The last few weeks have seen Virginia racked by government scandals, including Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring’s histories with blackface, and allegations of sexual assault against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Democratic Party leadership has since swiftly called for the resignations of Northam and Fairfax — demands that some on both sides of the aisle […]

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Former World no.1 badminton player Kidambi Srikanth has said that he was not happy with the unexpected break from the sport activities due to the lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Srikanth last played at the All England Championships in March, where he lost to China's Chen Long in the first round. "I am not really happy with this forced break. We, as players, usually would like a break from the regular stretch of tournaments, training and then playing tournaments again," Srikanth said in his column on Hindustan Times.

"Having said that, this is not exactly the kind of break we want to take. You do not want to be in a position where you cannot even train. Hence, this period is really very frustrating as neither can you go out, train or pretty much do anything." Srikanth said that most of his time went in sleeping and he spends about 15 minutes every day working out.

"With so much time available and nothing much to do, I have been sleeping mostly; that is where most of my time goes. I sleep for 12 to 14 hours every day, after which there is little time left anyway," he said.

Srikanth had been in the middle of a race against time to seal qualification to the Tokyo Olympics when the coronavirus pandemic exploded on a global scale. It ultimately led to an unprecedented postponement of the Olympics itself to 2021.

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Even after spending Rs 3.50 lakh and working for more than 30 days to set up the Dhobi Ghat police chowkie, the locals have not been able to get the structure inaugurated. Reason: The Dharavi police reportedly refused to attend the inaugural ceremony scheduled on Wednesday, just because the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has termed the structure illegal. More than 100 residents of the area are now trying to convince the police officers to help inaugurate the chowkie.

The civic body had demolished the beat chowkie last year after the walls of the structure developed cracks and it became dangerous. Even though at that time BMC had promised to rebuild it, no development happened thereafter. However, last month Dharavi Nagrik Seva Samiti took up the responsibility of rebuilding the structure and raised money for the purpose. After construction work started on January 15, the samiti decided to inaugurate it on Republic Day, but then they had to postpone it to February 6.

Meanwhile, BMC said that the structure would be razed, as there was no place for a chowkie in the area as per the development plan.

"The chowkie was first built in 1991. Since then it has been razed twice and rebuilt again. At that time BMC had no objections to the structure, but now they have issues," said a Dharavi resident.

"Due to BMC's negative approach, even the cops did not attend the inaugural ceremony. This is really disheartening for all of us," another resident said.

Speaking to mid-day, Siddharth Medhe, president of Dharavi Nagrik Seva Samiti, said, "We had planned the inauguration on February 6, but now it has been rescheduled. None of the cops confirmed their presence for the event. Hence, we had to cancel it. Members from our team will visit the officers to know their concerns and then decide on another date for the inauguration."

Even after several attempts to contact the senior police inspector of Dharavi police station, he refused to comment on the matter.

Popcorn

• Jan 15: Day construction work of the chowkie had started
• 70: No. of residents who have funded the project
• 1991: Year the chowkie was first set up

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Why do movie stars matter so much to us? May be, because cinema amplifies and engages with not the timidities of rational logics, but the boldness of the senses. Its hyperkinetic tangle of conventions and innovations, speaks to our urges, desires, emotions and intellect, allows us to be all this and also several people at one time, fluid, unlike the rigid identities of law, society, political correctness. Movie stars communicate these libidinal energies of cinema through a bodily presence. Star and audience, mirror and remember each other, in an intimate, mysterious embrace.

The three stars who died recently, each represented a specific era in this ongoing relationship.

Nimmi died in March, at 88. A major star of the studio era, she acted in India's first technicolour film (Aan, 1952). Often the feisty village belle, the unbound girl in the garden, she made heavy-lidded eye-contact with audiences in songs that yearn for love. Born Nawab Banoo, she was one of the last star-heroines from the tawaif communities. Practitioners of the sensual courtesanal arts—dance, music, poetry—tawaifs were erased from performing arts via colonial laws and rising nationalism, both squeamish about eroticism and pleasure. They transitioned to films, as producers, directors, actors, contributing to Bombay cinema's defining aesthetic—stylised eroticism through song, heightened emotive ada-kari, androgynous appeal, glimpsed in figures like Nighar Sultana and a focus on pleasuring the audience. With each filmic embrace we surrender to, each dance move we mimic, each song we sing, these aesthetics become part of us: a queer form of memory, bodily, but ephemeral.

Rishi Kapoor, who died at 67 last week, carried forward the sensuality through his dance and romance persona. His bodily vivacity fluidly merged masculine and feminine, past pleasures like qawwali and more contemporary pop enjoyments, even as parallel cinema's realism and masculine-centered Bachchan films began dominating. His beauty was delicate—androgynous pleasures—and he often paired with women whose attractiveness was more robust. Love was freedom, frolic, khullam khulla, yet luxuriously intimate, hum tum ek kamre mein.

Maintaining traditional cinema pleasures, he also replaced their stylised nature with a modern, casually stylish manner, pre-figuring later realist commercial film, into which he flowed with energetic ease, bridging two cinematic worlds.

