Friendship Day: Telly stars recall fond memories
Mumbai, Aug 4: As the world gears up to celebrate Friendship Day on Sunday, small screen actors like Pearl Puri, Aashka Goradia and Sneha Wagh share their best moments with their friends.
For Aashka, visiting Thousand Islands with her best friend is the high point. "(It's) my most favourite memory... girls can be princess in a castle between a thousand islands. Best friends are those who spend a day at a castle," she said in a statement.
Actor Mishal Raheja said Rohan Tiwari is the only one who has been with him through thick and thin. "When it comes to fond memories, the one I can remember is when I shared his secret of an outdoor location where his girlfriend was hiding and staying in his room. He was late and I joked saying he is late because his girlfriend doesn't leave him and he was angry for the longest time. But bros are bros," he added.
Actor Adnan Khan believes that people don't need a specific day to celebrate friendship. "We should not need a reminder to tell our friends that they are special to us and we are blessed to have such great friends. Coincidently, my off-screen and on-screen best friend is Aashutosh Semwal. He knows me very well," said the "Ishq Subhan Allah" actor.
Shantanu Maheshwari, the host of "India's Best Dramebaaz", also feels it is "unfair" to celebrate friendship on one specific day. "It is something to cherish every day. I still remember during my school days, Friendship Day used to be a rage and kids used to take friendship bands very seriously. "
"Back then, I used to make my own friendship band for my close friends because I could not afford to buy fancy ones. I plan to spend Friendship Day with my close friends. The stupid little things we do is what makes our bond so special," he said.
Actress Yogita Bihani is generally busy shooting for her show. "But if given a chance, I would love to go out with my friends and do all the fun activities. Like going to some gaming parlour or some refreshing place and just chill with my friends," she said.
She considers her "Dil Hi Toh Hai" co-star Karan Kundra a "really good friend".
"He is someone who teases me and you can tease him too and have fun. We have so much fun on the set. Also, he is a friend who teaches you and someone you want in your life."
"Mere Sai" actress Sneha Wagh believes it is an important to stay in touch with old friends and on Friendship Day, she usually meets them for lunch or coffee to rejoice "this beautiful day".
Actor Vijayendra Kumeria, seen in "Udann", has three close friends -- Raj Iyer, Rohit Ahuja and Siddharth Dabhi -- from school.
"We are always available for each other at any given time. One memory that I will always cherish with them is the time when we all had gone for a school trip to Udaipur. All the students had to report for sightseeing at a specific time. Siddharth and I reached on time whereas Raj and Rohit were late and the coach left.
"When we returned, these two were so angry that they decided to 'unfriend' us. But they remained angry only for two hours. We still laugh whenever we think of this incident," he shared.
"Naagin 3" actor Pearl Puri recalled having lots of football friends with whom he used to play every evening after tution.
"Vikas Parashar is my one friend who's always had my back. Gymming becomes double fun when Vikas comes along. I think friendship is a really beautiful bond which is above all the insecurities and egos and that's what I like the most."
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
