- 4 months ago
This edition of Super 6 examines actor Vijay's entry into politics with his party, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), and its potential impact on the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're watching Super 6 here on India Today. I'm Akshita Nantagopal.
00:05We've got lots lined up for you over the next 60 minutes here on Super 6.
00:09But first, let me give you a glimpse of what to expect.
00:12Our top story is the Vijay factor in Tamil Nadu.
00:16With months to go for the elections, Vijay is creating quite a bit of buzz or ground in the state.
00:22As both the DMK and the AIA DMK are focused essentially on attacking him on one issue or the other.
00:29Which is why we're saying that Talapati is now setting tea in Tamil Nadu.
00:34Tea meaning fire. And of course, if you're a Vijay fan, you know of the very famous song,
00:38Tea Talapati, because that's exactly what's happening right now in Tamil Nadu.
00:43We're going to be talking about that. We'll also have our panelists on the broadcast to decode for you
00:47whether Vijay can actually create an impact in the upcoming 2026 Tamil Nadu elections or not.
00:53Let's begin first with our top story and getting you details of the reactions that are coming in on Vijay.
01:00Is he a factor in Tamil Nadu? Is he not? Will he ally with the AIA DMK? Will he fight it out alone?
01:06Is he BJP's B team or is he DMK's B team?
01:09Well, the political narrative in Tamil Nadu seems centered right now around one man, Vijay, and his party, TVK.
01:15He's holding weekend rallies and that's creating quite a buzz, clearly ruffling some feathers as well.
01:22From attacks to alliance offers, it's almost as if Vijay is now the number one talking point across Tamil Nadu.
01:28Call it curiosity, call it actual impact. We'll decode what exactly it is.
01:32But first, here are all those reactions.
01:34For years, Vijay has remained the biggest star in Tamil Nadu.
01:48With his entry into politics and the emergence of the Tamil Nadu,
01:52the big question ahead of the assembly elections is whether his charisma can translate into votes.
01:58Now, Vijay has declared that there will be no alliance with the BJP or the DMK.
02:05And Amit, in fighting within the AIA DMK, the party is trying to quote Vijay before the post.
02:33Former minister and AIA DMK leader Rajendra Balaji called on Vijay to join hands with his party to defeat the DMK.
02:41The DMK is trying to quote Vijay is trying to quote Vijay is trying to quote Vijay is trying to quote Vijay is trying to quote Vijay.
03:04The DMK meanwhile is hit out at Vijay.
03:07State minister Aargandhi compared to actor politician to a parking dog.
03:11Meanwhile, film director Karu Palaniyappan sharing stage with minister Periyakarupan at an event said that Vijay may join the DMK for a Raji Sabha seat,
03:33drawing a parallel with Kamal Hasana.
04:06I think it's important to be a big part of the government.
04:10I think the government has given me the government.
04:13I think it's important to be a part of the government.
04:15I think it's important to be a part of the government.
04:19I think we are going to have to do it.
04:25Caution, advice and slander is what Vijay is facing from the Dravidian parties.
04:29On one side, AIA DMK is cautioning Vijay not to stand alone as it will only support DMK's
04:34cause and claiming that if Vijay wants to dethrone DMK, he needs to join hands with the AIDMK-led
04:41alliance NDA. DMK has decided to hit him with personal jibes, indirectly calling him a barking
04:48dog, a person who is mentally unstable and perhaps a future Rajya Sabah MP, somebody taking the
04:54direction of Kamal Hassan and becoming an MP with the support of DMK in the future. With Daniel
05:01Pramod Madhav for India today. And joining us in this edition of Super 6 is Dhani Dharan
05:07spokesperson of the DMK. We've got Suman Si Raman political analyst, Tenmuri Prasanna
05:12spokesperson of TVK and Mr. Kovey Satyan spokesperson of the AIA DMK. Thank you all very much for
05:18your time and for joining us here on Super 6. Dr. Suman Si Raman, I'd like to begin with
05:23you. Six, seven months to go for elections and ideally every political party in the fray
05:28would be looking right now to create a flutter. And it definitely seems like Vijay has created
05:34that. Every single day there seems to be some headline or the other emerging either from
05:39something Vijay has said or from reactions that come in from DMK and AIA DMK. So if you
05:42look solely at that, it definitely seems like he is creating an impact on ground right now.
