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Time of India
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'Pitched Outside Leg!' – Ravichandran Ashwin Clashes with umpire over TNPL dismissal
— StarSportsTamil (@StarSportsTamil) Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was at the centre of controversy during a Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2025 match between Dindigul Dragons and IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans on Sunday at the SNR College Cricket who is captaining the Dindigul Dragons, opened the innings but was dismissed for 18 runs by Tiruppur captain R Sai Kishore in the fifth over. The mode of dismissal, adjudged leg before wicket (LBW), became a flashpoint after Ashwin openly disagreed with the on-field 38-year-old appeared visibly upset, contending that the ball had pitched outside leg stump. He was seen approaching the on-field umpire, Kritika, to argue his case. The interaction, which was captured on video and widely circulated online, showed Ashwin gesturing toward the pitch in disagreement. The umpire remained firm in her decision, prompting Ashwin to walk off in frustration, striking his pads with the bat on his way replay footage appeared to support Ashwin's assessment, indicating the ball may have pitched outside the leg stump. The moment gained significant attention on social media , with several viewers expressing support for the veteran cricketer, who is coming off a challenging IPL 2025 season with Chennai Super Kings, where he took only seven wickets in nine matches at an average of dismissal marked the beginning of a collapse for Dindigul Dragons, who were bowled out for just 93 in 16.2 overs. Tiruppur's bowlers dominated, with Esakkimuthu returning figures of 4 for 26 and Sai Kishore claiming two chased down the target comfortably, led by a commanding unbeaten 65 off 39 balls from Tushar Raheja. The side secured a nine-wicket victory with 49 balls remaining.(With inputs from TOI)
The Hindu
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
The movie marketing mania
I met Kamal Haasan for an interview last Friday in Chennai for his much-awaited movie, Thug Life. The next day, he was at Sri Sai Ram College along with the entire team for the film's audio launch. On Sunday, he was present at the finals of a popular musical reality contest, Vijay's Super Singer Junior 10. In between these two big music events, I decided to watch an IPL match. Sure enough, Mr. Haasan was there on TV too, at a special programme hosted by Star Sports Tamil featuring the Thug Life team. 'I enjoy talking. It's a learning experience for me, because only when I talk, people get an opportunity to correct me,' he told me, when I pointed out his hectic travel schedule for the film's promotions. It is hard to escape the film and its team, as Thug Life's PR game has been on an overdrive in the last few weeks. I'm sure even die-hard fans of Mani Ratnam and Mr. Haasan are tired of it. At the same time, it is also heartening to watch a 70-year-old Haasan croon old melodies with a little girl, or shake a leg to a fast-paced number on stage. The world has changed a lot over the last 20 years when I began as a rookie reporter. I remember attending the launch of Mr. Haasan's Mumbai Xpress. The invite to the event was quirky: it was printed on a fake ₹500 currency note. The title read 'Raajkamal Bank of India' — a reference to both the Reserve Bank of India and his production house, Raajkamal Productions. The line below said: 'I promise entertainment for the entire family'. Before the age of mobile phones and social media, information about a film or album was scarce, so film-makers went all out to market their films in person. Some adopted traditional ways of promoting their films, such as through newspaper advertisements, while some were others were more innovative. Promotional material used to be a collector's delight. Cassettes in the 1990s gave us a quick peek into what to expect: the audio cassette of Shankar's Jeans, with music by A.R. Rahman, was packed in denim in 1998. I remember walking into a neighbourhood shop to buy a special edition audio cassette of Laysa Laysa in 2003. Priced at ₹10 at a time when cassettes cost around ₹50, it had just two versions of the title song in its Side A and Side B, serving as a curtain-raiser for the album composed by Harris Jayaraj. In contrast, today's audio invites arrive as WhatsApp notifications. Over time, promotions became more and more geared towards grabbing eyeballs. I remember the buzz surrounding the launch of Madraspattinam in 2010 — the invite featured old maps of Madras and old currency, and the venue of the event, Chennai Trade Centre, was transformed into the Madras of the 1940s, replete with soldiers and people marching along shouting slogans. Actors too have various promotion styles. While Rajinikanth did not personally promote Kabali, the 2016 film was a massive hit in terms of promotions. Mr. Rajinikanth's face was everywhere, from billboards to aircraft. Parthiban has always been the most wacky. Attendees to his Iravin Nizhal audio launch in 2022 were greeted with a mouth organ, while the invite to Teenz (2024) came with a large ruler and pen. On the other hand, actors such as Ajith and Nayanthara stay away from promotions. Today's launches are aimed at digital audiences. 'Singles' and 'hook steps' rule the roost. Unlike earlier, people unfortunately seldom wait for an entire album with songs in different genres to drop. Songs themselves are chopped up in films given our dwindling attention spans. The goal seems to be to come up with a catchy line and a distinctive dance that will go 'viral' on Instagram. So much so that the team of Thug Life had a 'Thugfluencers' event in Chennai recently, and reels of Mr. Haasan flooded Instagram feeds. Is there any place where Kamal Haasan, aka Vinveli Nayagan (Space Hero), is not present? srinivasa.r@
The Hindu
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Silambarasan TR addresses calls to play Virat Kohli in biopic: ‘His story needs a befitting conclusion'
Tamil star Silambarasan TR, while promoting his upcoming film, Thug Life, starring Kamal Haasan, opened up to the idea of playing Indian cricketing legend Virat Kohli in a potential biopic. This comes weeks after Virat's tweet on the star's 'Nee Singam Dhan' song triggered posts calling Simbu the right fit to play the cricketer. In an interview with The Hindu, Simbu said, 'People are saying this because we have similarities in our looks, but a film needs a climax, and so his story needs a befitting conclusion. Hopefully, for all that he has gone through and achieved, a biopic will happen, and hopefully, if that happens, I would love to do it. Let's see.' Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Star Sports Tamil, Simbu said that he knew Virat had the potential to become the next Sachin long ago, a statement his friends disagreed with then. 'We then know what happened.' The star also jovially recounted an incident when he met and greeted Virat, only to realise that the latter couldn't recognise him. 'I walked up to him and said 'Hello,' and he asked me who I was. I said, 'I am Simbu,' he replied, 'I don't know you,' before walking away. I wondered why I put myself through that (laughs).' The star added that he vowed to become so successful that Virat would come to know of him. 'And recently, I came across RCB's reel, and I was happy. Even now, I am not sure if he knows who I am because he had mentioned only the song. But that incident is still unforgettable.' added the Thug Life star. For the unversed, the Royal Challengers Bangalore recently reshared a fun promotional activity in which Kohli was part of. He was asked about his current favourite song, to which the cricketer said, 'You will be shocked,' before playing 'Nee Singam Dhan' from Silambarasan's Pathu Thala, composed by Rahman. The video took the internet by storm as the song, ever since its release in 2023, has been used repeatedly by cricketing fans to praise the long legacies of their cricketing idols like MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli. Simbu too took note of RCB's video and reshared it on his social media pages, writing 'nee singam dhaan @imVkohli', which translates to 'You are indeed a lion.' Meanwhile, Simbu, who will be seen soon in Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam's Thug Life, has STR 49, directed by Ramkumar Balakrishnan, STR 50, directed by Desingh Periyasamy and STR 51, with Dragon-maker Ashwath Marimuthu in the line-up.
