Sunday, April 21, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Controversial candidate' that was published in Newsband
Controversial candidate
Pragya Singh Thakur’s candidacy on
behalf of the BJP in the Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency stands out as
exceptionally controversial. She is
arraigned as the prime accused and principal conspirator behind the September
2008 blast at Malegaon, in which six persons were killed.
She was not prominent as a BJP member until she was named the candidate
for Bhopal, where she will take on senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. An electoral candidate has been created out
of a key terror suspect.
Election law as it stands today does not bar one facing criminal charges
from contesting, except those convicted of specified classes of offences, or
those that entail a sentence of at least two years. The sole purpose of fielding Pragya Thakur
is to "bolster the BJP's narrative that there has never been any 'Hindu'
terror group." While this argument holds good to an extent, it still seems
to put the BJP on the defensive.
Aggressive Hindutva nationalism is rather keen to demonstrate that it is
ready, post-Balakot, to teach the "others/terrorists" (insiders &
outsiders) in the language that they understand. Hence the totem Thakur, who is
so well equipped with bombs as well as (Vedic) "curse" power.
Now, the charges have been already framed against Sonia & Raul in NHL
/tax evasion cases. Country would certainly welcome an amendment to the effect
proposed by this article if it can largely eliminate the serious suspects from entering
legislative areas. However, in the case of Sadhvi, though admittedly we don't
have enough material to conclusively say one way or the other, the book by RVS
Mani casts a lot of doubts on the manipulative machinations of those in power
in UPA days using police officers as tools. They used similar officers even to
malign Narendra Modi, Amit Shah & several others too. We know that a
dishonest corrupt Government can have many agendas to subvert normal processes
& to drive a preferred narrative in order to help them create issues that
can mask their ulterior motives & loots. Viewed in the context of the
massive scams in UPA era & bunglings in investigations at that time, it
would be logical to assume Sadhvi was framed for a purpose by these elements.
Wasn't she acquitted of all the cooked up charges framed against her by
the court of law? She has already faced enough mental and physical torture
during her immoral detention in Jail. Stop hounding her even after her acquittal.
BJP in this instance deliberately made this choice to provoke Congress.
Congress has been using the Saffron terror to point to Hindu extremists by
using religion to target Pragya Singh. Congress stands to lose out.
As long as policies of parties stand in line behind personalities, whoever
is a crowd puller takes prominence. Voters are to blame for this, not parties
that field them nor the candidates with dubious reputations.
There is the assumption that either of the two national parties, the BJP
and the INC are interested in good governance ensuring peace and prosperity in
the country. But there are many who question as to whether they are just
interested in grabbing power and hold on to it at all costs.
Dinesh Kamath's column 'Movie World: Bollywood movies of 2018 that proved to be of mediocre quality – Part 3 (October)' that was published in Newsband
Movie World
Bollywood movies of 2018 that proved to be of mediocre quality – Part 3
October
Movie October had Varun Dhawan and
newbie Banita Sandhu starring in it. The film appeared pretentious. It made for
a laborious watch. Directed by Indian National Award-winning Shoojit Sircar,
‘October’ is a tale about Dan, in the throes of a grim quarter-life crisis.
October is a 2018 Indian
Hindi-language slice of life romantic drama film directed by Shoojit Sircar,
and produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar under their Rising Sun Films
banner. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Banita Sandhu, and Gitanjali Rao. Both
Sandhu and Rao debuted as actors with this film. Written by Juhi Chaturvedi and
shot by Avik Mukhopadhyay, the film follows the life of a hotel-management
intern who takes care of his comatose fellow intern in an unconditional and
unconventional manner. October earned six nominations at the 64th Filmfare
Awards including Best Supporting Actress for Rao and Best Actor Critics for
Dhawan.
Initially scheduled to release on 1
June 2018, the film was released on 13 April 2018, grossing over ₹54.74 crore
worldwide. Upon its release, the filmmakers were accused of plagiarising Aarti
- The Unknown Love Story, a Marathi film directed by Sarika Mene. Screenwriters
Association reviewed the case and found some similarities between the two
films. However, it cleared October of plagiarism charges as the real-life
events that likely inspired both the films were not protected by copyright
laws.