Irrfan, who just passed away at 53, was an iconic figure in the post-globalisation emotional realist cinema with its cross-over films, less interested in symbolic storytelling, making room for more everyday characters. Some of this cinema believes in what I call aspirational realism, which considers older conventions of emotional and ornamental excess—like songs—as lesser. But, in fact, quite apart from his acting skills, what made Irrfan a star was the sexual intensity
of his presence—carrying forward that desi quality of emotional and sensual excess, something larger than life, yet intimate, to connect directly with the audience.

This is why I believe he was most compelling in films where he had a romantic track—Maqbool, Life In A Metro, Piku—and underserved by anaemic works like Lunchbox.

Critical culture sometimes favours a real estate mentality: location, yaniki cinema category, determines value and meaning. So it is, that too little has been said of Irrfan's cinematic, libidinal intensity, not enough about Rishi Kapoor's virtuosity. And barely anything about Nimmi. The artistes themselves defied categorisations.

Through cinema they straddled the cusp of worlds always changing, for better and worse simultaneously, just like us, helping us to flow with the flux.

Paromita Vohra is an award-winning Mumbai-based filmmaker, writer and curator working with fiction and non-fiction. Reach her at aromita.vohra@mid-day.com

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Khosla Ka Ghosla and Bheja Fry famed actor Vinay Pathak bid an emotional goodbye to actor Irrfan Khan, who passed away this morning due to cancer and colon infection-related complications.

"I am very numb right now. I don't know what to say, I am devastated. It's really heartbreaking. I can only imagine what his wife and kids must be going through. I can't talk much, I am sorry," said Vinay, when we contacted him for his reaction.

On the subject that Irrfan's demise is a big loss for the industry, he said: "All these are conversations. This is someone's personal tragedy because this news has shaken his family, his friends, and people like us who were very close to him. This we will debate after one month, on what the industry has lost. In my eyes, he was one of the most gifted and talented actors today," said Vinay.

Irrfan passed away in the wee-hours of Wednesday in Kokilaben Dhuribhai Ambani Hospital.

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Pakistani actor Saba Qamar, who starred opposite Irrfan Khan in 2017's "Hindi Medium", said she is at loss of words with the untimely demise of her co-star. The 53-year-old actor lost his battle with a rare form of cancer and died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday.

He was buried at the Versova graveyard in the afternoon. Saba said she does hope things were better between India and Pakistan as she wants to meet Irrfan's wife Sutapa and their two sons Babil and Ayaan. "I'm numb today. I still cannot accept the loss of a brilliant co-actor Irrfan. I really am at a loss for words. It's very heart wrenching for me to say rest in peace Irrfan. "I really hope things were better between our countries and I could go see his family but my heartfelt condolences to his family," Saba told PTI.

 

 

 

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Deeply disturbed to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. I still can’t absorb the news. It feels like yesterday coming back from the sets of Hindi Medium. You taught me a lot as an actor and a mentor. It is indeed a huge loss to the cinema world. Such a brilliant actor gone too soon. You left a huge irreplaceable void in Cinema Irfan. My heartfelt condolences to his family. May Allah give them strength to bear this loss. RIP Raj 💔 Yours Only, Meeta. 🌸

A post shared by 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐚 𝐐𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫 (@sabaqamarzaman) onApr 29, 2020 at 2:07am PDT

She said Irrfan's death is a huge loss to world cinema. "We lost a gem today. It's a huge loss to the cinema world and I hope we become able to bear that," she said. "Hindi Medium"', directed by Saket Chaudhary, marked Saba's debut in Bollywood. She received critical acclaim for her portrayal of a nouveau riche in the 2017 comedy drama. The actor had also paid tribute to Irrfan on Twitter. "Deeply disturbed to hear about the passing of Irrfan Khan. It feels like yesterday coming back from the sets of 'Hindi Medium'. You taught me a lot as an actor and a mentor. Such a brilliant actor gone too soon. I'm at a loss for words. RIP Raj Yours Only, Meeta #IrrfanKhan" she had posted.

Meanwhile, many other actors from Pakistan have also condoled Irrfan's sudden demise. Pakistani actor Imran? Abbas, who was seen in a cameo appearance in Karan Johar's "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil:, said art has no boundaries and he can feel the pain of his sudden demise. "Rest in peace the legend Irfan Khan!! You will surely be missed forever¿Since art has no boundaries, we can feel the pain and are equally grieved by your sudden demise...May Allah bless the departed soul. Undoubtedly, we all belong to Allah all mighty and have to return to HIM," he tweeted. Pakistani singer and actor Ali Zafar, who has acted in quite a few Bollywood films such as "Tere Bin Laden", "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan" and "Dear Zindagi", posted, "RIP #IrrfanKhan. You were inspirational and unparalleled." Pakistani actor Sajal Ali wrote, "Shocked and sad. What a brilliant actor he was! Rest In Peace #IrrfanKhan."

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