Mysuru: Rahul didn't contest from Karnataka fearing "revenge" from Deve Gowda, says Modi
Mysuru, Apr 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said Congress president Rahul Gandhi did not contest Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka fearing revenge by coalition partner JDS' supremo H D Deve Gowda for being 'backstabbed' by Sonia Gandhi when he was removed as prime minister.
Addressing a rally here, he said the only vision and agenda of the Congress was "Modi Hatao" (remove Modi), which was also shared by the partners of "Mahamilavat", a derisive reference to the "grand alliance" of opposition parties.
Modi said Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has become a "punching bag" for the Congress.
He said though the Congress was sharing power with JDS in the state, Gandhi preferred Kerala for his second seat besides the traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh rather than Karnataka.
Modi claimed this was because the Congress feared that Gowda might take revenge over former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi "backstabbing" him when he was removed as prime minister heading the United Front government in 1996.
He also said one could imagine the plight of the Congress today when its president's existing seat itself was in danger, referring to Rahul Gandhi contesting from the second seat of Wayanad in Kerala.
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'Dhurandhar' will give rise to new crop of directors: Ram Gopal Varma
Mumbai (PTI): Comparing “Dhurandhar” to his cult classic “Satya”, Ram Gopal Varma says he feels glad that the 1998 gangster drama served as the baseline for Aditya Dhar who, he believes, has changed the grammar of commercial filmmaking.
Varma has been effusive in his praise for Dhar, who has written, directed and co-produced "Dhurandhar" and its follow-up "Dhurandhar: The Revenge".
The second part of the Ranveer Singh-starrer released in theatres on March 19 and has already collected more than Rs 145 crore on its opening day.
“‘Dhurandar’ is not just a film, it changed the grammar, it changed people's mindset. It will definitely give rise to a new crop of directors, taking this as a benchmark,” Varma told PTI in an interview.
The filmmaker is known for revolutionising the gangster genre with “Satya”, a Mumbai-set crime drama that redefined realism in Hindi cinema and introduced a character-driven narrative. The film featured J D Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpayee, Saurabh Shukla and Urmila Matondkar.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, "Dhurandhar" is a spy action thriller in which an Indian agent, Jaskirat Singh Rangi aka Hamza Ali Mazari, goes deep undercover inside Karachi's criminal underworld and then works to dismantle a terror network targeting India.
The narrative draws on the backdrop of real events including the IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“In today’s directors, after having seen ‘Dhurandhar’ I feel he (Aditya) is way up...I remember telling Aditya about how he has managed to up the whole thing of what I started with ‘Satya’... If ‘Satya’ is one, then I would say it is (‘Dhurandhar’) 10x. I told him all this,” said Varma, also known for 90s and early 2000s crime dramas such as “Shiva”, “Rangeela”, “Company” and “Sarkar” franchise.
When asked about fans pointing out similarities between “Satya” and “Dhurandhar” in many reels on social media, Varma said every filmmaker gets inspired by the work of their predecessors.
“‘Satya’ also took it from ‘The Godfather’. Everyone will take it from somewhere, that is a part of being a filmmaker,” he said, adding he is rather impressed with the man who posted the reel.
Actors R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi returned for the second part, which is produced by Aditya Dhar, Jyoti Deshpande and Lokesh Dhar.
