Famous Marathi play ‘Natsamrat’ (Greatest Performer) has earned a niche position in the history of Marathi stage. Written by Dnyanpeeth awardee litterateur Kusumagraj over five decades ago, the play is revered for its plot, dialogues and message. The central character of a stage artiste counting his final days is a challenge for any actor who performs the role. Nana Patekar was one of them. The play was so popular that a Marathi movie based on it earned over Rs 150 crore. Some of the soliloquies of the main character are so long and need so much strength to deliver that they were most tiring for an actor, Nana had disclosed in one speech. He recalled how towering thespians like Dr Shreeram Lagoo, Datta Bhat, Chandrakant Gokhale and Yashwant Dutt who had depicted the unfortunate personality had died of heart attacks. It is ironical that Nana, appearing perfectly fit physically, should fall prey to a suspected heart condition. Several such unknown facets of Nana’s life are coming out through the respects paid to his memory by his co-workers and admirers. It makes one shudder to know that Nana was related to dreaded gangster Manya Surve, whose police encounter had become a sensation in the early 1980’s. Nana’s mother, fearing that he might be influenced by Manya, had sent her son to their Konkan village to avert the possibility. Fortunately, Nana did not choose a wrong path after returning to Mumbai some years later and started acting in experimental stage.

Veteran leader Sharad Pawar’s grandson-in-law has been allotted 1200 acres of land by the Maharashtra government on lease in Ahilyanagar’s district of western Maharashtra. The plot in Haregaon village has been entrusted to Vishwaraj Renewables Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based company owned by Sarang Lakhani, son-in-law of Supriya Sule, daughter of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo. As soon as the government’s decision came under fire, Supriya Sule maintained that her son-in-law’s business and professional activities were entirely his personal matter. She refused to say anything beyond that. Interestingly, Sarang is the son of BJP MLC Arun Lakhani, an ardent RSS volunteer from Nagpur. Arun is considered close to various bigwigs of the saffron organisation. The land held by the Maharashtra State Farming Corporation has been leased to the Lakhani company for 49 years, according to an order issued on October 5. The allotment comes within two weeks of the government allotting on lease 1500 acres of land to another private firm, Nibe Group, in the same cluster. The state government has also allotted 1500 acres to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Social activist Anjali Damania has questioned the allotment decision, taken without following a tender process. Damania claimed that the government had decided to develop a green energy park on the land through “Maha Urja” but just three months later, the same 1200 acres was allotted directly to a single private company in September. Revenue minister Chandrakant Bawankule has defended the decision, ruling out likelihood of any further fireworks.

Five years back the Biju Janata Dal government led by Naveen Patnaik had taken the initiative to build the ambitious the Shree Jagannath International Airport in Sipasarubali, Puri — the abode of Lord Jagannath. It has now received the official go ahead. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has agreed to take up its development as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has already granted the final Environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances. The airport is proposed to be developed over 1,164 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 5,631 crore across three phases via public private partnership model. The airport will have passenger handing capacity of 4.6 million per annum in phase-1. The question doing the round in Odisha is whether the Mohan Charan Majhi government can complete the project before his five-year term comes to an end in mid-June 2029? Very unlikely say sources.

It took the imagination of TVK and its leading film star   C Joseph Vijay to smash Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. Atleast emergence of Vijay as chief minister has raised a lot of hopes in Tamil Nadu politics. Or else how does one explain the unusual interest Latha Rajinikanth has begun showing to make some headway into politics. Yes, she has been camping in Delhi for the past few days. The buzz is Latha is lobbying to become an MP. If not her, she reportedly wants her superstar husband Rajinikanth to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha as an MP. It is being said Latha wishes for a parliamentary role for Rajinikanth since his contemporary Kamal Haasan is already an Rajya Sabha MP, courtesy DMK. The other buzz is that Dhanush, former son-in-law of the Rajinikanth and Latha, is also trying to register his political party. Latha, it seems, has already met with central ministers including Prahlad Joshi, Rajnath Singh and others. Latha has been wanting to meet with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. What may come in the way of Latha being considered for a Rajya Sabha berth are some ticklish legal issues. Media reports indicate petty municipal dues that could eventually get sorted out.

