New Delhi, July 11: After meeting actor Kamal Haasan last month, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has had a meeting with Tamil film director Pa. Ranjith, who had directed Dalit-centric blockbuster movies featuring superstar Rajinikanth.

"I met film director P A Ranjith the man behind blockbuster films like Madras, Kabali and Kaala and actor Kalaiyarasan, in Delhi yesterday (Tuesday)," Gandhi said in a series of tweets.

"We talked about politics, films and society. I enjoyed the interaction and look forward to continuing our dialogue," he added.

Replying to Gandhi's tweet, Ranjith wrote: "IMP.meeting with @RahulGandhi about politics and art. Discussed caste and religious bias threatening the core of our secular constitution."

"Thanks for having me over Sir. Looking forward for our discussion taking shape. A national leader engaging with people from all ideologies is very encouraging!" he added.

Rajinikanth, who has announced plans to start a political party, has talked about "spiritual" politics being his motivating factor. At a function in Chennai on Wednesday, he reportedly said that God's blessings were necessary to succeed in politics along with hard work and commitment.



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Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.

Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”

He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.

His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.

Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.

He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.

“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.