<ul><li>Social commerce platform Meesho has announced the dates of its flagship Mega Blockbuster Sale. It will be held from September 23-27, 2022.</li><li>With the festive sale, Meesho expects to add more small-medium businesses onto its platform.</li></ul>Social commerce platform <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/meet-indias-real-gully-boy-vidit-aatrey-of-meesho-is-taking-the-entrepreneurial-dream-deep-inside-bharat/articleshow/93702491.cms">Meesho on Monday</a> announced the dates for its flagship Mega Blockbuster Sale – it will be held for five days from September 23 to September 27, 2022. As it gears up for its festive sale, Meesho is expecting to see a four-fold jump in small businesses participation in the festive sale compared to last year. Currently, Meesho has added over 7 lakh sellers and about 6.5 crore active product listings across 30 categories. “We are working with lakhs of sellers across the country, many of whom will be selling online for the first time this festive season. We are focused on building a platform that enables high growth and margins for MSMEs, giving them the confidence to digitize their business and succeed on Meesho,” said Utkrishta Kumar, CXO, Business at Meesho. On an average, these sellers have seen their business grow by 82% within two years of their being added on Meesho. The platform is also training its sellers ahead of the festive season to manage demand forecasting and order volume management. “We will continue to fuel the discoverability of small businesses, making quality products at the lowest prices accessible to customers from the deepest regions of the country,” said Kumar. Last year, Meesho’s 5-day annual sale saw about 60% of orders coming from tier 4+ regions. The home-grown e-commerce platform has also added more regional languages to attract users and sellers from beyond metro cities. It now has Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia on its platform. In a short span of time, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/meet-indias-real-gully-boy-vidit-aatrey-of-meesho-is-taking-the-entrepreneurial-dream-deep-inside-bharat/articleshow/93702491.cms">Meesho</a> has gathered 120 million <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/meet-indias-real-gully-boy-vidit-aatrey-of-meesho-is-taking-the-entrepreneurial-dream-deep-inside-bharat/articleshow/93702491.cms">monthly active users </a>(MAUs) and is now targeting the next billion Indians. To further spread the word about its flagship sale, Meesho has partnered with celebrities such as Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Rohit Sharma, Rashmika Mandanna, Kapil Sharma, Trisha Krishnan, Karthi Sivakumar, Ram Charan and Sourav Ganguly.

Meesho expects 4X jump in small business participation this festive season

<ul><li>News websites, portals, aggregators and agencies have been asked to disclose whether they are within the 26% foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to the Information and Broadcasting (I&amp;B) Ministry.</li><li>They have one month to get approval from the newly anointed department that took over for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).</li><li>Those who exceed the 26% cap will have till 15 October 2021 to reduce their foreign investment.</li></ul>The Indian government’s new policy to limit foreign direct investment (FDI) into news websites, portals, aggregators and agencies at 26% is now being enforced by the Information and Broadcasting (<a href="https://mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/Public%20Notice%20%20regarding%20FDI%20Policy%20.pdf">I&amp;B</a>) Ministry. While print news and televised news channels have always fallen under the gambit of the <keyword id="57751" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IB-ministry">I&amp;B Ministry</keyword>, digital news portals and websites are new turfs <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/ott-platforms-hotstar-netflix-and-even-news-content-providers-will-now-be-regulated-by-the-ib-ministry/articleshow/79166864.cms">formerly with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).</a> Those with foreign investment below 26% have been asked to furnish their details within one month — by December 16. Those with foreign investment over 26% also have to meet the same deadline to disclose their financials. However, they have an additional deadline of October 15, 2021, to bring their investment down to the required level and resubmit their details for approval from the I&amp;B. And, any new investment that news companies plan to bring in has to be approved by the central government. Any foreign personnel that come on board, and will be working from India for more than 60 days, will need to get security clearance prior to their deployment. India continues to squeeze on Chinese investment The move comes as India continues to battle China on the digital front, having <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/checkout-full-list-of-118-banned-chinese-mobile-apps-in-india/articleshow/77891192.cms">banned mobile apps by the Chinese manufacturers in two tranches</a>. The likes of Facebook, Twitter and even India’s home-grown payment app Paytm have been questioned by India’s Parliamentary Committee on their data sharing and financial links with China. For digital news, the change of the guard happened last week when the Indian government brought all over-the-top (OTT) services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as well as digital news sites under the I&amp;B’s umbrella. What remains unclear is if Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking platforms are also covered under this umbrella since news is also disseminated using those mediums among the many <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/unanswered-questions-as-regulation-of-ott-platforms-and-digital-news-providers-moves-from-one-government-department-to-another/articleshow/79186999.cms">other unanswered questions</a>. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-ril-future-retail-bpcl-wipro-lt-and-others/articleshow/79254564.cms">Top stocks to watch — RIL, Future Retail, BPCL, Wipro, L&amp;T, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/moderna-says-its-coronavirus-vaccine-is-94-5-effective-against-covid-19-a-crucial-victory-in-the-fight-against-the-pandemic/articleshow/79247349.cms">Moderna says its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective against COVID-19, a crucial victory in the fight against the pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/from-deepika-padukone-alia-bhatt-to-katrina-kaif-bollywoods-leading-ladies-are-writing-big-cheques-for-indian-startups/slidelist/79203266.cms">From Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt to Katrina Kaif – Bollywood’s leading ladies are writing big cheques for Indian startups</a>

Digital news publications in India have one month to share FDI details with the government — and till October next year to comply

