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Movie Review: ‘Neerja’ is an emotional biopic which leaves you teary eyed towards the end

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neerja-movie

Banner: Fox Star Studios
Producers: Atul Kasbekar, Shanti Sivaram Maini, Bling Unplugged & Fox Star Studios
Director: Ram Madhvani
Star Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani, Kavi Shastri, Yogendra Tiku, Abrar Zahoor, Jim Sarbh, Ali Baldiwala, Vikrant Singta & Rehan Shaikh
Music: Vishal Khurana

Director Ram Madhwani in this latest offering Neerja has made a very heart touching and real life biopic on flight purser named Neerja Bhanot. The film revolves around the Libya backed Abu Nidal Organisation’s hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan on 5th Sept, 1986, specifically focusing on head purser Neerja Bhanot who thwarted the hijack attempt by preventing the plane from taking off, which resulted in the lives of 360 hostages being saved.

The plotted scenario of Neerja showcases her life’s journey and opens up with a 22 year old Neerja arriving late for a house party. A die – hard fan of Rajesh Khanna who remembers all his dialogues by heart. She was the youngest and the only girl in her family that had 2 brothers. Her parents Rama Bhanot & Harish Bhanot were her pillar who taught her not to lose hope, fight injustice with courage and to stand by what she believes in. Neerja loves her job but her mother was not excited about her job. 2 days before her birthday she boarded the plane as chief purser from Mumbai to New York via Karachi. As soon as the plane makes a halt at Karachi airport it is hijacked by the Libyan Terrorists. Neerja then cleverly informs the pilots and skilfully manipulates the terrorists and saves the passengers. She could have easily escaped but she chose humanity and sacrifices her life to save little kids. Even on her death bed her last message to her mother was, “Pushpa, I hate tears” which portrayed her bravery and her love for life. She was truly a courageous woman.

Director Ram Madhvani was perhaps lost in oblivion after his debut movie named Let’s Talk in 2002 had tanked miserably at the Box Office turnstiles. And now with his 2nd outing Neerja he makes a grand comeback. Needless to add that with Neerja he has proved his par excellence directorial prowess. Vishal Khurana’s soulful & soothing music is another highlight of the film.

Performance wise Sonam Kapoor in the title role of Neerja is simply terrific and beyond imagination. If only Neerja was her debut film. Once again it won’t be out of place to say that with Neerja, Sonam Kapoor has proved that indeed she too is the chip of the old block. Ironically speaking even her father Anil Kapoor could prove his histrionic versatility only after tucking in a couple of non -performing films under his belt. Shabana Azmi as usual is superb as Neerja Bhanot’s mother Rama Bhanot. She has literally lived the role. Yogendra Tiku as Neerja’s father is upto the mark. The music composer turned actor Shekhar Ravjiani does justice to his brief role. While the rest of the actor, also in their brief roles, like Kavi Shastri, Abrar Zahoor, Jim Sarbh, Ali Baldiwala, Vikrant Singta & Rehan Shaikh are adequate.

Tail Piece: Neerja is one film that should not be given a miss at any cost. In fact it’s a strongly recommended movie for one & all.

Movie Review: ‘Aligarh’ is a sensitive portrayal of a man who is fighting his inner & outer demons for his sexual orientation

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Aligarh

Banner: Eros Entertainment & Karma Pictures
Producers: Sunil Lulla & Shailesh R. Singh
Director: Hansal Mehta
Star Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Rajkummar Rao, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ishwak Singh, Nutan Surya, Divya Unny, Suman Vaidya & Master Devyansh Agnihotri

Director Hansal Mehta is known more for tackling themes which are more suited, or rather which are more often than not slotted, in the category of the middle of the road cinema. No doubt his kind of cinema wins a lot of critical acclaim topped with awards galore in global film fest circuit. Just like his latest offering Aligarh which got a standing ovation in Busan International Film Festival.

