Actor Varun Dhawan on Sunday said that there was a time when he was leaning towards gritty cinema and would have done anything in his power to be launched by Anurag Kashyap.
The actor was speaking at an in-conversation session “Dha-One”, moderated by writer Rumi Jaffery, with his father, filmmaker David Dhawan, at the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
His “Badlapur” director Sriram Raghavan and IFFI Indian Panorama chairperson Rahul Rawail were part of the audience.
“Initially my leaning was always towards the left side. I had loved ‘Black Friday’, Sriram’s films… I was leaning over there. I would have probably given my right hand at that time to be launched by Anurag Kashyap. Honestly,” Varun said.
To this David said, “Thank God”.
Varun said when he told his father that he was doing “Badlapur”, the veteran filmmaker received the news negatively.
David added, “I saw he had grown a beard for the character, he didn’t used to laugh, he didn’t use to talk for 20 days. So I asked my wife ‘when will he cut his beard?’ I didn’t know what he was doing. But thought, ‘chalo, achhi hee banegi’.
“I saw the film. Sriram showed me twice and I loved the film. I said ‘it’s a revenge story, it’s a Hindustani (Indian) film’.”
The actor, whose next will be the drama “Kalank”, said every film is a “make or break” opportunity for him.
“I want to do all kinds of cinema. I always function in extremes either happy or sad. So as I have done mostly happy films recently, I would soon want to do one in the other space,” said while looking at Raghavan in the audience.
“Jane the Virgin” star Gina Rodriguez has kicked up a storm after she claimed in an interview that black and Asian women are paid more than Latina women.
The 34-year-old actor made the controversial comments during a conversation on Net-A-Porter’s “The Big Television Debate”, where she was joined by Ellen Pompeo, Gabrielle Union, and Emma Roberts.
“I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay especially when you look at the intersectional aspect of it, right? Where white women get paid more than black women, black women get paid more than Asian women, Asian women get paid more than Latina women, and it’s like a very scary space to step into,” Rodriguez had said.
“Because I always feel like I fail when I speak about it because I can’t help but feel already so gracious to do what I do and I feel like, culturally, I feel like I was raised to just feel so appreciative of getting here,” she added.
Rodriguez’s comments did not go down well with social media users and she was heavily criticised, with many people labelling her anti-black.
TV critic Rebecca Theodore-Vachon tweeted, “Regarding Gina Rodriguez saying Black actresses are paid more than Latinx actresses Sofia Vergera is the highest paid according to Forbes (USD 42.5 million). Kerry Washington is the only Black actress on this list at #8.”
Another person wrote, “I honestly wonder how Black latinas like Gina Torres, Tatyana Ali, Tessa Thompson, and even the perpetually lost Zoe Saldana feel about Gina Rodriguez’s consistent jabs at Black women.”
Rodriguez is yet to respond to the social media outrage.
Actor Ben Mendelsohn believes that the upcoming Marvel Studios film, “Captain Marvel”, will bring a “sweeping change” in Hollywood.
The 49-year-old actor is portraying Talos, the leader of shape-shifting alien race, in the film. Brie Larson is playing the title character in the feature.
In an interview with a leading online portal, Mendelsohn said he hopes that the Marvel tentpole will bring more inclusivity and diversity in the film industry.
“I think we have something really special here, and that all comes from a finely crafted script, it’s absolutely beautiful,” the Australian actor said.
“Obviously this is a big moment for Marvel, and hopefully a sweeping change for inclusion and diversity in the industry,” he added.
Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the superhero film also features Jude Law and Samuel L Jackson.
Mendelsohn also said that the films based comic books can make a big cultural and artistic impact.
“If you look at the business of movie-making, as both a business and art, comic book films have the best chance of making a big cultural and artistic impact,” he said.
“We might be able to get a masterpiece or three out of this superhero genre,” he added.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has opened up about the time when he and his family were ‘so p*** broke’ that they couldn’t even afford a traditional turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
The 46-year-old, in a heartfelt post, talked about the time when he wasn’t so fortunate and said, “Exactly 27 years ago on Thanksgiving while living in Tampa, Florida we were so p*** broke, that we couldn’t even afford to buy a turkey.”