<ul><li><keyword id="11282365" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="shuchi-sethi">Shuchi Sethi</keyword>, India Lead - <keyword id="11282366" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="anytag">AnyTag</keyword>, <keyword id="2734866" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pokkt">POKKT</keyword> writes how <keyword id="2540701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencer-marketing">influencer marketing</keyword> is becoming omnipresent today. </li><li>She shares how one can leverage influencer marketing beyond <keyword id="1746818" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Content-Creation">content creation</keyword> by including <keyword id="1112328" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Influencers">influencers</keyword> in product development and marketing ideation. </li></ul>These days influencer marketing is omnipresent. Whether you log in to Instagram or YouTube, you would find tons of examples of brands using influencers to tap into a new audience. From big brand launches to small niche brand awareness campaigns, influencer marketing has a big role to play. Although influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon, it is evolving more quickly than any other forms of marketing. Smart brands and agencies are aware that the trick to partner with an influencer effectively is not solely dependent on their number of followers. Still, the key is to leverage the organic influence of the key opinion leaders to create strong engagement between their followers and your brand. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Best advice amid the pandemic" text="Best advice amid the pandemic">Best advice amid the pandemic</cmsannotation> In the current times, when people are working from home, maintaining social distancing, and trying to minimise their outdoor visits, influencer marketing can come in handy for businesses to engage with their audience and influence them to purchase their products and services. Since physical shopping has taken a severe hit, people are more prone to buying products online or through social media. Consumers would be more interested than ever to listen to influencers and try out their suggested/promoted products. Influencers can bring more authenticity and creativity to these programs and can also provide insights into what they believe will resonate more with your target audience. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Ways to leverage influencer marketing beyond content creation" text="Ways to leverage influencer marketing beyond content creation">Ways to leverage influencer marketing beyond content creation</cmsannotation> Including Influencers in product development and marketing ideation Influencers can get involved in product development to create original products that will appeal to your brand’s customers and the influencer’s followers. You should focus on genuine, zealous content creators with small but loyal followings. These are regular people who closely engage with their audience and produce relevant content to their line of interest. Such people are called “micro-influencers” who enjoy a decent following on social media. Micro-influencers are true to their audience and hence authenticity becomes better. Such influencers are well-aware of your industry’s products and trends, thus providing relevant insights into what your target consumers seek and would be willing to pay for. There is a lot you can learn from these influencers. Their insights can be used to broaden your marketing initiatives and make them more effective. Daniel Wellington is a watch brand that does not do traditional advertising and is often featured by fashion and style bloggers. In order to reach out to a wider audience, the brand has identified influencers of different styles and niches. Source - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/joyful_jax/">@joyful_jax</a> Coca-Cola benefits from long-term relationships with micro-influencers such as Miette Dierckx, a travel and food micro-influencer with more than 35000 followers. She has been creating content for their heritage soda brand for several years now. She regularly posts photos of herself with a coke in hand. Long term influencer relationships are a great way to build reach and engagement over time. Source- @miettedierckx Another such example is of travel micro-influencer - Yannick Merckx who includes Coke into his worldly travels. He has nearly 48,000 followers with whom he shares frequent photos of either donning a Coca Cola sweater, taking a sip of Coke or holding recycled Coke can objects. Souce - @hetisdemerckx <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Cause Marketing" text="Cause Marketing">Cause Marketing </cmsannotation> Influencers can help you in promoting a cause that will resonate with your audience. Cause Marketing is similar to Corporate Social Responsibility but with a dual purpose of increasing profitability while bettering society. Mahindra #SeedTheRise campaign was a huge digitally-driven crowdfunding campaign to enhance the lives of Indian farmers. SeedTheRise was successful in collecting digital donations amounting to INR 1 crore. This campaign kicked off with a fundraising appeal film made with Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is incidentally a farmer’s son himself. This money will be utilised to improve the lives of farmers and their families in ways such as providing alternate forms of livelihood, educating their daughters and assisting them in modernising agriculture. You can check out the film here: <div type="Youtube" id="rlS2VrSEIdE" title="#SeedTheRise for India's Farmers | Nawazuddin Siddiqui | Mahindra Rise" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rlS2VrSEIdE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> #NotAshamed by TLLLF Foundation - The Live Love Laugh Foundation was set up in 2015 by Deepika Padukone to champion the cause of mental health in India, with a focus on depression, stress and anxiety. On the World Mental Health Day, TLLLF started a worldwide campaign with the objective to get people to share their stories on mental health using #NotAshamed to reduce the stigma. One of the survivors who was a part of the campaign was Deepika herself. Such campaigns backed by a social influencer like Deepika have the potential to remove the stigma around mental health and bring it out in the open. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Narrative testing" text="Narrative testing">Narrative testing</cmsannotation> Influencers can help you identify the right narrative/messaging to drive the goals of a given campaign. You may test narratives to assess which would provide the desired outcome. One influencer may use a particular narrative while the other can focus on a completely different narrative, and you can then check the effectiveness of one over the other. For example, if you want to test which narrative would result in increasing the purchase ticket size, you may use one influencer to advocate the long-term benefits of your product and the other to focus on the immediate advantages. You can assess the outcome of both narratives and select accordingly. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Giveaways and Contests" text="Giveaways and Contests">Giveaways and Contests</cmsannotation> Influencers organise giveaways and contests in association with brands. In such contests and giveaways, people are required to follow certain instructions such as liking a post or comment, tagging people or following a page. Such activities enhance brand awareness and increase visibility in front of your target audience. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Conclusion" text="Conclusion">Conclusion</cmsannotation> Influencer marketing has proven itself to be an effective marketing technique time and again. However, it doesn’t work alone but in tandem with content marketing and social media marketing. It encompasses curating highly engaging content, sharing it in a strategic way to reach more people and engaging with the audience to build a relationship. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to influencer marketing. You have to be willing to take risks and try out new things to see what works and what doesn’t for your brand. You may also use platforms such as Anytag to discover, activate, manage, track and attribute influencer marketing activities that drive recurring revenue. AnyTag is one of the most comprehensive influencer marketing platforms in the market, providing an integrated platform for influencer marketing and social media analysis.

What are the different ways of leveraging influencer marketing apart from content creation?

Nearly a month into the nationwide lockdown announced by the Indian government to prevent the spread of COVID-19, online search trends on Yahoo India reflect the curiosity and anxiety that people are facing. Owing to the pandemic, novel Coronavirus-related searches rose by a whopping 427%. The top five COVID-19 keywords searched were 'COVID-19 updates', 'Symptoms of COVID-19', 'COVID-19 treatment', 'COVID-19 death toll' and 'live COVID-19 tracker.' People also mass-searched for 'lockdown in India,' 'vaccine for <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>,' 'social distancing', and '<keyword id="4751090" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hydroxychloroquine">Hydroxychloroquine</keyword> for coronavirus'. The latter is an anti-malarial drug that the US President Donald Trump described as a "game changer" in the fight against the Coronavirus crisis. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75341330" title="Coronavirus cases in India count hits 23,000 mark— 718 dead and 4,748 recovered as of April 24" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> During the pre-lockdown phase, actor <keyword id="1655" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Priyanka-Chopra">Priyanka Chopra</keyword> was the most searched female celebrity followed by Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone. All this changed when 'Babydoll' singer <keyword id="1758842" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kanika-Kapoor">Kanika Kapoor</keyword> tested positive for COVID-19 on her return from London. Kapoor replaced these superstars to take the top spot and even ran into trouble for not self-quarantining on return. Post-lockdown, superstars <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> and Rajinikanth topped the list of most searched male celebs. Yahoo's 'Search in the Lockdown,' chronicles and compares what users in India searched for before and during the lockdown, shows trends that are based on users' daily search habits in the last one month. Before COVID-19 began to rule the search bar, the top search keywords online for news, included 'Delhi election results,' 'Delhi riots/Delhi violence' and 'JNU violence'. The top searched keywords (people) included Donald Trump, Arvind Kejriwal and <keyword id="29632" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jyotiraditya-Scindia">Jyotiraditya Scindia</keyword>. During the global shutdown, netizens are also looking online for productivity tools while working from home, with video conferencing apps Zoom and Skype being the top two searches. In the entertainment arena, searches for 'Bigg Boss', 'Drive', 'Tanhaji', 'Housefull 4' and 'Good Newwz' were replaced by the old classic 'Ramayan' that was re-telecast on Doordarshan. Pandemic based movie 'Contagion' was also highly searched. Top questions Indlooked for answers to online during the lockdown are: What is COVID-19? How long does coronavirus live on surfaces? How to make a mask at home? Is there any vaccine for Coronavirus? Does Coronavirus spread through air? What happens to Coronavirus patients in quarantine? <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75344399" title="PM Modi launches eGramSwaraj portal and app to help villages go digital" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Most Indians are watching Ramayan and searching for Kanika Kapoor during the lockdown