Marketing and release
Varun Dhawan and Rising Sun Films
first teased October in a 10-second clip released on 23 January 2018 to their
official Twitter and YouTube handles, respectively. On 14 February 2018
first-look teaser trailer of the film was released. It was followed by the
release of first-look (also theatrical release) poster and official trailer on
9 March 2018 and 12 March 2018. In an interview, Shoojit Sircar said that
writers do not get much credit like they do in the West. He said, “It is
important to acknowledge all the technicians in the film, especially the one
who conceives it, the writers.” He feels that a writer's contribution is as
important as any actor's or director's. This was the reason which made him
“deliberately” give Juhi Chaturvedi's credit in the trailer and “made sure the
industry notices”. He further added that the Hindi film industry doesn't think
writing to be important. For them, it's more “the actor, then the director, how
you shoot the film and how expensive.”
Initially, the film was scheduled
to release on 1 June 2018. But in October 2017, Dhawan, in one of his tweets,
revealed that the release date has been preponed. The film was released on 13
April 2018 across 2308 screens worldwide.
Reception
Box office
As of 10 May 2018, October has
grossed over ₹49.92 crore (US$6.9 million) in India, and as of 6 May 2018,
₹3.45 crore (US$480,000) in North America (USA and Canada), ₹0.71 crore
(US$99,000) in United Kingdom, ₹0.32 crore (US$45,000) in Australia and ₹0.11 crore
(US$15,000) in New Zealand making a worldwide total of ₹54.51 crore (US$7.6
million), which is more than twice the production budget of the film.[8] It had
a domestic opening of ₹4.25 crore (US$590,000), which grew to ₹6.25 crore
(US$870,000) and ₹7.25 crore (US$1.0 million) on the second and third days. The
collection decreased to ₹1.25 crore (US$170,000) by the eighth day with spikes
of ₹2.25 crore (US$310,000) and ₹2.75 crore (US$380,000) on the ninth and tenth
days. By the fifteenth day, the collection was ₹0.36 crore (US$50,000), The
film grossed ₹0.63 crore (US$88,000) and ₹0.72 crore (US$100,000) on the
sixteenth and seventeenth days, then dropped to ₹0.01 crore (US$1,400) by the
42nd day of its domestic run.
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten
Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86%, based on 7 reviews, with an
average rating of 7.2/10.
Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the
movie 4 out of 5 stars, calling it an exquisite drama. Rajeev Masand of News18
said that, "October is a thoughtful, meditative film about love, grief,
mortality, and the making of a man". He praised the performances of the
lead actors and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5. Rohit Vats of Hindustan
Times gave the film a rating of 4.5 out of 5 and appreciated the performances
of all actors specially Varun Dhawan about whom he said that, "It’s a
terrific performance, his best for sure". The critic said that,
"October, a month in autumn, is more than just a symbol in Shoojit
Sircar’s new film. It covers a lifetime. It brings haunting images, evokes
tears, makes you anxious and then leaves you blank. You’re numb while waiting
to return to reality."Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a
rating of 2.5 out of 5 and said that, "I liked much of October, but didn’t
fall in love with it." but she did praise the performances of all actors
and the writer of the movie, Juhi Chaturvedi. Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times
of India gave the film a rating of 4.5 out of 5 and said that, "It’s not a
story crafted with heavy doses of dialogues, romantic ballads or bombastic
tropes common to the genre. The beauty lies in the simplicity of it all."
Dinesh Kamath's column 'Movie World: Bollywood movies of 2018 that proved to be of mediocre quality – Part 2 (Thugs of Hindostan)' that was published in Newsband
Movie World
Bollywood movies of 2018 that proved to be of mediocre quality – Part 2
Thugs of Hindostan
By Dinesh Kamath
Thugs of Hindostan was an ambitious
project of Aamir Khan. The film appears to have been inspired by Hollywood
movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. The Hindi version was directed by Vijay
Krishna Acharya. It was an action adventure. It had multi star case. But the
movie did not appeal to the Indian movie-goers. Khan also apologised to his
fans for disappointing them and took responsibility for ‘TOH’s’ failure.
Thugs of Hindostan is a 2018 Indian
Hindi-language action adventure film written and directed by Vijay Krishna
Acharya, and produced by Aditya Chopra under his banner Yash Raj Films. The
film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Katrina Kaif.
Set in 1795, the film follows a band of Thugs led by Khudabaksh Azaad, who
aspires to free Hindostan (the Indian subcontinent) from the rule of the
expanding British East India Company. Alarmed, British commander John Clive
sends a small-time Thug from Awadh, Firangi Mallah, to infiltrate and counter
the threat.
