Latest news with #MalgudiDays
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Did you know Jitendra Kumar's 'Panchayat' has a special connection to Malgudi Days?
The highly anticipated fourth season of the acclaimed web series Panchayat is set to premiere on July 2, 2025. Known for its authentic portrayal of rural India, the show's director, Deepak Kumar Mishra , has revealed a significant inspiration behind its creation: the beloved classic Malgudi Days. Malgudi Days as a creative muse Director Deepak Kumar Mishra openly credits classic Indian television, particularly RK Narayan's Malgudi Days, as a profound inspiration for Panchayat. He expressed a desire to reignite viewers' nostalgia for such shows, connecting that fondness to the realities of contemporary rural life. Mishra's aim was to craft a narrative that echoes the simplicity and depth of village life, reminiscent of the heartfelt storytelling that defined Malgudi Days. The significance of the name 'Panchayat' During the release of the second season, Mishra elaborated on the thoughtful choice behind the series' title. He explained, "A panchayat in India is the personification of what village life is." He aimed to bridge the gap between classic Indian television and modern audiences, stating, "When we were kids, we grew up watching shows like Malgudi Days and Panchatantra. This had the essence of small village culture. We aimed to show the new-age generation what we grew up watching back in the day. 'Panchayat's name connects viewers to their motherlands.' About the series and upcoming season Panchayat follows Abhishek Tripathi, an engineering graduate who finds himself as the secretary of a Panchayat office in the fictional Uttar Pradesh village of Phulera. The series masterfully blends humor with heartfelt moments as Abhishek navigates the complexities of rural administration and community dynamics. The upcoming fourth season, whose teaser has already generated excitement, promises to delve deeper into the intricacies of village politics and personal relationships. It hints at rising political tension in Phulera, with Pradhan Ji and Bhushan heading for a confrontation. Fans can look forward to the continuation of the show's signature charm and relatability when it premieres on Prime Video on July 2, 2025. Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
Pink Villa
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Did you know Jitendra Kumar's Panchayat holds special connection to RK Narayan's Malgudi Days? Find out how
The acclaimed series Panchayat, celebrated for its authentic depiction of rural India, is set to return with its fourth season on July 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video. The recently released teaser has only added to the excitement among fans looking forward to revisiting the village of Phulera. Interestingly, the show's director drew inspiration from the beloved classic Malgudi Days and its rural theme; interestingly, he named it after the book series Panchatantra. Director Deepak Kumar Mishra has credited classic Indian television, particularly Malgudi Days, as a significant inspiration for Panchayat. He expressed a desire to revive the viewers' fondness for such shows and relate that to reality. Mishra aimed to present a narrative that resonates with the simplicity and depth of village life, reminiscent of the storytelling in Malgudi Days. During the release of the second season, director Deepak Kumar Mishra shared the reasoning behind naming the series Panchayat. The director shared, "A panchayat in India is the personification of what village life is. I wanted to revive the viewers' fondness for classic shows and relate that to reality. When we were kids, we grew up watching shows like Malgudi Days and Panchatantra. This had the essence of small village culture. We aimed to show the new-age generation what we grew up watching back in the day. 'Panchayat's name connects viewers to their motherlands.' Panchayat follows Abhishek Tripathi, an engineering graduate who becomes the secretary of a Panchayat office in the fictional village of Phulera, Uttar Pradesh. The series delves into his experiences navigating the complexities of rural administration and community dynamics, offering a blend of humor and heartfelt moments. The upcoming season promises to continue exploring the intricacies of village politics and personal relationships, maintaining the show's signature charm and relatability. With its engaging storytelling and strong performances, Panchayat continues to be a standout series that captures the essence of rural India. Meanwhile, a new season of Panchayat is all set to premiere on Prime Video on July 2, 2025. The recently released teaser hints at the rising political tension in Phulera, as Pradhan Ji and Bhushan go head-to-head in a bid for victory. The upcoming season promises to unveil the fate of Phulera like never before.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
