While the Technology Exhibition is the new initiative of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) this year, another Exhibition "Freedom Movement and Cinema" put up by the Central Bureau of Communication is attracting people with its unique immersive experience.

The multi-media digital exhibition at the Campal Football Ground was inaugurated today by the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri Anurag Singh Thakur. The Minister said the Exhibition tells the complete story of India's Freedom struggle using many technological innovations. It is an inspiration for everyone who visits and particularly for the students, who can gain so much of information about our inspiring leaders".

The Exhibition conceived by CBC team under the overarching theme of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ sports a facade in the form of camera- lens. As one enters the Exhibition hall, a large 12 x 10 feet LED screen displays clips of the popular Doordarshan series 'Swaraj' which profiles life and contributions of various freedom fighters against colonial rule.

Moving forward, rare footages related to the Freedom Movement covering 1857 War of Independence, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Kalapaani, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad are displayed. Most of these footages have been sourced from the rich archive of the Films Division.

A Digital Flip-book displays Chronological journey of Indian Freedom Struggle in the form of posters curated by CBC. Songs which became the voice of freedom struggle can be listened to, even as the adjacent Sound Shower lets you listen to the speeches of the Indian Independence leaders.

Kadam Badhaaye Ja’-March with Netaji is an Augmented Reality experience, where one can March with India's inspirational leader in Azad Hind Fauz uniform and get his or her image captured.

An Immersive Theatre on 1857 War of Independence is a unique experience that is to be seen and felt, even as the virtual reality set helps you witness the Kakori Train Action in a new way.

A flip poster exhibition depicts the films that were inspired by the Freedom struggle and that contributed in nation building. Udaykaal, Upkaar, Mother India, Bose, the Forgotten Hero are some of the examples.

The CBC Exhibition also displays the Azadi Quest game and the newly launched Netflix animation series on freedom fighters.

The display part of Exhibition ends with the Discovery's Journey of India, which tells the story of how the nation has progressed in multi- dimensional fields.

At the Centre of the Exhibition Hall is the symbolic Shahidi Kuan or Martyr's Well of Jalianwala Bagh, where one can pay tributes to all the well-known and unsung heroes of India's Freedom Struggle.

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Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Top Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Saturday comfortably cruising towards her maiden electoral win from Wayanad in Kerala, as she surpassed the lead achieved by her brother Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls earlier this year with party leaders and ally IUML predicting a big win for her amid the counting trends.

The Congress-led UDF's candidate from this hill constituency, Priyanka, extended her lead by over 3.8 lakh votes after five hours of counting of the ballots in the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll, according to the Election Commission.

Reacting to the lead achieved by Priyanka, Congress' ally Indian Union Muslim League and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said she would get more votes than her brother Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls in April this year and will win by a record margin.

"An amazing first trend on counting day is the massive early lead for our leader @priyankagandhi ji in Wayanad, Kerala, by-election. People of Wayanad are surely going to record in victory margins today and Priyanka ji will make Parliamentary debut with a grand win," Reddy said in a post on 'X'.

IUML supremo Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said that going by the trends, Priyanka will get more votes than what Rahul got and the majority she achieves would also be higher than that of her brother.

A similar view was expressed by IUML's national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty.

On the other hand, BJP leader Anil K Antony, earlier in the day, had claimed that though Priyanka has achieved a good lead, her victory margin would be less than what Rahul got in the 2024 and 2019 LS polls in the hill constituency.

According to the latest EC figures, Priyanka had a lead of 3,82,975 with 5,78,526 votes. LDF's Sathyan Mokeri was behind her with 1,95,551 votes and NDA's Navya Haridas was in the third spot with 1,04,947 votes.

Rahul had got 6,47,445 votes and won by a margin of 3,64,422 votes against his nearest rival, CPI's Annie Raja, in the LS polls this year. In 2019, he had got 7,06,367 votes and had won by a margin of 4,31,770 votes.

After winning from Rae Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh as well, in this year's polls, Rahul vacated the Wayanad seat, and the party nominated his sister Priyanka, paving the way for her electoral debut.

The bypoll turnout in Wayanad, which has over 14 lakh registered voters, was around 65 per cent, a decline from the close to 74 per cent in the LS polls held in April this year and much lower than the over 80 per cent turnout in the hill constituency in the 2019 general elections.

The counting of votes commenced at 8 am with postal ballots being taken up first.

The strong rooms, where the EVMs were kept, were opened more than an hour before counting began.

The bypoll for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was held on November 13.

Of the 16 candidates who contested, the main contenders are Priyanka, ruling CPI(M)-led LDF's Sathyan Mokeri, a political veteran, and BJP-headed NDA's Navya Haridas.