Produced on an estimated budget of
₹240 crore (US$33 million), Thugs of Hindostan is one of the most expensive
Bollywood film. Initially titled Thug, the film marked the first time Khan and
Bachchan featured together as leads, and was the second collaboration between
Khan, Acharya and Kaif, after Dhoom 3 (2013). Principal photography commenced
on 5 June 2017 in Malta; the film was also shot in Thailand and Mehrangarh. It
was put on a short hiatus after Bachchan was injured on set. Filming concluded
in March 2018, the final schedule being completed in Rajasthan. The soundtrack
was composed by Ajay-Atul, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
Thugs of Hindostan was released
during the week of the Diwali festival, on 8 November 2018. It received
generally negative reviews from Indian critics, with praise towards the
performances of Bachchan and Khan, and criticism towards Acharya's direction
and screenplay. The film recorded the highest first-day collection and highest
two-day collection for any Hindi film in India, and the fourth biggest opening
weekend in India, but immediately experienced a significant drop in the second
day itself. The film released in China on 28 December 2018, where a special
edition edited by Aamir Khan was released. Thugs of Hindostan has grossed ₹320
crore ($49 million) at the worldwide box office.
The Yash Raj Films's marketing team
began their promotion of the film on Monday, 17 September 2018: an official
logo and title card was revealed on their YouTube channel. The following day, a
motion poster of Khudabaksh, the commanding thug played by Bachchan, was
released. This was the first of a systematic marketing campaign that introduced
the film's characters to the general public consistently throughout the week,
using motion posters. On 19 September, the second character to be revealed was
the archer Zafira, played by Shaikh. John Clive, played by Owen, a ruthless
British leader, was revealed on 20 September. Suraiyya, a dancer played by
Kaif, was displayed on 21 September. 3 days later, the poster of Firangi, played
by Khan, who was an eccentric-looking, donkey-riding thug, was revealed.
Worldwide, the film grossed between
₹202.38 crore ($31.08 million) and ₹211.98 crore ($33 million) worldwide in its
opening weekend, and it grossed ₹238.4 crore ($37 million) worldwide in its
opening week. By 26 November 2018, the film had grossed ₹262.8 crore ($40.36
million) worldwide. As of 31 December 2018, Thugs of Hindostan has grossed ₹320
crore ($49 million) at the worldwide box office.
Market(s) Gross revenue
India ₹151.19 crore ($23 million)
Overseas $19 million (₹134.21 crore)
China CN¥62 million – $9.17 million (₹65 crore)
Other territories $9.5 million (₹69 crore)
Worldwide ₹320 crore ($49 million)
India
Thugs of Hindostan had the biggest
morning occupancy for an Indian film in 2018, with 65-70% of the seats booked.
Its first day collection in India was the highest for any Hindi film, at ₹52.25
crore nett (₹63.5 crore gross), surpassing the previous opening day records
held by Happy New Year (₹44.97 crore), Baahubali 2 (₹41 crore), and Prem Ratan
Dhan Payo (₹40.35 crore). On the second day, the film's nett collection dropped
to ₹29.25 crore. Its two-day total was an estimated ₹81.50 crore nett in India,
the highest for any Hindi film in its first two days. In three days, the film's
domestic collection was ₹105 crore nett, becoming Amitabh Bachchan's first film
to net ₹100 crore in India (without taking inflation into account). By the end
of its opening weekend on 11 November 2018, the film's domestic collections
were ₹123 crore nett and ₹157.69 crore gross. It surpassed Dhoom 3 to become
Aamir Khan's biggest opening weekend in India, and surpassed Sanju to become
the highest opening weekend grosser of 2018. Thugs of Hindostan also became
India's fourth highest opening weekend grosser of all time, after Sultan, Prem
Ratan Dhan Payo and Baahubali 2. In its opening week, the film's collections in
India were ₹140.4 crore nett, and ₹180 crore gross, becoming the fourth highest
opening week grosser of 2018, after Sanju, Padmaavat and Race 3.
The box-office takings, however,
dropped significantly after receiving bad reviews, and the film made only ₹145
crore in India after 11 days. It resulted in significant losses for theatre
owners, who demanded refunds from the subdistributor of Yash Raj Films. As of
26 November 2018, the film's collections in India stand at ₹151.19 crore nett
and ₹193.83 crore gross.
Overseas, the film grossed US$6.4
million (₹46.66 crore) in its opening weekend, including US$2.22 million in the
Arab states of the Persian Gulf, US$1.45 million in the United States and
Canada, and £497,663 ($638,029) in the United Kingdom. It had the year's third
highest-grossing opening weekend overseas, after Padmaavat and Sanju. In its
opening week, the film grossed US$7.8 million (₹56.8 crore) overseas. As of 26
November 2018, the film grossed $9.5 million (₹69.18 crore) overseas.