05:47I think Akshita, the point really is that he is a bit of an unknown factor. As far as AIA
05:57DMK and DMK, everyone knows about them. Everyone knows what they say, what they do, all of that.
06:03But Vijay is a bit of an unknown factor. Plus the fact that his campaign so far has drawn
06:07very significant crowds. So crowds may or may not translate into votes. We have to wait and
06:13see. But the fact that he is drawing these huge crowds has given all political parties
06:19an occasion to pause and ask, hey, wait a minute, what's happening here? So they, in the coming
06:25weeks, you will see them sharpen their attacks on Vijay. Certainly as far as the DMK, see the DMK
06:32till even a month ago was very, very confident that Vijay is only going to clean out the anti-DMK
06:37vote. And that is going to help them comfortably. But increasingly it appears that he could
06:43potentially dent the DMK vote also. Now to what extent he will dent it? He needs to dent
06:48the DMK vote more than the AIDMK vote for it to really affect the DMK. Now whether that
06:54will happen, we'll have to wait and see. But Vijay has become a factor now. Now he is going
06:58to be a spoiler. He is not going to win. All of that is accepted. Generally. It's not that
07:04Vijay is expected to be getting a majority for the TBK and becoming the chief minister. No.
07:08But everyone is now looking at saying, who is he going to spoil? Who is he going to
07:14wreck? So that is really why there is so much attention on Vijay. And I expect these attacks
07:20to sharpen in the coming weeks. As the Saturday, the weekend campaign keeps progressing each
07:29week. We should see the attack sharpening.
07:32So every weekend he holds a campaign and then subsequently what we're seeing, and this is
07:35almost as if, you know, it's scripted. Subsequently, the week ahead, there's one attack after another.
07:40There's one controversy after another. That becomes the biggest talking point. But also
07:45the Vijay factor. And this is something that I've noticed itself in political circles in Tamil Nadu.
07:51Few months ago, when I was speaking to people, they said Vijay is not a factor. One month later,
07:55they said 5-8% single digit is going to be his vote share. Now, a few weeks ago, when I spoke to some
08:02representatives, they said, look, Vijay is a factor. He could get even 20% of the vote share. So you're
08:07seeing essentially that suspense building, yes, but also an image being created that Vijay very much
08:14could have a dent in the upcoming elections. The question, however, is what kind of a dent we're
08:19looking at? Dhani Dharan, there is a lot of talk that now with Vijay going all out in his campaigns
08:26against your party, against the DMK, mocking Chief Minister Stalin in the way that he does,
08:31that this could actually spell trouble for the Dravidar Munitra Kargam.
08:36Oh, see, the nature always says that whoever is powerful, then everyone will fight against the
08:41powerful right now. DMK is the powerful party in Tamil Nadu, the dominant party. And now with all
08:46surveys and people opinion, DMK said to come back in 26, and it's only natural that every other
08:51aspirant for the force would only compete against the DMK, right? So I don't think there's a surprise,
08:58but the whole point is, can the TVK pull it off? If you look at ADMK, DMK is the enemy. If you look at
09:05BJP, DMK is the enemy. If you look at Seema, Naam Tamilad, DMK is the enemy. Every other party in
09:09Tamil Nadu, DMK is the main opponent, simply because we are the party that's in power and
09:15continue, and it's expected they will continue to be in power. That's about it.
09:19But, you know, the question I ask and the reason that we're putting the focus on Vijay is because
09:23we see these reactions coming in. The DMK is responding to every charge that comes in from
09:28Vijay. The DMK's ministers also are speaking out till we hear right now that there's been a gag
09:33order that's been issued on WhatsApp. See, I do not think the TVK would make a dent and we should be
09:42worried about TVK. Politics basically goes down to grassroot carders. For example, you know,
09:48the politician Vaiko still part of her alliance in the 90s. He draw more crowd than anyone else in
09:52the history of Tamil Nadu. Were they able to stand alone win? No. Because to win, you need grassroot
09:57carders established. MG Ramachandran, MGR was able to win in 1977 simply because when he left DMK and
10:04started ADMK, the grassroot carders also of the DMK went along with him because he's been a party member
10:09even before an actor, DMK party member. So that is why he was able to come. But look at the other
10:14examples, except for N.T. Rama, Rauh, Chiranjeevi, anyone. None of them have made it big, though
10:19they are able to attract crowds. You can give the other example of Pawan Kalyan.
