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After Bollywood’s superstar Shah Rukh Khan raised the issue that there was intolerance in the country, latest to join him is actor <keyword id="6355923" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aamir-Khan">Aamir Khan</keyword>.<br />
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Aamir, while speaking at an award ceremony of a news daily, said his wife Kiran Rao had asked if they should move out of the country, as she feared for the safety of their children in a climate of insecurity.<br />
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Following the Dadri lynching case, many people have raised their concerns over intolerance and sparked debates. So much so that writers, academicians, historians, etc even returned their awards.<br />
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“There is an increased sense of despondency over the past 6-8 months. Important that those in power strongly condemn what's wrong. Historians, scientists have had a view to express. Returning awards is one way of getting your point across," said Aamir.<br />
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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in UK, had said that there was no place in intolerance in the country.<br />
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"Any event in any corner of India - it doesn't matter if there are even one or two incidents - we will not tolerate it and the law will deal with it strictly. India is a vibrant democracy where the lives, views and thoughts of ordinary citizens are protected under the Constitution. We are committed to this," Modi had said in the UK.<br />
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However, Aamir’s statement was slammed by another Bollywood actor Anupam Kher.<br />
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He took to microblogging site Twitter and condemned Aamir’s remarks on intolerance in India.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan">@aamir_khan</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SatyamevaJayate?src=hash">#SatyamevaJayate</a> u talked about evil practices but gave Hope. So even in ‘Intolerant’ times u need 2 spread Hope not Fear.</p>
	— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnupamPkher/status/668873705087463424">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan">@aamir_khan</a> Presumed country has become <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Intolerant?src=hash">#Intolerant</a>. Wat do u suggest 2 millions of Indians? Leave India? Or wait till regime changes?</p>
	— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnupamPkher/status/668866930917396481">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan">@aamir_khan</a>. When did ‘Incredible India’ become ‘Intolerant India’ for you? Only in the last 7-8 months? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AtithiDevoBhavah?src=hash">#AtithiDevoBhavah</a></p>
	— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnupamPkher/status/668865266764390400">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan">@aamir_khan</a>. Did you tell Kiran that you have lived through more worse times in this country &amp; but you never thought of moving out.</p>
	— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnupamPkher/status/668854367013965824">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Dear <a href="https://twitter.com/aamir_khan">@aamir_khan</a>. Did you ask Kiran which country would she like to move out to? Did you tell her that this country has made you AAMIR KHAN.</p>
	— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnupamPkher/status/668853344342024192">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
WATCH VIDEO: AAMIR KHAN SPEAKS ON INTOLERANCE<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Aamir Khan On Intolerance &amp; Delinking Religion From Terrorism - Complete Conversation At Ramnath Goenka Awards <a href="https://t.co/HWRLtCW7fN">https://t.co/HWRLtCW7fN</a></p>
	— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianExpress/status/668886574134788096">November 23, 2015</a></blockquote>
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(Image: Indiatimes/Video: Twitter)<br />

Aamir Khan says India is unlivable, increasingly intolerant. His wife suggested moving out of India

Every year has its own share of controversies and interesting twists and turns play a crucial role in the events. The year 2015 was no exception either. This year too, the country had its incidents, incidences and things that cropped up as aftermath, making some of them hot cakes in terms of news this year.<br />
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As we close in on wrapping up the year, here’s what made the headlines in 2015 and shaped the country’s opinion both, socially and politically, sometimes ushering in major change in perception about the country in the world’s eyes.<br />
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<strong><keyword id="3119826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Award-Wapsi">Award Wapsi</keyword></strong><br /> This must have been the most significant event of the year and happened right before the <keyword id="175111" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bihar-elections">Bihar elections</keyword>. Award wapsi, a movement of sorts, was started a little while after murder of rationalist thinker and writer M M Kalburgi in Karnataka. Writers Nayantara Sehgal and Uday Prakash were among those who set the tone. This year, the biggest literary event was not a book release or something, but more like a writer standing up for his right to speak what he sees as truth. The writers were chided for siding with Congress party since most of them received awards during the tenure of Congress government.<br />
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<strong>National Herald case</strong><br />
Apart from Award Wapsi, this was another headline grabber which almost made demi gods out of Congress first line leaders. AICC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi made an appearance in court over murky National Herald assets usurping case, which cost the country quite dearly since Congress stalled the discussions over some crucial issues such as GST in parliament, over ‘vendetta’ politics.<br />
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<strong>Modi Pakistan-Afghan visit</strong><br />
Towards the end of the year, the Prime Minister who has been jocularly targeted for his trips aboard sprang up a surprise and visited his counterpart in Pakistan absolutely out of turn, thus catching everyone by surprise. His move was both appreciated and criticized in equal measures by those who love him, and by those who simply didn’t like this approach. But, it looks like the White House seems to have welcomed this new found bonhomie between neighbours who have been sworn enemies over several issues.<br />
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<strong>Shah Rukh, Aamir Khan’s (controversial) intolerance remarks</strong><br />
This year when people spoke of social and cultural differences, they were targeted on social media and how! Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan who spoke against the rising incidents of ‘intolerance’ and the subsequent fear that has been the result of this, they were targeted badly for everything they said and did. Many from Bollywood including Raveena Tandon, Madhur Bhandarkar and Anupam Kher condemned these remarks made by the two Khans. The issue still simmers on.  <br />
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<strong>No women in temples, so what!</strong><br />
It started with Ayyappan temple in Sabarimala, Kerala where a trustee said they would put scanners soon to keep menstruating women from visiting temples and angering the gods. Soon after, BJP leader Pankaja Munde in Mumbai seemed to have agreed with this line of thought. She asked, in all calm tone, yes women have not been allowed to visit temples in particular days. So what?! This irked feminists and people across the social media, who ensured their spoke their minds against this medieval stance against menstruating women.<br />
