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The Guardian
23-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Italy's detention of rescue vessels in Mediterranean will lead to more deaths, say campaigners
Italian officials have detained NGO rescue vessels five times in the past six weeks, as campaigners criticise an escalating crackdown they fear will lead to more fatalities on one of the world's deadliest migration routes. On Tuesday the Berlin-based NGO Sea-Watch received confirmation that its vessel, the Aurora, had been detained in Lampedusa for 20 days. It was detained after the vessel had helped to rescue about 70 people in international waters, many of whom had been suffering from fuel burns, seasickness and dehydration. 'This decision is politically motivated; those who rescue are punished,' said Karla Primc, the head of operations on the Aurora. 'That is the reality in 2025.' A smaller vessel that was also involved in the rescue operation, the Dakini, was also detained. Sea-Watch linked the detentions to the decision to bring the 70 rescued people to the port of Lampedusa, rather than the much farther port of Pozzallo, where the Italian authorities had directed them. 'Due to the difficult weather conditions, the Aurora developed a significant list and the rescued persons and crew were exposed to a high risk of hypothermia and going overboard,' it said. 'Keeping the Italian authorities constantly informed, the ship's crew headed for the closer port of Lampedusa. After about 10 hours, the Aurora entered Lampedusa with explicit consent of Italy and brought all rescued persons safely ashore.' Rights groups began sounding the alarm over an increase in vessel detentions in early June when the authorities detained the Nadir, a ship operated by the German association ResQship, for 20 days. It was the first time a sailing vessel had been detained since the Italian government imposed hardline rules on civilian sea rescue activities in 2023. Days later, a vessel operated by the Germany-based search and rescue organisation Sea-Eye was also detained. The ships faced varying accusations of not complying with the authorities' instructions around rescues at sea, which have included requirements preventing ships from responding to multiple distress calls and making them travel long distances to ports in central and northern Italy. 'It's clear now that the Italian state is really trying to use all its means to keep us away,' said Jelka Kretzschmar, a crew member of the Nadir. 'The effects of this will obviously be that people disappear at sea, they drown, they suffer with no one watching and the scandal of how this is being systematically curated by Europe will not be exposed. Instead people will be more extensively pushed back by European authorities and pulled back by Tunisian and Libyan authorities and put back in torture camps or abducted and dropped in the desert.' The Italian government did not respond to a request for comment. Since the hardline rules on civilian sea rescues took effect in early 2023, NGO ships have been detained 29 times, leaving them languishing in harbours for 700 days instead of saving lives, according to the affected organisations. Another 822 days were lost navigating to far-off ports. What appears to be different this time around is that smaller vessels, such as the Dakini, which offers life vests and water but cannot bring people onboard due to its small size, are also being targeted, say campaigners. 'Therefore the practice of detention hits a new era – including now also ships of the so-called minifleet that are only supporting rescue operations,' the ship's crew said in a message to the Guardian. This year marks 10 years since NGO ships began operating in the Mediterranean. Over the years they've rescued more than 175,000 people, even as many have grappled with increased criminalisation and legal crackdowns. Earlier this month, 32 organisations issued a statement demanding that the Italian government end its 'systematic obstruction' of NGO search and rescue efforts. 'Deliberately keeping non-governmental search and rescue organisations away from the central Mediterranean causes countless more deaths at sea on one of the deadliest flight routes worldwide,' the statement noted. 'Without the presence of NGO assets and aircrafts, more people will drown while fleeing across the central Mediterranean, and human rights violations as well as shipwrecks will occur unnoticed.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The statement was made days after the crew of the Nadir received news that it had been detained for a second time. For another 20 days, the vessel had been unable to leave the port of Lampedusa, even as mayday calls rang out over the radio. 'It's like there's an invisible wall,' said James Watson, a British doctor who was on his fourth volunteer trip on the vessel when it was detained. 'You can hear about these cases which are really distressing, you can hear it in the voices of the people who are reporting them. Everyone of those cases is really scary and represents people whose lives are at risk. And then you're just sort of sat there, unable to do anything about it.' Figures from the International Organization for Migration suggest that this year more than 800 people have drowned in the Mediterranean, though the actual death toll is believed to be significantly higher. Ultimately Watson felt as though the Italian government's actions were aimed at quelling the crucial roles that NGO rescue ships play in the Mediterranean. 'These deliberate efforts to make the sea rescue harder, to take people who can be involved and help, out of that area not only increase the number of people dying but they kind of invisibilise it,' he said. 'If nobody is in the area to find boats, to report on boats, then we don't even know how many people are dying,' he said. 'So it's not just that people are going to die, which they definitely are, but nobody's even going to hear about those people dying.'