He further wrote, “We were praying someone would invite us over for Thanksgiving. The universe answered our prayers because friends of ours called to say Happy Thanksgiving and we were like, ‘HAPPY THANKSGIVING WE’LL BE RIGHT OVER TO CELEBRATE WITH YOU GUYS!'”
“I’m weird this way, but remembering s**t like this helps me live a better and more grateful life,” he opened up. “I’m quite sure I need therapy for this, but until then tequila will be my loving & empathetic therapist.”
The actor, who celebrated the day in London while filming ‘The Fast and Furious’ spinoff ‘Hobbs and Shaw’, also revealed how this is the first time he is away from home on Thanksgiving.
In the following post, Johnson shared what he and girlfriend Lauren Hashian did to “close out our Thanksgiving.”
“To close out our Thanksgiving, @laurenhashianofficial took me to see @hamiltonmusical here in London. She had seen it multiple times and this was my FIRST TIME (I know, but I’m a very busy dude;) seeing this extraordinary and iconoclastic piece of art. After the show, we went backstage to meet this crazy talented and passionate cast,” he wrote.
In a heartfelt post, Justin Bieber reflected on his first Thanksgiving as a married man.
Bieber, who tied the knot with model Hailey Baldwin in a hush-hush ceremony a few months ago, said that “love isn’t always easy” but added he was trying to be more patient and selfless like Jesus Christ.
“Happy late thanksgiving to everyone,” the 24-year-old wrote on Instagram. “First thanksgiving as a married man, first time hosting thanksgiving. First time both sides of the family has come together.”
“Relationships are hard and love isn’t always easy but thank you Jesus for showing me how! Every day is a learning process, trying to be more like him, patient, kind, selfless, boy I got a long way! But god’s grace is sufficient!” he added.
Bieber and Baldwin reportedly got married in September at a New York City courthouse. After hiding their marital status for months, last week, the couple confirmed on social media that they are husband and wife.
While the ‘Baby’ singer called Hailey his “awesome wife,” the latter changed her name to Hailey Beiber on Instagram.
The two, who first met in 2009, have dated on and off for many years. They got engaged in July while vacationing in the Bahamas.
The bizarre reaction of Virat Kohli to the cricket enthusiast was unbecoming and inappropriate. While he was reading out mean messages addressed to him by fans and responding to them, one of them read that Kohli is an overrated batsman and the writer prefers to watch Australian and English batsmen. Kohli replied: “I don’t think you should live in India then”. He has been the megastar of Indian cricket, but is the dazzle of lights making his thinking process fuzzy? Such comments don’t suit his stardom. It is immature that every Indian has to be a fan of the Indian Cricket Team. It is not the first time when he has shown lack of tact dealing with issues. He should be tolerant and open enough to listen to other’s voices.
– Qeyamuddin
2) Pakistan and the US
The US’s step to stop its arm aid to Pakistan with effect from January 2019 is not sufficient at all, when the whole world is well aware of the nasty fact that Pakistan is the ‘loving, caring and nourishing mother’ of terrorism spread all across the entire world indiscriminately. The first and foremost step must be that the US should destroy all the terror outfits, training camps, all warehouses of arms and ammunition of all the terror groups in Pakistan as well as in Pakian occupied Kashmir on war footing by using its drones. And on the other hand, Pakistan should focus on all round development and growth of its own country instead of ‘freedom’ of Kashmir.
– Hansraj Bhat
3) Glory to the Indian Army
It was disheartening to learn that as many as 400 paramilitary personnel were killed in firing from across the border with Pakistan and in terrorist and insurgency violence in the country in the last three years as the officials have said. It is an undeniable reality that the only reason we, the citizens of India, are enjoying our lives without worrying about our security is all thanks to the Indian Army protecting our nation at the border. Fighting terrorism and illegal immigration, risking their lives for us, they are on guard, night and day, come hail or storm. I extend my heartiest gratitude to Indian army for providing us with a peaceful life without any fright. If we can’t do anything to make their lives better, at least we must respect and salute them for all their might and sacrifices.