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<strong>Meat ban during Paryushan Parva</strong><br />
The BJP government in Maharashtra banned meat during the Jain fasting period called Paryushan Parva. This angered people from across social strata, who were sure that the BJP was driving a wedge between communities that ate meat and those that didn’t consume meat. This was called a social experiment of the worst kind, which would have repercussions on people’s food habits where forced opinions would mean democracy had ceased to exist even in people food habits.<br />
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<strong>Sadhvi Prachi</strong><br />
In keeping with the continued tradition of letting lose a volley of abuses and irrational statements, asking people to go to Pakistan if they were opposed to the ideologies of BJP government which predominantly upheld Hindu values and the way of life, that an alternate faith was next to impossible. Sadhvi Prachi being just a representative of all those medieval thoughts and barbaric mindset, kept the newspapers busy with her idiosyncrasies while BJP leadership failed to rein her in.<br />
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<strong>Yakub Memon</strong><br />
Hanging of 1997 Mumbai blast main accused Yakub Memon, who was held guilty by courts in 2007 the country witnessed some tense moments and swift working by the courts even on the previous night he was to be hanged on July 30.<br />
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Though his death didn’t create a law and order situation, international media lost no opportunity to ensure this incident was bracketed under ‘intolerance’ towards Muslim brethren.<br />
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<strong>Bihar elections</strong><br />
This was the single most significant incident that probably indicated the image of BJP was on a journey downhill. Having doled out goodies in form of packages, and most engaging and intense campaigning by the who’s who of BJP including Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi, the MahagatBandhan with Nitish Kumar and Lalu at the helm held people’s hopes.  That is where exactly their votes went too. But in the run up to event, there was a lot of bad blood that spilled forth.<br />
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(Image: Indiatimes)<br />

Political controversies that made headlines in 2015

<ul><li><keyword id="12610293" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PVR-theatres" source="Orion">PVR theatres</keyword> will screen some handpicked old classics of <keyword id="2217" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Big-B" source="Orion">Big B</keyword> across 22 cinemas in 17 cities.</li><li>The Blockbuster festival will release 11 movies from October 8 to 11 in theatres.</li><li>The concept of re-releasing movies in India is relatively less popular.</li></ul>To celebrate the 80th birthday of legendary actor <keyword id="6357912" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amitabh-Bachchan" source="Orion">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword>, PVR theatres will screen a few of his classics across 22 cinemas in 17 cities, announced the <keyword id="2670358" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Film-Heritage-Foundation" source="Orion">Film Heritage Foundation</keyword> (FHF).<br /><br /><div type="twitter" handle="FHF_Official" handlename="Film Heritage Foundation" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/532145161661206528/wQgqjSOO_normal.jpeg" favoritecount="365" retweetcount="65" status="To celebrate the 80th birthday of the biggest icon of Indian cinema, FHF and @_PVRCinemas proud to present “Bachcha… https://t.co/d9w3Uzr7Px" createdat="1664520736000" id="1575740292178710528"></div><br />The Blockbuster festival — Bachchan back to the beginning — will release 11 movies from October 8-11 in theatres for the Indian audience. PVR has also rolled out a movie pass for all Big B fans to enjoy and cherish all the films on the silver screen once again.<br /><br />However, the list excludes one of the most loved films, which made a remarkable impact on the audience in the old days of 1975, Sholay. Netizens showcased their disappointment on Twitter in replies to the official announcement made by the FHF.<br /><br /><div type="twitter" handle="Hari_Priya81" handlename="DontMessWithTheABCDEFG" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1572418659712401410/Hwz-0aeh_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="@FHF_Official @_PVRCinemas @SrBachchan @roykapurfilms @smmausaja @ZEECorporate Sholay yaada ra Howle😪" createdat="1664531839000" id="1575786864174211072"></div><br />In the era before satellite television, it was common for theatres to re-release old movies. But with multiple movie channels, their appeal waned. However, a few movie buffs who enjoy the big screen impact had been missing them.<br /><br /><strong>Here are all the Big B movies that will hit silver screens again —<br /></strong><br />1. <strong>Kaala Patthar</strong><br />Amitabh Bachchan, along with Shatrughan Sinha and Shashi Kapoor were a part of this critically-acclaimed movie. The movie was based on the tragic Chasnala mining disaster where flooding in the mines had taken the lives of over 300 miners. Bachchan plays the role of a tortured merchant navy captain who becomes a miner to forget his tragic past.<br /><br /><strong>2. Kaalia</strong><br />Written and directed by Tinnu Anand, this movie is yet another memorable movie from Bachchan’s angry-young-man era. It’s the story of a happy-go-lucky young man who gets pulled into the world of crime after a life-changing incident.<br /><br /><strong>3. Silsila</strong><br />Widely popular for its hit track <em>Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye Hum</em>, the triangular love story was a casting coup pulled off by producer-director Yash Chopra. While the lead actors Bachchan and Rekha were rumoured to be real-life lovers, the movie also stars his wife, Jaya Bachchan.<br /><br />4. <strong>Amar Akbar Anthony</strong><br />Bachchan plays the second brother of this divided-at-birth brothers’ story that also stars Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi and Nitu Singh. Cleverly bringing in religious unity, the movie is about brothers finding their way back to each other even as their worlds clash. Khanna plays a police officer, Bachchan a petty thief and Rishi Kapoor is a musician.<br /><br />5. <strong>Namak Halaal</strong><br />It was one of the biggest comedy blockbuster movies of 1982. The masala film is about Arjun (Bachchan) who moves to the city in search of a job and ends up befriending the man whom his mother raised as his own son.<br /><br />6. <strong>Abhimaan</strong><br />The popular musical is about two musicians who are husband and wife. Jealousy overtakes Bachchan who realises that his talented wife, played by Jaya Bachchan, is becoming more popular than him.<br /><br />7.<strong> Don</strong><br />The movie, which had the third-highest box office revenue collections in 1978, revolves around the life of gangster named Don, played by Bachchan. Even though it was remade by Farhan Akhtar starring Shah Rukh Khan in two parts, the original with Pran and other actors is a movie worth watching.<br /><br />8. <strong>Satte Pe Satta</strong><br />The movie embodies the concept of an ensemble cast as it has six actors who play the brothers of Bachchan, who is of course the eldest. It stars Hema Malini, Amjad Khan, Ranjeeta Kaur and Sachin Pilgaonkar, Shakti Kapoor and more in lead roles.<br /><br />9. <strong>Mili</strong><br />Released in 1975, the movie revolves around a girl who suffers from pernicious anaemia and a depressed alcoholic, who eventually fall in love with each other. The film was later remade in Telugu in 1976 as Jyothi starring Jayasudha in the title role.