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Review: ‘Atrangi Re’: Intriguing narrative keeps you hooked (Rating: ***)

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Film: ‘Atrangi Re’ (Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar); Duration: 138 minutes.

Director: Aanand L. Rai. Cast: Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, Sara Ali Khan, Seema Biswas, Ashish Verma and Dimple Hayathi.

Rating: ***

Treated like a light-hearted romance-comedy, ‘Atrangi Re’ promises a love story with a difference, and it is a familiar but not a different tale to an extent.

To enjoy the film, you need to empathise with Rinku (Sara Ali Khan), an orphan from Bihar who is forced to marry the kidnapped Dr. S. Vishwanath Iyer (Dhanush), a Tamilian from Chennai visiting her hometown.

Competing in this love story is Vishu’s girlfriend Mandakini, aka Mandy (Dimple Hayathi), who is the daughter of his dean, who is supposed to get engaged to Vishu in the next few days. And the other member in this love-quadrangle is the magician Sajjad Ali Khan (Akshay Kumar), with whom Rinku is head-over-heels.

The narrative leads you through an intriguing path. It allows you to fantasize about myriad possibilities ahead. That is what keeps you hooked. But by the end, you realise that while the concept is interesting, the narrative is frothily shallow and a bit disappointing.

The film begins on a dramatic note with Rinku frenetically running away from home, and ever thence you notice especially during the first half, every frame seems to be designed in a frenzy. Someone or the other is running across the screen. These long continuous shots are skilfully captured, and they only add drama to the scenes.

Sara Ali Khan, as the rustic and boisterous Rinku, delivers a relatable performance, but when, in a scene with Sajjad, she breaks into English, you apprehend that her character has not been chiselled, to perfection.

Similarly, Dhanush is charming all the way, there are times where your heart goes out for him, but once again, his character seems to be short-changed by the script, for there are moments when his emotional arch is cut short.

Dimple Hayathi is a competent actress but with limited screen time, her histrionics is not brought to the fore.

After a long time, Akshay Kumar looks fresh and young on-screen, and he delivers a fairly buoyant performance not overshadowing either Sara or Dhanush.

Seema Biswas as Rinku’s feisty and autocratic grandmother Dhulhayen, Ashish Verma as Vishu’s friend and colleague Madhu, and the rest of the supporting cast leave their mark on the screen.

Technically the film is astutely mounted with great production qualities. Also, the songs and the background score are loud and upbeat, and they mesh with the narrative seamlessly.

Overall, Atrangi Re speaks about the language of the heart, but with no Hindi or English subtitles to the Tamil dialogues spoken by Vishu and his ilk, the finer nuances of the words spoken are lost in guesstimation.

Bollywood

Bollywood actor Mukesh Rishi watches J&K Assembly proceedings from Speaker’s Gallery

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Srinagar, Oct 29: Bollywood actor Mukesh Rishi on Wednesday watched the proceedings of J&K Assembly from the Speaker’s Gallery as members cutting across party lines welcomed his presence.

The Assembly warmly welcomed Rishi, who was present in the Speaker’s Gallery during the ongoing session.

Members across party lines greeted the actor with applause as Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather announced his presence in the House.

Rishi belongs to J&K and was born on April 19, 1956, in a Gujjar Chaudhary family in Kathua district.

Growing up in Jammu, graduating from Government College, Sector 11, Chandigarh, and working for two years in Mumbai, Rishi moved to Fiji for work, where he met his future wife, who is of Indo-Fijian ancestry. Her family ran a traditional departmental store. He has a lucrative investment portfolio, including warehouse investments.

He later worked as a model in New Zealand before beginning his acting career in India.

An actor known for playing villainous and supporting roles and a film producer, he has worked in Hindi, Telugu, and other films. Among his better-known Bollywood movies are “Gunda” (1998), “Sarfarosh” (1999), and “Koi… Mil Gaya” (2003).

The Autumn Session of the J&K Assembly will end on October 31. With its conclusion, all the top offices of government, including those of the Chief Minister, his cabinet colleagues, the Chief Secretary, administrative secretaries and the Director General of Police (DGP) will move to the winter capital Jammu.