Trolls have been having a field day ever since Bollywood veteran <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> started sharing posts related to COVID-19. The iconic actor is yet again being trolled on social media after he posted a fake #9pm9minutes satellite image of India. Amitabh on Monday took to <keyword id="6354616" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>, where he re-tweeted a picture, which he claimed was a satellite picture of India during the #9pm9minutes activity planned by PM <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>, had appealed to the nation to switch off all lights of houses on April 5 at 9 PM for 9 minutes. Read: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/india/news/amitabh-bachchans-fake-pic-deepika-padukones-insta-update-and-other-ways-in-which-bollywood-adhered-to-9-min-at-9pm/articleshow/75002854.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Amitabh Bachchan’s fake pic, Deepika Padukone’s Insta update and other ways in which Bollywood adhered to 9 min at 9pm</a> Bachchan shared the photo by captioning it: "The World sees us.. we are ONE.." Moments after the actor's tweet went viral, social media users started trolling him for sharing yet another "fake <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> forward" on social media. One user wrote: "Koi phone lelo sir ke hath se (please someone take away the phone from sir's hand)." Another wrote: "Whatsapp ruined the celebs by unmasking them and exposing their superlative levels of stupidity." A user said: "Seriously?" A <keyword id="690840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netizen">netizen</keyword> requested him to "uninstall whatsapp". "You need to quit those whatsapp groups and stop following some handles," another tweeted. This is not the first time Big B has been trolled over his twitter posts. He was earlier criticised for sharing a video where he claimed flies can spread COVID-19. Also, during the Janta curfew announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Big B had tweeted to support the contention that vibrations from clapping and blowing conch shells would reduce or destroy the potency of the coronavirus because it was "amavasya". The theory was heavily panned on social media. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/topic/coronavirus">Coronavirus News and Updates</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/how-to-check-coronavirus-symptoms-at-home/articleshow/74960334.cms">What are the Coronavirus symptoms and how to check for them at home</a>

Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan trolled for posting fake satellite image of 9pm9minutes

<ul><li><keyword id="2058" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malaika-Arora">Malaika Arora</keyword> recently joined Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez to invest in Indian yoga startup Sarva. </li><li>Arora is also an investor and Style Editor for retail startup The Label Life. </li><li><keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> <keyword id="6412373" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="celebrities">celebrities</keyword> like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan among others have been investing, collaborating with Indian <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">startups</keyword>. </li></ul>Indian startups always had glitz, but now they have glamour too. Bollywood celebrities are lining up to invest in new-age companies. Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Hrithik Roshan are some of the many popular investors that startups have attracted. But Malaika Arora has been a part of this club since 2012. This fashionista has been involved with online premium retail startup – The Label Life, which offers high-end clothing, accessories and home decor and also features works of designers like Payal Singhal, Nikhil Thampi, Narendra Kumar, Malini Ramani, among others. Arora made news again earlier in May when she joined global stars like Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez to invest in an Indian yoga fitness chain startup, Sarva. Investing in passion In an interview with Business Insider, Arora talks about how her investments are linked to things she’s passionate about, and she’s not just ‘another’ investor. Arora was introduced to the startup world in 2012 after she identified it as an opportunity early on. “For me, or for anybody, opportunities are presented to you in life. And, some of them you have to grab with both hands. The kind of business that I am in, it allows me to pursue a whole host of other opportunities as well,” said Arora, referring to her main career as an actor. Arora however admits that when she started her journey with The Label Life, she didn’t have too much knowledge or information on the online industry. “I had no clue about the online space. I liked what was presented to me. Also somewhere you’ve got to follow your gut, assess the potential of the business and go ahead,” said the Bollywood star. Today, The Label Life also has offline retail stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh among others. ‘Reflection of me’ Her latest investment has been in Indian yoga startup Sarva, a chain of yoga and fitness studios, which also boasts of pop singer and actor Jennifer Lopez and fiance and baseball legend Alex Rodriguez as co-investors. Sarva, which is building a burgeoning digital community, is currently present in over 91 studios clustering in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru along with other Indian cities. It also recently partnered with OYO Hotel &amp; Homes to set up wellness studios in select properties. Arora’s association with Sarva founder Sarvesh Shashi began with the establishment of the Diva Yoga centres in 2018. “It made me so interested in what Sarva has to offer because it was about something that I already feel connected with, believe in, that is a reflection of me,” she said. Sarva’s move to help yoga and fitness reach out to many more people by introducing digital classes, was another factor that convinced Arora of the partnership. “With Diva Yoga what we are doing is absolute tangible studios. In the digital space, we can connect you with yoga and guided meditation from the comfort of your home at very affordable prices. It seemed like the perfect marriage,” said Arora. Arora has been one of India’s biggest fitness icons, and endorses multiple brands that revolve around health and wellness. But when it comes to her investments, Arora believes it’s an opportunity where she can be more than just a face. “I get a chance to endorse a dime and dozen other things in my life and I do that purely as a face. This goes way beyond just an endorsement,” she said. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/gully-boy-star-ranveer-singh-launches-incink-a-record-label-for-independent-indian-musicians/articleshow/68627830.cms">Bollywood star Ranveer Singh launches an independent record label amid India’s new love for hip-hop</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/baahubali-star-rana-daggubati-takes-indians-back-to-their-childhood-with-amar-chitra-katha-alive/articleshow/68879483.cms">This Baahubali star has a 10,000 square feet space to experience robotics, maths, and mythology</a>

INTERVIEW: Why Bollywood celeb Malaika Arora doesn’t want to be just a ‘face’ for her startup investments