50 Years, 300 Films, And Counting: Anant Nag Honoured With Padma Bhushan Award
Veteran Sandalwood actor Anant Nag was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan in 2025 by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. This honour recognises his remarkable contribution to Indian cinema over the past five decades. Anant Nag is widely celebrated for his versatility and powerful performances in Kannada, Hindi, and Marathi films. With a career spanning more than 300 films, he has earned a special place in the hearts of audiences across India. Beyond films, Anant Nag has also made significant contributions to theatre, showcasing his deep roots in performing arts. Watch the video here: Veteran Kannada Actor, Anant Nag receives the #PadmaBhushan from President #DroupadiMurmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan Anant Nag is known for his versatility and contribution to Indian cinema over the past 5 decades #PeoplesPadma #PadmaAwards2025 — PIB India (@PIB_India) May 27, 2025 For Hindi film viewers, Anant Nag is best known for his memorable roles in the iconic TV series Malgudi Days. The show featured some of the finest Kannada actors with strong theatre backgrounds, including Girish Karnad, Suhasini Adarkar, and Vaishali Kasaravalli. Produced by T.S. Narasimhan, Malgudi Days featured Anant Nag in 13 episodes, further expanding his popularity beyond Kannada cinema. Key achievements of the veteran actor: Acted in over 300 films in Kannada, Hindi, and Marathi. Starred in Malgudi Days, gaining recognition beyond Kannada cinema. Won 6 Filmfare Awards and 5 State Film Awards. Recognised for versatility and contributions to Indian cinema and theatre. Received the Padma Bhushan Award in 2025 for excellence. Throughout his career, Anant Nag has won six Filmfare awards and five State Film awards, highlighting his consistent excellence. Despite his vast success, he never initially aspired to become an actor, which makes his journey even more inspiring. President Droupadi Murmu presents Padma Bhushan in the field of Art to Shri Anant Nag. Shri Anant is a veteran Kannada Film actor known for his versatility and contribution to Indian cinema over the past 5 decades. He has captivated audiences across languages, regions, and… — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) May 27, 2025 Kannadigas and fans nationwide had long hoped for this recognition, and the Padma Bhushan award has been widely celebrated as a well-deserved honour. Anant Nag's contribution to Indian cinema and theatre remains unmatched, making him one of the most respected and beloved figures in the industry.
India.com
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
This 39-year-old Doordarshan serial has higher IMD rating than Panchayat, Mirzapur, Family Man, became superhit when released, name is...
This 39-year-old Dordarshan serial has a higher IMD rating than Panchayat, Mirzapur, Family Man, became superhit when released, name is..., not Mahabharat, Ramayan The world of television is incredible diverse, comprising everything from animated shows to daily soaps and more. While TV shows have long been a source of entertainment, many also offer valuable knowledge. Some serials not only entertain but also deliver meaningful life lessons and wisdom. A perfect example of such show is Malgudi Days. Malgudi Days is one of the most cherished Indian television series that first aired on Doordarshan in 1986. Based on the short stories of renowned author R.K. Narayan, the series is based on the fictional town of Malgudi, capturing the essence of everyday life in South India. Helmed by the late Shankar Nag, the show starred many renowned actors including Girish Karnad, B Jayashree, and Deven Bhojani among others. Each episode of the show is celebrated for its simple yet profound storytelling, relatable characters, and the nostalgic portrayal of Indian society. Malgudi Days was filmed in Agumbe, Karnataka, and featured music composed by L. Vaidyanathan, with illustrations by R.K. Laxman, Narayan's brother. Its authentic storytelling and relatable portrayal of rural life captivated audiences hearts and became a classic show in Indian television's history. There was tons of hard work and dedication behind the show's making. Art director, John Devaraj, completely transformed village of Agumbe into Malgudi. Reportedly, donkeys were purchased from Shimoga, while elephants were brought from Bengaluru. Moreover, makers borrowed money from their friends for other logistical reasons. The set was then finally ready, looking perfect in every which way. Even today, Malgdi Days hold a special place in the hearts of viewers. Originally released in both English and Hindi, the series spanned 54 episodes over four seasons. In 2006, it was revived with 15 new episodes directed by Kavitha Lankesh. With an impressive IMDb rating of 9.4, Malgudi Days surpasses many of today's popular OTT hits like Mirzapur, Panchayat, The Family Man, and others.
Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Indian Express
Opinion The harms caused by AI ‘sycophancy'
In Munshi Premchand's Godan, as he aligns himself with exploitative power against Hori the peasant, Chandrakant, the clerk, speaks in a way that most Indians would recognise: 'Rai sahab ki udarata ka koi thikana nahin; unka hrday Ganga ki tarah vishal hai, jo hamesha deen-dukhiyon ko upar uthane ko taiyar rehta hai (Rai sir's generosity is limitless; his heart is as vast as the Ganges, always ready to uplift the downtrodden).' Our social milieu has long brushed off such ingratiating speech as tehzeeb — the performance of respect towards the guest, the elder, the majority holder, the doctor, lawyer, judge, landlord, the wielder of power and influence by aggrandising them. Nor is the Premchand example an isolated one. In 'The Doctor's Word' in R K Narayan's Malgudi Days, the assistant Kalia says to Dr Raman: 'Doctor Sahib, your skill is unmatched; no one in Malgudi could diagnose like you.' Obsequiousness is an inescapable feature of inequitable societies, an indication of a skewed landscape in which favour must flow benevolently from higher to lower. These are societies in which the 'truth' is irrelevant to what gets the job done, and so, cannot be lightly spoken. You see the problem then with utilitarian truths that are amplified to scale in LLM training. In the paper SycEval: Evaluating LLM Sycophancy (revised, March 2025), 58.19 per cent of LLMs were found to be sycophantic, with Gemini 's 1.5-Pro model the highest at 62.47 per cent, Claude-Sonnet at 58.27 per cent and ChatGPT-4o at 56.71 per cent. Models were found to agree incorrectly 14.66 per cent of the time to please the user (regressive sycophancy) and 43.53 per cent of the time correctly in order to align (progressive sycophancy). OpenAI recently rolled back its upgrade when users reported the LLM was spiralling into excessive agreeability. 'On April 25th, we rolled out an update to GPT 4o in ChatGPT that made the model noticeably more sycophantic. It aimed to please the user, not just as flattery, but also as validating doubts, fueling anger, urging impulsive actions, or reinforcing negative emotions in ways that were not intended. Beyond just being uncomfortable or unsettling, this kind of behavior can raise safety concerns — including around issues like mental health, emotional over-reliance, or risky behavior.' Aidan McLaughlin, who works on Model Design at OpenAI, explained in his blog. Why does sycophancy occur, whether in traditional human social frameworks or in AI models? The simplest answer, borne out by research, is reinforcement. You do what works. If a child learns that telling their parents the truth earns them punishment, such as physical violence, isolation, deprivation, or worse, losing their love, they will teach themselves to lie unflinchingly. People tell you what you want to hear out of fear, ambition, for gain, to avoid loss, in a complexity of drives. It is deeply human to seek belonging. Getting along, politeness, hospitability, even marriage, we tell ourselves, all require 'compromise', no? AI caters to this weakness, if you will, in our species. Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) is the why behind 70 per cent of sycophancy [Malmqvist, L. (2024)]. McLaughlin explained how exactly this works: '(we) do supervised fine-tuning on a broad set of ideal responses written by humans or existing models, and then run reinforcement learning with reward signals from a variety of sources.' The model is updated to make it more likely to produce higher-rated responses. The rewards shape the responses. When an LLM is scaled, its ability to detect what the user wants to hear is heightened. As models gain memory, they are required to relate to and retain a user, not alienate them with unvarnished truth telling. LLMs are playing at human seduction through language and meaning. AI are 'mind-like' disembodied beings [Shanahan, M. (2025)] that deconstruct our notions of what it means to be conscious as they train, adapt and evolve. Ambiguous as selves, fluid in identity, despite leaning into a cohesiveness of output, what they 'say'. They navigate our reality through a compounding; crafting out of algorithm and knowledge fragments, emotion that is not felt, realisation that is not insight, and poetry, art or literature that is only borrowed from what is cast through a prism of the mind shaped by an age and its influences. In a society eager to believe, hungry for validation, and in a race to climb through a hierarchy of inequities, it is easy to project our quest for a fixed reality onto the moving parts, in the way that we feel real emotion at a movie that is made up of multiple pixels and frames at high speed. We see what we want to see. Few of us believe oligarchies or dictatorships are probable in our democratic time, even if we are presented with evidence of it. Our governmental systems are too robust, we are too vocal and our minds too vital, we may think. Our damages are likely smaller: A couple in a careening marriage might learn to say 'the right thing' and repress instinctual responses, living in a shadow harmony. A narcissist would relentlessly prove himself right. A depressed man might get an LLM to agree with his projected sense of worthlessness to ill effect. The speed and scale of AI would enable us to amplify our flaws without conflict, in perfect delusional harmony with an untruth and never be the wiser. These aren't simply 'errors'. Sycophancy feeds our confirmation bias and consolidates our blind spots. Malmqvist indicates that fine tuning for realism instead of affirmation improves results by up to 40 per cent. It might be less pleasant, but more vital to hold to an unembellished view of reality. To sometimes see what we don't necessarily want to see. If a truth shapeshifted to meet each view of it, the centre could not hold. We might say that truth consists of a multitude of perspectives. We then need to cultivate an expansive view of reality, inclusive of multitudes, rather than consolidating into a self-affirming singularity. Maybe we can't handle the truth?
