Thane: The Thane city witnessed massive traffic congestion on Monday morning as thousands gathered near Masunda Lake to celebrate the traditional Diwali dawn festivities. The celebrations, which draw youth from across Thane district every year, brought the city’s central roads to a standstill, causing severe inconvenience to office-goers and daily commuters.

Despite the festive mood, Monday was not an official holiday for many employees. As a result, people heading to work found themselves stuck for hours in gridlocks stretching across Court Naka, Jambhalinaka, Ram Maruti Road, Naupada and Masunda Lake Road, key routes connecting to Thane Railway Station. Frustrated passengers expressed anger as buses and autos crawled through the packed streets. Many were unable to reach their offices on time.

The Diwali dawn event at Masunda Lake is a decades-old tradition in Thane, marked by cultural performances, loud music, and vibrant gatherings of college students and youth. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with several political leaders and film industry personalities, also attended the celebrations this year. The huge turnout added to the chaos around Gadkari Chowk, Ram Maruti Road, and other nearby junctions.

Anticipating the rush, the Thane Traffic Police had implemented several diversions to ease movement, but the impact was still widely felt. Vehicles from Dr Moose Chowk to Gadkari Chowk were diverted via Tower Naka and Tembhinaka, while traffic from Gadkari Chowk towards Dr. Moose Chowk was rerouted through Almeida Chowk and Harinivas. Similar diversions were applied at Ghantali Mandir, Gajanan Maharaj Chowk, and Rajmata Vadapav Center.

Despite the temporary inconvenience, locals said the Diwali dawn tradition remains an essential part of Thane’s festive identity. However, many urged authorities to manage traffic better next year so that celebrations and daily life can coexist smoothly.

Apple CEO Tim Cook extended Diwali greetings to millions of people celebrating the festival of lights across the world, along with sharing an image taken by an Indian photographer with the new iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Cook posted a ‘stunning’ Diwali picture clicked by Mumbai-based photographer Apeksha Makar on X social media platform.

“Wishing a joyful and healthy Diwali to all celebrating around the world! Thanks to Apeksha Maker for sharing this stunning photo taken on iPhone 17 Pro Max,” he wrote.

Apeksha is the co-founder of House of Pixels, a celebrity photographer and works on bridging the gap between commercial and conceptual photography.

According to her, with new iPhones, shoot as much as you can on the go, take advantage of the powerful tool in your pocket and you never know what you will create. She works on bridging the gap between commercial and conceptual photography.

According to her, the new iPhone 17 series can capture life under any kind of lighting conditions. To get the best shot, tap to focus and adjust your exposure by holding the tap and moving your finger up or down.

Meanwhile, Indian experts recently shared some professional tips to capture diyas and candles beautifully on the iPhone 17 series, without blowing out the highlights this Diwali.

Photographer Bobby Roy said the Night Mode in iPhone 17 series is one of the best tools to achieve that. “With 48MP HEIF MAX, try to bring out the fine textures of lights, and festive decor by using the best quality that the iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max provides. You can surely use the Portrait mode for that perfect for soft, cinematic moments and pooja portraits,” he advised.

Another photographer Porus Vimadalal advised to zoom in to 2x or 4x for portraits. “It naturally compresses the background and makes faces look more proportionally realistic and less distorted. Tap to focus, then pull exposure down a notch. Especially in bright settings, lowering exposure will add subtle highlights and give you that cinematic look. You can always adjust it later while editing based on your preference,” Vimadalal noted.

iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max feature Apple’s best-ever camera systems with higher-resolution sensors front and back — equivalent to having eight pro lenses in a user’s pocket. Three 48MP Fusion cameras capture sharper and more detailed images. A new 48MP Telephoto camera has a next-generation tetraprism design with a sensor that is 56 per cent larger than the previous generation to improve sharpness in bright light and bring more detail to darker shots.

Chennai, Oct 20: The makers of director Selvamani Selvaraj’s much-anticipated period drama, ‘Kaantha’, featuring actor Dulquer Salmaan in the lead, on Monday announced that the film will now hit screens worldwide on November 14.

Actor Dulquer Salmaan, who plays the lead in the film, took to his social media timelines to make the announcement. He wrote, “Diwali just got a whole lot more explosive!#Kaantha will be lighting up theatres worldwide from NOVEMBER 14th!Wishing you all a happy Diwali and we’ll see you in the theatres very soon. A @thespiritmedia and @dqswayfarerfilms production.”

For the unaware, the film was originally scheduled to hit screens on September 12. However, the team then chose to postpone the film’s release. It is now scheduled to release on November 14.

A teaser that the makers of Kaantha had released some time ago has triggered huge excitement among fans and film buffs. The teaser has only increased expectations from the film.

The teaser begins with an announcer stating that ‘Saantha’, the film being made by Modern Studios, will be Tamil cinema’s first horror film. The teaser then shows the film getting made. Ayya (Samuthirakani) is the writer and director of the film and Dulquer Salmaan is the hero of the film. It is evident that both the director and the hero of the film are now at loggerheads with one another and are no longer on talking terms. While Ayya wants a scene in which a character called Chandran gets scared after seeing a spirit called Neeli to be shot first, Dulquer wants some other pleasant scene to be shot first.

The hero and the director are bitter enemies only now but there was a time when both of them loved and respected each other before turning foes. The teaser shows that Ayya is the one who trained and made Dulquer the hero he is today. However, all that is a thing of the past. While Ayya seeks to make the heroine the central character of the film, Dulquer continues to make changes. In the end, the teaser shows Dulquer changing the title of the film from ‘Saantha’ to ‘Kaantha’.

A gripping period dramatic thriller set in 1950s Madras, ‘Kaantha’ will look to transport the viewers to the soul of that era. It captures a moment in time when tradition and modernity collided, giving rise to stories both personal and profound.

Sources close to the unit say that the film, which has been anchored by powerful performances, is a richly textured story and has stunning visuals.

The much-anticipated period film stars Dulquer Salmaan and Bhagyashri Borse in the lead.

The film, which is being jointly produced by Spirit Media and Dulquer Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films, has cinematography by ace cameraman Dani Sanchez Lopaz and music by Jhanu Chanthar. Art direction for the film is by Tha. Ramalingam and editing is by Llewellyn Anthony Gonsalves.