Former US President <keyword id="15962" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barack-Obama">Barack Obama</keyword> unleashes the West's worst stereotypical picture of India as a country with "all-too-pervasive" violence and politics revolving around "religion, clan, and caste" in his latest memoir and yet in the same breath talks about Sonia Gandhi, a "mother of European descent", emerging as the most powerful politician who is able to appoint Manmohan Singh from a minority as prime minister. "Across the country, millions continued to live in squalor, trapped in sunbaked villages or labyrinthine slums, even as the titans of Indian industry enjoyed lifestyles that the rajas and moguls of old would have envied," he writes in his new memoir, "A Promised Land". He writes, "Violence, both public and private, remained an all-too-pervasive part of Indian life." <keyword id="16284" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Obama">Obama</keyword>, the son of a Kenyan father and a White American mother, with a sometime Indonesian step-father, pretending to labour under the time-worn cliche of bearing the "Whiteman's burden", in a broad sweep encapsulates the nation in its entirety with these images. The image of India he offers up with supercilious condescension to his readers is not something he had seen for himself, as he acknowledges not having travelled to the country before becoming president, although "the country had always held a special place in my imagination". "Expressing hostility toward Pakistan was still the quickest route to national unity" in India, he writes. As if India shouldn't develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent to Pakistan's N-bomb, he writes, many Indians take "great pride in the knowledge that their country had developed a nuclear weapons program to match Pakistan's, untroubled by the fact that a single miscalculation by either side could risk regional annihilation". He cannot ward off the temptation to lay on stereotypes, although he starts off acknowledging that "in many respects, modern-day India counted as a success story, having survived repeated changeovers in government, bitter feuds within political parties, various armed separatist movements, and all manner of corruption scandals". "The transition to a more market-based economy in the 1990s had unleashed the extraordinary entrepreneurial talents of the Indian people -- leading to soaring growth rates, a thriving high-tech sector, and a steadily expanding middle class... and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic reforms lifted millions out of poverty", he writes. But reverts to stereotype: "Despite its genuine economic progress, though, India remained a chaotic and impoverished place: largely divided by religion and caste, captive to the whims of corrupt local officials and power brokers, hamstrung by a parochial bureaucracy that was resistant to change." Obama and his wife reportedly received $65 million as advance from their publisher for their memoirs. "A Promised Land" ends with 2011 and the next volume is to pick up after that. For that reason Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not figure in the book. The ascent to prime ministership by Singh, a member of "often persecuted Sikh religious minority," he writes, "sometimes heralded as a hallmark of the country's progress in overcoming sectarian divides, was somewhat deceiving". "More than one political observer believed that she'd chosen Singh precisely because as an elderly Sikh with no national political base, he posed no threat to her 40-year-old son, Rahul, whom she was grooming to take over the Congress Party," Obama writes. But Obama is smitten with Singh, whom he describes as "wise, thoughtful, and scrupulously honest" and "man of uncommon wisdom and decency" with a white beard and a turban that "to the Western eye lent him the air of a holy man". He writes that with Singh, he developed "a warm and productive relationship" and forged agreements for cooperation on counterterrorism, global health, nuclear security, and trade despite a bureaucracy's historic suspicion of the US". Already in 2010, when they had a private chat without their aides before a dinner, Obama indicates that Singh had premonition of the rise of the BJP and Obama writes that he too "wondered what would happen when he left office". "Somehow, I was doubtful" that the baton would be passed on to Rahul Gandhi according to his mother's plan "and preserving the Congress Party's dominance over the divisive nationalism touted by the BJP". He says it wouldn't be Singh's fault and wonders if "violence, greed, corruption, nationalism, racism, and religious intolerance" were "too strong for any democracy to permanently contain". Perhaps in a dig at Donald Trump, who succeeded him, he writes that "they seemed to lie in wait everywhere, ready to resurface whenever growth rates stalled or demographics changed or a charismatic leader chose to ride the wave of people's fears and resentments". Obama describes meeting Sonia Gandhi at a dinner hosted by Singh, calling her "a striking woman in her sixties, dressed in a traditional sari, with dark, probing eyes and a quiet, regal presence". It was clear, he writes, that the power of the "former stay-at-home mother of European descent" could be attributed "to a shrewd and forceful intelligence". During the dinner, Obama says that Sonia Gandhi deferred to Singh on policy matters, but tried to steer the conversation to her son. Obama describes Rahul Gandhi as seeming to be "smart and earnest, his good looks resembling his mother's". He spoke about "progressive politics," Obama write, "occasionally pausing to probe me on the details of my 2008 campaign". "But there was a nervous, unformed quality about him, as if he were a student who'd done the coursework and was eager to impress the teacher but deep down lacked either the aptitude or the passion to master the subject," Obama concludes. He mentions that his introduction to India from Indian and Pakistani college friends who had "taught me to cook dahl and keema and turned me on to Bollywood movies". And, growing up in Indonesia, he writes, he had listened to the Mahabharata and Ramayana. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/top-stocks-to-watch-ril-future-retail-bpcl-wipro-lt-and-others/articleshow/79254564.cms">Top stocks to watch — RIL, Future Retail, BPCL, Wipro, L&amp;T, and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/moderna-says-its-coronavirus-vaccine-is-94-5-effective-against-covid-19-a-crucial-victory-in-the-fight-against-the-pandemic/articleshow/79247349.cms">Moderna says its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective against COVID-19, a crucial victory in the fight against the pandemic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/from-deepika-padukone-alia-bhatt-to-katrina-kaif-bollywoods-leading-ladies-are-writing-big-cheques-for-indian-startups/slidelist/79203266.cms">From Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt to Katrina Kaif – Bollywood’s leading ladies are writing big cheques for Indian startups</a>