In China, where it released on 28
December 2018 at 19:00 China time, the film grossed $1.78 million (₹12 crore)
within the last five hours of opening day, entering the daily box office chart
at number three (behind Chinese film Kill Mobile and Hollywood film Aquaman),
but with the second highest per-screen average (behind Kill Mobile). In China,
the film grossed $4.78 million in its opening weekend, and $8.21 million in its
opening week.
Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'NMMC comes up with a brilliant idea' that was published in In New Bombay
NMMC comes up with a brilliant idea
It is good to inculcate reading habits among children. The more you read
when you are young, better will be your future. Making children read English
newspaper is a very good idea. This will improve English language of the
students. Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) should be lauded for making
English newspaper reading compulsory for the students of civic school. The
credit should of course go to NMMC Commissioner Dr. Ramaswami N. who has now
made it compulsory to read English newspaper for students from standard 8th
to 10th of NMMC schools.
This step by NMMC will prevent students from finding it difficult to
follow English when they leave the school and pursue higher studies. Constant
reading of English newspapers will make these students good speakers of English
too. They will develop confidence to face the job interviewer. The chances of
their getting the job will be greater if they possess a strong knowledge of
English.
This is the right step taken by NMMC commissioner who has indeed proved
that he cares for the future of the municipal school students. His observation
that vernacular students face tough competition from their English educated
counterparts when they reach college level or when they are trying for
employment is absolutely correct.
NMMC schools did try this experiment of making their students read
English newspapers for few month and they found good results. They should
continue with this practice.
Why does English language stand out from other languages? It is simply
because it is the most expensive language as compared to any other language in
the world. Owing to English language being an expensive language, the number of teachers who can teach English are much less than those who can teach vernacular languages. As a result of this there are less number of English schools as compared to vernacular schools. Not only that, the fees in English Schools are much much more than in vernacular schools. It is difficult for all the parents to get their wards admitted in
English schools and hence they are forced to make their children pursue their
education in vernacular schools. But NMMC has come up with a solution for these
vernacular students to develop proficiency in English language. They have come
up with the idea of self-education which means the students should read the
English newspapers on their own and thus develop their ability to read, write
and speak English. A brilliant idea!
Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Another airline halts' that was published in Newsband
Another airline halts
Jet Airways announced a temporary halt of its operations from Wednesday
night as funds to keep the airline are going dried up. Banks stood firm on
their decision to not release emergency funds to sustain operations. The fact
that the banks refused to extend emergency support is probably an indicator of
the quantity and quality of the Expression of Interests (EOIs) received by
them. It does appear at
this point that a miracle will be needed for Jet to take wing again. The
collapse of Jet has caused turbulence in the market.
There have been more than half-a-dozen private airline companies that
have fallen by the wayside in the last decade and more. Air India is still
there because it is propped up with government support. Fuel costs account for
about half of the expenses of running an airline. Reckless competition is
responsible for the sorry plight of the industry. It was Kingfisher seven years
ago, Air Deccan and Air Sahara before that, it is Jet now. Who knows which airline could be next?
Airfares have largely stayed stable over several years, benefiting
passengers but biting airlines. It is time that airlines took stock of their
collective plight and stopped undercutting each other on fares. The Centre can
help too by reviewing fuel taxes and surcharges apart from airport levies. A
healthy airline industry can only be good for government revenues
Some people are of the opinion that the government should not help any of
these with taxpayers' money. Due to greed, these companies involve in
unsustainable practice. Now they are crying for help. Well, the poor of this
country don't use airplanes. They should be helped by being given doles rather
than help the rich class.
The sources inside these organizations say that huge sum of salaries are being
taken by top managements. Instead of increasing the fare prices, managers
should take reasonable salary without putting extra burden on the company. Even
the normal employees are not paid enough, so it’s high time the remuneration of
airlines management are reconsidered.
Here are views of another group of persons. According to them airline
companies are aware of where they will land. But they refuse to take corrective
actions. Today people are willing to pay high price if they get good service.
Take the case of omni bus service; people pay very high fare and this industry
is growing every day. There is a big difference in the fare of State Transport
buses and Omni buses. Still people prefer to travel by omni bus. In some cases
omni bus charges are in par with AC Chair car charges of Train. Still people
are travelling by omni bus. They pay high salary and hire good talented people
for their operations, Finance and marketing departments from IITs and IIMs. Why
they always want government and Banks support? It should be survival of the
fittest. In all these cases the management / owners are not at all affected.
Some people question as to why the center should adopt jet airlines? Is
it because Nehru did the same. If someone is not competent enough it’s not the
problem of center. Is it compulsory that all the incompetent persons have right
to make demand for reservation?
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