Indian Express
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Flask movie review: Saiju Kurup's comedy is a festival of missed opportunities, but Suresh Krishna proves he's truly the ‘convincing' star
Flask movie review: Whenever watching something penned and/or directed by Rahul Riji Nair, a sense of semi-dissatisfaction often lingers in my mind. This isn't because his works are outright poor, but more because of how weakly he develops scenes that had the potential to soar and end up settling at a middling level. Take the series Jai Mahendran (2024), written by Rahul and directed by Srikanth Mohan, for instance. Although its premise is quite outdated, it still could have been crafted into a light-hearted watch offering some genuine laughs and a bit of relaxation for the audience. Even his earlier works like the sports drama Kho-Kho (2021), the thriller Keedam (2022) and the adventure comedy Dakini (2018) could have been much better had Rahul refined the scripts further. The same is the case with his latest directorial Flask, which features several moments that could have elevated the film, but are ultimately undercut by average writing. Though a civil police officer (CPO) by profession, Jyothi Kumar's (Saiju Kurup) heart lies in music; he loves singing. Living with his small family comprising his wife Nisha (Aswathy Sreekanth), their daughter (Bhadra Mithun) and his father Kumaran (Balachandran Chullikkad), Jyothi is happiest when he's on stage, singing old Malayalam melodies for a music troupe, Souparnika Orchestra, based in his hometown of Pattambi. Meanwhile, his job at the Vaniyamkulam police station takes a hit when he loses an official file on a bus. As punishment, he's removed from law-and-order duties and reassigned as the personal security officer (PSO) — pejoratively referred to as a Flask, since they're often seen carrying flask containers for their principal(s) — to District Judge Venkidesh Balaji (Suresh Krishna). A strict, no-nonsense jurist, Balaji seldom even smiles when around his family either. He is even colder and distant towards his subordinates. As a result, Jyothi's musical dreams go out the window, since he must be at Balaji's beck and call almost always, despite there being another PSO. One day, as Jyothi and Balaji are proceeding to Wayanad for a function, their official car is attacked and they both are kidnapped by Maoists led by Ganeshan (Sidharth Bharathan), who hold them hostage to negotiate the release of one of their imprisoned comrades, Manu (Anand Ekarshi). What unfolds next forms the rest of the film. At its core, Flask had the potential to be something like director Khalid Rahman's Mammootty-led Unda (2019) or Amit V Masurkar's Rajkummar Rao-starrer Newton (2017). But writer-director Rahul Riji Nair makes it clear early on that he isn't interested in aiming that high and presents a string of mediocre, been-there-seen-that moments instead. In the opening sequence, we see Jyothi, in police uniform, winning over his colleagues and the audience at a local stage event by singing 'Nee En Sarga Soundaryame', composed by Ouseppachan, from Bharathan's classic Kathodu Kathoram (1985). This brings up a valid question for contemporary Malayalam filmmakers: how long are you going to milk people's nostalgia and love for Kathodu Kathoram? It was only recently that Nna Thaan Case Kodu (2022) featured a remixed version of 'Devadoothar Paadi' from the same film, and Rekhachithram was set against the backdrop of its production. With Flask also following suit, it just feels like riding the coattails of yesteryear classics. What makes the scene even more irksome is that playback singer Nikhil Menon's voice sounds nothing like Saiju Kurup's, and it feels especially jarring since we just heard the actor speak a few lines in his actual voice moments before. What follows is a series of scenes that leave little impact, mainly due to all-too-familiar dialogues and underdeveloped ideas. While Rahul maintains a certain organic flow in the narrative, the scenes themselves feel half-baked from the start. Once Jyothi joins Balaji as a PSO, we can sense that there are opportunities to explore more — be it the power imbalance, Jyothi's dissatisfaction with his job, the judge's toxic rigidity, or the possibility to slip in some humorous moments. Instead, all we get are repeated shots of Jyothi rushing to work, attending night duty, opening doors for Balaji and exchanging mundane conversations with co-workers. While these could have contributed to establishing how monotonous such people's lives are, that doesn't seem to be Rahul's intention here. As a result, this entire portion ends up feeling like a series of missed opportunities. What makes it worse is that even the few intended 'jokes' fall flat, closing off any chance of comic relief. Even after they are kidnapped by Maoists and the power dynamics between Jyothi and Balaji begin to shift, with the judge shedding his superiority complex and meeting others at their eye level, Rahul's script fails to capitalise on the narrative potential. Both the serious and comedic interactions between Ganeshan, Balaji and Jyothi are marred by poor dialogues and a complete lack