Have no right to compete with Salman's magnitude: Karan Johar
Mumbai, May 19: Filmmaker and producer Karan Johar said the makers of "Lust Stories" have no right to compete with the magnitude of Salman Khan as his forthcoming movie "Race 3" which is also releasing on June 15.
Karan Johar, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film "Lust Stories", said this on Friday while interacting with the media along with Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Zoya Akthar, Jaideep Ahalwat, Dibakar Banerjee, producer Ronnie Screwvala and Ashi Dua at the trailer launch of the movie.
When asked whether "Lust Stories" has the power and lust to overpower Salman Khan's "Race 3" on June 15, Karan said: "Of course not. Salman Khan is on a different platform. He is the big master of mainstream cinema."
"'Race 3' is going to be humongous film. It's a franchise film and its totally different film into totally different syntax. We are not competing with him."
"We don't have that ability to fight with Salman or 'Race 3'. We are actually very happy four filmmakers who have made a tiny little film for which we are grateful to Netflix. We don't have right to compete with the magnitude of Salman. I probably will go to watch 'Race 3' instead of 'Lust Stories' on June 15."
When asked whether Netflix gave him the platform to tell a story the way he wants, Karan said: "I definitely believe that the film is pushing some boundaries but I would be happy to do the same even in films."
"Just because this film is called 'Lust Stories', it doesn't mean that you can show overt amount of sex scenes and it has got something that is out there and in your face. All stories in this film are very emotional and deep stories."
Throwing some light on the concept of the film, he said: "We all know film is called 'Lust Stories' so the film is about love and lust. I think it's exciting that we all decided on this theme together and thought that all directors would have an individual interpretation of love and lust so invariably when you have given choice between love and lust, more sensible people will choose lust only because it's infinitely more exciting than love is."
Karan said just like men, even women have the right to seek pleasure.
My film is about seeking pleasure. It's also about the fact that it's not just the man's right to seek pleasure, it's also a woman's right."
Karan's short film "Ice-Cream" features Vicky Kaushal, Kiara Advani and Neha Dhupia in lead roles.
"Lust Stories" include four short stories; each of them has been directed by Karan Johar, Zoya Akthar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap.
The film "Lust Stories" will release on June 15 on Netflix.
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Rupee falls 8 paise to hit all-time low of 84.50 against US dollar
Mumbai, Nov 21: The rupee depreciated 8 paise to settle at an all-time low of 84.50 against the US dollar on Thursday, dragged down by massive sell-off in domestic equity markets and surging crude oil prices amid a volatile geopolitical situation.
According to forex traders, the American currency strengthened due to safe-haven appeal amid escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine, while the continuous outflow of foreign funds also put pressure on the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.41 and touched the lowest-ever level of 84.51 against the greenback during intra-day. The unit ended the session at 84.50 against the dollar, surpassing its previous all-time low closing level of 84.46 recorded on November 14.
On Tuesday, the rupee had settled flat at 84.42 against the US dollar.
The foreign exchange market was closed on Wednesday on account of assembly elections in Maharashtra.
"We expect the rupee to trade around 84.5 against the dollar by end December. A strong dollar continues to create a depreciating bias for currencies globally and is likely to sustain FPI outflows from Indian markets in the near-term.
"However, interventions by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), supported by India's healthy foreign exchange reserves, should help keep rupee volatility in check," said Rajani Sinha, Chief Economist, CareEdge Ratings.
FPIs have withdrawn approximately USD 4 billion from Indian markets in November, following a record USD 11 billion in outflows in October. While high US Treasury yields and a strong dollar have contributed to these outflows, other domestic factors have also been at play, such as muted corporate earnings and high valuations.
"Over the medium-term, we expect the rupee to trade around 84 by the end of FY25, supported by India's strong fundamentals, including a manageable current account deficit, inclusion in global bond indices, fiscal consolidation and stronger growth relative to other emerging markets. These factors should help maintain India's attractiveness as an investment destination," Sinha added.
Sinha further said "going forward, it will be crucial to monitor the implementation of Trump's policies and China's response, as these will play a key role in shaping market dynamics."
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.02 per cent at 106.66.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged by 1.84 per cent to USD 74.15 per barrel in futures trade.
Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst - Commodity and Currency, LKP Securities, said the rupee weakened as pressure mounted due to the dollar scaling higher above 106.65 amidst renewed global uncertainties with geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine adding to global risk aversion.
At the same time, sell-off in domestic equity markets was fuelled after the Adani Group faced bribery and fraud charges in the US. "This has further fuelled FII outflows, continuing the trend of capital flight from Indian markets," Trivedi said.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 422.59 points, or 0.54 per cent, to close at 77,155.79 points, while Nifty tanked 168.60 points, or 0.72 per cent, to settle at 23,349.90 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,320.68 crore, according to exchange data.
