Entertainment
Stories of my films have their roots in Nagpur: Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani, the poster boy of thought-provoking cinema in India, is arguably the most sought after filmmaker in Bollywood with his hundred percent success ratio at the box office with all of his films being the Bollywood grocers – PK, 3 Idiots, Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Munnabhai M.B.B.S. This proud Nagpurian never falls short of words when it comes to attributing his success to his learnings at his hometown Nagpur. In an exclusive interaction with Raju, when Nation Next asked Raju that as a persons creative work also bears a reflection of the place he belongs to, does Nagpur and its culture reflect in his films, pat came the reply: “Absolutely! I’m of the strong belief that small towns like Nagpur are the best places for children to grow up. Here, you get exposed to people; and stories come from people. In big cities like Mumbai and Delhi, there’s hardly any time left for kids to get exposed to the real world. Whatever you see in my films today is because of my experiences in Nagpur. Stories of my films have their roots in Nagpur. The reason I could make Munnabhai MBBS was because I spent a lot of time with medical students in Nagpur,” said Rajkumar Hirani, elaborating further, “I couldn’t get admission into a medical college but I had a lot of friends studying at Government Medical College, Nagpur. They stayed in the college hostel, where I would spend a lot of time with them. One day, I saw that the ashtray used by my friends looked like a skull. When I said that it was a damn good-looking ashtray, they told me it was a real skull. I couldn’t believe it!
There was a student at Government Medical College, Nagpur, who used to slip Playboy magazines in the rooms of his fellow students to distract them during exams to beat them in competition. I used this story in 3 Idiots. I used to note all these strange things and such experiences became a part of my films. The scene in 3 Idiots, where Madhavan goes to his father and tells him that he doesn’t wish to do engineering, has been borrowed from a similar interaction of mine with my dad. I was studying chartered accountancy and I realised in-between that I wasn’t good at it. I went to my father and told him the same.
Nation Next salutes the maverick filmmaker for putting Nagpur on the national entertainment map! Thank you Raju!
Bollywood
Ram Kamal Mukherjee named ‘Best Director’ for his short film ‘Ek Duaa’ at IWMBuzz Digital Awards
Ram Kamal Mukherjee (R) whikle receiving the ‘Best Director’ trophy at IWMBuzz Digital Awards ceremony in Mumbai
Filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee won the ‘Best Director’ award for his short film ‘Ek Duaa’ at the recently held IWMBuzz Digital Awards ceremony at Taj Lands End in Mumbai. The film is produced by Esha Deol Takhtani and Assorted Motion Pictures. Apart from winning the award, it was a special occasion for Mukherjee as two other films he directed also got recognized.
Esha won the ‘Best Actress’ award in the popular categories for her critically acclaimed performance in ‘Ek Duaa.’ After accepting the award, Esha said: “This film is extremely special for me, because I turned producer with this film and I would like to give entire credit to captain of the ship Ram Kamal Mukherjee for bringing such a wonderful subject to me.”
Avinash Dwivedi won the ‘Most Promising Debut’ award for his acclaimed performance in ‘Rickshawala,’ a film directed by Mukherjee. Avinash, who was accompanied by his wife and actor Sambhavna Seth, said: “This is beyond my expectation that today I am getting this recognition as an actor amidst all Bollywood celebrities for my role in Ram Kamal sir’s film Rickshawala. To get honoured for a regional cinema amidst such Bollywood biggie reinforced my faith in good content.”
Gurmeet Choudhary won the ‘Most Popular Actor’ award for his performance in Mukherjee’s film ‘Shubho Bijoya.’ Choudhary said: “Ram Kamal is an amazing story teller. When he narrated this story to me and Debina, we knew that this film will click instantly. I am honoured to receive this award, though the competition was really tough. I thank my fans and jury members who voted for me.”
Other winners at the award ceremony included Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani, Rakul Preet, Raveena Tandon, Huma Qureshi, Dino Morea, Sikander Kher, Sonu Sood, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga, Manish Paul and other popular names from the Hindi film industry.
The much awaited Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt wedding fans had been eagerly waiting for finally got solemnised today afternoon in the presence of close friends and family members at Ranbir’s residence ‘Vastu’ in Mumbai. Check out some pictures of the same…
Alia took to her social media to write, “Today, surrounded by our family and friends, at home … in our favourite spot – the balcony we’ve spent the last 5 years of our relationship – we got married.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt
Bollywood
The Kashmir Files should be declared tax-free in Maharashtra, says BJP spokesperson Rajeev Panday
BJP spokesperson for Maharashtra Rajeev Panday, while speaking to Nation Next, said the controversial movie ‘The Kashmir Files,’ which grossed over ₹240 crore in India, should be made tax-free in the state.
Panday told Nation Next, “The movie has managed to depict, if not all, the brutalities on Kashmiri Pandits. It is a bold representation of truth. Kashmiri Pandit community was forced to leave their own homes in the country. Imagine their plight! Maharashtra government should make it tax-free in their state like the BJP did.”
The movie, which is based on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, has been made tax-free in at least BJP-run eight states namely Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Goa, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had also received requests asking him to exempt the film from entertainment tax in the state.
Rajeev Panday
Couples have a blast, win awards at ‘Hollywood Oscar Night’ in Nagpur
Renowned singer KK passes away at 53
Disgruntled Ashish Deshmukh resigns as Maharashtra Congress General Secretary
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Shatrughan Sinha, Prithviraj Chavan grace Ranjeet Deshmukh’s 75th birthday celebrations in Nagpur
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Ranveer Allahbadia interview: Meet the man behind popular YouTube channel BeerBiceps
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Meet Gurudas Raut: The physically disabled cricketer who took Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket
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