– M.F.U.Tandvi
4) For Mary Kom, winning is a habbit
Winning is a habit and Mary Kom has created the habit very well in recent years. India’s legendary boxer enters semi final and assures herself of seventh medal and which makes her most successful ever in the Indian boxing circuit. The killer instinct was explicit in her bouts and at the age of 35 she is on the seventh heaven. She came, saw and conquered China’s Wu Yu in the quarterfinals of light flyweight 45-48 category bout at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi. She is a force to reckon with in Indian boxing category and she is confidence personified. With this win, Mary Kom has clearly emerged as a better boxer with nimble footwork and clean punches. Kudos to Kom for carrying Indian flag aloft in International games.
– Anandambal Jayanthy
5) Must accept challenge
This refers to the recent “challenge of Rahul Gandhi” in the Rafael deal, as Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier rejected allegations made by Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi that he had lied about the details of the Rafale deal. But still the question rises that why did he delay in revealing the details? Why did he state these after the SC’s order? We want to know why did the government select Ambani for this deal when he neither has a place nor much experience or proficiency in Fighter Jet designing. If there is no backwall deal, why was the government so afraid of telling the Rafale cost? If Rahul is lying and Modi ji is the truth teller , then he must accept Pappu’s challenge of 15 minutes debate on Rafale deal.
– M SALMAN
6) More power to Nishtha Dudeja
Nishtha Dudeja, originally from Delhi pursuing a Master’s degree in Economics at Mithibai College is the first Indian to win the title of Miss Deaf Asia 2018 at Miss and Mister Deaf World Pageant. Despite of having a 100 percent hearing disability since childhood, she kept on working hard to meet her dreams, becoming the winner of the international award and getting a high rank in her education. Dudeja, 23, is a good example to achieve the goal for everyone who finds disability in his/her own self. So we should keep our targets high and achieve them through hard work and dedication. No disability can stop us from realizing our dreams.
– Ashfaque Ahmad
7) Justice denied till date
As the famous journalist Jamal Khashoggi got justice when five Saudi officials face death penalty for his murder, India should also investigate the murders of many fearless journalists whose cases are still lingering in the courts and their bereaved families are waiting for justice because it is a high time for India to make sure for the safety of fearless journalism.
– Arif Saba
8) PM should avoid baseless speeches
Nowadays our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is saying in his rallies that people will now give votes on the basis of ‘Vikas’ irrespective of religion and caste.
But the matter of great concern is that whatever BJP party and all his leaders have done in ruling time are based on the religious sentiments by delivering provocative speeches, supporting mob lynchings, involving in rape cases, and changing and renaming cities overwhelming with religious sentiments and spending countless amounts in stalling statues.
So PM should avoid baseless speeches and emotional exploitation because only mouthing smacks hypocrisy.
– Abu Ammar
9) Poll-manifestoes should have legal binding
Indian political parties in general fool voters by making gimmick promises in their poll-manifestoes many of which cannot be fulfilled practically while some of these require extra-heavy budgetary requirements. If a study is made about poll-manifestoes of ruling parties ever since independence both at the centre and in states coming to power, it can be easily proved that most of the promises made in pre-poll manifestoes are never fulfilled.
There should be legal binding in respect of election-manifestoes. In case political party coming to power at its own fails to fulfil promises made in its poll-manifesto, then it may not be allowed to contest as a registered political party in the next general election. In case of compulsion of forming alliance, then it should be made compulsory for the concerned political party to clearly submit list of such promises made in poll-manifesto which were not going to be implemented because of differences amongst alliance-partners. Also there should be a ban on announcing freebies with poll-manifestoes having features on policy-guidelines only and totally restricting any means of direct or indirect goods at cost of public-exchequer even through subsidy.
– Subhas Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
A person with a disability is anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity. If you want to know how to help people with disabilities, there are many routes you can take. Simply learning how to effectively communicate comes first, but you can also offer your services as a volunteer or educator.
What you call something — or someone — matters. When writing or speaking about people with illnesses or disabilities, try to avoid the use of the condition to define them. That way you show that you know there is a lot more to the person than just their illness or disability. So, instead of saying something like the mentally disabled, call them differently abled.