Aligarh’s plotted scenario starts off on the premises of Aligarh Muslim University, the very ‘Urdu dominated’ place where Professor Shrinivas Siras (Manoj Bajpayee) happens to teach Marathi to the students. The film gradually moves onto capturing the ‘intimate moments’ between Professor Shrinivas Siras and a rickshaw driver Irfan. The moment they get intimate with each other, 2 reporters (who claim to be from TV 100 channel) do a sting operation on the duo. As Siras & Irfan get caught in the act, Dr. Zuber Khan, Dr. Firoz Majid, Dr. Shadab Qureshi & Professor A. K. Murtuza from the university enter the room. Even though Dr. Shadab Qureshi (who also happens to be the college’s PRO) assures Siras that he will not leak his intimate video, yet he goes back on his words and tells the media all about the incident. The next day morning sees all the newspapers & channels screaming about Siras’ incident, which also results in a mob burning his effigies, human protests et al. All of this results in Professor Siras being suspended from the college and gets told to vacant the quarters within a week’s time. Meanwhile, a young & ‘fire in the belly’ journalist Deepu Sebastian (Rajkummar Rao) starts writing about the case arming himself with thorough investigation, because he feels that Siras is not guilty and could have been framed. Initially, Siras is reluctant to speak to Deepu about the incident because the latter is a journalist. But after a few meetings, Siras develops full faith in Deepu and he confides the whole incident that had taken place that night. While on one hand, Deepu goes all out to get justice for Siras, on the other hand, the court case against Siras only gets prolonged day after day. After days & days of struggle, when Deepu finally succeeds in being the ‘agent of change’ for Siras to get justice, a drunk Siras tells Deepu on the phone that he strongly feels that he should get settled in US as that’s where people of his sexual orientation get accepted with open arms.

Director Hansal Mehta deserves a standing ovation, a heartfelt salutation coupled with some brownie points for his par excellence directorial prowess in Aligarh. That apart hats off to its producers Sunil Lulla & Shailesh R. Singh for backing Aligarh with all their sincerity & their integrity. That apart a round of another standing ovation also goes to behind the scenes team of Apurva Asrani for his story, screenplay & editing, Karan Kulkarni for his background music & Satya Rai Nagpaul for his cinematography.

Performance wise Manoj Bajpayee is simply outstanding. He excellently & effortlessly conveys the humiliation & the pain by straight away getting into the skin of his character, seriously no other actor could have stepped into his shoes. So much so that Aligarh adds yet another milestone in his chequered career innings. While on the other hand Rajkummar Rao proves yet again that he is no doubt a gifted actor in his own right. That apart the rest of the cast comprising of Ashish Vidhyarthi, Ishwak Singh, Nutan Surya, Divya Unny, Suman Vaidya & Master Devyansh Agnihotri
bring in their own value added performances to make the film reach its goal.

Tail Piece: Sadly enough even though Aligarh is a sensitive, heart-wrenching & heart warming film it may appeal to a very niche segment of the multiplex audiences. It has already proved to be a critics delight but may not attract the masses, mainly the commercial entertainment starved audiences of the single theatres. All in all Aligarh is one classy film that will not attract the mass audiences.

Bishops covered up sex abuse of Pennsylvania children

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Cases of sexual abuse over four-decade period by Roman Catholic priests were covered up by US bishops, jury says.

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of children in the US state of Pennsylvania have been sexually abused by about 50 Roman Catholic priests over four decades while bishops covered up their actions, a grand jury report said.

Released on Tuesday, the report found that former Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Bishop James Hogan, who died in 2005, and his successor, Joseph Adamec, who retired in 2011, worked to cover paedophile priests’ tracks.

Some local law enforcement agencies also avoided investigating abuse allegations, said state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” Kane told reporters in unveiling the report, based on a two-year investigation.

“These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe.”

Revelations that some priests had habitually sexually abused children and that bishops had systematically covered up those crimes burst onto the world stage in 2002 when the Boston Globe reported widespread abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.