Finally, a Mumbai player and its captain Siddhesh Lad expressed happiness at returning to the Mumbai Cricket Association’s primary venue in South Mumbai — the Wankhede Stadium — to play a Ranji Trophy match. For years, the Mumbai team preferred to play the Ranji Trophy at the suburban venue at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. But the new domestic season, which gets off the ground on Sunday (Oct 11), will see the 42-time champion team take on Chandigarh at the ‘D’ road venue in Churchgate. Runs scored and wickets taken at a Test match venue — regarded by none other than Michael Atherton as a great venue for the game — carry their weight and value. The Wankhede tests first-class cricketers; a good one will prosper. Its red soil base helps the bowlers as well; ask Ravichandran Ashwin! Both the home and visiting teams will enjoy their success twice over. Even the senior national selection committee will reward players who do well at a Test venue. Mumbai players, many of whom are in the upper band of talent, have a chance to grab their opportunity. Lad at 34 has been named captain; he was a budding talent, but he may have missed the big-league bus. When on song, he is a delight to watch. Lad said the team feels good to be back at the Wankhede, and as a youngster, it was a dream to play there. “We are all looking forward to playing at the Big-W”, Lad said. The shift from BKC to Wankhede will motivate the players who wear the Lion crest with pride. For the Chandigarh team, the four-day match will be memorable, but Lad and his team will hope for a strong start.

It is now becoming increasingly clear Congress leaders — Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — stole the show at the INDIA bloc march to the Election Commission’s office in Delhi on October 6 with the sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan. They were simply not bothered about coordinating with other Opposition parties nor were they worried about Opposition unity. They seemed more worried to better the CJP record of protest — which incidentally is going to be held on October 10. Surely, the media focus on Gandhi siblings’ antics on the streets in the past two days so upset Congress’s allies that many leaders felt the mega protest eventually became a Gandhi siblings’ show. Many leaders questioned the Gandhis’ move for a sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan while other Opposition leaders were being detained. Apparently, the sit-in protest was not part of the plan. While Rahul’s aides tried to explain about the Gandhis sit-in protest at Akashvani as a move to get appointment with the CEC, many Opposition leaders found Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on meeting the CEC as very odd. Did the Gandhis take 200 Opposition MPs who had gathered at Parliament’s Makar Dwar on October 6 for granted? So it was not just the DMK that skipped the Opposition event. Even Samajwadi Party not only chose to keep away from the Gandhi show but also skipped the Cong lunch invite at Sagar Ratna. Explaining the many who missed the lunch event, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh in post on X insisted that all INDIA janbandhan parties had been invited for the lunch. However, since the decision for the lunch had been taken late last night and communicated. It was therefore natural that some parties could not be represented.” At the same time, he protested about the Gandhis being arrested once again. Meanwhile there was outrage on X about Rahul Gandhi spotted manhandling a Delhi woman police official.

It seems Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and leader of Odisha opposition Naveen Patnaik is now shifting from his quiet demeanour to an active communication offensive. He and his party members are now getting ready for an all-out media war against Mohan Charan Majhi’s government by having a highly coordinated media and public outreach strategy. The idea is to expose, highlight the state government’s failures, lapses and mis-governance to the people at large. As part of this plan, Naveen Patnaik has already reorganised BJD’s media cell. This means restructuring the party’s communication road map covering digital, print, and electronic media. Objective is to divert growing public discontent of BJP’s administrative failure into a structured, state-wide campaign against Majhi’s government. Political analysts decoding Patnaik’s new strategy say that Naveen babu has realised that his earlier defeat was due to BJD’s weak social media narrative. And the current media strategy is an antidote to the earlier gap. The job ahead for BJD media team is cut out because it’s taking the role of self- managed PR strategy which has its distinct strategic benefits but also challenges with regard to core execution requirements.