10:23See, Pawan Kalyan is a different matter altogether. He formed an alliance with BJP and Telukhudesa party,
10:30but Vijay is going to stand alone and there is a huge anti-BJP sentiment in Tamil Nadu, which is a no-go.
10:36So I don't think we have to be worried. And DMK's vote share has been consistently powered
10:41between 47% to 53%. So whichever party wants to compete against DMK, whatever alliance be formed
10:48against DMK, I don't think they can topple it simply because the vote share has been 47% to 53%.
10:52Okay, if my vote share has been between 35% to 38%, then okay, I have to be worried about
10:57others' alliances and how that is going to go. But when my vote share is going to be 47% to 33%,
11:02then there is no way that whatever be the alliance, then we would lose the election.
11:06Again, when it comes to alliance, it's not that like 1 plus 1 plus 1 is equal to 3, right?
11:11There are a lot of chemistries involved. So when you don't have, maybe even TVK and BJP
11:15will come together, not necessarily that people who would have otherwise voted to TVK
11:18would now vote for people who otherwise voted to BJP would now vote for BJP, TVK alliance,
11:23simply hypothetical.
11:24No, but it's a question, it's a question of consolidation. But all of this, of course,
11:29is hypothetical, as you said. Let me bring in Kovei Satyan. Let me bring in Kovei Satyan of the
11:33AIADMK. There's a lot of talk, Mr. Satyan, about alliances for Vijay, about the TVK.
11:38There seem to be constant efforts by the AIADMK to kind of woo Vijay with the latest statement
11:43from Mr. Bala Ji saying Vijay can do nothing unless he joins hands with the AIADMK.
11:47Senior leaders make a statement based on their political experience. It doesn't mean that
11:56it is the call of the high command. And nobody in the AIADMK is desperate or trying to please
12:01Vijay to join us. It is him to decide. Meanwhile, a political sympathizer or a local sympathizer
12:11of DMK yesterday said, Vijay will come to DMK and he'll be offered a Raji Subha seat in
12:16yesterday's rally. So these are all talks from second line or third line liners, which doesn't
12:22hold much of a political importance. It all stems out of their experience. But let me tell
12:27you, the writing on the wall is very clear. DMK has never formed a back-to-back victory in
12:32assembly elections. And the image that DMK and their ally are stronger is busted. Because
12:40four of their alliance parties have lost their symbol by the election commission's actions.
12:46Now, there is a big hole in the ship of DMK and it has started to sink long back. And the
12:54writing on the wall is clear, it's AIADMK all the way. But however, what will Vijay do?
12:59Vijay will further dent two parties predominantly. Number one is the minority vote bank of DMK, which
13:06DMK claims that they are the custodians. And there will be a huge dent for DMK on the minority
13:11vote share. And the second is C-month, wherein majority of the youngsters so far have inclined or
13:17shown inclination towards C-month. There will be a huge dent for the nam tamlar kachi. The third
13:23consolidation will happen on the cat-on-the-wall voters, the cat-on-the-wall and the bench
13:28sitters, who will decide at least at the time of elections. That is roughly about not more than
13:33one or two percent. So my advice to India today is, please terminate your association
13:38with those political analysts who had told you that Vijay will take 20 percent. Probably
13:43they are not aware about the political scenario. I can't reveal my sources.
13:47Nor they have any solid data to back their claim. And please don't take their data and present
13:52it in a national media.
13:54Okay, I'm not going to reveal my sources. You've given an interesting analysis, Mr. Sati.
13:57Let me add another flip to it, which is that if Vijay eats into the AIADMK vote share, it's
14:03possible because of the anti-incumbency factor. There's no doubt the AIADMK is trying to make
14:08the most of the anti-incumbency sentiment. The challenge is if people say that, look, as
14:13a result of anti-incumbency, they say we want to look for a new alternative. And so they
14:18look to Vijay, in which case it's a direct impact for the AIADMK.