That report, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was the subject of last year’s Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” set off a global wave of investigations that found similar patterns at dioceses around the world. They led to hefty lawsuits and seriously undermined the church’s moral authority.

No charges filed

No criminal charges will be filed because the alleged incidents are too old to be prosecuted, Kane said.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York City, said: “Some of the victims… are just too traumatised to testify.”

Advocates for victims of sex assault have long urged lawmakers to give prosecutors more time to bring charges of sex assaults of minors, noting that particularly in the case of assaults by members of the clergy, victims can take years to come forward.

The report contains explicit details of scores of attacks, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died.

Many of the surviving priests were still serving parishes at the time the investigation began, Kane said, but all have since been removed by the current bishop.

“This is a painful and difficult time,” current Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak said in a statement. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children.”

“We’re saddened but not the least bit surprised,” said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“It proves what we’ve long maintained: that even now, under the guise of ‘reform,’ bishops continue to deceive parishioners and the public about their ongoing efforts to hide abuse.”

India beat Sri Lanka to enter Asia Cup final

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Virat-srilanka

Mirpur: India rode on fine knocks by Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh to defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in their Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Tuesday and enter the finals.

Coming in after the early fall of opener Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten half-century as India overhauled the 139-run target with four balls to spare.

The Delhi lad remained not out on 56, with seven well-timed boundaries studding his 85-ball knock.

Yuvraj produced a power-packed innings, hitting 35 runs off 18 balls with three boundaries and an equal number of sixes.

India, who have won all the three matches they have played so far, thus assured themselves a spot in the final.

The men in blue are at the top of the five-team table with six points and even an unlikely defeat in the final group game against minniows United Arab Emirates will see them through to the summit clash.

Nuwan Kulasekara was the most successful among the Sri Lankan bowlers with figures of 2/21.

The Indian run chase was off to a rocky start with openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departing early.

But Kohli and Suresh Raina came together to bring the innings back on track. While Kohli was the more aggresive of the two, Raina gave him good support from the other end.

The duo batted patiently, finding the gaps for the occasional boundary to add 54 runs between them.

Raina, who scored 25 runs off 26 balls with two hits to the ropes, was dismissed by Dasun Shanaka when he miscued an attempted big hit. The left-hander was surprised by the extra bounce and offered an easy high catch for Kulasekara at mid-off.

Yuvraj strode in and proceeded to plunder the Lankan bowling with some powerful hits. The veteran left-hander carried India within sniffing distance of the target before a bouncer from Perera carried the top edge to Kulasekara at fine leg.

Hardik Pandya followed Yuvraj back to the pavilion in the next over, but by then India were well on the way to victory.

Fittingly, Kohli hit the winning runs with a boundary off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

Earlier, Sri Lanka produced a competitive total of 138/9 in their 20 overs.

For India, promising all-rounder Pandya (2/26), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/26) and young pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/27) took two wickets each.

Veteran pacer Ashish Nehra (1/22), who bowled an excellent opening spell, also got a wicket.

Chamara Kapugedera (30) was the highest scorer among the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Asked to bat first on a greenish pitch, the Sri Lankan batsmen never really managed to settle down and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when opener Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind off Nehra’s bowling while attempting a big hit.

Bumrah piled on the pressure in the next over with a superb delivery which Shehan Jayasuriya edged to Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Dhoni’s decision to bring Pandya into the attack in place of Nehra brought immediate results as the all-rounder got rid of the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan with his very first ball.

Angelo Mathews seemed to be in good touch, hitting Pandya for a couple of boundaries. But the right-hander was undone by poor timimg when he got a thick inside edge onto the stumps.

Kapugedera and Milinda Siriwardana (22) tried to steady the innings with a 43-run partnership.

The duo handled the Indian bowling quite well, producing the occassional boundary as the Sri Lankans tried to come back into the game.

But the partnership came to an end when Siriwardana holed out Raina at long-on while trying to hit Ashwin out of the ground.