<br /><br />10. <strong>Chupke Chupke</strong><br />The family comedy starring Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bachchan and Big B has come to be known as a masterpiece. The story is an elaborate prank played on a self-assured lawyer and businessman who is Dharmendra’s brother-in-law Om Prakash. In spite of its high-profile cast, Om Prakash’s act as the unsuspecting victim has won many hearts.<br /><br />11. <strong>Deewar</strong><br />Want to know where the classic line, “Mere paas maa hai” comes from? Watch this movie on the big screen – the tale of two brothers Vijay and Ravi, who follow different paths. Vijay (Bachchan) becomes a wanted smuggler, while Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) becomes an honest police officer and destiny makes their paths cross.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-to-begin-beta-trial-of-5g-in-four-cities-on-dussehra-with-unlimited-data/articleshow/94645577.cms">Reliance Jio to begin beta trial of 5G in four cities on Dussehra with unlimited data</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/with-950-billionaires-asia-outnumbers-all-other-regions-forbes/articleshow/94644883.cms"><strong>With 950 billionaires, Asia outnumbers all other regions: Forbes</strong></a>

Big B’s best movies are back on the big screens - Here are 11 you can watch

<p>The big, fat, Indian wedding is the stuff of dreams.</p><p>For Krishma Sood Bhojwani, this meant hosting a four-day-long celebration at the JW Marriott in Phuket, Thailand. The bride imported cheese wheels from Italy, sourced Iberico ham directly from Spain, and hired a photography team from Mumbai. She flew in <a href="https://www.wedmegood.com/blog/epic-phuket-wedding-with-head-turning-bridal-looks/">chefs</a> from India and Japan, and had cooks preparing fresh food across 24 dining stations.</p><p>The wedding consisted of eight events spread across four days, all set against the backdrop of the oceanfront resort where lush jungle meets the province's coastline. The 120 guests, who flew in from around the world and wore black-tie attire and intricately embroidered lehengas, were treated to cocktail dinners by the beach and ballroom parties.</p><p>Bhojwani had arranged for a floating altar and wore <a href="https://wedbook.in/real-weddings/thailand-destination-wedding-of-a-couple-who-postponed-their-wedding-thrice/">traditional outfits</a> that were made by luxury designers like Sabyasachi, whose <a href="https://www.azafashions.com/products/floral-embroidered-lehenga-set/222913?utm_country=sg&amp;wpsrc=Google%20AdWords&amp;wpscid=&amp;wpsnetn=x&amp;wpkwn=&amp;wpkmatch=&amp;wpcrid=&amp;wpcid=17961464551&amp;wpkwid=&amp;wpscn=&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_source=google-pmax&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=SGD-ACQ-GOOGLE-PMAX-ALL-MCV-12August2022&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwmouZBhDSARIsALYcouoPDwycaxZa2Np04dLTMyBf5DqDEeZg9yHbJ1QgQ70oSm4Cs6s5uEIaAlgrEALw_wcB">designs</a> can go for $30,000 a piece.</p><p>As for the cost? Around $400,000 for the wedding events alone, Bhojwani estimates — and that doesn't account for the couple's jewelry and outfits. </p><p>"I did have a strict budget — money doesn't grow on a tree. We were sharp on cost and didn't spend a dollar over what I said we would," Bhojwani, who's from Australia, told Insider.</p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="3555" width="4740" msid="94268295" hostid="261"></div><p>In India, the wedding industry is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indias-50-billion-wedding-industry-is-gearing-up-for-a-busy-winter/articleshow/78163437.cms">worth</a> a whopping $50 billion, and it's not uncommon for wealthy families to spend astronomical amounts of money on weddings. In 2018, billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-10/real-crazy-rich-asian-wedding-is-said-to-cost-100-million?leadSource=uverify%20wall">spent</a> a reported $100 million on his daughter's wedding, with guests like Beyonce, Shah Rukh Khan, and Hillary Clinton in attendance.</p><p>But even for the just ordinarily wealthy, weddings can ring up serious price tags: Indian families are known to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-looks-indian-weddings-boost-tourism-revenue-2022-08-31/">spend</a> as much as $800,000 on destination weddings at five-star hotels and resorts across Southeast Asia. Traditionally, the bride's family would bear the wedding costs, but that's now considered an <a href="https://qz.com/2130328/how-hindu-weddings-became-indias-cultural-export/">outdated practice</a> — many families, including Bhojwani and her husband's, choose to share the expenses. As Bhojwani put it, Indian couples typically have a "huge amount of parental support" in financing the costs of their wedding.</p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="4023" width="5365" msid="94268298" hostid="261"></div><p>Now, as luxury resorts across Southeast Asia emerge from the pandemic, many of them are competing for these lucrative Indian weddings. Many of these establishments are still reeling from the financial impact of the pandemic, and they're sparing no effort to attract the business of wealthy Indian couples to make up for the deficits. After all, that big Indian wedding may just be the tipping factor between ending the year in red or black. </p><h2><strong>The big business of big Indian weddings</strong></h2><p>One reason high-end Indian weddings can be so expensive is because they're often not single-day events — Sikh wedding ceremonies, for example, are held over several days, said Vin Ramash, a wedding planner with Singapore-based wedding and events company Alangkaar. </p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding in Phuket." height="4023" width="5365" msid="94268301" hostid="261"></div><p>"At the higher end, Punjabi weddings start at $100,000 per day, so spending $500,000 is possible," Ramash told Insider, explaining that this is typical of weddings held at premium hotels like Capella, St. Regis, or Ritz-Carlton.</p><p>But the bells, whistles, and whims of the couple also contribute to the hefty price tag.</p><p>Hand-made mandaps, or altars, and custom-designed decorations can cost around $40,000, Ramash said — and additional requests like fireworks can cost even more.</p><p>And then there's the travel element. </p><p>As destination weddings become more popular among high-net worth Indian couples, many couples are looking to Thailand. Ramash said Alangkaar's tourism partner in the country anticipates 400 to 500 "large-sale Indian weddings" in 2023 alone.</p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="3580" width="4773" msid="94268303" hostid="261"></div><p>"Couples love destination weddings in Thailand because of the value you get for every dollar you spend. People want an experience — it's not just about status," Ramash, who plans weddings in Singapore, Bali, and Phuket, added. </p><p>Bhojwani and her husband had initially planned to host their wedding at the Intercontinental Hotel in Phu Quoc, Vietnam. After lockdowns, travel restrictions, and four postponements, they finally decided to host their wedding in Thailand.</p><p>Vendors and planners in Phu Quoc failed to understand what they wanted for their wedding "no matter how hard we negotiated," Bhojwani said. The planners and venue in Thailand, meanwhile, "understood the vision, the scale, the grandeur, and experience" she and her husband were looking for.</p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="3881" width="5174" msid="94268305" hostid="261"></div><h2><strong>Tourism boards and luxury hotels are fighting for weddings</strong></h2><p>Given the pent-up demand, and in an effort to get back to pre-pandemic business levels, tourism boards and luxury hotels are prioritizing marketing campaigns that target the ultra-luxe destination Indian wedding segment. That means that destinations like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Maldives are often vying for the same big-budget weddings.