Jewellery worth Rs 11 lakh stolen from car at Panambur beach

Ernakulam, May 25: Miscreants belonging to self-proclaimed Hindutva outfits have demolished a church set erected for the shoot of a Malayalam film at Kalady in Kerala’s Ernakulam district.

The set was erected to shoot the climax scene of the super hero film Minnal Murali, directed by Basil Joseph and starring Tovino Thomas and newcomer actor Femina.

The incident took place on Sunday. Members of the Antharashtra Hindu Parishad claimed that with the help of their sister outfit Antarashtra Bajrang Dal, they demolished the church set, erected on an island on the Periyar river in Kalady.

Hari Palode, the General Secretary of AHP, an organisation founded by Praveen Togadia, boasted on Facebook that they were not used to pleading to anyone, and decided to demolish the church set that was constructed near the Adi Sankaracharya mutt. 

“When they built such a structure in front of the Mahadeva shrine in Kalady, we said no. We had also submitted several complaints. We do not have the habit of pleading. We decided to demolish it. Our self respect must be protected at all cost,” AHP’s General Secretary Hari Palode wrote on his Facebook post along with pictures of members demolishing the set. 

The post also credited members of the Anrarashtra Bajrang Dal and its Ernakulam Division President Malayatoor Ratheesh for participating in the ‘service work’ of razing the church set. 

Mini Biju, member of Kalady Town panchayat confirmed that the film unit had indeed secured permission from the department before going ahead with the construction of the set.

“They had submitted a letter seeking permission to raise a temporary set. This was back in February before construction began. The panchayat committee had approved this request,” Mini said.

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Veteran actor and comedian, Rajagopal, who was known for his outstanding mimicry skills in Sandalwood breathed his last on the night of July 1, that is yesterday. He was one of the favourite comedians among the audiences and is said to have been suffering from kidney and asthma problems.

He passed away at his residence in Bangalore.

The well-recognised comedian has worked in more than 600 movies in his career, along with Tamil movies. The actor was active in the film industry since 1983 and had acted with many stars like Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Prabhakar among others. He is also known for mimicking actress Kalpana's voice very well.

Recently, he also had claimed that new directors, new producers in the Kannada film industry had not been calling veterans to play parts in their movies and preferring fresh talent. He also had been going through a financial crisis due to the lockdown. Rajagopal has also worked in TV serials for some time in his career.  He has acted in super hit movies like, ‘Real Police’, ‘Sadakaru’, ‘Goosi Gang’, ‘Super Police’, and others as well.

The lockdown has seen the demise of many South Indian stars. Chiranjeevi Sarja too passed away last month, leaving the industry in shock. Now, a famous comedian's demise has also saddened the industry further.

Davanagere, Jun 2: A special pooja was performed by Honnali BJP MLA and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's political secretary MP Renukacharya at Hirekalmatha, in Honnali against COVID-19.

A Nava Graha pooja was also performed for the betterment of those infected. Those present at the pooja maintained social distancing norms and covered their faces with masks.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 1,90,535 including 93,322 active cases. While 91,819 people have either been cured, discharged or migrated, 5,394 deaths have been reported.