The Sri Lankans plunged into further trouble when Dasun Shanaka was run out off the last ball of the same over.

Thisara Perera (17) and Kulasekara (13 not out) then came up with a few bit hits in the closing stages of the innings to take their team to a competitive total.

(IANS)

Two JNU videos ‘manipulated’: forensic report

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kanhaiya-kumar-jnu

New Delhi: A Delhi government-ordered forensic probe of a set of video clippings of the controversial JNU event has found that two videos were “manipulated” where voices of persons not present in the clips were added.

Out of seven videos sent by the Delhi government to the Hyderabad-based Truth Labs, two have been found to be tampered with while the rest were authentic, sources said.

“In the manipulated clips, videos have been edited and voices have been added. The main report with a supplementary have been submitted to the Delhi government,” they said.

When asked whether the voices that were added were of persons not seen in the manipulated clips, they said “naturally”.

The Arvind Kejriwal led-government had on February 13 ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged raising of anti-national slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s campus on February 9.

Earlier, a video showing raising of anti-India slogans allegedly by outsiders at the event had given a fresh twist to the case.

In the video, the youths, whose faces were covered, could be seen raising slogans against India.

Several videos of the event have surfaced since the row broke out leading to the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition, triggering widespread protests.

A Delhi court on Tuesday sent JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, also arrested in connection with the same case, to 14 days judicial custody.

(Agencies)

‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme launched to convert black money into white: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul-Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice president on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, saying it launched a “‘Fair and Lovely Yojana’ to convert black money into white money”.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said: “Nobody who has black money will be jailed under Modi’s ‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme. All those who have black money can make it white under this scheme.”

Gandhi was participating on the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President on his address to the joint sitting of parliament’s two houses, marking the beginning of the budget session.

He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Modi ji had promised that he will put people with black money behind bars, now they have come up with way to save those people.”

“I was shocked to see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launching such scheme.”

He said the prime minister failed to fulfil his poll promise of bringing the black money from foreign countries.

Gandhi also raked up the issue of suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and said the prime minister neither called up his mother nor did he speak on the issue.

Gandhi slammed the prime minister for his silence over the violence done with students and media persons at a Delhi court.

“Why were you silent, Modi ji, when journalists, teachers and students were beaten,” he said.

On the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru University row, Gandhi said: “I had heard (JNUSU president) Kanhaiya’s whole speech, not a word in his speech was anti-national.”

He said the government could not “crush the JNU” or the “poor people of the country”.

(Agencies)

No holy cows to protect, says Jaitley on Aircel-Maxis

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Aircel-Maxis

New Delhi: With new charges against former minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti surfacing over Aircel-Maxis deal, the government today asserted in Lok Sabha that there are “no holy cows” to protect and action will be taken against those found guilty, “howsoever important” one may be.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Enforcement Directorate (ED) and investigative wing of the Income Tax Department, during recent searches in connection with the Aircel-Maxis deal, have recovered several “incriminating” documents which are being scrutinised and charge sheets will be filed.

Replying to a short duration discussion on Aircel-Maxis deal in the wake of vociferous demand for action by AIADMK which has been disrupting the House since yesterday, Jaitley said the matter is being probed by three investigating agencies and it would be taken to the logical conclusion.

“No one will be spared. We have no holy cows to protect. The government is going to the root of each one of these cases,” said Jaitley, who also holds Corporate Affairs portfolio.

Refuting allegations that the government was going slow in the 2G and Aircel-Maxis cases as “absolutely incorrect”, he said in all these cases, “where CBI has come to a prima facie opinion that an offence has been committed, chargesheets have been filed and the trials are going on”.

Jaitley said, “Whatever was the stand of the earlier government, we have not been influenced by that stand at all. The investigative agencies have absolute freedom to professionally record the entire evidence and if they come to an opinion that some people prima facie guilty, the investigating agencies are free to take actions.”