</p><p>Resorts are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to become the destination of choice. Hotels are catering to all sorts of demands from the wedding parties, including making special arrangements for religious rituals like providing a Hindu priest to solemnize the wedding. In some instances, they've even offered to rebook guests at sister venues if a bigger wedding party wants to book out the entire property. </p><p>Tourism boards are getting in on it, too.</p><p>For Thailand, wedding revenue is embedded into the tourism revenue for the year. Thailand expects a 600 billion to 700 billion baht, or $16 to 19 million, boost to tourism revenues this year from luxury weddings and honeymooners, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-looks-indian-weddings-boost-tourism-revenue-2022-08-31/">reported</a>, citing a senior tourism official. Indian tourists are the "priority" this year, Tanes Petsuwan, the deputy governor of Thailand's tourism authority, <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Thai-tourism-eyes-Indian-weddings-as-Chinese-spending-dries-up">told</a> Nikkei Asia.</p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="2250" width="3000" msid="94268475" hostid="261"></div><p>Other tourism boards, like Indonesia's, are also on the prowl to woo these glitzy-eyed couples. These exclusive weddings can cost anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000, Sanjay Sondhi, the CEO of Om Tourism and the head of Indonesia's tourism board for India, told Insider. </p><p>Indonesia tourism board officials often collaborate with the biggest wedding planners in countries like India, and in some instances are even present when resorts are pitching to the prospective brides and grooms. </p><p>The fruits of this labor can be sweet. For one high-profile wedding slated to be held in the tropical island of Bali, talks are now revolving around a chartered flight for around 250 guests, Sondhi said. The couple was previously mulling a destination wedding in Thailand. </p><h2><strong>Hotels lay out the red carpet</strong></h2><p>With the main Indian wedding season, which runs from October to December, just around the corner, hotels are seeing a pick-up in inquiries.</p><p>Demand for Six Senses properties across Southeast Asia for Indian destination weddings has been on the rise, with Six Senses Uluwatu in Bali being the absolute "favorite," Agnes Poon, the director of sales and marketing for Six Senses in Asia, told Insider. In August, the five-star resort held the wedding for a high-end family based in South India, Poon said. And in late 2021, the hotel chain <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/vicky-kaushal-katrina-kaif-s-wedding-suites-in-six-senses-resort-costs-rs-7-lakh-per-night-exclusive-1882458-2021-11-30">hosted</a> the wedding of Bollywood stars Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal. The wedding took place at the chain's flagship property in India, Six Senses Fort Barwara.</p><p>Poon said queries are coming in for minimums of 200-250 rooms at the resort, which rests on the famed limestone cliffs of Uluwatu and opens up to sweeping views of the Indian Ocean.</p><p>To be sure, it's not just Indian weddings that are big business. The global wedding services industry generated $160.5 billion revenues in 2020 and is expected to generate revenues of $414.2 billion in 2030, per an Allied Market Research <a href="https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/wedding-services-market-A15864">report</a>.</p><p>Luxury hotel Capella Singapore has weddings scheduled for every weekend of the year, Victoria Lim, a content marketing specialist at Capella Hotel group, told Insider. Demand for venues is topping pre-pandemic levels — but the type of demand is also diversifying. Capella is seeing an increase in small and intimate solemnization, especially for couples who put their weddings on pause due to the pandemic, Lim said. </p><div type="image" title="Krishma Sood Bhojwani's wedding." height="3843" width="5124" msid="94268478" hostid="261"></div><p>But for many of those taking the traditional big Indian wedding route, it's worth it to dish out — even if they had to change their plans multiple times along the way.</p><p>"I've always dreamed of having a beautiful wedding," Bhojwani said of her April wedding. "It was really hard, it was delayed for three years but we got there in the end. It's definitely worth it."</p>

Indian weddings are big money &mdash; and luxury resorts across Southeast Asia are competing to draw them in to make up for their Covid deficits

<ul><li><strong>Deepika Padukone became one of the select few - and probably the only A-list star - to have reacted to the JNU mob violence. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>She met the JNUSU president and left without speaking a word. <br /></strong></li><li><strong>A few marketing experts believe that she is playing the ‘promotion’ card.<br /></strong></li></ul>Deepika Padukone has often been criticised for her ‘safe’ fashion sense. What she may lack in sartorial experimentation, she might make up for with her actions. She became one of the select few - and probably the only A-list star - to have reacted to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) mob violence. <br /><br />She met the JNUSU president and left without saying a word. Nonetheless, it spoke volumes on how few entertainment industry leaders have <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/deepika-padukone-on-protests-across-india-proud-we-arent-scared-2160356">shared their views on controversial subjects during sensitive political crises. </a>Even the reigning trio - Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and the usually outspoken Aamir Khan too stayed away from commenting on it. <br /><br />“It is a bold move as when stars step out and speak on political, religious and economic issues, they are targeted,” Harish Bijoor, a marketing consultant and branding expert told Business Insider. <br /><br />For the last few weeks, Padukone has been wearing the mask of an acid attack victim and walking around the streets of Mumbai in a unique promotional campaign. However, her solidarity to JNU has unmasked many top actors who had refused to take a stand on burning issues like the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) — the bone of contention which led to the attack on the university. <br /><br />Ajay Devgn, a leading actor in the Bollywood industry himself, had candidly accepted his inability to speak on the issue. “If we (himself and co-actor Saif Ali Khan) say something, it will offend someone and my film <em><keyword id="7162500" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tanhaji">Tanhaji</keyword> </em>will be banned. Who will suffer? The producer, that’s me,” he told the Quint <a href="https://www.thequint.com/videos/ajay-devgn-on-citizenship-amendment-act-nrc-npr-protests">in an interview</a>. <br /><strong><br />From protests to theatres </strong><br />However, Ajay’s problems might be different from that of Deepika. In his movie, he plays the army general of Hindu rulers — the Marathas — so it can be defined as a patriotic movie. But Deepika’s movie Chappak which is to be released on January 10 — based on the real-life story of an acid attack victim — is expected to draw young, urban audiences. <br /><br />And, most college-going students are busy protesting - and a few naysayers would indicate that she is trying her best to bring protesting audiences to theaters. Anti-CAA protests <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/dabangg-3-lost-15-of-its-weekend-business-due-to-caa-protests-but-thats-not-the-only-reason/articleshow/72933171.cms">already ate into the business of another possible top grosser,</a> Dabangg3.<br /><br />Her last release — Padmaavat — gained from <a href="https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-news/do-controversies-around-movies-impact-revenues-100690.html">the excessive negative</a> publicity it received.<br /><br />It also helps that Deepika plays the role of a girl seeking social justice. However, few marketing experts believe that she is playing the ‘promotion’ card. Some others say that she could be playing safe. <br /><br />“Nobody who has a film coming out is talking because this move can go either way, and lead to boycotting. But then again, Deepika never spoke during the violence at Jamia Milia,” opined a top branding expert who refused to be identified. <br /><br />All publicity need not be good publicity <br /><br />Bijoor said Deepika’s persona does not make him believe that it’s a publicity stunt. “I do not think it’s a marketing gimmick. If it is, then it’s a bad one and won’t work because people will see through it,” he said. <br /><br />There is some backlash from Twitter already. <br /><br /><div type="twitter" handle="TajinderBagga" handlename="Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1210169713617096704/IYLeHKV3_normal.jpg" favoritecount="11060" retweetcount="5845" status="PR agency saying @deepikapadukone was in JNU for FILM Promotion but in actual She was part of Protest where Tukde-T… https://t.co/Lnx1ClxLvq" createdat="1578431758000" id="1214656950173982720"></div>

