Actress Pavithra Menon slams Janhvi Kapoor’s Param Sundari for stereotypical portrayal of Malayalis
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Thiruvananthapuram: The trailer of Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor’s upcoming romantic drama Param Sundari has drawn criticism over cultural representation. Malayalam actress and singer Pavithra Menon accused the makers of misrepresenting Malayalis in Hindi cinema and questioned the decision to cast non-Malayali actors in such roles.
In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, August 14, Pavithra reacted to a scene where Janhvi’s character, Sundari, introduces herself in heavily accented Hindi as “Main Thekkapatil Damodaran Sundaram Pillai Kerala se.” She questioned, “What’s the problem in hiring a proper Malayali actor? Are we less talented?”
Switching between Hindi and Malayalam, Pavithra said such portrayals do not reflect reality in Kerala. She compared it to exaggerated depictions of Punjabis in Malayalam films of the 1990s and added, “It’s 2025. Everybody knows how a Malayali talks. We don’t just wear jasmine flowers and do Mohiniyattam everywhere.”
Clarifying that she had no personal criticism of Janhvi Kapoor, Pavithra said her concern was with authentic representation. The post received support from many followers, though some accused her of being ‘jealous’. She later deleted the video.
Param Sundari, directed by Tushar Jalota, is a cross-cultural love story featuring Sidharth as a North Indian man and Janhvi as a Malayali woman. The film is scheduled for release on August 29.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