Obama's new book shows West's bias against India

<ul><li>"<keyword id="7633203" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gulabo-sitabo">Gulabo Sitabo</keyword>" is a quirky tale of two slimy scheming foxes -- a landlord and tenant -- in a game of one upmanship.</li><li>A Rising Sun Films Production, the movie was ready for an April release but owing to the coronavirus-induced shutdown the filmmakers decided to take the digital route.</li><li>The film is the first direct digital release for Sircar.</li></ul>It's official. <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> and <keyword id="6354535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ayushmann-khurrana">Ayushmann Khurrana</keyword> starrer "Gulabo Sitabo" is heading for a direct digital release on Amazon Prime Video, the makers announced on Thursday. Directed by <keyword id="127321" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shoojit-Sircar">Shoojit Sircar</keyword>, the Lucknow-set satire will start streaming from June 12 worldwide. "Gulabo Sitabo" is a quirky tale of two slimy scheming foxes -- a landlord and tenant -- in a game of one upmanship. A Rising Sun Films Production, the movie was ready for an April release but owing to the coronavirus-induced shutdown the filmmakers decided to take the digital route. Sircar said he is happy that the film, penned by frequent collaborator Juhi Chaturvedi, will finally release. "I am happy that finally I can put forward my film as quickly as possible. As soon as the story was baked, I wanted to serve it. These are unforeseen circumstances, we all have to go through it," the director told PTI in an interview. The film is the first direct digital release for Sircar. "I have never experimented on a digital platform so this is the first time that we are releasing a film straight on a streamer. It's quite exciting as digital is going to be the future," he added. The director has previously directed Bachchan in "Piku" (2015), alongside Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan, and the megastar said the dramedy is a "must watch for families at home". "I had a wonderful time working with my very talented co-star Ayushmann Khurrana. Even though we are constantly bantering in the film, it has been a pleasure working with him for the first time. "This family entertainer has the power to cut across geographic boundaries and we are pleased to bring 'Gulabo Sitabo' to audiences across the globe," Bachchan said in a statement. "Gulabo Sitabo" also reunites Khurrana with Sircar after the 2012 hit "Vicky Donor", which was the actor's debut in Bollywood. Khurrana said this is a "special film" for him for many reasons. "It made me reunite with my mentor Shoojit da after 'Vicky Donor'. Whatever I'm today is because of him and I'm happy that he made me a part of his vision again. 'Gulabo Sitabo' also sees me share the screen space with Mr Amitabh Bachchan for the first time and it's a huge moment, it's a dream come true for me," he said. Sircar said while some films may take the "same route" of streamers during the COVID-19 pandemic, theatrical experience is here to stay. Both cinema halls and digital platforms will continue to coexist, he added. "Experience of watching 'Gulabo Sitabo' on Amazon will be no less than watching the film in theatres. I saw 'Roma', which directly released on a streamer in 2018, and then watched 'The Bicycle Thief' and 'Pather Panchali', and that gave me that much a cinematic kick when I saw these films on a digital platform." Producer Ronnie Lahiri said the film was earlier scheduled to be released last year, but was postponed as they wanted to go on floors with Sircar's next directorial, "Sardar Udham Singh" biopic with actor Vicky Kaushal. As the team focuses on one project at a time, "Gulabo Sitabo" had to wait for a release window, he said. "We were ready now but unfortunately this whole situation happened. With any difficult scenario, there is always another route forward that one has to find. The idea is to adapt to the situation. There is always a matter of preference but there are situations that go beyond our control," Lahiri said. The producer said what matters is that the viewers will get to see the film, regardless of the platform. "For us, it's exciting that at least the film is ready and a lot of people will see it. And what better platform than Amazon which is going to go across 200 territories worldwide. It's like a world premiere, so more people will watch it. For us, the bigger love is when people see the film," Lahiri said. Calling "Gulabo Sitabo" as "one of my most important" films, Sircar said releasing the movie straight on digital was motivated "purely by choice". "When I was offered and asked by Ronnie for the digital release, it was purely by choice (that we went for it) at this moment. I have a fresh novelty to the film. I have lived with the story for two-three years. When I make a film, I always feel it should reach to the audience as soon as possible," he explained. Vijay Subramaniam, director and head, content, Amazon Prime Video, India, said they are are happy to exclusively premiere one of the most anticipated films of the year "Gulabo Sitabo" on the streamer. "The global release of 'Gulabo Sitabo' on Prime Video, in over 200 countries and territories, will ensure maximum reach and visibility for the film not just in India but around the world," added Gaurav Gandhi, director and country general manager, Amazon Prime Video India.

Bollywood gives in -- Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana starrer Gulabo Sitabo won't wait for theatres, will release on Amazon Prime

