Forget India, the whole world will stand up and salute you: Shastri in rousing dressing room speech
Brisbane: There were smiles, lots of whistles and a round of applause to each other every few seconds as India coach Ravi Shastri got down to commending the "courage, resolve and spirit" of his wounded warriors in a stirring dressing room speech after the conquest at Gabba.
It was a little over three-minute speech that Shastri delivered after his injury-ravaged side chased down an imposing 328 in the fourth and final Test to hand Australia their first loss in 32 years at 'Fortress Gabba' to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in style.
"The courage, the resolve, the spirit, that you guys have shown is unreal. Not for once you were down, injuries, 36 all out (in the first Test), you had the self-belief in you," an emotional Shastri said with captain Ajinkya Rahane standing calmly by his side.
"It doesn't come overnight but now that you have this self-belief, you can see where you have taken a game as a team. Today forget India, the whole world will stand up and salute you.
"So remember what you guys have done today. You need to enjoy this moment, don't let it just go away, enjoy as much as you can," advised the young team.
Batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara, who took blows to his body but stayed firm, match-winner Rishabh Pant's extraordinary strokeplay, and young opener Shubman Gill's calm counter-attack drew special appreciation from Shastri.
"It started in Melbourne. Sydney was fantastic, it allowed us to come here even-steven. And to pull off something (like this) today was simply outstanding," said Shastri.
"Shubman great, great. Puji you will be known as the ultimate warrior," said Shastri to whistles, especially from young pacer Mohammed Siraj, and applause from the team.
"And Rishabh, simply outstanding. The way you were batting, you gave heart attacks to a few every moment but what you have done is magnificent," he added as the keeper-batsman looked on with a childlike grin on his face.
The man who continued to be resolutely calm amid the obvious excitement was Rahane and he nodded in acceptance as Shastri acknowledged his leadership.
"Jinx to lead the side from the position where we were and to make them bounce back and control things in the middle like the way you have done is simply, simply, brilliant," said the 58-year-old former all-rounder.
And finally, Shastri applauded T Natarajan, the net bowler who became a front-liner, and the duo of Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, the men who made as much difference with the bat as with the ball.
"...in this Test match, I would not want to forget is three debutants and their performances in that first innings. Nattu, Washi and I say Shardul because he was injured in the first Test he played (in 2018).
"For you to show that spirit, that's what broke the back of Australia, more than anything else, that we could come back and get 330 or 340 on this wicket after being 180/6," he said.
India will take on England in their next Test assignment scheduled to start from February 5.
WATCH - Exclusive: Head Coach @RaviShastriOfc delivers a dressing room speech at Gabba.
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 19, 2021
A special series win in Australia calls for a special speech from the Head Coach. Do not miss!
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It’s not a marketing gimmick: Vipul Shah on making ‘The Kerala Story 2’
Mumbai (PTI): Filmmaker Vipul Shah says he felt compelled to make a sequel to "The Kerala Story", his controversial 2023 movie about religious conversion, as he wanted to expose a "much larger evil" that extends beyond Kerala and across the country.
The sequel, titled “The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond”, hit theatres last week amid a huge controversy. The film depicts the stories of three Hindu women from different states who defy their families to marry Muslim men and are subsequently forced to convert.
Shah, who has co-written the film and produced it through the banner Sunshine Pictures, said there was no pre-planned franchise strategy after the first film, which earned over Rs 300 crore at the box office and won two National Awards.
“There was no plan to make even ‘Kerala Story 2’. But after ‘Kerala Story 1’, we started getting lots of stories, I realised that there is a much larger evil persisting not just in Kerala but across the country and we’ve to tell this story because it is much bigger and different than what happened in ‘Kerala Story 1’ and that's why we decided to make part 2.
"It was not like a marketing gimmick that, ‘Let's make part two, it's a good brand, let's take it forward’. No, nothing like that,” Shah told PTI in an interview.
While the first part, which was also based on the religious conversion and radicalisation of young women, was directed by Sudipto Sen, the follow-up is helmed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh.
Asked if there will be a third part of the franchise, Shah said there are no concrete plans yet.
“But if there are compelling stories coming our way, some new facts will come to light, maybe we will want to tell that story. But as of today, there is no plan,” he added.
While the creative process of making the sequel was “intense and passionate”, the release has been anything but smooth.
After its trailer was released online, the movie was labelled as hate propaganda by many on social media and in political circles.
Last week, a single bench of the Kerala High Court stayed the film’s release for 15 days. Shah subsequently moved a division bench in appeal, which set aside the earlier order, clearing the way for the movie’s release.
"We all knew the release would be a very big challenge. We had to go through a lot of scrutiny, first on social media, then through court. What's upsetting is that in this noise, the real subject which you reach out to people sometimes gets clouded. You don't want that, you want people to understand the reality of the subject. And look at it from a point of view that there are so many girls whose lives are getting lost.”
With the sequel now running in theatres, Shah claimed that theatre owners in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been receiving threats to pull the movie.
In Kerala, activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged protests outside theatres screening the film, saying they would not allow its screening as it allegedly depicts the state in a bad light.
“It is very disturbing news, some people are threatening the theatre owners in Kerala and Tamil Nadu... they are violating court orders by threatening theatre owners to stop showing the film.
"It is a violation of my right, it is a violation of the order of the court. I would urge both the governments and the chief ministers to take stringent action. Even if they don't agree with the film, it's fine, but that doesn't mean that they will not protect my right,” the producer added.
Though Shah has been making hard-hitting titles like “The Kerala Story” and “Bastar”, he said he has not abandoned commercial cinema.
He recently wrapped “Governor”, starring Manoj Bajpayee, and is gearing up for “Hisaab” with actor wife Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat.
“Since I made ‘Bastar’ and ‘Kerala Story’, people started thinking that I’ve decided that I will only make this kind of film. It is not true though. I’ll be making all kinds of films. That is what makes me creatively happy and I’m going to continue to do that,” said the producer, who has directed mainstream films like “Aankhen”, “Namastey London”, “Waqt” and “London Dreams”.
Shah said "Hisaab” is about a bank robbery, and he is looking to release it theatrically in June-July.
“I always wanted to make a unique bank robbery. It is unique, funny, and intelligent, just like ‘Aankhen’, which had three blind guys robbing bank. But this is extraordinary, far more believable, real and something like this has never been made in India,” the producer said.
