots against her predecessor.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth's unmarried status inspired a cult of virginity related to that of the Virgin Mary. In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin, a goddess, or both, not as a normal woman. At first, only Elizabeth made a virtue of her ostensible virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin". Later on, poets and writers took up the theme and developed an iconography that exalted Elizabeth. Public tributes to the Virgin by 1578 acted as a coded assertion of opposition to the queen's marriage negotiations with the Duke of Alençon. Ultimately, Elizabeth would insist she was married to her kingdom and subjects, under divine protection. In 1599, she spoke of "all my husbands, my good people".


title: Elizabeth I

text: This claim of virginity was not universally accepted. Catholics accused Elizabeth of engaging in "filthy lust" that symbolically defiled the nation along with her body. Henry IV of France said that one of the great questions of Europe was "whether Queen Elizabeth was a maid or no".


title: Elizabeth I

text: A central issue, when it comes to the question of Elizabeth's virginity, was whether the queen ever consummated her love affair with Robert Dudley. In 1559, she had Dudley's bedchambers moved next to her own apartments. In 1561, she was mysteriously bedridden with an illness that caused her body to swell.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In 1587, a young man calling himself Arthur Dudley was arrested on the coast of Spain under suspicion of being a spy. The man claimed to be the illegitimate son of Elizabeth and Robert Dudley, with his age being consistent with birth during the 1561 illness. He was taken to Madrid for investigation, where he was examined by Francis Englefield, a Catholic aristocrat exiled to Spain and secretary to King Philip II. Three letters exist today describing the interview, detailing what Arthur proclaimed to be the story of his life, from birth in the royal palace to the time of his arrival in Spain. However, this failed to convince the Spanish: Englefield admitted to King Philip that Arthur's "claim at present amounts to nothing", but suggested that "he should not be allowed to get away, but [...] kept very secure." The king agreed, and Arthur was never heard from again. Modern scholarship dismisses the story's basic premise as "impossible", and asserts that Elizabeth's life was so closely observed by contemporaries that she could not have hidden a pregnancy.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth's first policy toward Scotland was to oppose the French presence there. She feared that the French planned to invade England and put her Catholic cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne. Mary was considered by many to be the heir to the English crown, being the granddaughter of Henry VIII's elder sister, Margaret. Mary boasted being "the nearest kinswoman she hath". Elizabeth was persuaded to send a force into Scotland to aid the Protestant rebels, and though the campaign was inept, the resulting Treaty of Edinburgh of July 1560 removed the French threat in the north. When Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 to take up the reins of power, the country had an established Protestant church and was run by a council of Protestant nobles supported by Elizabeth. Mary refused to ratify the treaty.


title: Elizabeth I

text: In 1563 Elizabeth proposed her own suitor, Robert Dudley, as a husband for Mary, without asking either of the two people concerned. Both proved unenthusiastic, and in 1565 Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who carried his own claim to the English throne. The marriage was the first of a series of errors of judgement by Mary that handed the victory to the Scottish Protestants and to Elizabeth. Darnley quickly became unpopular and was murdered in February 1567 by conspirators almost certainly led by James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Shortly afterwards, on 15 May 1567, Mary married Bothwell, arousing suspicions that she had been party to the murder of her husband. Elizabeth confronted Mary about the marriage, writing to her:


title: Elizabeth I

text: How could a worse choice be made for your honour than in such haste to marry such a subject, who besides other and notorious lacks, public fame has charged with the murder of your late husband, besides the touching of yourself also in some part, though we trust in that behalf falsely.


title: Elizabeth I

text: These events led rapidly to Mary's defeat and imprisonment in Loch Leven Castle. The Scottish lords forced her to abdicate in favour of her son James VI, who had been born in June 1566. James was taken to Stirling Castle to be raised as a Protestant. Mary escaped from Loch Leven in 1568 but after another defeat fled across the border into England, where she had once been assured of support from Elizabeth. Elizabeth's first instinct was to restore her fellow monarch but she and her council instead chose to play safe. Rather than risk returning Mary to Scotland with an English army or sending her to France and the Catholic enemies of England, they detained her in England, where she was imprisoned for the next nineteen years.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Mary was soon the focus for rebellion. In 1569 there was a major Catholic rising in the North; the goal was to free Mary, marry her to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and put her on the English throne. After the rebels' defeat, over 750 of them were executed on Elizabeth's orders. In the belief that the revolt had been successful, Pope Pius V issued a bull in 1570, titled "Regnans in Excelsis", which declared "Elizabeth, the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime" to be excommunicated and a heretic, releasing all her subjects from any allegiance to her. Catholics who obeyed her orders were threatened with excommunication. The papal bull provoked legislative initiatives against Catholics by Parliament, which were, however, mitigated by Elizabeth's intervention. In 1581, to convert English subjects to Catholicism with "the intent" to withdraw them from their allegiance to Elizabeth was made a treasonable offence, carrying the death penalty. From the 1570s missionary priests from continental seminaries went to England secretly in the cause of the "reconversion of England". Many suffered execution, engendering a cult of martyrdom.


title: Elizabeth I

text: "Regnans in Excelsis" gave English Catholics a strong incentive to look to Mary as the legitimate sovereign of England. Mary may not have been told of every Catholic plot to put her on the English throne, but from the Ridolfi Plot of 1571 (which caused Mary's suitor, the Duke of Norfolk, to lose his head) to the Babington Plot of 1586, Elizabeth's spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham and the royal council keenly assembled a case against her. At first, Elizabeth resisted calls for Mary's death. By late 1586, she had been persuaded to sanction Mary's trial and execution on the evidence of letters written during the Babington Plot. Elizabeth's proclamation of the sentence announced that "the said Mary, pretending title to the same Crown, had compassed and imagined within the same realm diverse things tending to the hurt, death and destruction of our royal person." On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire. After the execution, Elizabeth claimed that she had not intended for the signed execution warrant to be dispatched, and blamed her secretary, William Davison, for implementing it without her knowledge. The sincerity of Elizabeth's remorse and whether or not she wanted to delay the warrant have been called into question both by her contemporaries and later historians.


title: Elizabeth I

text: Elizabeth's foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563, which ended in failure when Elizabeth's Huguenot allies joined with the Catholics to retake the port. Elizabeth's intention had been to exchange Le Havre for Calais, lost to France in January 1558. Only through the activities of her fleets did Elizabeth pursue an aggressive policy. This paid off in the war against Spain, 80% of which was fought at sea. She knighted Francis Drake after his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580, and he won fame for his raids on Spanish ports and fleets. An element of piracy and self-enrichment drove Elizabethan seafarers, over whom the queen had little control.


title: Elizabeth I

text: After the occupation and loss of Le Havre in 1562–1563, Elizabeth avoided military expeditions on the continent until 1585, when she sent an English army to aid the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip II. This followed the deaths in 1584 of the queen's allies William the Silent, Prince of Orange, and the Duke of Anjou, and the surrender of a series of Dutch towns to Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Philip's governor of the Spanish Netherlands. In December 1584, an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League at Joinville undermined the ability of Anjou's brother, Henry III of France, to counter Spanish domination of the Netherlands. It also extended Spanish influence along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was strong, and exposed England to invasion. The siege of Antwerp in the summer of 1585 by the Duke of Parma necessitated some reaction on the part of the English and the Dutch. The outcome was the Treaty of Nonsuch of August 1585, in which Elizabeth promised military support to the Dutch. The treaty marked the beginning of the Anglo-Spanish War, which lasted until the Treaty of London in 1604.