<ul><li>Recently, <keyword id="6354630" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</keyword>, CEO, Facebook reiterated the importance of India for Facebook in its global scheme of things. </li><li>Over the years, Facebook has been testing and rolling out new features from here. Currently, its testing <keyword id="6662415" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-lite">Instagram Lite</keyword> in India, to make the platform accessible to everyone.</li><li>We spoke to <keyword id="248909" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Chopra">Manish Chopra</keyword>, Director and Head of Partnerships, <keyword id="736869" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook-India">Facebook India</keyword>, to understand the organization’s areas of focus for the next year and how its working on making its offerings more accessible to users and more effective for businesses and advertisers.</li></ul>While the world almost came to a standstill in 2020, owing to the pandemic-induced lockdown, it was digital players like Facebook that kept the world moving, even while people stayed indoors. The pandemic led to people spending more and more time on the internet, and understandably, Facebook saw an increase in the time people were spending on their platform. According to data from eMarketer, in H1 2020, people flocked to Facebook so they could share information and keep in touch with friends and family while staying at home. That led to user increases in nearly every world region. Currently, India has the largest user base of Facebook users. With around 272.2 million users in India in 2020, the country’s user base is expected to swell to 329.1 million by 2024. It therefore shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company is serious about its presence and growth here. During Facebook’s Fuel for India event recently, Mark Zuckerberg reiterated India’s importance in the global scheme of things for Facebook. During the chat, he said that the largest communities for Facebook and WhatsApp are in India and <keyword id="819905" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instagram">Instagram</keyword> is also getting there. Facebook has been testing and rolling out new features from here. From the launch of Reels on Instagram, to Watch on Facebook and Payments on WhatsApp, India is playing a crucial role in the way products are being designed for the future. Facebook is currently testing Instagram Lite in India. The app, which is less than 2 MB in size, has been created to bring the core Instagram experience to people currently unfamiliar with the app. The platform is also giving a push to its video offerings, opening up opportunities for advertisers and businesses to get closer to their target audience, virtually. We recently caught up with Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships, Facebook India, to understand the organization’s areas of focus for the next year and how its working on making its offerings more accessible to users and more effective for businesses and advertisers. Excerpts: Q) You're currently testing Instagram Lite in India. What are your plans for taking it to the market? When will you launch it officially? Our research conducted in India to ascertain the attractiveness and comprehension of new products showed that compromised internet experience as a result of low memory phones and heavy-sized apps was a barrier. This set the context for the test of Instagram Lite, and India is a primary test country for it. The Instagram Lite app is created to bring the core Instagram experience to people who do not have an Instagram experience today. The app is made for Android and this new version has improved speed, performance, and responsiveness. The experience is similar to the core Instagram app experience, though there are some features that are not currently supported such as Reels, Shopping and IGTV. The app will be available in Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. However, we don’t have the timing to share on when the app will be rolled out more broadly. Q) The pandemic led to many behavioural changes among consumers. What were some of the biggest changes you noticed during the past few months, especially in India? In the context of 2020, there’s been a fundamental change in digital consumption, which we’ve witnessed by the engagement we’ve seen on the Facebook family of apps. In many countries hit hardest by the virus, total messaging increased by more than 50% on WhatsApp and Messenger, in March. Similarly, in places hit hardest by the virus, voice and video calling doubled on Messenger and WhatsApp. In India, there was a 60% rise in Instagram Live views in March, on a week-on-week basis. Creators focused on keeping their communities informed and inspired. This began with social messages delivered through challenges like the #SafeHandsChallenge and the use of the ‘Stay Home’ sticker. It went on to keep people inspired, like Deepika Padukone and The Live Laugh Love Foundation released a Guide on Instagram that focussed on mental health. On Facebook, new Groups were formed to help people. These include groups like Mahita Nagaraj’s ‘Caremongers India’, a purely volunteer driven group providing frontline assistance ranging from cooked meals to transportation, to the needy, senior citizens, expecting mothers, and the physically challenged during the lockdown. A bunch of national and regional musicians, such as Armaan Malik and Lisa Mishra, performed in Live music concerts called ‘Live In Your Living Room’ to keep people entertained and people also raised funds for COVID-19 relief efforts through our platforms. We facilitated this with the launch of Facebook Fundraisers, which has an in-live donation option too, using which creators like Varun Purthy and Ashish Chanchalani raised funds as part of Facebook Social for Good Live-athon. The year also offered new opportunities, for instance, with short-form content, offered by new features like Reels. This has helped discover a new generation of influencers who’ve grown exponentially on Instagram. Few creators like Ankush Bahuguna and Sakshi Sindwani have also focussed on breaking stereotypes associated with gender and body types. Q) We saw people warm up to live videos during the pandemic, artists, musicians etc used it extensively to stay connected to their fans. What will your strategy be to make sure that people keep using your live features even once they start going out and once things get back to normal? Our community is at the heart of our platforms. We’re hearing them and constantly innovating. For e.g at the start of the lockdown, we saw the rise in Live’s and need from people to save that content to their IGTV and hence we introduced that feature. Earlier this month, we also launched Live Rooms, which gives people the ability to go live with upto three additional people on Instagram Live. With this feature, creators have more opportunities to have conversations with their communities, and to expand their reach and use cases for Live, such as starting a talk show or a podcast, hosting a jam session or co-creating with other artists, leading to more engaging Q&amp;As with those they’re going Live with, or simply hanging out with friends. This feature first was tested in India with creators, and then India was among the two countries it has launched in, ahead of a global rollout. Even with Instagram Lite, the context for the launch is research done in India, where people mentioned a compromised internet experience, as a result of low memory phones and heavy-sized apps. Hence Instagram Lite is less than 2MB in size and is built to deliver an Instagram experience that remains fast and reliable for more people. Beyond product innovation, we continue to work with public figures, creators, groups and organizations to discover opportunities where our platforms can add value to people’s lives. Q) How are advertisers making the most out of your Social Video offerings? Instagram launched a bunch of branded content updates at the end of November. These include: Branded content tag on Reels and Live - To help increase transparency, the Branded Content tag has launched in Reels, and will begin testing in Live in the coming weeks. New creation flow for Branded content ads - Until today, Branded Content ads could only be created by promoting the existing posts from creators. Instagram is now launching a new workflow where advertisers can create Branded Content ads without the need for creators to post organically on Instagram first. Now brands have more flexibility with fewer constraints when they want to run Branded Content ads. This new process has been designed with creator control in mind - creators can approve and pause any ads published from their handle. Branded Content ads in Stories - Branded Content ads in Stories can now include tappable elements, such as @mentions, location and hashtags. We want brands to have access to organic Stories’ creative that is native and authentic to the Stories experience. Branded Content ads with Product Tags - We’re introducing the ability for businesses to promote branded content posts with product tags. Q) How are you strengthening your offerings for advertisers? How are you making sure they are able to make the most of your video offerings to connect with their audiences? As a company, we are deeply committed to supporting the economic recovery of both small and large businesses, and especially understand the support that small businesses need right now to recover from the crisis. As part of our $100 million global grant program to support small businesses across 30 countries, we recently announced a grant of USD 4.3 million for small businesses in India. More businesses are moving online as a result of the digital acceleration fueled by the pandemic, and we’re keen to make this journey seamless for them through skilling, tools, and customized support. We recently released a local offline to online SMB Guide in Hindi and English that is free and publicly available but we also proactively reached out to 9 million small businesses across the country to ensure that it reaches the businesses that need it the most. We’ve also taken several of our industry-leading digital skilling programs online to ensure seamless learning and support in these times; Our flagship program for skilling small businesses, ‘Boost With Facebook’ is now being delivered in Hindi and English through Facebook Lives. We have video ad solutions for all the distinct ways in which people create, connect with, and consume video. Keeping in mind the increasing time being spent on mobile phones, and the reducing attention spans, we encourage advertisers to make Thumbstoppers - short-form mobile video ads that are built for the mobile, and tell the story effectively in a few seconds. We also have In-Stream ads for videos that are longer than three minutes on Facebook. These ads enable advertisers to tell a more complex story to people who are actively engaged in watching content with sound-on. We’re also focused on developing formats that are interactive and embrace the way people want to consume in feed. That’s why we have ad solutions including Poll ads, Augmented Reality (AR) ads, Instagram poll stickers for Stories ads, and Brand Playables. Interactive Ads enable instant two-way communication and get people involved, which is a natural fit for how people, especially the youth, engage on mobile phones. Q) Facebook has now started actively advertising in India, with the IPL as well as the Diwali ad. Why did you start advertising now, and what will your marketing strategy be going ahead? Consumer marketing is a relatively new strategic area of focus for Facebook and one that will significantly increase our global investment in communicating directly to consumers. Over the past year, our consumer marketing team has been focused on two important things - building trust with people who use our products and services and to build value around each of our apps. We launched the ‘More Together’ campaign for Facebook in India, earlier this year in March as a demonstration of our core belief that people can do more together than alone. Over the past few months, we have seen numerous instances where these stories have played out on our platform, where people can connect and come together to find and offer information, help, and support in the face of these unprecedented times. Many of these stories are on display at our first Facebook Fuel for India annual dialogue event. Q) Going ahead, what will your key focus areas be, to further grow your presence in India? One of our key agendas is to focus on providing social video experiences, through both <keyword id="4243508" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook-watch">Facebook Watch</keyword> and Instagram. Videos now make a third of all posts for Instagram in India, and India is one of the leading markets for Facebook Watch. Our video strategy for India is truly reflective of the width of consumer tastes in the country. We are investing in forging partnerships to bring culturally relevant, of-the-moment videos across sports, entertainment, news and lifestyle like ICC, FilmFare Awards and IIFA Awards to people. Additionally, we are also launching India-first products on Watch in line with the local consumer tastes and content preferences on the platform in response to the growing consumer affinity for video. India was among the first countries where music videos have been launched along with a music destination on Facebook Watch to enable people to view their favorite music videos and come together through music. We’re also listening and taking inspiration from what our community wants - and they’re telling us they want the opportunity to create and watch short-form, edited videos. Keeping that in mind, we launched Reels. The unique part of Reels is a dedicated tab, which allows people to be discovered by Instagram’s large and diverse community. We continue to innovate with IGTV too. This year, we partnered with a set of creators, such as Kusha Kapila, Arjun Kanungo and Shirley Setia for launching their own IGTV shows with original content. Moving forward, we will continue to invest in creating and facilitating active social viewing experiences on our platforms where the consumers can not only watch, but also have an opportunity to comment, like, share groups messages, use reactions and polls, and even hold Watch Parties; making the experience interactive and personalized.

Facebook is strengthening its social video experience for its next phase of growth in India

It’s been a long shoot for the team of <keyword id="22746" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="rohit-shetty">Rohit Shetty</keyword>’s upcoming movie <keyword id="1665132" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dilwale">Dilwale</keyword>; they have been shooting in different parts of the world, amidst challenging weather conditions in Iceland and Bulgaria for over 140 days now. However, much to the relief of the cast and crew who must have started missing home by now, the shoot is in its last leg now, hinting at the ‘beginning of the end’. 
 
