Latest news with #Phule
Hindustan Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Pratik Gandhi reflects on the box office lull for Bollywood: It's a cyclic thing, it will settle down
The Hindi film industry is struggling at the box office, with work becoming uncertain for even renowned names, let alone new ones. But actor Pratik Gandhi, whose recent release Phule also faced this challenge at the ticket counters, sees it as an imminent phase. 'Any industry will come to that flash point once where innovations will happen and things will change for good. It will settle down and again it will go up to that flash point. So, it's a cyclic thing which will keep happening,' Pratik Gandhi insists. The actor prefers to look at the positive side of it though, crediting the presence of different mediums and kinds of work. 'It is a good time to be any artiste as there are so many avenues right now. Even if you have a story for a short film, you have an audience for that because there is a platform to showcase it. Earlier it was a problem, as you didn't have a medium to show it. Now you have such opportunities. So, it is a great time to be an artiste, be it a writer, director or anybody,' he says. However, Pratik acknowledges that while getting work might not be that difficult, the main challenge lies in entering the mainstream cinema. 'It is very difficult to breakthrough in the mainstream industry. It's highly competitive as there are so many actors. Apart from that, it's very difficult for anyone coming from out of this industry and who doesn't know anybody. You don't know whom to approach. Whom will you meet and ask for work? You don't even know where to go an give audition,' he says. He insists that all an artiste requires is one break: 'One break is what you need, in any form be it ad, films, OTT or whatever. You just want to be seen once in a good project so that people take notice and at least they approach you for auditions. My whole intention was to go to the point where you get to audition, and then people can decide. It's a change that happened with me post Scam 1992,' he ends.
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Gujarat Confidential: Additional responsibility
Former Rajkot city BJP president Kamlesh Mirani has been handed over two responsibilities — one each in a Government of India-run company and the state party unit — within a span of 10 days this month. On May 16, Mirani was appointed as an independent director of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSEL), a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Defence. A commerce graduate, Mirani would serve in the position for three years. GRSEL is one of India's leading defence shipyards, which builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. On Monday, Mirani was also appointed in charge of byelection to the Visavadar assembly constituency which goes to poll next month on June 19. In Her Memory Last week, an industrialist from Banaskantha district paid a unique tribute to his late mother on her death anniversary by organising a special free screening of recently released film Phule in Palanpur town. The industrialist, who requested anonymity, said that he chose to screen the movie as a fitting tribute to his mother on her death anniversary since it celebrates a couple that pioneered the work on social reforms, especially for women's education, against all odds. The film is based on the lives of social reformers Jyoti Rao Phule and his wife Savitri Bai.
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Gujarat Confidential
Former Rajkot city BJP president Kamlesh Mirani has been handed over two responsibilities — one each in a Government of India-run company and the state party unit — within a span of 10 days this month. On May 16, Mirani was appointed as an independent director of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSEL), a Government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Defence. A commerce graduate, Mirani would serve in the position for three years. GRSEL is one of India's leading defence shipyards, which builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. On Monday, Mirani was also appointed in charge of byelection to the Visavadar assembly constituency which goes to poll next month on June 19. Last week, an industrialist from Banaskantha district paid a unique tribute to his late mother on her death anniversary by organising a special free screening of recently released film Phule in Palanpur town. The industrialist, who requested anonymity, said that he chose to screen the movie as a fitting tribute to his mother on her death anniversary since it celebrates a couple that pioneered the work on social reforms, especially for women's education, against all odds. The film is based on the lives of social reformers Jyoti Rao Phule and his wife Savitri Bai.
New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana welfare minister urges underprivileged parents to prioritise education
HYDERABAD: Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Sunday urged parents from underprivileged backgrounds to prioritise their children's education, assuring them that the government is committed to supporting educational needs. He emphasised that the state government is following the path laid down by social reformer Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. The transport minister, along with Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha, Fisheries Corporation Chairperson Mettu Sai and several other leaders, attended a special screening of Phule, a 2025 Hindi biopic directed by Anant Mahadevan, organised in the city. Speaking to the media after the screening, Ponnam Prabhakar pledged to facilitate the dubbing of the film into Telugu for the benefit of Telugu-speaking audiences, acting on the suggestion of Prof Kancha Ilaiah. He reiterated that education is the most powerful tool to break the cycle of poverty and stressed the importance of educating the girl child and empowering women.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
AAP and BJP exchange barbs over portraits, meeting ‘leak'
NEW DELHI The Delhi Assembly has issued breach of privilege notices to Leader of the Opposition Atishi and three other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for allegedly leaking internal discussions from a General Purposes Committee (GPC) meeting that adopted a proposal on installing portraits of 'national icons' in the Assembly premises. The notices, issued on Thursday, follow a complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs and come amid a controversy over the proposed installation of a portrait of pioneering educator and social reformer Savitribai Phule. BJP complaint While the BJP accused AAP of distorting facts and violating protocol by publicly misrepresenting a verbal suggestion as a blocked proposal, AAP leaders hit back, alleging that the BJP's 'casteist mindset' was behind the refusal to honour Phule, and slammed the notices as an attempt to 'suppress their voices'. According to the formal complaint filed on May 22 by Deputy Speaker Mohan Singh Bisht, BJP chief whip Abhay Verma, and party leaders Raj Kumar Bhatia and Tilak Ram Gupta, AAP members made a passing suggestion about Phule's portrait but falsely portrayed it as a rejected proposal. 'We were shocked to find out that AAP twisted facts and claimed during a press conference that the ruling party opposed their proposal to include Mata Savitribai Phule's portrait,' the complaint stated. BJP leaders argued that revealing the committee's internal deliberations was a 'serious breach of privilege' and accused AAP of pursuing a 'political and mischievous agenda'. 'There was no written proposal,' said Assembly officials, who confirmed that the matter was raised only verbally. Instead, the committee approved portraits of V.D. Savarkar, Dayananda Saraswati, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, as announced by Speaker Vijender Gupta following the GPC meeting on Wednesday. A senior Delhi Assembly official called the AAP's remarks false, misleading, and politically motivated, and warned of possible action. The Secretariat urged media caution on reporting privileged proceedings. Speaker Gupta declined to comment. The Assembly Secretariat has asked Ms. Atishi, along with AAP MLAs Kuldeep Kumar, Veer Singh Dhingan, and Chaudhry Zubair to submit written responses to the complaint by May 30. AAP counter Reacting strongly, former Deputy Speaker and senior AAP leader Rakhi Bidlan accused the BJP of harbouring a 'patriarchal mindset'. 'This is not just political arrogance, it is a direct insult to the legacy of India's first Dalit woman educator,' Ms. Bidlan said, vowing that AAP will not allow the BJP's disdain for social icons to prevail. 'When our MLAs tried to bring the issue to the public through the media, a dictatorial attitude was adopted, and four MLAs were served notices. Mata Savitribai Phule is not an ordinary personality. She opened the first school for girls in 1848,' Ms. Bidlan said. Mr. Kumar echoed the sentiment, saying demanding the portrait of the Dalit teacher in the Assembly is such a 'grave offence' that they were served privilege violation notices. 'Perhaps, in the BJP's eyes, this is a crime punishable by hanging,' he added.