<br />However, this is not the first time that Deepika has made bold moves uncharacteristic to Bollywood stars. She openly spoke about her struggles with clinical depression. In addition, she took a very powerful media house when it tweeted a picture of her cleavage in a bad light. <br /><div type="twitter" handle="deepikapadukone" handlename="Deepika Padukone" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1207176068227948544/uhVZMLvd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="5852" retweetcount="6223" status="Supposedly India's 'LEADING' newspaper and this is 'NEWS'!!?? http://t.co/D3wiVVXuyM" createdat="1410683577000" id="511070081946644480"></div>

<br />The old saying goes — all publicity is good publicity. However, this might not be true anymore in a country simmering with political, religious and ideological differences. Since there are enough supporters on either side of the spectrum, Padukone might gain as many fans as she lost. Whether her movie will gain from it not — only time will tell. <br /><br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO </strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/dabangg-3-lost-15-of-its-weekend-business-due-to-caa-protests-but-thats-not-the-only-reason/articleshow/72933171.cms">Dabangg 3 lost 15% of its weekend business due to CAA protests — but that’s not the only reason</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/kiara-advani-wears-pradas-famous-sneaker-heels-and-it-becomes-the-fashion-blunder-of-the-year/articleshow/72897580.cms">Kiara Advani wears Prada's famous 'sneaker heels' and it becomes the fashion blunder of the year</a><br />

Deepika Padukone and Ajay Devgn both have movies releasing this week - only one of them is a real hero

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>TED, the media organization behind the popular ideas conference and video talks, is expanding.</strong></li><li><strong>The 33-year-old company has stayed out of politics for most of its existence, but as political tensions create a crisis of ideas, TED now has to figure out where it's going next.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>The first stop, beginning this month, is a new TV show in India.&#xa0;</strong></li></ul><p><br>"So, uh, politics," Chris Anderson said as he paced across the stage in the Vancouver Convention Center. "Politics. Politics ... How do I say this?"</br></p><p>It was a Monday evening this past April, and Anderson was standing in front of a sea of attendees at the <a href="http://www.ted.com">2017 TED Conference</a>, where nearly 2,000 executives, entrepreneurs, celebrities, artists, and scientists had descended for five days of thought-provoking talks. Anderson, TED's director, was doing his best to address the elephant in the room.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>In the three months since Donald Trump had been sworn in as president of the United States, nearly every news story and water-cooler chat had been tinged with political rhetoric. TED, an organization that says it's set on remaining apolitical, was now thrust into the mix.</p><p>Anderson said he was sick of politics, to which he received raucous cheers. Then he said what could become a guiding philosophy for TED: "This week, we're not going to escape it entirely," he said. "But we are going to do our best to put it in its rightful place."</p><h2>A company on the rise faces a new reality</h2><p>TED started 33 years ago as a low-budget, in-person series of 18-minute talks. In the past decade, it's grown into a $65 million juggernaut. All around the world, TED produces talks (available to watch online), podcasts, and books, offers fellowships and grants, and gives little-known speakers the chance to become industry leaders just by taking the TED stage.</p><p>This month it's launching its most ambitious project yet, "TED Talks India: Nayi Soch," an eight-part TV series that will be broadcast in Hindi. It's TED's first non-English TV program, and it's expected to reach millions of people.</p><p>TED has hit an inflection point. The company was founded on the premise that fresh, innovative ideas can shape the future. But as social-media bubbles have made it easier to ignore ideas that don't appeal to us, an increasing number of people seem uninterested in stepping out of their comfort zone. Whether it's Trump's election win or the UK's Brexit, the world has shown signs of turning inward. TED's success hinges on that not happening.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><h2>Politics and TED can still be compatible</h2><p>In the wake of October's Las Vegas Mandalay Bay massacre - the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history - political debates about gun control reopened and closed in a matter of weeks. But Anderson, seated in a quiet space at TED's New York City headquarters a few weeks later, maintained that no topic, not even gun control, was too sensitive for the politically neutral TED stage.</p><p>He recalled a recent trip to Vermont during which someone informed him that the state had one of the lowest murder rates in the US despite a high rate of gun ownership.</p><p>"Maybe having the argument [on the TED stage] given by someone who loves guns, has hunted, and gets the pleasure and the appeal of them" would work better, Anderson said, "rather than the nanny wagging their finger at you and saying 'No, you mustn't.'"</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>TED relies on a three-pronged test to determine if a talk is worth including in a conference lineup.</p><p>The first is whether the talk gives people a fresh way of seeing the world. Anderson's quintessential example is Barry Schwartz's 2005 talk, <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_choice">"The Paradox of Choice,"</a> in which Schwartz, a psychologist, suggested that people can be paralyzed by how much choice they have, not liberated by it.</p><p>The second is whether the talk offers the audience a clever solution to a given problem, or the promise of a better future.</p><p>The third is inspiration. The talk should express an idea in a way that compels people to act.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The test has come to be even more crucial over the past few years. In a press call ahead of this year's TED Conference, Anderson said that "ideas have never mattered more."</p><p>"We have this tool for bridging that allows any two humans to see the world a bit differently. Call the tool what you want: reason, discussion, sharing of ideas. It's actually an amazing thing that it can happen at all," Anderson told Business Insider. "The single most terrifying thing about the current moment is that we are throwing away that superpower and descending into more animal-like behavior."