The ongoing schedule in Hyderabad will soon wrap up as the climax is being shot with the whole cast, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Must-Read-Lessons-on-life-from-Doctor-Shahrukh-Khan/articleshow/49410600.cms">Shah Rukh Khan</a>, <keyword id="6354713" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="kajol">Kajol</keyword>, <keyword id="210696" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kriti-Sanon">Kriti Sanon</keyword>, <keyword id="383666" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Varun-Dhawan">Varun Dhawan</keyword>, <keyword id="337442" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Varun-Sharma">Varun Sharma</keyword>, <keyword id="31951" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Boman-Irani">Boman Irani</keyword>, <keyword id="9351" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Johnny-Lever">Johnny Lever</keyword>, <keyword id="769924" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chetna-Pande">Chetna Pande</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Looking-forsome-Motivation-Here-we-bring-15-inspiring-stories-of-Bollywood-stars/Sanjai-Mishra/slideshow/48856113.cms">Sanjai Mishra</a>, <keyword id="475128" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pankaj-Tripathi">Pankaj Tripathi</keyword>, <keyword id="17190" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mukesh-Tiwari">Mukesh Tiwari</keyword>, and Nawab Shah. Red Chillies Entertainment, <keyword id="1671" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shah-Rukh-Khan">Shah Rukh Khan</keyword>’s production house, shared a video on YouTube yesterday, allowing us to peek into the action that is happening behind the camera in the ongoing shoot. 
 
The climax is a wedding sequence, and everybody looks dapper, clad in suits, sarees and gowns. From the little that we get to see in the small clip, we can judge that the climax would show the characters of Varun Sharma and Chetna Pande getting married in a church and every other actor happily joining them in the celebration. 
 
What catches our eye, however, is that unlike every other Rohit Shetty’s movie, Dilwale doesn’t have an action-packed ending with cars flying in the air and the hero beating the goons to pulp. Instead, it’s a very sweet and happy ending, albeit not showing any of the lead pairs of SRK-Kajol or Varun-Kriti getting married, but that’s the beauty of a multi-starrer; you never know which character takes the lead. Actor <keyword id="1586498" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sanjai-Mishra">Sanjai Mishra</keyword> tickles the funny bones with his unusual beard, and Boman Irani teases our eyes with his bright yellow blazer. We also get to see our <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/5-cult-romances-that-show-Kajol-SRK-are-the-best-paired-on-screen-couple/articleshow/47730374.cms">favorite on-screen pair Kajol and SRK</a> dancing hand in hand. 
 
Watch the video to know more. 
 
 
 
Dilwale releases on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Shah-Rukh-Khan-Kajol-to-melt-our-hearts-this-December-with-Dilwale/articleshow/47707718.cms">18th December</a>, along with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s historical drama <keyword id="6391813" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bajirao-Mastani">Bajirao Mastani</keyword>, which stars Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, along with Ranveer Singh. 
 
Image courtesy Red Chillies Entertainment

Here’s a sneak peek into the climax of Dilwale

If you are in no mood to step out to join the Valentine's Day revelry and have a plan to spend a cosy evening with your beloved at home itself, we have a plan for you! How about a movie marathon? No, we are not suggesting you the same old list of Bollywood's most romantic films, but some recent romantic flicks that celebrate love. Here goes the list: 
 
1. <keyword id="617763" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Barfi">Barfi</keyword>! 
Trust - isn't this emotion bigger than love? Illeana D’Criuz was deeply in love with Ranbir Kapoor, but it was Priyanka Chopra who trusted him for life. That little emotion at the helm of this complex film managed to stand out only because trust is what matters in love at the end of the day. 
 
Watch out for: Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra's silent romance 
 
2. Goliyon Ki Raas Leela: Ram Leela 
Who says two fiery souls, who are as much lusting for each other as much they are in love, can't make an exemplary love story? Ram Leela, played by Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone proves yet again that if true love has the power to move mountains, it also has the courage to end itself for the sake of others. 
 
Watch out for: The quirky one-liners of the lead pair 
 
3. <keyword id="72970" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="2-States">2 States</keyword> 
This one is a must watch if you are dating a girl from a different culture, and are looking forward to marry her too. Trust us, you'll get many ideas to develop the patience required to deal with the differences and stuff that will help you impress the in-laws. 
 
Watch out for: The steamy stuff – it’s equally hot in every culture ;) (wink) 
 
4. Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai 
This one is pretty old, but it tells you a very simple lesson of love: Love means acceptance. And the way Twinkle forgives all flaws of Salman Khan and even accepts his illegitimate child is quite moving. It might take a lot of courage but one forgiveness can win you loads of love from your partner. 
 
Watch out for: Amazing songs 
 
5. <keyword id="38574" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lamhe">Lamhe</keyword> Directed by late Yash Chopra, this movie was way ahead of its times. All about a young girl falling in love with a man double her age, Lamhe can never age. Age is just a number when you are in love, and that's exactly what the film starring, <keyword id="6354700" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anil-Kapoor">Anil Kapoor</keyword> and <keyword id="6354580" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sridevi">Sridevi</keyword>, celebrated. 
 
Watch out for: Sridevi! 
Image: Thinkstock

Valentine’s Day special:
5 movies that celebrate romance in a different way

A motorist who dared to get sarcastic with mega-star <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> got a straightforward reply from the actor; however, the reply can’t be termed as rude in any manner possible. 
 
The motorist had blamed Bachchan’s ritual of meeting and greeting hundreds of fans outside his Mumbai residence for creating chaos and traffic problems in the neighborhood. The motorist had even suggested that the star shifts his meeting place to a beach, to avoid the traffic snarls. 
 
The actor, who has gone to say this many times in the past as well, repeated that he considers his fans as his family, and would meet his family at his residence only. 
 
The septuagenarian actor, who has received a lot of appreciation in his career spanning decades including the three prestigious <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Amitabh-Bachchan-now-holds-all-three-Padma-Awards/articleshow/46850437.cms">Padma Awards</a> took to his official blog to reply to the motorist. Here is the excerpt from his blog. 
 
