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Shooting for Prophet film in Rajasthan hangs in the balance

[email protected] (TNN)
November 20, 2012
Majid-Majidi

New Delhi, November 20: Celebrated Iranian director Majid Majidi has set his sights on the sweeping desert sands of Rajasthan for his epic on Prophet Mohammed. However India's chance to be part of cinematic history hangs in balance with permission for the shoot of "Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be With You)" pending before the Indian government for the last one month.

Government sources have expressed concern over the "sensitive" subject but Majidi appears unfazed by this bureaucratic challenge. Speaking exclusively to TOI, Majidi in an email interview said, "We are just shooting one scene in India... 99% of the film has already been shot in Iran. There is just one war sequence mentioned in the Quran that requires elephants in a desert region and since elephants are not found in Iran hence we were looking at India and Rajasthan as an viable location option."

The director is also planning to visit the country in December and hopes to shoot for the current film project in December or January. India has had a chequered history with film permissions. While James Bond "Skyfall" famous train sequence could not be shot in India because of delay in permissions, Katheryn Bigelow struck lucky and was able to recreate Pakistan's Abbottabad in India for her Osama flick "Zero Dark Thirty."

Known for critically Rain, Song of the Sparrows and Children of Heaven Majidi is unfazed. "We'd like to shoot in India because we really like the country. In fact I am planning to shoot a film in the future in India based on an Indian subject and we feel that shooting this scene will be a great experience to meet and work with the Indian technical cast and crew and get to know the country even better."

Speaking about the film the director who is busy with the last leg of shooting said, "The film has been shot completely in Iran. A huge set of Mecca and Medina has been created on the outskirts of Tehran. An international cast and crew has been working on this project for the last two years."

Majidi's line producers Mumbai-based Eyecandy Films who are coordinating permissions in India are hopeful that the shoot will materialise. Eyecandy's Shareen Mantri said, "It is a landmark film being made by one of the most respected directors in the world. We hope that this will pave the way for more international projects to be shot in India."

Among the international artistes who are associated with the project include set decorator of Emir Kusturica's tragic-farce Underground Aleksandar Denic and three-time Academy Award winning Italian cameraman Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, Reds etc) have been working on this project for the last two years. The Oscar winning VFX supervisor Mr. Scott Anderson (Adventures of Tintin, King Kong, Terminator 2 etc) is doing our visual effects on the film.


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News Network
March 13,2020

New Delhi, Mar 13: Delhi's Tis Hazari Court on Friday sentenced expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and six others to 10 years imprisonment for the death of Unnao rape survivor's father. Sengar is already serving life imprisonment for raping the minor.

While sentencing them, District Judge Dharmesh Sharma said, "There can be no denying that rule of law was broken. Sengar was a public functionary and had to maintain the rule of law. The way the crime has been committed, it does not call for leniency."

Sengar and his brother Atul has been directed to give 10 lakh compensation to family of the victim for loss of their father. "There are four minor children involved, three girls and one boy. They have also been uprooted from native place," the judge said.

Seven people, including Sengar, his brother and two police personnel, were held guilty for culpable homicide and criminal conspiracy, earlier this month.

The case pertains to the death of rape survivor's father in custody on April 9, 2018. It was alleged that he was assaulted following a quarrel with some of the accused in the case.

He was taken to the police station and then framed for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm. Pursuant to this, he was sent to custodial remand, during which he died.

The case was transferred to Delhi from a trial court in Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court's directions in August last year. Both the death and illegal firearm case was later clubbed by the court.

During the arguments on sentencing on March 12, Sengar had told the court that he should be "hanged and acid poured into his eyes if he has done anything wrong".

The former MLA had also raped the daughter of the deceased in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district and was sent to jail for "remainder of his natural biological life", last year.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra has been admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon after he showed symptoms of COVID-19, sources said.

He is admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurgaon, hospital sources said on Thursday.

The BJP leader has shown symptoms of COVID-19, a source said.

Patra is one of the most visible BJP faces on news channels.

He is also very active on social media and posted several tweets on Thursday as well.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31: In Kerala, the prisoners will now work as employees in petrol pumps and take home a salary, as the Kerala government has rolled out Petrol Pumps from jail premises in association with Indian Oil Corporation.

Speaking to news agency, Rishiraj Singh, Jail DGP said that initiative to employ jail inmates in petrol pumps was taken as in Kerala there are many projects of which prisoners are a part of and are being employed.

"In petrol pumps, 15 jail inmates will be employed at each pump. The outlets of Thiruvananthapuram, Viyyur and Cheemeni jails have been started to function from today. 

Many express doubt whether the prisoners will try to escape. But my experience working with them prove otherwise. They are managing five cafeterias in the state and selling food prepared by them. We pay them Rs 220 per day for their work and the jail inmates are running it successfully particularly at COVID-19 times," he said.

The Indian Oil Corporation is investing around Rs 9.5 crore to set up four petrol pumps at the jail premises. The share of the jail department is Rs 30 lakh for setting up petroleum outlet. Other than the three presently, it will also be started in Kannur jail.

"The land has been leased to the Indian Oil Corporation for 30 years. The prisoners are employed here and for that, they underwent a training in petrol pump of IOC and the uniform will also be supplied by them, " said Rishiraj Singh About 25 cents in Thiruvananthapuram, 39 cents in Kannur, 25 cents in Viyur and 25 cents in Cheemeni open jail have been allotted.

Through this, the government will get Rs 5.9 lakh per month in rent. 

It also plans to expand the project in the future by setting up a CNG and electrical charging station. 

The petrol pumps will be also accompanied by public comfort stations.

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