The terms ‘disability’ and ‘handicap’ are used interchangeably and often refer to people with special needs. These concepts have been formed in our minds through years of conditioning and we often dived into classroom teaching assuming that we were helping the handicapped cope with their disability. Experience showed us quite the contrary. We were helping students with disability cope with their notions and ideas of being handicapped. In fact, our whole training, though not explicitly stated, revolved around bringing this philosophy into our work and inevitably our own personal lives.
In simple terms, disability is a lack of an ability to perform tasks. This lack of ability may be due to an inherent condition that prevents us from effectively engaging or executing a process. What we came to realise is that our disability becomes a handicap when it ultimately causes suffering because of our inability to accept the situation as it is. Life will constantly challenge us. There are times we will feel swamped by what we sense as our lack. If we can see that it is only our thoughts about a situation that are creating the handicap, we can live each moment to the best of our potential.
Movement disability accounted for the largest number of physically challenged persons, followed by hearing disability and visual impairment. The report noted that the high incidence of polio in India may be responsible for the high proportion of movement disability. Interestingly, while movement disability accounted for 20 per cent of all disabled children, of the 2 million children in the age group of 0 to 6 who were disabled, it was down to 9 per cent. This difference could be due to the effectiveness of the polio immunisation program undertaken in a phased manner.
Autism is no longer classified as a single disorder, but rather an entire spectrum ranging in severity. Autism is the core of all of these syndromes, with its features being prevalent to varying degrees throughout, and includes such disorders such as Rett Syndrome and Childhood disintegrative disorder. It is a matter of pride to handle persons having a handicap of any nature to take the services of a helper to get the routine work done.
Now motorised wheelchairs are available to increase the mobility of the physically challenged persons. Schools are there in cities to handle this handicapped lot with special methods of work culture. And the vehicle manufacturers make customised scooters and cars to cater to the needs of the physically challenged lot. In all, it is the timely help that comes handy for the handicapped and that goes a long way in enhancing the lifespan of people with such physical challenge faced by them from childhood or at a later date due to an accident.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
India has decided to fast-track three projects, including construction of two dams, to arrest the unutilised water of its share under the bilateral Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, government officials said.
The three projects include the Shahpur Kandi dam project, a second Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and the Ujh Dam project in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
“These (three) projects were stuck in red tape and inter-state disputes. But it has been decided to expedite the execution of these projects,” one of them added.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty, waters flowing in three of Indus tributaries — the Sutlej, Beas and Ravi — have been allotted to India; while the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus waters have been allotted to Pakistan.
Of the total 168 million acre-feet, India’s share of water from the three allotted rivers is 33 million acre-feet, which constitutes nearly 20 per cent.
“India uses nearly 93-94 per cent of its share under the Indus Waters Treaty. The rest of the water remains unutilised and goes to Pakistan,” an official added.
The Ujh dam is a proposed hydroelectricity and irrigation multipurpose project in the Kathua district of Jammu over the Ravi river with a capacity to generate 196 MW of electricity.
The total water utilisation from this project is 172.8 million cusec metre (mc), but it has the capacity to store 925 mcm of water, the officials said. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5,950 crore.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has forwarded the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Centre for its appraisal, which is expected to be okayed by the Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources for clearance, they said.
After the Uri attack in Kashmir in September 2016, the government had sought to use the Indus Waters Treaty to put pressure on Pakistan. The measures included effectively using India’s share of waters that flow into Pakistan. This also included fast-tracking irrigation and hydropower projects by resolving the inter-state disputes.
The Centre has also asked the Punjab government to prepare a feasibility report of the second Ravi-Beas link that is expected to further help in increasing utilisation of India’s share of water under the treaty.
In September, the Punjab and the Jammu and Kashmir governments signed an agreement to resume works on the Rs 2,793-crore Shahpur Kandi project.
Though the work on the project began in 2013, it was halted due to certain issues raised by the J&K.
The Punjab government also submitted a revised cost estimate of Rs 2,793.54 crore and requested the Centre to include the project in the prioritised list of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)/Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) projects.