14:21Absolutely not. People don't immediately believe somebody says that I'm here as an
14:26alternator. The reason which Vijay gives for his transition from his movie world to politics
14:32is that it is still not convincing to many. He says that I have reached the peak in my
14:37career. Now it's my time for me to do some welfare for the people. I want to give it back
14:43to the people. That's why I am in politics. But really, in reality, people have to see somebody
14:47through the thick and thin of their ups and downs. That's how a political leader emerges,
14:53not by flashy statements. It is not that whatever Mr. Vijay is speaking right now, none of the
14:59leaders have spoken. Whatever issues he is talking about, many leaders have talked about
15:03and even they have moved towards a solution of the same. Just because Vijay is cherry-picking
15:08on issues doesn't elevate him to be a leader in public life or leader in politics. People have
15:13to see him through the thick and thin of their life, which unfortunately Vijay still has not
15:19done. He just started. He's a political startup. He still have a long way to go and he need
15:24to promote his ideology. Cherry-picking issues will not reflect on a party's ideology.
15:29Okay. Let me bring in Tenmuri present now also for her opening comments. She's a spokesperson
15:34from TVK. Tenmuri, you've heard what every political representative has to really say
15:40about the Vijay factor. And very often, TVK is referred to as a political startup that you
15:46need an alliance to piggy bank on. That it's one thing to create a whole lot of noise, but
15:51to create an impact, you need an alliance too. That you're equally dependent on another party
15:56right now. Tenmuri, can you unmute yourself, please?
16:05First thing I want to make clear is, even with our alliance, we are going to win the
16:112020 election. How?
16:14I would like to answer. When we first started the party, what they said, like they don't
16:20have even a single percentage in the vote share. All those things. Even the someone who was sitting
16:25in the panel, in the last previous debates, he has mentioned, like, he will make the dent
16:30and he doesn't have more than ten persons. He's having only single digits. But now, today,
16:34he is saying, we have more than that. So that is the impact we are creating on the ground.
16:40People have seen our leader as their future chief minister. That is why huge crowds are coming.
16:47They will say, like, the crowd won't turn into odds. But do you really think people will sit
16:54from morning and till midnight, just to see him and just to see what he is speaking for
17:00them? So they are waiting.
17:02You and I both know, you and I both know, and I don't need to establish this, that Vijay
17:06is a big superstar. Of course people will sit for hours together to see him. The question
17:10that is constantly raised is, these may be youngsters below 18. And that's why they
17:15may not be a factor in this election.
17:17No. Like, even all the news channels you are covering, you guys are covering. Have you seen,
17:22like, all the below 18 years there? There are more people who are having the votes only.
17:29And you can see that the state confidence which happened in Madurai, more people have watched.
17:34They are just watching what Vijay is going to say for us. Because all the promises which
17:40the DMK government has given, they have not fulfilled all those things. Right from price
17:45cut for diesel, and they stole like 1,000 rupees they will give for every woman, and they
17:50later changed that. And recently also, you can see, even after GST reduction, the milk price
17:56has not been cut down. And to answer, they say, like, from grass fruit only they will get.
18:02Even for the newly formed party, we have 60, more than 60,000
18:08booth agents, which other parties doesn't have clearly. They can see. Because we have been
18:14as a Vijay Makal Yakam, and we have been in the ground for years. So we do have the proper
18:18infrastructure. They can't even imagine that many booth level agents we have, like, for the
18:24suggestions, like, for each booth, we have more than three persons or four persons who we can pick.
18:29So you're suggesting your grassroots strong. You're suggesting your grassroots strong, because
18:33very often the question is, does TVK even have the base to put up candidates in all seats in
18:37Tamil Nadu? That's just like a blazeless allegations, I would say. Because how they can say, like, we don't
18:43have the cadres on all those things. We do have, we have appointed more than one lakh
18:49TVK members, and we do have 1.5 crore membership, and we do have more than 60,000 booth agents.
18:57How we cannot have...
18:59Because it will be Vijay on the ticket, and every one of those seats, as he himself has said. Darnitaran, go ahead.
19:03No, I would like to answer.