The move is called the “Dabar Move” and will see the offices functioning for six months from the winter capital, Jammu.

The over one and a half century old practice of shuttling offices between Srinagar and Jammu was stopped by the Lt Governor in 2021, but has been restored by the elected government headed by Omar Abdullah.

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Rohit Roy calls son Agasthya ‘the best looking Bose Roy’ as he turns 18

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Mumbai Oct 25: Actor Rohit Bose Roy penned a lovely birthday wish for his son, Agasthya Bose Roy, as he turned 18 years old on Saturday.

The ‘Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand’ actor took to his official Instagram handle and posted a cute father-son photo of the two making goofy expressions. Both Rohit and Agasthya were seen twinning in pink.

Calling his son the ‘best looking Bose Roy’, Rohit penned on the photo-sharing app, “Happy birthday to my one and only… To the best looking Bose Roy…May all your dreams come true and much more!!! Can’t believe you are 18 already! (sic)”

“For me, you will forever remain a chotu (red heart emoji) Love you Agu,” he added.

Actor Sanjay Kapoor also wished Agasthya in the comment section, saying, “Happy birthday”, along with a red heart emoji.

Back in August this year, Rohit came up with a special video for his better half, Manasi Joshi Roy, suggesting that couples should always “rekindle romance”.

Dropping a beautifully traditional video of his wife on social media, Rohit penned the caption, “Whenever asked for tips on lasting relationships, my one constant has been- Try and rekindle the romance every opportunity you get. Romance gets stale and practicality seeps into every relationship after a few years and it’s your job to go back and realize why you fell in love with her in the first place. Manasi irritates the f@&k out of me on a daily basis (no strike that, on an hourly basis) and I return the favour with equal fervor ! (sic).”

He further wrote, “But both of us are also very quick to get back and find that happy space coz we have no idea what the argument was about..No marriage is without its own set of unique challenges.. but if you treat everyday as a new day and every year as your first anniversary, more often than not, the happy will outweigh the ugly… These are not words from any book on relationships, this is what we have lived through and I still feel happy when I create a reel for her that makes her smile… So keep doing these little things for each other. Giving up is the easy way out, but for me, marriages are forever. They might be made in heaven but they have to survive on earth, so do your best.”

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Amitabh Bachchan reflects on changing times and fading memories

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Mumbai, Oct 25: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan took out a moment to reflect on how time transforms people, their habits to culture and the world.

Taking to his blog, the thespian wrote: “Times change the World changes .. attitudes, habits change , culture changes .. people change .. they that were then, are not now .. and soon they that are ‘now’ shall in time be in reference of the ‘then’ (sic).”

The icon talked about how there’s no point dwelling on the past and asked to treasure old memories.

“Lamentations from the ‘then’ keep echoing in the times of now… they shall simply remain a memory. Let them be in memory. Lamenting upon it shall be an exertive waste upon your system, attuned to ‘then’. Respect and enjoy it — they were such a delight ‘then’ (sic),” he wrote.

Big B went on to revisit the wisdom of his father-legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and shared some verses.

He then talked about the enduring relevance of the lines and said even after so many years, the words still echo with truth.

“After so many many years of its writing , it still reverberates and has meaning .. that be the vision and depth of the Poet and his Poetry ..the old , say the old , listen to the new .. the new say the new , listen to the old… (sic).”

The megastar on October 24 mourned the loss of his Jaipur Pink Panthers’ assistant manager Vedant Devadiga, describing it as “tragic and heartbreaking.”

The icon wrote on his blog: “Our team Jaipur Pink Panthers, suddenly and tragically lost our Asst.Manager .. most loved by the team, its players and all .. just 22 years old and we have lost him…(sic).”

Sharing an emotional note, Big B shared that despite the tragic news, the team chose to go ahead with their next match not just to honour his memory but also as a way to cope with their grief.

“The team, as I had said, was determined to play, despite our offer of forfeiting the game the next day , to not just honour him but to grieve also of his sudden departure… But the Team insisted on playing – for his memory.. And our youngest Team member wore his name on his head band at the game .. honoured and respect (sic).”

He expressed his respect for him and the team.

“My respect for him for the Team .. and my wishes,” Big B concluded.

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