of dramatic weight. In fact, the dialogue writing throughout is so uninspired that we even hear extremely cliched lines like Jyothi saying, 'Vayaru niranju (I'm full)' after being scolded by a superior, or a top cop saying during a meeting, 'Avarude mahathvam parayaanalla nammal ivide koodiyirikkunnath (We haven't gathered here to praise their greatness).' Going forward, we also witness that Ganeshan isn't just all talk as he guns down a turncoat Maoist. But since the character is so poorly developed, we feel no emotion towards him. No fear, no empathy, not even intrigue. He's just there, and hence, we are watching him. Although Balaji's eventual change of heart also could have been much more neatly shown, the writing and the execution lack the required emotional depth. In fact, from beginning to end, Rahul's writing remains largely superficial as he avoids digging deep into any character or theme. Even the final shootout lacks tension, drama and thrill, rendering it just another generic scene. Also, the superficial treatment of sensitive themes like Maoism, especially when the militants are portrayed as living in forests adjacent to tribal settlements, is not just lazy writing, but irresponsible as well, as they simply cater to popular perceptions. While Saiju Kurup is apt as Jyothi Kumar, he isn't given much space to explore or elevate the character, mostly due to weak writing and underwhelming scenes. Suresh Krishna, on the other hand, is excellent as Venkidesh Balaji, with his body language and measured dialogue delivery standing out. Despite this character also being underwritten, Suresh rises above the material to deliver a 'convincing' performance. After all, he's the 'Convincing Star'. While Sidharth Bharathan is wasted in the role of the shallowly sketched Ganeshan, Anand Ekarshi as Maoist Manu is a delight to watch in his limited screen time. On the technical front, cinematographer Jayakrishnan Vijayan and composer Sidhartha Pradeep deliver decent work, though not particularly memorable. Flask movie cast: Saiju Kurup, Suresh Krishna, Sidharth Bharathan Flask movie director: Rahul Riji Nair Flask movie rating: 2 stars Anandu Suresh is a Senior sub-editor at Indian Express Online. He specialises in Malayalam cinema, but doesn't limit himself to it and explores various aspects of the art form. He also pens a column titled Cinema Anatomy, where he delves extensively into the diverse layers and dimensions of cinema, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourse. Anandu previously worked with The New Indian Express' news desk in Hyderabad, Telangana. You can follow him on Twitter @anandu_suresh_ and write (or send movie recommendations) to him at ... Read More
News18
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Hitesh Bharadwaj's Bengali Groom Avatar In Aami Dakini Strikes A Chord
The actor said wearing the topor and dhoti-kurta gave him goosebumps. It wasn't just about looking like a Bengali groom but feeling the depth of the moment. Hitesh Bharadwaj, who plays the role of Ayaan in the popular supernatural drama Aami Dakini, recently opened up about his experience playing a Bengali groom in an unusual wedding track. As the show moves into a new and intense phase, Ayaan is all set to marry Dakini, a powerful spirit with a hidden motive. This marriage, however, is not a regular union. Dakini, the mysterious supernatural character, wants to completely possess Ayaan—his body, mind, and soul. The upcoming episodes will bring an eerie mix of romance, rituals, and fear that is sure to grip audiences. Speaking about shooting the dramatic scenes, Hitesh shared, 'Wearing the topor and dhoti-kurta gave me goosebumps. It wasn't just about looking like a Bengali groom—it was about feeling the depth of the moment. The emotional and cultural layers were intense. And with the supernatural twist added to it, the experience became something very different." He further explained how this wedding is a major turning point for Ayaan. 'This moment changes everything for my character. Knowing he's being pulled into something much darker while still holding onto love is emotionally draining. But as an actor, that makes it all the more satisfying," Hitesh said. Besides acting, Hitesh is also focused on his health. He is known on set for cycling during breaks. Talking about his fitness routine, he said, 'No matter how hectic the day is, I make sure to stay active. Cycling helps me feel fresh, focused, and grounded. It's my way of keeping my mind and body in balance." The cast and crew often spot him pedaling around the set. His dedication to both health and performance has made him an inspiring figure on and off screen. With a blend of Bengali folklore, supernatural drama and emotional storytelling, Aami Dakini continues to draw in viewers. Fans are eagerly waiting to see what happens to Ayaan after his haunting wedding with Dakini. view comments First Published: July 18, 2025, 14:19 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
News18
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Hitesh Bharadwaj Does Not Regret Leaving GHKKPM: 'I Am Doing Good Work'