Not just in India, particularly South Indian homes but in the U.S. too mornings are ushered in by that magical voice waking up Lord Rama…“Kausalya Supraja Rama Poorva Sandhya Pravarthathe.” The evenings resonate in temples and homes with the legendary Carnatic vocalist M S Subbulakshmi’s sublime recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranamam.  Is it then surprising that a production team launched a biopic on her titled M.S. – A Legacy On Screen? The decision to cast Rashmika Mandanna in the title role did not create waves of talk, surprise and surmise. Whoever played that role was bound to draw audience, magnetically, going beyond a heroine to remember Bharat Ratna recipient M S Subbulakshmi and her beauty. MS would come on stage in her custom woven Kanchipuram silk, diamond studded nose and earrings…glinting, glittering and gleaming in the arc lights. When Kamal Haasan sounded the first clap for the official launch of the biopic at Chennai’s music academy, Rashmika Mandanna must have felt goosebumps and trepidation. Can I play this legendary artist? Director Gowtam Tinnanuri must have calculated the gains and risks …knowing fully well that Rashmika or anyone else with the right makeup, jewellery and stunning saris would carry the biopic on her shoulders. Vidya Balan too had been “look tested” earlier. Though Vidya looked stunning, the casting coup did not happen. Rashmika has announced that after the biopic hits the cinemas, she would take a five-year break…to stay home and enjoy family life to the fullest. She would start her second innings after that hiatus ….Rashmika is wise beyond her age …after playing MS, even if she retired she could still cherish the role of her life. Legends come rarely.

It is learnt that the Modi government which is formulating a new industrial policy is exploring the use of land belonging to PSUs and factories closed for ages for creating space for new industries. The industries department is already inspecting the defunct Hindustan Cables and Hindustan Fertiliser units in the Asansol-Durgapur industrial belt. The government is also consulting the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and other industry bodies to identify closed industrial units whose land could be reused. According to secretariat sources, the industries department has prepared a preliminary list based on a BCCI report. The list shows at least five closed PSUs in Asansol-Durgapur together hold around 2,095 acres, including water bodies. Hindustan Cables and Hindustan Fertiliser account for nearly 1,488 acres, though parts of some properties are reportedly encroached upon. Other units identified include Cycle Corporation of India, Sen-Raleigh Cycle Company, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC), Bharat Ophthalmic Glass Ltd, Hindustan Pilkington Glass Factory and Kesoram Industries’ Refractories Division. MAMC has 193.67 acres, including 153.4 acres unused, while Cycle Corporation has around 239.1 acres, of which 178.42 acres is unused and 16.81 acres comprises water bodies. Six closed National Jute Mill Corporation together have nearly 400 acres along the Ganga. Moreover, sources said no legal complications have been found so far, while the Centre plans phased auctions. Industry bodies have also identified about 975 acres at Burn Standard’s Howrah and Raniganj units and 70 acres at Jessop in Dum Dum. The Centre and NCLT are moving to sell these properties to promoters. Other properties include 69 acres of NISCO land at Belur and 250 acres of Dunlop land at Sahaganj.

In a heart-warming move, PM Modi had a emotional chat with Captain Smit Machchhar, who survived a savage axe attack inflicted on him by an Omani co-pilot on the ill-fated Flydubai flight on September 30. Incidentally the Modi-Machchhar chat on Oct 2 managed to puncture the opposition protests on the CEC. As the emotional conversation dominated news headlines, slogans at Jantar Mantar became a faint echo. Incidentally, on the day Modi connected with Capt Smit, UAE Presidential Advisor Anwar Gargash described the attempted hijacking of Flydubai flight to Tel Aviv as a “terrorist act”.  Gargash also praised Indian Captain Smit Machchhar as a “true hero” for helping avert a potential disaster. Abu Dhabi publicly condemning an attack targeting a flight to Israel was seen as a bid to strengthen Israel-UAE ties. PM Modi praised the captain’s bravery in saving numerous lives. During the video call, Machchhar, who is currently recovering at a hospital in the UAE, shared his personal experience and explained that chanting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ gave him courage during the incident. “I was fighting for my life. I realised at that time that if I don’t show courage, then 170 passengers will lose their lives.” PM Modi had spoken to Capt’s wife and parents, a day earlier and assured them full support from Indian missions. As the pilot apologised to PM Modi for breaking down mid-call, he said that he never imagined that he would get the opportunity to speak to the PM. Modi and the pilot exchanged a few words in Gujarati. It is perhaps this Gujarat connection that must have made the Congress and Rahul Gandhi go silent on not celebrating a hero toasted by the nation! UAE is also probing if the Omani hijacker had Pak links.