Connect with us
Saturday,28-June-2025
Breaking News

Bollywood

Keeping Cong strong in Rae Bareli, Amethi bigger challenge for Priyanka

Published

on

Even as Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra works overtime to put the Congress on the political centre stage for the upcoming Assembly elections, early next year, the bigger challenge she faces is to save party bastion Rae Bareli, her mother Sonia Gandhi’s Parliamentary constituency.

The BJP, after wresting the Amethi seat in 2019, is now eyeing the Rae Bareli seat.

The party has been quietly working on dislodging the Gandhi family from Uttar Pradesh.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, has been working in Rae Bareli to widen the party base.

Of the total ten Assembly seats in two Lok Sabha constituencies – Amethi and Rae Bareli, six are already with the BJP.

Two Congress legislators from Rae Bareli — Aditi Singh and Rakesh Singh – have switched over to the BJP, and so has Congress MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh from Rae Bareli.

The BJP has also won the control of Zila Panchayats in the two districts.

In Rae Bareli, Irani replaced Sonia Gandhi as chairperson of Rae Bareli District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee in July.

Sonia Gandhi’s prolonged absence from her constituency-mainly due to her health issues-has dampened the morale of Congress workers.

The desertion of some senior leaders, including two sitting MLAs, has damaged the party in the region that was once a Congress stronghold.

Priyanka Gandhi, who oversees Rae Bareli and Amethi, has also not been able to devote much time to the two constituencies due to her preoccupation with state level issues.

The BJP, on the other hand, has deployed a well-oiled machinery to widen its reach.

The Congress does not have a single MLA in Rae Bareli and Amethi.

Indresh Vikram Singh, a senior Congress leader from Rae Bareli, explains the prevailing state of affairs for the Congress in the two constituencies.

“It is high time the party leadership recognised and gave weightage to the loyalists. Those who once worked with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi are still in the Congress. But our leaders now induct leaders from other parties and bring new faces from outside. Such leaders dump the party for their own interest.

“Moreover, the party has to firm up its stand on all issues and leaders have to make themselves accessible. After the much hyped ’27 saal UP behal” campaign before 2017 Assembly elections, the party leadership decided to align with the SP. Party leaders should be seen fighting for issues concerning the people consistently,” said Singh.

Bollywood

Delnaaz Irani explains why audience loyalty has shifted in today’s TV landscape

Published

on

Mumbai, June 24: Actress Delnaaz Irani opened up about the evolving nature of the small screen and why audience loyalty isn’t what it used to be.

Speaking to media, she shared valuable insights into how the rise of OTT platforms, changing viewing habits, and the abundance of content have transformed the way audiences engage with television today. Irani, known for her extensive body of work on television, spoke about how the industry has evolved over the years. Addressing the common perception that TV shows no longer enjoy the long runs they once did, the actress maintained that the quality of content hasn’t necessarily declined.

She emphasized that each show has its own journey and that content creators are still putting in dedicated effort to bring meaningful stories to viewers. However, she acknowledged that the media landscape has undergone a massive transformation. Comparing it to the ‘90s and early 2000s, Delnaaz pointed out that the television industry back then operated with fewer channels and limited platforms.

“Every show has its own journey. Content creators are working hard, and good content is still being made. But the media landscape has changed drastically. Back in the ’90s and early 2000s, we didn’t have this many channels or platforms. Today, OTT has taken over in a big way. There’s so much variety that audience loyalty is scattered. The TRP game has shifted. It’s not about quality alone—luck and timing play a big role.”

Delnaaz Irani also reflected on her experience with the beloved historical comedy “Akbar Birbal.” She called it one of the most special projects of her career, having been part of the popular TV series for nearly three years. The Kal Ho Naa Ho actress expressed a deep sense of pride in revisiting the same role for the stage version, calling it a full-circle moment.

Speaking about the challenges of live comedy, Delnaaz shared that the stage has always been home for her. With her acting roots grounded in theatre, she finds performing comedy in front of a live audience not just effortless but immensely enjoyable. “Comedy has always come naturally to me. I started my journey from the stage; that’s where my acting roots are. The stage was my school, my training ground. So, for me, doing comedy on stage doesn’t feel like work—it feels like play, like I’m just having fun.”