</p><h2>A dinner party goes viral</h2><p>When designer and architect Richard Saul Wurman launched TED in 1984, he called it the dinner party he always wanted to have but couldn't. Wurman united technology, entertainment, and design into one multiday event. He called it "TED." (Wurman is a fan of cheeky acronyms. Recently, the 82-year-old hosted a dinner party called EAT, wherein conversation had to center on envy, admiration, and terror.)</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Wurman and his assistant organized the first TED conference for 300 of Wurman's closest friends and colleagues. If someone flubbed a line or lost their way entirely, Wurman, who sat onstage for every talk, would sometimes leave his chair and stand directly behind the speaker. It was his quiet way of saying, "Time to wrap things up."</p><p>Despite TED's unveiling of the world's first compact disc - quite the feat at the time - it wasn't until 1990 that Wurman held his second conference. Gradually, the event began to attract bigger names and bigger audiences.</p><p>"Steve [Jobs] would call me up at home and say, 'What stuff do you want at the conference this year as far as equipment?'" Wurman recalled.</p><p>Wurman sold the enterprise, in 2000, to Future PLC, a publishing company that Anderson had built into a media giant in the 1990s. Through his personal nonprofit, the Sapling Foundation, Anderson bought TED from Future PLC in 2001 for $6 million. The company has stayed under Anderson's watch since.</p><p>Under Anderson's stewardship, TED has grown into a bona-fide kingmaker.</p><p>"It's not an exaggeration to say my life very much divides itself into pre-TED and post-TED," Sarah Kay, a spoken-word poet, told Business Insider. Kay's 2011 talk, "If I Should Have a Daughter," has amassed 10.5 million views since it hit the TED site. "I'm very much aware that my career would not be what it is had that video not gone online."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Leadership expert and author Simon Sinek said TED has given a similar golden touch for his career. When Sinek's 2009 TEDx talk, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action," was uploaded to the TED site, it coincided with his first book, "Start With Why," which has gone on to sell nearly a million copies and has seen rising sales every year since the talk was uploaded. At 34 million views, "How Great Leaders Inspire Action" is the third-most-viewed TED talk of all time.</p><p>"All of our careers have been catalyzed thanks to TED," Sinek told Business Insider, referring to the site's top-viewed speakers. "When you hang out backstage at TED now, the anxiety is palpable. People truly believe it's this make-or-break thing for their careers."</p><p>Even people who are already famous when they hit the TED stage feel this pressure. Author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell gave his first TED talk in 2004. He chose as his topic the mystery of creating the perfect spaghetti sauce.</p><p>"I was very nervous, and in fact I never liked that talk because I lose my way halfway through," Gladwell told Business Insider. "It's kind of obvious if you watch it. To me, it's painfully obvious."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>TED-driven fame doesn't always lead to positive outcomes.</p><p>In 2012, Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy gave a talk called "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are." It hinged on a 2010 study in which she found standing like Wonder Woman boosted testosterone and lowered stress.</p><p>Almost overnight, "power posing" became a life hack for millions. But as Susan Dominus recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/magazine/when-the-revolution-came-for-amy-cuddy.html">reported</a> for The New York Times Magazine, a movement among psychologists looking to highlight flaws in research has since discredited Cuddy's 2010 study.</p><p>The prominence Cuddy gained from TED made her an easy scapegoat, Dominus wrote. In the spring Cuddy left her tenure-track job at Harvard.</p><h2>Getting bigger has brought new challenges</h2><p>Anderson saw the TED acquisition as his big second chance to deliver these kinds of inventive ideas to millions, if not billions, of people. By 2006, he had broadened its scope so that religious leaders, artists, life coaches, poets, and other bright minds could join original stars like Jane Goodall and Stewart Brand on the TED stage. The son of two missionaries, Anderson also bestowed upon TED a subtitle: "ideas worth spreading."</p><p>TED is now a household name in educated, urban pockets of the US and beyond. At TED's home office, a counter projected on to the server-room door shows a live feed of the day's video views. Shortly after lunch on a recent October visit, the counter had already reached 1.3 million. The most popular talk - Sir Ken Robinson's "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" - has been viewed more than 61 million times.</p><p>But as it's gotten bigger TED has seemed to at times&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ted-sexual-harassment-claims-go-back-for-years-some-allege-2017-11">struggle to maintain oversight</a> at its conferences and offices. Several attendees of the 2017 TED Conference said they'd been sexually harassed or groped, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-ted-talks-empire-has-been-grappling-with-sexual-harassment-interviews-and-internal-emails-show/2017/11/17/39f9374a-cae7-11e7-b0cf-7689a9f2d84e_story.html">The Washington Post</a>.&#xa0;</p><p>Casting a broader net has also invited critics who take issue with what TED has become. In 2013, Benjamin H. Bratton, an associate professor of visual arts at the University of California at San Diego, gave a TEDx talk <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/30/we-need-to-talk-about-ted">in which he argued</a> that TED doesn't actually inspire people to think or behave differently.</p><p>He called the platform "middlebrow megachurch infotainment" and suggested TED is complicit in "dumbing down the future." In a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/fashion/Chris-Anderson-Curator-of-TED-Talks-Builds-his-Brand.html?_r=1">2014 New York Times profile of Anderson</a>, David Hochman called TED "the Starbucks of intellectual conglomerates."</p><p>Sinek defended TED's emphasis on simplifying complex topics as one of the reasons TED exists in the first place.</p><p>"That's the idea," he said. "If ideas are so complex that nobody can ever hear them, then what's the value to the general population? But if we can learn to communicate our ideas in ways that people can understand them, isn't that a good thing? Many academics hate TED because they're the ones who didn't get TED famous."</p><h2>Giving videos away for free isn't cheap</h2><p>The company's main TED Conference is held every year in Vancouver and remains its flagship moneymaker. Capped at 1,800 attendees - or "TEDsters" if they are regulars - the event features five days of nonstop activity.</p><p>Titans of the tech, science, art, design, and entertainment world attend TED for the chance to adjourn, however briefly, to a brighter future. Access to this future isn't cheap. Tickets cost $8,500 and up, and the high price <a href="https://scobleizer.blog/2010/02/14/the-elephants-in-the-room-at-ted/">has rankled some</a> who say TED is hypocritical for spreading ideas only to those wealthy enough to hear them. At the 2017 event, branded partner BMW let people test-drive new high-end models. Lululemon provided an indoor pod for meditation and yoga.</p><p>Anderson said he's trying to structure the 2018 conference so that more of a general audience can attend, perhaps through a lottery system. And he defended the cost of admission as a way to bring TED talks to a broad audience. "They're the people who are actually paying for us to spend literally tens of millions of dollars every year on a website that distributes these talks to the world," he said.</p><h2>An evolving company figures out what's next</h2><p>Anderson's goal is to allow the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-diamandis/rising-billion-consumers_b_7008160.html">3 to 5 billion people</a> expected to come online by 2020 to draw inspiration from TED. He called this digital migration "the most extraordinary social experiment we've seen in history."