For the second day today, Parliament proceedings have been disrupted by AIADMK members who were demanding action against Karti Chidambaram following reports that he has invested huge sums of money in various countries based on searches conducted at his premises and other related companies.

(PTI)

Priest gets 40-year jail term for molesting minor in Church

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Sanil K James

Kasaragod: Thrissur First Class Additional District and Sessions Court on Tuesday sentenced Sanil K. James, a pastor, to 40 years of rigorous imprisonment under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act) Act for molesting a minor girl.

The judge K.P. Sudheer also slapped a fine of Rs.20,000 on the pastor with Salvation Army Church, Peechi. According to the prosecution, the pastor hailing from Karukachal, Kottayam district, molested the 12-year-old girl, a seventh standard student, in April 2014, at his quarters on the church premises at Peechi.

The court found him guilty under IPC Section 376 (2) (rape) and POCSO Section 5 (S).The judge observed that the accused deserved maximum punishment for his most cruel act against a minor girl.

This is the biggest ever jail term given to an accused under the POCSO Act in the state, according to legal experts. Peechi police investigated the case on a complaint received by the Child Welfare Committee, Thrissur.

Umesh, circle inspector, Ollur, registered the FIR. Special Prosecutor Pius Mathew appeared for the prosecution. Child Welfare Committee Chairman P.O. George said there are more than 300 cases registered under the POCSO Act in Thrissur district alone.

Incidentally, another case has also been registered against the pastor with the Peechi police for molesting another girl belonging to SC/ST community. The trial in the case is yet to begin. The convict has been sent to Viyyur Central Prison.

(Agencies)

India opt to bowl against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup

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Cricket Sri Lanka

Mirpur: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl against Sri Lanka in an Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium here on Tuesday.

Teams:

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Shehan Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews (Captain), Milinda Siriwardana, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedera, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Dushmantha Chameera.

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra.

(IANS)

Karnataka assembly rocked by CM’s luxury watch controversy

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Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka Legislative Assembly was today rocked by the controversy over a luxury watch gifted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as the BJP pressed for an adjournment motion on the issue, triggering a war of words between the ruling and opposition sides.

As the issue was raised soon after obituary reference, Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa allowed Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Jagadish Shettar to make a preliminary submission to convince the chair to take up the issue as an adjournment motion, amidst resistance to it from the ruling Congress members.

In his submission, Shettar while calling the watch issue a matter of public interest accused Siddaramaiah of violating the code of conduct for ministers and Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and demanded discussion and response from the government on the issue.

After hearing the matter, the Speaker said it could notbe taken up as an adjournment motion and asked the opposition to discuss it during the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address.

Following this, BJP members entered the well of the House in protest, leading to adjournment for lunch. Defending himself, Siddaramaiah alleged that the Opposition was indulging in “character assassination”. “I have already stated in public that I got the watch as gift in July from a Dubai-based NRI friend, by March I will declare about it in my IT returns. To Lokayukta I have to declare in June, I will be doing it. I have also said that I will deposit the watch to the state government,” he said. “FCRA is not applicable to this case as the person who gifted it is not a foreign national, but an NRI,” he added. Siddaramaiah has come under attack over his luxury diamond studded Hublot watch.

As the controversy erupted, he declared last week that the watch, claimed to be worth Rs 70 lakh, would be declared as state asset and handed over to the government. As Shettar questioned Siddaramaiah who claims himselfto be a “socialist” and “follower” of Ram Manohar Lohia for his conduct, Siddaramaiah in a rebuttal reminded BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wearing a “Rs 10 lakh monogrammed suit”.

When the House met after the lunch, BJP members continued with the protest by entering the well of the House demanding discussion on Siddaramaiah’s watch issue. As Speaker’s attempts to conduct the proceedings failed, he adjourned the House till tomorrow.

The controversy was stoked by JD(S) leader H DKumaraswamy after which the Chief Minister disclosed that the expensive watch was gifted to him by his close friend DrGirish Chandra Verma who visited India last July.

(PTI)

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