19:05We do have cadres, how we can, without announcing cadres.
19:07I'll come back to you, Tenmuri. Let Darnitaran make his point, please.
19:11No, no, let me speak as, not as a DMK spokesman, as someone who read, and just try to understand politics
19:15and how India works. So how India works is that, who are the people who are dependent on the government?
19:19More marginalised, you are more dependent on the government, right? And you are dependent on the local politicians
19:26to get your things done, to get your basic necessity. So, okay, one person could be the chief minister
19:32for all 234 constituencies. The elites can go and meet him. What happens to someone staying in some remote part
19:38of Nilagiri district, if they're not getting basic water supply done, or if a government school teacher
19:43is not coming to school properly, who will they go to? They will have to go to the local party function.
19:48The local councilor there, local panjait leader there, and then the booth level worker there.
19:55So that is why the face of the booth level worker becomes very important, because he is the one the people
20:00can go and ask. See, he voted for you and not given us this. He had it done for us. So again, a big issue,
20:05if a community itself has a problem, then go to the local MLA. That is why the face of the MLA becomes important.
20:10For all minor problems, right, people can't go and sit in the chief minister's office, go and meet Vijay.
20:17So that is going to be a problem for TVK, which they have to understand. And again, I will tell you,
20:23other friends historically in Tamil Nadu have got about 10% note share, which includes
20:27independents, NOTA, everything. So DMK is getting between 45 to 50, hypothetically.
20:30There is only 40% to 45% that is left to share. So that depends on how much TVK is going to gain
20:36to revert to Cohen will depend on how much AIDMK is fragmented, right? Maybe TVK itself
20:43will get some small percentage votes, but most of those they are going to get could be AIDMK
20:47votes.
20:48So let me bring in Dr. Sumansi Raman on that. Dr. Raman, who will be impacted the most?
20:54Because DMK and AIDMK, you have heard there.
20:57See, one more question before I go.
20:58Okay.
20:59At the start.
21:00Let Dr. Raman respond now, Dhani Dharan.
21:02Dr. Raman, you know what I said about my sources saying 20%, COVID Satyan doesn't agree with.
21:07What do you think? You think that's a fair analysis right now or exaggerating the Vijay factor?
21:11No.
21:12See, there are two, three issues here. One is Vijay has announced that he is open for alliances,
21:21those who accept his leadership. And he said this more several months ago, no, not a single
21:25party has sort of signed up so far. So that makes one wonder why have these, you know, there
21:32is no logical reason why he should not have signed up with at least some few smaller parties
21:36by now to say that we are forming an alliance and they are accepting him as a chief ministerial
21:40candidate. Second, Vijay is, you know, has not, forget alliances. He has not got anybody
21:48with political experience in the party at any significant level. There's just one Mr.
21:54Busi Anand who was an MLA in Pondicherry where the total electorate in his constituency,
21:59I remember he somewhere was totally 20,000 people or something and he won some six or
22:03seven thousand votes. Now that's the only person with some kind of political experience in that
22:09party. Where are the leaders from the other political parties queuing up to join? Why are they,
22:14if they are seeing this party as a winning horse, somebody who's going to be the next chief minister,
22:20there will be a queue of politicians queuing up from DMK, from ADMK, from BJP, Congress,
22:25everywhere there will be people queuing up to join the party, right? At least those who are currently
22:30disgruntled in their respective parties will want to join.
22:33No, you're right. That's an indicator.
22:36These are indicators that Vijay at this point of time, there's still six, seven months to go,
22:41six months is a very long time in politics, is currently going to be a spoiler. He is going
22:47to cut the vote. Probably is probably still likely to cut more of an anti-DMK vote than the DMK vote,
22:55than the DMK vote. But the DMK vote is also going to be cut. It is not if Mr. Dhamnitran thinks that
23:00they're going to get 47%, he's living in a dreamland. It's not going to happen. Vijay will take
23:05everybody's vote. He will take a part of the DMK vote. He will take a part of the anti-DMK vote as well.
23:10The point really is how far is he going to go? What is he going to achieve at the end of it?
23:15If you get 10% or 12%, it's still not going to be enough to win anything. And 2031 will then be a long, long way away.
