Ali Fazal, Kumail Nanjiani on cloud nine after Oscar nods
Mumbai: Actors Ali Fazal and Kumail Nanjiani are ecstatic as their films "Victoria & Abdul" and "The Big Sick" respectively scored nominations at the 90 Academy Awards.
The Fazal and Judi Dench-starrer bagged two nods in Best Costume Design, and Best Make-up and Hairstyling categories and the actor feels grateful for the recognition.
"And here's to the @TheAcademy for nominating us for Costume Design and Hairstyling and Make up at the 90th oscars this year. It's an absolute honour.
"And my heartiest congratulations to all the other nominees in all categories. Great year and great films to be rubbing shoulders with," he wrote on Twitter alongside stills from the Stephen Frears-directed movie.
Nanjiani's film received one but major nomination in the leagues for the Original Screenplay Oscar, which the actor co-wrote with his wife Emily V Gordon.
The Pakistani-American actor-stand-up comic, who also stars in the biographical film, said the Oscar nomination is surreal feeling for him and he would "never get over" it.
"Emily and I met when she heckled me at a comedy show in the back of a diner in 2006. We wrote a movie about it and 12 years later we're nominated for an Oscar..." he tweeted.
He also praised "The Shape of Water" for scoring the highest (13) nominations at this year's Oscars.
"Also, how cool is it that a Guillermo del Toro monster movie is the leader in Oscar nominations? The answer is very.
It's very cool," he wrote.
"Kobe Bryant and I have the same number of career Oscar nominations," Nanjiani quipped.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who also stars in "The Big Sick", took to social media saying he was proud to be a part of the film.
"Congratulations @emilyvgordon and @kumailn for the #OscarNominations for Best Original Screenplay for @TheBigSickMovie. So proud to be part of this gem of a film," he wrote.
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Union government assumes full control over TV ratings, TRAI role curtailed: Report
New Delhi: The Union government has assumed full control over television audience measurement, removing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from oversight of the ratings system that underpins the country’s ₹36,000 crore television advertising market, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The report in Mint said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) now has exclusive authority over the framework governing how television ratings are measured and regulated. TRAI had been entrusted with oversight of TV ratings in 2012 during the UPA government’s tenure. TRAI is no longer mentioned in the relevant policy document, effectively vesting sole authority in the MIB.
The report said TRAI will continue to regulate other aspects of broadcasting, including channel pricing, advertising caps, interconnection and distribution norms, service quality and compliance standards. Its role in determining how ratings agencies track viewing behaviour has been withdrawn.
Television Rating Points (TRPs), which reflect viewership patterns, guide advertisers in deciding where to allocate spending across channels and time slots.
A government source quoted in the report said the ministry could modify TRAI’s decisions even when the regulator oversaw broadcasting.
A former CEO of Prasar Bharati told the newspaper that the MIB has historically regulated rating agencies through licensing and guidelines, and by holding them accountable under existing norms.
During its tenure overseeing ratings, TRAI had taken decisions affecting the broadcast sector, which included capping advertising time at 12 minutes per hour following complaints about excessive commercial breaks and it now remains unclear how these matters will be addressed under the revised arrangement.
Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at TRAI, was quoted as saying that merging regulatory functions with policy oversight and removing an independent regulator from the process was a retrograde step.
TRAI’s involvement in broadcasting had earlier attracted criticism as well. In 2012, its consultation paper on quantitative limits on television advertising was viewed by some as overlapping with the Advertising Standards Council of India’s code. Subsequent recommendations covering television audience measurement, ownership of news channels and issues such as paid news had also raised concerns among sections of the industry.
Television ratings have faced scrutiny in recent years, including during the controversy involving the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), where officials of the ratings body were prosecuted over allegations of manipulation of viewership data.