You rest, you wake up, you bathe and dress, you wonder what was worn the previous Sunday, you decide what would be most appealing for the well wishers today, you make changes, you check from the office below - people in place, steps in place, ok … walking down to the masses … what will they do today .. will they scream, will they push and crush, will some petition, will some seek autograph and pictures .. how long should I remain there .. are they happy .. some Ef noticed .. acknowledging them with special smiles and waves andnamaskaars … 
turing back .. close the gates .. a last look .. a last wave .. and back to the room 
 
Now as the pictures get loaded, one sees the faces of elation and joy, of the keen vantage positions taken, of the poor little children riding piggy back on parent’s shoulders wondering why they are being subjected to this ordeal, of traffic snarls and irritated motorists who honk for space and desire to move on … of traffic sufferers, who write in as a response on FB, their disgust at this fake appreciation for a celebrity, and how the celebrity should care about the traffic, of how he should not hold these travellers to discomfort by coming out of his home, of how he should prevent this by hiring a ground near by and meet his fans or “whatever they are called” ( his words, not mine ), instead of causing this trouble for those that do not wish to see this old aged actor, of suggesting that the actor go to Juhu beach every Sunday and hold his “ meetings “ there since there is a “lot of space” and avoid the delays that he has to go through waiting for the crowds to clear so he can pass by on the road, for he has ‘no intention of seeing or meeting this third rate actor’ … 
 
I would entirely agree with this responder on FB. This celebrity actor is indeed an old aged man, and most certainly a third rate actor .. 
BUT .. Mr Suffering Motorist .. I am in no way going to leave my house to locations that you so generously suggest, to meet my well wishers .. they are like family to me, and I shall meet my family at home not on the beach .. !!! 
 Read the full post on <keyword id="2361523" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="senior-Bachchan">Senior Bachchan</keyword>’s official blog <a href="http://srbachchan.tumblr.com/post/113800206316">here</a>. 
 
The actor, who is known to be very humble and down to earth despite his stardom, was last seen in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Piku-To-Be-Promoted-Unusually-Says-Amitabh-Bachchan/articleshow/46354268.cms">Piku</a> as Bhaskor Banerjee, Deepika Padukone’s father suffering from chronic constipation. Another popular instance of his humble nature is reflected when he sends <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Guess-who-got-a-letter-and-bouquet-from-Amitabh-Bachchan-once-again/articleshow/47453640.cms">bouquets and appreciation letters</a> to the budding talents of <keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword>. 
 
The motorist would surely have learned his lesson. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/5-Life-Lessons-To-Learn-From-Amitabh-Bachchan/articleshow/44762680.cms">Here</a> are 5 other lessons that we all can learn from Mr. Bachchan. 
 
Image courtesy: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AmitabhBachchan/photos/a.449084038458724.107484.449082841792177/1035806686453120/?type=1&amp;theater">Amitabh Bachchan Facebook</a>

Here is why Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest star of Indian cinema

<ul><li><keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> stepped out on the terrace of his $1 billion home Antilia, to ring a bell and thank all those people working in essential services. </li><li>Industrialist Anil Agarwal, who pledged ₹100 crore towards fighting the pandemic, also rang a plate. </li><li><keyword id="55796" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kiran-Mazumdar-Shaw">Kiran Mazumdar Shaw</keyword>, the richest woman in India and the CEO of Biocon was also posted a picture where she was ringing a bell to appreciate the Coronavirus fighters. </li></ul>As the clock struck 5 pm on March 22, millions of people — who were observing a self-regulated curfew in India — came out of their balconies with bells, conches and plates to give a shoutout to all those who continue to work during the crisis. PM Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on March 19, urged people to stay indoors and observe a ‘<keyword id="1814675" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Janata-Curfew">Janata Curfew</keyword>’ on March 22 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He also requested people to thank those who are fighting the Coronavirus by stepping out to windows and balconies. Among those Indians who acknowledged their PM’s appeal, include top industrialists like Mukesh Ambani, <keyword id="46425" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand-Mahindra">Anand Mahindra</keyword>, Anil Agarwal and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. Mukesh Ambani, the chairperson of <keyword id="6355199" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="reliance-industries">Reliance Industries</keyword> 
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 Mukesh Ambani stepped<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antilia-mumbai-most-expensive-house-mukesh-ambani-2012-5?IR=T"> out on the terrace of his $1 billion home Antilia</a>, to ring a bell and thank all those people working in essential services. He was accompanied by other members of his family and staff. Ambani is among the top 5 billionaires in the world who lost the most in the last 40 days. The deadly Coronavirus has wiped out nearly half his wealth after a fall in crude oil prices crashed the global stock market. Anil Agarwal, founder and chairperson of Vedanta Group 
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="AnilAgarwal_Ved" handlename="Anil Agarwal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/882617872593424385/SNPJWl5v_normal.jpg" favoritecount="57611" retweetcount="14471" status="I am committing 100 cr towards fighting the Pandemic. #DeshKiZarooratonKeLiye is a pledge that we undertook &amp; this… https://t.co/RO2gmG4tF5" createdat="1584877622000" id="1241692860359102464"></div>







 Industrialist Anil Agarwal, who runs the Vedanta group, joined Jack Ma and Bill Gates in donating for the cause. He pledged ₹100 crore towards fighting the pandemic. “Many people are facing uncertainty and I’m especially concerned about the daily wage earners, we will do our bit to help,” he tweeted. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO and managing director of Biocon 
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="kiranshaw" handlename="Kiran Mazumdar Shaw" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/815537398444654592/o67mUQoz_normal.jpg" favoritecount="17813" retweetcount="1375" status="My small applause for our saviours of the COVID19 outbreak 🙏👏👏 https://t.co/9mvCuuIWII" createdat="1584880219000" id="1241703755889827841"></div>







 Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the richest woman in India and the CEO of Biocon was also seen ringing a bell to appreciate the Coronavirus fighters. <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2020/mar/23/stay-safe-kiran-mazumdar-shaw-on-stopping-third-stage-of-coronavirus-in-india-2120236.html">Shaw in her article in the New Indian Express </a>asked people to stay at home and seek medical attention if they feel unwell. “It is critical for each one of us to take the responsibility of preventing India from slipping into the third stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, in which transmission affects the community as a whole,” she said. A day before the Janata Curfew,<a href="https://twitter.com/kiranshaw/status/1241703755889827841"> Shaw took to Twitter to urge the Indian</a> government to procure more ventilators. Anand Mahindra, Group chairperson Mahindra &amp; Mahindra 
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="anandmahindra" handlename="anand mahindra" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1053583782584807425/-7IRmY5u_normal.jpg" favoritecount="71351" retweetcount="12902" status="I will be on my balcony with my family and we will applaud our unsung heroes without pause for the entire 5 minute… https://t.co/zX0maCWvv4" createdat="1584643211000" id="1240709672866177025"></div>






 Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra took to Twitter on Sunday to announce a series of measures, including production of ventilators at Mahindra's factories, to fight the outbreak.He claimed that going by various reports from epidemiologists, it is highly likely that India is already in the stage 3 of the novel Coronavirus transmission. Many celebrities including Deepika Padukone, the <keyword id="16448" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bachchan-family">Bachchan family</keyword>, Varun Dhawan, <keyword id="3778" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Johar">Karan Johar</keyword> also came out on their balconies to give a shoutout to relentless healthcare workers and other aiding essential services. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coronavirus&amp;sortorder=score">Check the latest stories on coronavirus on Business Insider India.</a>

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