</p><p>"There just hasn't been a time when a girl in a remote village or a boy in a slum who is unemployed and angry and trying to figure out what to do with his life, can actually have, 18 inches from their eyeballs and plugged into their ears, some of the most inspiring speakers and mentors," he said.</p><p>Attracting that new audience comes with a new set of quandaries. It means thinking about how to bring TED's ideas to people who don't speak English, can't access technology, or may want to&#xa0;<a href="https://twitter.com/TEDTalks/status/897169506505814016">hear certain ideas</a> at critical moments.</p><p>"There were a number of talks we shared in the wake of the events in Charlottesville," said Colin Helms, TED's head of media, referring to the August riots that took place in Virginia between white-supremacist groups and counterprotesters. "We're always sensitive to not taking a political stance, but we also have an obligation to share ideas that we think will empower and help people, particularly in times of need or the world is in a sense of disarray, wherever that may be."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Expanding TED also means considering future speakers even more carefully.</p><p>There will always be the marquee stars Anderson wants to get, like astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (who has yet to accept an invite). But for the young person living in a slum, Anderson said, "How do we find the person who will speak to them and will give them what they need?"</p><p>The clearest sign TED is making good on its global mission is the December launch of "TED Talks India: Nayi Soch," its first foreign TV series. Broadcast in Hindi with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as its host, the series will air on India's largest TV network, Star Plus. The network reaches 650 million people.</p><p>Juliet Blake, the executive producer of the series, said the program would consist of eight one-hour shows, each with a different theme. The talks were developed with the TED team in English and then translated to Hindi for the stage.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Khan, one of India's icons, said the global crisis of ideas has reached India.&#xa0;</p><p>"This kind of show, at this time in the world, is an encouragement to people," Khan told Business Insider. "If you've got a simple idea, let's exchange it. Let's not get chained to the thoughts that are pervading or being talked about around us."</p><p>According to Blake, TED wanted to make a focused effort to emphasize equality in the Indian series, so the company appointed women to roughly half the lineup spots. Many of the talks become quite intense, Blake said.</p><p>During a talk on violence against women, "I looked at the audience, and so many of the women in the audience were crying," Blake said. When the woman finished her talk, Blake said, she rushed out of the control room and down four flights of stairs to meet her as she got offstage. The audience was on its feet. Khan was in tears.</p><p>"It started off as a brilliant talk," Blake said. "But it became something more than a TED talk. I think it will be life-changing for many women in India."</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><h2>Future unknown, but exciting</h2><p>As TED has grown into a public-facing behemoth over the past three decades, it's been forced to reevaluate what kinds of responsibilities it has to the people who catch wind of its ideas.</p><p>TED's role as global ideas curator comes with an open-ended future, and it's a matter of ongoing discussion inside the company, Helms said.</p><p>Even though the world is engulfed in a crisis of ideas, Anderson said people still crave rational, lucid insight into issues related to their basic livelihoods and ongoing challenges. He brought up the rise of artificial intelligence and wealth inequality as two examples.</p><p>"When you can have 2 billion customers two years after starting up a business, that's a recipe for a few people getting extraordinarily wealthy - and then what?" Anderson said. "What happens next? We don't have answers to that yet, so I'm definitely interested in that."</p><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-addict-switches-google-pixel-2-android-phone-2017-11">I've been an iPhone user for 10 years - here's what happened when I switched to the Google Pixel 2 for a week</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div></hr>

How the scrappy TED conference became a juggernaut worth millions - and where it wants to go next

In the flamboyant world that is the <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword>, two titles in three years isn't a bad track record for the very un-flamboyant <keyword id="13839" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Gautam-Gambhir">Gautam Gambhir</keyword>. He tells TNN how he will never do somersaults after a title win and how he gets along with team owner Shah Rukh Khan.<br />
<br />
<strong>So when do we see you doing cartwheels after a win?</strong><br />
<br /> Never. That's not me. There was a point when I wasn't even wanting to get into the celebrations, wasn't willing to go to <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> to do all this felicitation and stuff, because I think for me it all finished as soon as we won the IPL.<br />
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<strong>The pure detached philosophy of the previous years?</strong><br />
<br />
I don't know... I've always believed that a sportsman is someone who will not see IPL as entertainment. I would personally see IPL as proper cricket. I think for me, IPL is all about what my team does on the field. What KKR does, what Shah Rukh or other owners do off the cricket field is their perspective. For me, I think it is all about how we play and people should recognize us for what we've done on the field. If you see the first three years of IPL, KKR was far more popular for things they were doing off the field. So when I took over, my only personal ambition was that it should be remembered as a team which does really well on the field. So for me, I felt finished as soon as we won the IPL. It was never about celebrations. It was never about doing cartwheels and going crazy after the win.<br />
<br />
<strong>As a captain now, who's done this, winning the IPL, twice in three years, what are your takeaways, temperamentally? </strong><br />
<br />
You need to think out of the box. Second, you need to take some strong decisions, which is very important. I think there are times in this tournament we've taken very strong decisions. Someone making Kallis sit out is always a big decision. Someone with his stature, someone with his aura. Then, I've always been a strong believer that transparency and selflessness is the biggest attitude for any leader. After the first three games where I couldn't score a run, lots of people told me, "You should try and bat in the middle order, so that at least you'll get some runs on the board and get some confidence and go at the top of the order." I never wanted to do that.<br />
<br /> Just in that one game against <keyword id="28161" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="king">King</keyword>'s XI where I batted number three, it was only the team's point of view. After four games, I had one run. Then I realized that as a leader you can never shield yourself in any situation. The day you're trying to protect yourself, it will impact the entire squad too. Other people will also start shielding themselves. They will try and say, "Let us score our own runs and let us concentrate on our performances." So I took a decision that I will open the batting and I will face the first ball in the next match against Rajasthan Royals, and I had decided already in my mind that if I don't perform, I would rather drop myself than shield myself and come in the middle order. Because that is not the way a leader goes about his business. It is always better to drop yourself from the playing 11 rather than shielding yourself, because the day you try to shield yourself as a leader, there'll be massive problems in the team. For someone who scored only one run in the first four games, it is very difficult for him to go and face the first ball.<br />
