Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs. Indian sex trafficking film gives voice to 'voiceless girls'

Her role as a victim of sex trafficking was so harrowing that Mrunal Thakur almost backed out. To research the experiences of women and girls sold into the sex trade, like the title character she plays in the film "Love Sonia", Thakur met survivors in red light districts in Mumbai and Kolkata. Singer Chris Brown files slander case over Paris rape allegation

American singer Chris Brown filed a legal complaint for defamation on Thursday after a woman accused him of rape in Paris, his lawyer said. Brown, 29, denied the accusation. He was released this week after one night in police custody and no charges were brought against him. Judge OKs new Harvey Weinstein lawyers who once represented accuser

A New York state judge on Friday approved Harvey Weinstein's overhaul of his legal team to defend him against criminal sexual assault charges, though two of his new lawyers represented one of the disgraced Hollywood mogul's most vocal accusers, actress Rose McGowan. At a Manhattan court hearing, Weinstein told Judge James Burke he accepted the potential conflicts of interest that Jose Baez and Ronald Sullivan might have from recently representing McGowan in a Virginia drug possession case, where she pleaded no contest. Oscar body distances itself from UK controversy on child murder film

The body that hands out the Oscars on Friday sought to distance itself from a furor over the Academy Award nomination of a film about two boys who murdered a British toddler in 1993. "Detainment," a 30-minute film about the death of two-year-old James Bulger, made headlines in Britain after it was nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday in the short film category. Oscar-crowned French composer Michel Legrand dies at 86

French composer and pianist Michel Legrand has died at 86 after a career in which he stood out for soundtracks in screen musicals with Catherine Deneuve and that won him three Oscars. The artist died earlier on Saturday, according to a message posted on his Facebook page by his management company City Lights. Berlin auctioneer expects British, Russian interest in Hitler watercolours

The pictures - three anemic watercolours showing a mountain scene, a river and a distant figure sat beneath a tree - are little different from wares on sale at flea markets the world over, except for the autograph scratched in the corner: "A.Hitler". But it is thanks to that attribution to Germany's wartime Nazi leader, guilty of some of the worst crimes in history, that a Berlin auction house hopes a sale on Thursday afternoon will net thousands of euros for the family selling them. 'Fifty Shades' author announces steamy new 'Cinderella romance'

The author of the blockbuster "Fifty Shades of Grey" novels is returning with a new, erotic book that she calls a "Cinderella romance for the 21st century." Called "The Mister," the novel by British author E.L. James will be published in Britain and North America on April 16, publishers Vintage Books said on Thursday. Director says no harm intended with Oscar-nominated child murder film

The director of an Oscar-nominated short film about two boys who murdered a British toddler in 1993 on Thursday defended the film, saying he never intended to bring fresh anguish to the families involved. "Detainment," a 30-minute film about the death of James Bulger, caused a furor in Britain after it was nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday in the short film category. An online petition asking for the film to be withdrawn from Oscar contention has attracted more than 130,000 signatures. Chinese movie star pleads not guilty to sexual assault in Australia

Chinese movie actor Gao Yunxiang and a producer pleaded not guilty in an Australian court on Friday to charges of sexual assault, setting the course for a trial later this year, a court official said. Gao and Chinese producer Wang Jing both entered the pleas during a short procedural hearing at the New South Wales state District Court and a judge booked the matter for a six-week trial starting in October, the court spokeswoman told Reuters. Zimbabwe declares popular musician Mtukudzi national hero

President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared Zimbabwe's internationally renowned musician Oliver Mtukudzi a national hero on Thursday, granting him a status following his death that has been a preserve for ruling party elites and independence veterans. Mtukudzi, 66, and affectionately known as "Tuku", died at a local clinic on Wednesday from diabetes, ending a career that spanned four decades and 67 albums.