23:25So I don't know what his objective is, who is funding him, who is setting him up.
23:29I think that there needs to be more talk about all these things. Who is behind Vijay?
23:35You know, then the B team allegations will come to the fore. Kovai, Satyan, quickly.
23:39At this point, looking at the comments that come in, if you could give me a yes or no answer.
23:43AIA-DMK open to an alliance with the TVK or not? Yes or no?
23:49The decision is left with our General Secretary, EPS.
23:53So I have no authority to say anything on that front.
23:56However, let me tell you, any political start-up, the initial actions will only be taken as noise.
24:02Because they need to create more noise to grab the attention of the media and the people.
24:06But the noise has to translate into actions.
24:09But unfortunately, what's happening with Mr. Vijay is, he has just started the noise.
24:14You have to wait and watch whether that noise translates into actions, whether people are willing to get it and understand it.
24:19Then it translates into words.
24:21So it's still a long way for him to go to understand the political nuances and dynamics of a grassroot cadre, how he works.
24:28Somebody says that we are ready with the BLA, but I don't see the BLA list being put up by the election commission apart from DMK and AIA-DMK.
24:35It's there available on the online.
24:37They will know, they go to the, choose a booth number, you will get to know who is the BLA for DMK and AIA-DMK with their contact number.
24:43Unfortunately, none of the other political parties are able to even get to that level.
24:47But I'm happy and glad for Vijay party, TVK, if they say that their BLAs are ready.
24:53And good luck with them.
24:55Okay.
24:56We leave it at that.
24:57Six months to go.
24:58More than six months, essentially, for the elections.
25:01We'll see what happens, but Vijay definitely creating a whole lot of noise.
25:04Will that actually translate to impact on the ground?
25:07It depends, really, on how the campaign shapes up in the next few months as well.
25:12But thank you very much, Dhani Dharankovai Satyan, Dr. Suman Siraman and Tenmuri for joining us here on India Today.
25:18This is something, of course, that we are going to continue focusing on because every weekend,
25:22you see a rally that takes place by Vijay that then creates all of this flutter of reactions,
25:28reactions of, you know, a lot of talk and controversy back and forth and whatnot in Tamil Nadu.
25:35Okay, let's switch over to news from Karnataka now, where there's been all of this controversy over the pothole menace in Bengaluru.
25:46It's also taken a rather political turn.
25:48First, you had the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister calling all of it a conspiracy to malign the image of Bengaluru, to malign the image of Karnataka.
25:55But the BJP is now upping the ante.
25:57They're all set to hold a massive road-roko protest across Karnataka tomorrow,
26:03to demand that the Karnataka government, the Sidramaya government,
26:06immediately tackle the infrastructure mess in the city of Bengaluru.
26:11As potholes swallow Bengaluru's roads, politics is now exploding.
26:28After facing much criticism over failure to fix city potholes,
26:35Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. Keshiv Kumar has hit back.
26:38Not just at the opposition, but also at the IT industry.
26:42He accused the BJP of playing selective politics, claiming even roads outside the Prime Minister's residence in Delhi weren't pothole free.
26:56The BJP he alleged is targeting the Congress government in Karnataka as part of a larger conspiracy.
27:03That country is a local government in Dubai.
27:04Thebrand is a global government in Delhi.
27:05The British government has hit it all in Delhi.
27:06I bought it all into Delhi.
27:07That country is a local government-related report,
27:08If you didn't believe that you need to unify the Prime Minister by the Jornataka.
27:12I did not have to leave the Prime Minister for a long distance going on the road,
27:13then everybody will not be able to do it.
27:14So the British government has started to find out that it was $80.
27:16See, one rain, Mumbai is gone, one rain, Chennai is gone, one rain, Telangana or Andhra Pradesh
27:38roads cave in, just go to Delhi during the summers or during the winters, you know how
27:44the weather is. See, weather-wise or otherwise, we are good, Bangalore, we just need to pull
27:49up our shocks and we are doing that.
27:55And in a sharp dig at Mingaluru's tech giants, Shiva Kumar suggested the IT industry should
28:00stop complaining and instead ask the centre for more funds.
28:06Not just that, Congress also cited example of Bihar to target the BJP over crumbling infrastructure.