Continue Reading

Bollywood

Pankaj Tripathi talks about how growing up in Bihar influenced his craft

Published

on

Mumbai, June 24: Acclaimed star Pankaj Tripathi has opened up about how his growing up days in Bihar influenced his craft in acting.

Talking about how growing up in Bihar has influenced his craft, Pankaj told IANS: “Of course it has. That will happen. We are nothing. We are puppets of our experience. So my experience, everyone’s experience, not mine, where I was born, where I grew up, my experience is in my work.”

Pankaj added: “Even if I was in corporate, or in any other field, I would still be there because I am in acting, I am in art, and in this, our art form, performing art, is very close to human emotion and nature.”

“If we leave singing, everyone has an instrument, if we leave singing. In the art form of acting, the instrument is your experience, your body, your emotions.Through that we create something. Yes. So the experience we have, we recall that memory and put it in scenes and films.”

The actor currently awaits the release of “Metro…In Dino,” which delves into the complex and modern relationships, the upcoming film promises an exploration of love, heartbreak, and human connection.

The film stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta. Directed by Anurag Basu, the film will be in cinemas on July 4.

The film is a spiritual sequel to the 2007 film “Life in a… Metro” directed by Basu. Partly inspired by Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy film The Apartment, it features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Nafisa Ali, Shilpa Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Shiney Ahuja, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kangana Ranaut, and Sharman Joshi in lead roles.

It narrates the lives of nine people living in Mumbai and deals with topics such as extramarital affairs, sanctity of marriage, commitment phobia, and love.

Continue Reading

Bollywood

Shekhar Kapur explores the deep connection between creativity and mental health

Published

on

Mumbai, June 23: Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur shared his thoughts on the relationship between creativity, mental health, and the nature of artistic genius.

Taking to Instagram, Kapur reflected on Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting Starry Night, calling it “the world’s most valued painting,” and marveling at how it was created during one of the most turbulent phases in the artist’s life. In his post, he revealed that Gogh painted Starry Night while admitted to a mental asylum, a time marked by severe emotional struggles. He further reflected on the fact that while he can return to his “normal” self after storytelling, many legendary artists like Van Gogh struggled with mental illness, sometimes unable to make that switch.

Calling for a broader understanding of mental health, Shekhar Kapur challenged conventional definitions of normalcy and illness. Sharing photos of Vincent’s paintings, the Mr. India director wrote, “This is the world’s most valued painting. Starry Nights was painted by Van Gogh while he was in the mental asylum and at the height of his ‘mental illness.’ Van Gough’s bold, expressive brush created swirling patterns in the night sky. Physicians have long tried to solve the equations of fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics represents the true nature of the universe. And according to them, apparently Van Gogh painted a true representation of fluid dynamics!” (sic)

“How does an artist reputed to be suffering from schizophrenia manage to capture the true nature of our universe?? Quite apart from examining the relationship between art and science, what I wonder about a lot is the relationship between schizophrenia and creativity. When I write a story, I am transformed into the world of my characters. To help me transport my readers/listeners to that world, I need to believe in that world myself. I need to transport myself to that world. I need to become my characters…. Am I then experiencing a schizoid state? When I am transported into different worlds, believing I am somewhere else and somebody else?”

His post further read, “Fortunately I am able to switch those characters off. And return to my normal state (whatever normal might be) … and yet artists like Van Gogh, who painted some of the greatest poets/artists in the world, have suffered from mental illness. not being able to switch back to normal (whatever normal might be)”

Shekhar Kapur ended his post adding, “In that case we need to redefine mental illnesses… we need to redefine what normal is… if all creativity happens beyond the normal… in a state that so many artists, dancers, musicians, and actors define as the ‘zone’ they tap into… Where is this zone? What do we tap into when we tell stories we believe in? When do we paint the nature of the universe as we see it? Is it a schizophrenic act? #Art #Schizophrenic #Schizophrenia.”

Continue Reading

Trending