The project, when implemented, will enable the up-stream Ranjit Sagar Dam project power station to act as a peaking station, besides having its own generation capacity of 206 MW and irrigation benefit of 37,173-hectare to Punjab and J&K.
Over one lakh farmers from across the country plan to assemble in the national capital on November 29 and 30 to participate in a mega march to protest against, what they have termed, the Centre’s “failure” to address their issues.
Hannan Mollah, convenor of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella body of 208 farmers’ and agricultural workers’ organisations, said on November 29, the farmers would start the Kisan Mukti March from different corners of Delhi – Bijwasan, Majnu Ka Tila, Nizamuddin and Anand Vihar – to Ramlila ground.
A cultural programme ‘Ek Sham Kisan Ke Naam’ dedicated to farmers would be held at the Ramlila ground on the first day of the congregation, where prominent singers and poets would perform.
“On November 30, the farmers will start their march from Ramlila ground to Parliament. At Parliament Street, farmer leaders will speak on agrarian issues and also, leaders of different political parties barring the BJP will address the gathering,” said Mollah, who is a senior leader of the CPI-M.
The rally has been organised to protest against the Centre’s failure to address farmers’ issues, he said, adding the government must come out clean on measures for them.
Atul Anjaan, national secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) said all top leaders of opposition parties including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal have been invited for two-day meet.
AIKSCC was formed under the aegis of AIKS and other left-affiliated farmers’ bodies in June 2017, after struggles of farmers in different states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, for debt relief and remunerative prices.
It had formulated two private members bills – The Farmers Freedom from Indebtedness Bill 2018 and Farmers’ Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Price for Agricultural Commodities Bill 2018.
“The bills were prepared after a series of discussion on farmers issues during the Kisan Mukti Sansad, which was held in November last year,” said Mollah.
He added that CPI-M MP KK Ragesh, who is also the national joint secretary of AIKS, has introduced the bills in Rajya Sabha. Raju Shetty of Swabhimani Shetkari Saghtana presented these in Lok Sabha.
AIKSCC has demanded a special session of Parliament to adopt the two key bills of liberation from farm debt and fair assured prices to farmers and also to discuss the agrarian crisis and its related aspects.
It has also sought President Ram Nath Kovind’s intervention on holding the special session.
Anjaan said rural India has been reeling under agrarian distress and for solving it, left parties and left-leaning organisations have been raising “democratic voices” across the country.
“To counter the agrarian distress, the first step of the government should be waiving farmers’ loans. A National Debt Relief Commission for farmers has also to be set up,” he said.
He added that the government should implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission so as to provide the farming community a “big relief”.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has refused to share details on the quantum of black money brought back from abroad, citing a provision of the RTI Act that bars disclosure of information that may impede investigation and prosecution of offenders.
Its response came on an October 16 order passed by the Central Information Commission, asking the PMO to provide details of black money within 15 days.
Replying to an RTI query, the PMO said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has already been formed and its investigation is underway.
As such, disclosure of all the action/efforts undertaken by the government at this juncture may impede the whole process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders and hence would attract the provision of exemption under Section 8 (1) (h) of the RTI Act, it said in response to the RTI application filed by whistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi.
Such investigations come under the purview of different government intelligence and security organisations which have been excluded from the ambit of the RTI Act, the PMO said.
Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer, had sought information on the quantum of black money brought from abroad since June 1, 2014.
In its initial reply to the RTI application, the Prime Minister’s Office had in October last year said the query was not covered under Section 2(f) of the transparency law that defines information.
Chaturvedi thereafter moved the Central Information Commission which had last month ordered the PMO to provide information within 15 days.
There is, at present, no official assessment on the quantum of black money in India and abroad.
According to a study by US-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI), an estimated $770 billion in black money entered India during 2005-2014.
Nearly $165 billion in illicit money exited the country during the same period, the report by the global financial watchdog said.
In response to another query mentioned in the Chaturvedi’s application, the PMO refused to share details of corruption complaints received against Union ministers, saying providing such information “may be a subjective as well as a cumbersome exercise”.