Last Updated: Currently, Hitesh Bhardwaj is seen in Aami Dakini. The show premiered on June 24 and airs on Sony TV. Days after Hitesh Bhardwaj left the popular show Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin earlier this year, it was reported that the actor was reapproached by the makers to join the show. However, Bhardwaj could not rejoin it since he had already signed a new show – Aami Dakini. However, does the young actor regret not going back to GHKKPM? In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Hitesh Bhardwaj talked about the same. He mentioned that even though he does not regret not being able to rejoin Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, the show would always be special for him. 'It is not about regretting something. That show is very close to my heart. So I cannot say that I regret that thing. I will definitely say that it would have been good if it had happened. But otherwise, I am in a very good state. I am doing good work. It is like somebody asking, 'Will you go back to Udaariyaan?' I will say the same thing for that also. I like Udaaniyaan very much. These shows have done a lot of good for my career. It has showcased my craft very well. I am always thankful to these shows," he said. 'I will not say that I regret or something but I am doing good work and everything is going well. I just think that yes, it would have felt better if I had gone," the actor added. Currently, Hitesh Bhardwaj is seen in Aami Dakini. The show premiered on June 24 and airs on Sony TV. Set against the beauty of Kolkata, the story unfolds a journey of love, loss, and revenge. At the heart of it all is Dakini. She stuns with her beauty, frightens with her silence, and kills without mercy. Talking about his new show, Hitesh expressed excitement and told us, 'I'm playing Ayaan Roy Chaudhry. He belongs to Kolkata but goes to London for higher education. His mother died in the city and therefore he was sent abroad. When he comes back, he wants to do everything in the same way his mother used to do. He reaches this mansion and figures out that there is some presence here, or as people call it, there is a Dakini." First Published:
News18
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Hitesh Bharadwaj Says TV Content Is Not Regressive: 'We Are Getting Better'
Last Updated: Hitesh Bharadwaj's Aami Dakini premiered on June 23. Set against the beauty of Kolkata, the story unfolds a journey of love, loss, and revenge. Hitesh Bharadwaj has been a part of the television industry for years now. After ruling everyone's hearts with shows like Udaariyaan and Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, the actor is now back with his new show titled Aami Dakini. Set against the beauty of Kolkata, the story unfolds a journey of love, loss, and revenge. At the heart of it all is Dakini – a female spirit who stuns with her beauty, frightens with her silence, and kills without mercy. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, Hitesh opened up about his latest show and shared, 'I'm playing Ayaan Roy Chaudhry. He belongs to Kolkata but goes to London for higher education. His mother died in the city and therefore he was sent abroad. When he comes back, he wants to do everything in the same way his mother used to do. He reaches this mansion and figures out that there is some presence here, or as people call it, there is a Dakini." 'My favourite director is Satyajit Ray. I have watched a lot of his films. I have always listened to Tagore's stories or Rabindra Sangeet. All these things have been a part of my life for a long time. But I never got a chance to work in that language because I don't know that language. But, I am very connected to that culture, their cinema, their roots. So I am very happy to be a part of this show because somewhere they connected me with that route," the actor added. However, the actor also admitted that when he was approached for the show, he was sceptical about it. 'Somewhere in our minds, there is an assumption about supernatural shows. We have seen so many supernatural shows on Indian television, they are very different. It has also not been my genre. I really like romance or comedy. When I heard this story, I felt that apart from horror, it is also a thriller. There is amazing storytelling in this. I am sure the audience will like it when they watch this show," he told us. In this regard, Hitesh was asked if he also agrees with those arguing that television content is becoming regressive. The actor disagreed and clarified that 'we are getting better". 'It is not like this. We are changing slowly. Changing a medium is not a one-day process. It takes time. Our cinema has evolved. In the 90s, Dil Chahta Hai was released and it changed the entire cinema. Then in 2013, Gangs of Wasseypur came, it changed it all and introduced realism in our cinema. Even on television, from Fauji to Shanti and Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, it has changed a lot. I cannot call it regressive, but I think we are changing gradually," he shared. 'We are getting better. We can see the ratings now. If we want people to watch TV, we will have to work on its content," the actor concluded. First Published: June 24, 2025, 15:07 IST