28:12As the blame game intensifies, the BJP is set to launch a road blockade protest on Wednesday.
28:20The roads have been neglected by the Congress government across the state and especially
28:25in the city of Mingaluru and threatening the citizens. Citizens have been threatened. So
28:30we are trying to make it a very positive protest by, you know, filling all the potfalls, filling
28:37wherever possible to fill the potfalls, to send a message to the Congress government, how inefficient
28:41it is being, how it is not discharging its duty.
28:48On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nala Lukesh reignited his earlier pitch, publicly
28:54inviting Bengaluru's IT companies to move to Vishakhapatnam, promising smoother roads and
28:59better governance.
29:02Meanwhile, Bengaluru's potholes are not just political, they are dangerous. A goods rickshot
29:08overturned in Ashoknagar after hitting one.
29:13On line two, the embarrassment is global. A Canadian vlogger's viral video mocked the
29:18city's cratered streets and garbage-littered footpaths.
29:21And even as Chief Minister Sidra Maya gave officials a one-month deadline to fix every pothole, he's also
29:31turned to Wipro, seeking the IT major's support by means of access to its campus to ease traffic
29:37congestion along the outer Ring Road corridor.
29:40As roads crack, so does accountability and Bengaluru waits.
29:45The only thing moving fast on these roads is the blame game.
29:51With Sagai Raj in Bengaluru, Bureau Report, India Today.
30:00Let's talk about the most viral image of the day of superstar Shah Rukh Khan receiving the
30:06national award. And it wasn't just him, you also had him sharing the best actor award with
30:11Vikrat Masay for 12th fail. Then there was Rani Mukherjee who also received the national award.
30:16Another big highlight, superstar Mohan Lal getting the Dada Sahib Falke Award. The
30:23Mollywood legend being honoured for his role in not just Malayalam cinema, but cutting across
30:28industries. Let's get you some of those highlights.
30:34The spotlight shone bright on Indian cinema as the 71st Indian National Award Ceremony took
30:40place at the Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi. President Draupadi Murmur presented the honours, celebrating
30:48excellence in films made in 2023. A recognition delayed by two years due to the pandemic, but
30:55no less anticipated.
30:58The evening's biggest moment came with veteran superstar Mohan Lal being conferred the prestigious
31:04Dada Sahib Falke Award, honouring his unparalleled contribution to Indian cinema.
31:11Inspired generations of artists, cemented his legacy as a cultural phenomenon and a great
31:18master of his craft.
31:21It's with profound pride and gratitude that I stand before you today, having received the
31:27prestigious Dada Sahib Falke Award, an honour instituted by the government of India.
31:33I see this award as a collective tribute to our industry, legacy, creativity and resilience.
31:40The Best Actor Award was shared between Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan and Vikrant Masi for 12th
31:45fail, recognising two contrasting yet equally powerful performances.
31:52Rani Mukherjee backed the Best Actress Award for her stirring act in Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway.
31:59The evening also celebrated remarkable films.
32:08With Duvinod Chopra's 12th fail emerged as Best Feature Film.
32:14Awards were given for cinematic craft as well.
32:18Vicky Kaushal's Sam Bahadur run across categories like Best Makeup, Best Costume and Best Feature Film,
32:23promoting national, social and environmental values.
32:29It's a double victory for the Kerala story, bagging Best Director and Best Cinematographer.
32:38Shilpa Rao will take the Best Female Playback Singer Award for Chalia from Jawan.
32:43Meanwhile, beyond this, the award proudly shone a light on regional films, honouring powerful stories
32:52and performances across languages, truly showcasing the diversity of Indian cinema.
32:58And as the curtains come down, the evening stood as a testament to the fact that no matter
33:04the language, the genre or the medium, Indian cinema continues to weave its magic
33:09that resonates with audiences everywhere.
33:13With Pranjali Sethi, Entertainment Bureau, India Today.
33:17But the one highlight that really had me the most excited, and I'm sure every South Indian,
33:27was that of Mohenlal receiving the Dada Sahib Falke Award.
33:30Long overdue, because Mohenlal has such a rich film career, decades of experience,
33:36hundreds of memorable films.
33:38Here's a small tribute to the superstar.
Comments