Urdu has become a minority language, laments Sharmila Tagore

February 19, 2017

New Delhi, Feb 19: Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore said that Urdu has "become static" and has been restricted to minority communities.Sharmila-Tagore

The 72-year-old actress, who was speaking at the "Jab Filmein Urdu Bolti Thi" session at the ongoing Jashn-e-Rekhta, said the language today is being spoken by "perhaps Muslims" alone.

"Traditions are vital to understand our history and to visualise a well-informed and balanced future. But Urdu, which has been an integral part of Indian history, has somehow become static. It has become a minority language, spoken by only the Muslims perhaps," Tagore said.
The language, which was once widely spoken in Delhi, bore the brunt of the Partition, which she said, "broke the literary tradition of the country".

While it became Pakistan's official language, in India it was left limited to mere corners of the country.

She went on to say that the language did not belong to any particular religion.
"It is not a language of Muslims only, or Pakistan's language. It is our language...and we would like to keep it like that," Tagore said.

Hailing from a Bengali family, the actress, who made her Bollywood debut with Shakti Samanta's 1964 film, "Kashmir Ki Kali" found it difficult to speak the Hindi prevalent in the industry at the time, let alone the nuances of Urdu.

"My will was negating (me) to learn it. But, I imbibed it and now I feel culturally rich and enhanced," she said.

But, it was her marriage to celebrated cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who belonged to a traditional Urdu-speaking family that made her understand and learn the language better over the years.

Sharing an anecdote about her ignorance of Urdu literature during her early years in Bollywood, she recounted the instance when she told fellow actor Feroz Khan that her husband had penned a beautiful couplet for her, which was in fact written by Ghalib.

"I recited, 'Dil-e-nadan tujhe hua kya hai, aakhir is dard ki dawa kya hai.' Feroz said, 'You idiot woman, this is Ghalib, for God's sake'," she said.

Talking about the use of Urdu in Bollywood, she said it was actually Hindustani - a combination of Hindi and Urdu - that was widely popular in films.

"The marriage of the sister languages, Hindi and Urdu made the 1940s and 1960s very, very memorable," she said.

The actress was joined by legendary actor Prem Chopra and famous Hindi-Urdu screenwriter Javed Siddiqui on the panel.

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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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News Network
July 18,2020

Mumbai, Jul 18: Filmmaker and Yash Raj Films (YRF) chairman Aditya Chopra on Saturday recorded his statement with the Mumbai Police in connection with actor Sushant Singh Rajput death case, an official said.

Police have sought information about a contract signed between Rajput and YRF from Chopra who visited Versova police station this morning and left after four hours, the official said.

The "Chhichore" actor, 34, was found hanging at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14. No suicide note was found from the spot by the police.

The police are investigating allegations that professional rivalry, besides clinical depression, drove the actor to suicide.

Police are also trying to understand the reason behind Rajput ending his contract with YRF, the official said.

Earlier, the police had recorded statement of YRF's casting director Shanoo Sharma.

The police had recorded statements of 34 persons, including Rajput's family members and close friends like actors Rhea Chakraborty and Sanjana Sanghi, in connection with the case.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Friday dismissed the need for a CBI probe into the death case of Rajput, saying the Mumbai police are capable of handling the matter.

On Thursday, Rhea Chakraborty demanded a CBI inquiry to understand what "pressures" prompted Rajput to take the extreme step of suicide.

Rajput starred in films such as Shuddh Desi Romance', Raabta, Kedarnath and Sonchiriya. But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Mumbai, Jul 31: Maharashtra Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that the Enforcement Directorate should carry out an investigation in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case.

"There is a huge public sentiment about handing over #SushantSinghRajput case to CBI but looking at the reluctance of State Government, atleast @dir_ed ED can register an ECIR since misappropriation and money laundering angle has come out," tweeted Fadnavis.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that no FIR had been registered in Maharashtra yet and that the case must be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"There is a confrontation between two states and there has been no FIR registered yet in Maharashtra. Chirag (Paswan) had spoken to CM Thackeray that there should be CBI probe. All political leaders are demanding for it. It should be handed over to CBI," Paswan said.

A team of the Bihar Police that arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday, recorded statements of two persons, including actor Sushant Singh Rajput's sister, on Wednesday in connection with the case.

An FIR was filed by Sushant Singh Rajput's father against actor Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar on Tuesday.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

According to the Maharashtra Police, statements of 41 people, including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

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