Actor Kamal drops another hint at taking political plunge

Agencies
October 26, 2017

Chennai, Oct 26: Giving further indication of taking a political plunge, veteran star Kamal Haasan has said he will come out with a 'communication strategy' on his birthday next month to keep in touch with youth.

"I can see that a youth force is waiting to be coordinated," the national award winner said. Enough pinpointings of shortcomings and "loot" has been made and the time has come for a "surgery" but any kind of "armed revolution" will bear no fruit since it involved more loss of humans, he said.

Writing in his weekly series in Tamil magazine 'Ananda Vikatan,' the actor titled it this week as "Be prepared..will tell all on November 7," which happens to be his birthday. His remarks come amidst strong buzz in political circles that he might make a concrete announcement on his political entry that day.

Expressing confidence in the youth population aged 18-35 years, he said he was "proud of" the thoughts and philosophy he had developed during the age group of 18-35 years.

"I can see that a youth force is waiting.. The requirement and duty for me to coordinate them has come.. I am going to work out and announce a way of seamless communication with them on November 7." "This will be not to interact, but will be one of training and workshops that will make plans," he said. 

His aim was not to just convene an assembly of supporters but a "large council of leaders," he said, adding the agenda of such an initiative will not be to just hold talks but to work out plans. 

Haasan said only those who wanted to do something for Tamil Nadu as a "duty" and not as a "sacrifice" are welcome to join him. "Enough of (hopes) that they (apaprently government) will do.. We can do.. I can do.. If I can do, you can do too," the multiple award-winning star said. 

Many organisations were ready to work with his movement, he said and pointed out one such group working against graft and hailed it for its contribution. He said efforts were on to ensure that he and his supporters were in touch with each other, besides the latter communication with people. "Announcements on these will be made on November 7," he added. Haasan has been critical of the AIADMK government, and had a few months ago charged it with corruption, drawing strong rebuke from the ruling party including Chief Minister K Palaniswami. Ever since, the actor has been vocal about many social and political issues, including outbreak of dengue and the Supreme Court's observation on playing national anthem in cinema theatres. 

He had recently extended support to the crew of Tamil film 'Mersal', starring Vijay, which had BJP fuming at some mocking references to Goods and Services Tax (GST) rolled out by the NDA government. The party had demanded deletion of the scenes saying 'incorrect references' had been made about the tax regime. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had met Haasan on September 21 here, setting off speculations of a new political alignment in the state where the former's AAP hardly has any presence.

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News Network
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: On the occasion of International Chess Day, former Miss World and actor Manushi Chhillar enjoyed a game of chess with her father Dr Mitra Basu Chhillar and revealed through an Instagram post that she is a "competitive" board game player.

The 23-year-old actor posted a picture of herself and her dad on Instagram where the two are seen deeply concentrating on the game.

"I'm the competitive one, he's the mind reader. Irrespective of who loses, I know he always wins!#InternationalChessDay."

Further elaborating on the importance of playing chess, Manushi who once pursued a career in medicine stressed that chess helps in stretching the human mind in terms of strategy and imagination.

"Chess stretches your mind in terms of strategy and imagination because you really have to outwit your opponent at any cost. 

Playing chess with my dad is something that I have always loved doing because he's the most unpredictable, intelligent, and sharpest person I've ever played with," said Chhillar.

The 23-year-old actor is gearing up for her debut in Yash Raj Films' 'Prithviraj' where she will be seen opposite actor Akshay Kumar.

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News Network
June 9,2020

New Delhi, Jun 9: Multiplex operator PVR on Monday said it has cut salary across various levels, laid off employees and deferred increments during the lockdown to mitigate adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

The company said at present it is not generating any revenue from exhibition business and related activities as cinemas across the country are shut following the directions from the regulatory authorities.

According to the company, closure of screens during the lockdown will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity.

PVR has taken measures to reduce its personnel cost, including salary cuts across various levels in the organisation during the lockdown along with "reduction in headcount by way of layoffs/retrenchment" to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the business.

Moreover, the board of the company, in its meeting held on Monday has also approved plan to raise Rs 300 crore through rights issue.

"Since Cinema Exhibition is the only business segment, company is currently not generating any revenue from admissions, food and beverage sales or other revenue and cash flow from operations," said PVR in an update.

Beginning from March 11, PVR started closing its screens in accordance with the order passed by various regulatory authorities and within a few days most of our cinemas across the country were shut down, it added.

The company will continue to incur committed cash outflows, including employee salary pay-outs, other overheads as well as payments for older working capital.

"This has and will have a significant negative impact on profitability and liquidity during lockdown and even thereafter till business comes to normalcy," it added.

Further, once the cinemas are re-opened, we may not be able to run our cinemas at normal capacity utilisation levels on account of social distancing measures that cinemas may be required to follow as well as health concerns that the patrons may have, the multiplex operator said.

"On account of this, our revenue and cash flow generation may be impeded even once we are allowed to restart operations," it added.

The company has also deferred decision on on increments to reduce its cost, it added.

PVR has also written to developers for waiving rental and CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges for the lockdown period.

It is in discussion with developers for reducing rentals post re-opening and has invoked force majeure clause in its agreements with them.

Besides, the company has raised additional borrowings from existing bankers to shore up liquidity.

"As of March 31, 2020 the company had cash and bank balance of Rs 316 crore. As on June 7, 2020 cash and bank balance is Rs 227 crore (including undrawn bank lines)," it added.

Over reopening of theatres, PVR said that the government has come out with a phase-wise schedule.

In these guidelines cinema halls have been kept in the third phase of re-opening, where dates will be decided based on assessment of the situation.

"We are in continuous engagement with all regulatory authorities and hope to receive the necessary permissions for restarting opening in the near future," it added.

Currently PVR operates 845 screens in 176 properties in 71 cities.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

New Delhi, Feb 25: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave time to Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to seek instructions on travel ban imposed on comedian Kunal Kamra.

Kamra approached the court against IndiGo which suspended him from flying with the airlines for a period of six months. Other airlines had also followed the suit in pursuance to this.

Justice Naveen Chawla said that the regulatory body should not have certified actions of airlines other than IndiGo to ban Kamra without conducting inquiry. The matter will now be heard on February 27.

Last month, IndiGo had barred the stand-up comedian for six months from using its services for allegedly portraying "unacceptable behaviour" onboard its flight.

The airline claimed that Kamra, while travelling on a Mumbai-Lucknow IndiGo flight, provoked a TV news anchor by asking questions over his news presentation style.

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