<strong>This tournament could be an interesting chapter in your biography someday. Because it began as absolutely the worst as a batsman and a captain as well.</strong><br />
<br />
It taught me a lot of lessons as a leader as well. Maybe I would've never experienced these things, I would've never thought on these lines if I would've started this tournament on a high, if I'd scored runs.<br />
<br />
<strong>What would've been your team owner's perspective if you dropped yourself?</strong><br />
<br /> Nothing. They've never interfered with my job. They've never questioned my team selection, they've never questioned who should play, who should not play. And they've never interfered in my cricketing matters. I think if I don't deserve to be in the best playing 11, I should not be part of the playing 11. Yeah, if I deserve to be part of the playing 11, then I can lead this side. That is how I want to go about things. I don't want to go about things where people are saying that, "Okay Gautam, captain, and then the ten." No. Gautam first as a <keyword id="491" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="player">player</keyword> who was part of the best playing 11, who can go out there and do the job for the team. And then, if you think that I have the capability to lead those ten men, I will do that. If I don't deserve to be part of the best playing 11, if I'm not contributing to the best playing 11, then I should drop myself.<br />
<br />
<strong>This is a very "putting the team ahead" perspective, but there's also a contra point to this approach. While interviewing Hugh Jackman, we asked him - since he follows cricket fairly religiously - of all the X-Men mutants, who would make the best cricketer? His point was, "You know, it's not about the playing." So he was talking about, say, how the English took Mike Brearly as a captain, who's a strategist first and therefore captain by virtue of his mind - not his batting.</strong><br />
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But if you see, the Australians have gone completely the other way. They have always talked about selecting the best playing 11 and then choosing a captain. I'm a complete supporter of the model. If you don't deserve to be part of the best playing 11, how can you earn the respect of the entire team? You should not be there as a leader just because you're a great strategist. Then it's like you're playing ten vs eleven.<br />
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My first job, when I go in the middle, as a batsman, is to contribute and try and score runs and that is when I'm only thinking about myself as a batter, that I want to put my team in a situation where they can dominate. And whether I score runs or don't, I get out for a few minutes, I sulk for a few minutes, I take off my pads and go and sit in the dugout, and then I'm sitting as a leader. Then I'm thinking from the team's point of view. Then I'm thinking what decisions I need to make. Whether we need to shuffle the order or not. But when I go in as a batter, I go in as a batter and not a captain. My captaincy skills only happen when I go on the field or when I've finished my batting. So I first get selected as a batsman who contributes. And then as a captain.<br />
<br />
<strong>How does a team respond when the skipper takes a call saying, 'We'll do this', which is against logic, but is going purely by his gut. Do people give you a look?</strong><br />
<br />
I think it's the boss who is answerable when you don't do well. It's the boss who is in the firing line and I've always told Shah Rukh this. In the first year, when I was picked, I was obviously a little nervous about how much interference there will be. And he said, "This is your team. If you want to make it, you make it. You want to break it, you break it." And I told him that we will not talk in the middle of the tournament. I think there is no point discussing what is happening and what is not happening. After the tournament, however we perform, I will be answerable to all your questions. Whatever you throw at me, I will be as honest and as transparent as I can. So you can ask me any question, but once the tournament is finished. Whether we've done well, whether we've never done well.<br />
<br />
And he was so happy because he thought I made a lot of sense. Because I was so clear in my mind. Whatever I want to do in the middle of the tournament, let me take that call. Because ultimately, I know that I'm going to be in the firing line, I have to be answerable to my players as well. If someone is batting at number three, you make him bat at number five, he would come up to you and ask, "Why am I not batting at number three? What have I done wrong?" You have to answer him because you have been given that job. You have to be answerable to the owner, to the media as well. So, because you're answerable to everyone, you should have the right to take all the calls. And I'm very happy that whatever has happened the last four years with KKR, I have taken all the calls on the cricket field.<br />
<br />
<strong>So there is no 'Shah Rukh calling' on your phone after losing the first four games?</strong><br />
<br />
Never. I can say it from my heart that in the last four years, there has never been even one call. There has never been any interference about who should play, what to do. I think we've discussed this a couple of times. He explained to me that if someone tells him about acting, how bad he'd feel. And he said, "If someone comes up to you and tells you about cricket, I can imagine how bad you'd feel. You're the best guy in cricketing matters, so you should take all the calls." I'm very happy, and from that point of view, I've been very secure. And I've had a free hand.<br />
<br />
<strong>You and Shah Rukh look to be totally opposite temperaments. Is it easier to work with somebody who has a different temperament, or is it complicated? </strong><br />
<br />
As I said earlier, for me, IPL is all about what we do on the cricket field. How KKR is playing on the field and what kind of cricket we are playing. After that, whatever happens, I personally don't want to be a part of it. I don't like it because for me, as I said, IPL finished as soon as the entire team lifted the cup. After that, I don't even remember who was doing what and Shah Rukh was doing what and other owners were doing what.<br />
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Obviously I can't change him. He's the owner, he's the big boss. He's given me the liberty, the way I want to go about my business. So there has been no interference, it has been an easy ride. Because if there would have been a lot of interference with someone like me, with my temperament, it would have been difficult. Because I want a lot of free hand, I like taking my own decisions, I like taking my own calls. Whether we are poles apart or not, he has never made my life difficult.<br />
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A small example from that point of view, when Sunil Narine was picked, it is a very interesting decision that happened. I still remember, I was in Australia during that time. We were on tour, the Indian team was in Australia. Our CEO called me and asked, "Tomorrow is the auction, so who do you think we should go for?" I said, "Let's go for Sunil Narine." "So who's this guy?" he asked. I said, "Just remember the name, forget about who's this guy. Just remember him." Obviously, he must have spoken to Shah Rukh and other owners, then he called me back and told me, "No one knows who this guy is!" And Shah Rukh called me - me and Natasha were in a mall - and he said, "Should we go for someone else? You're saying that we need to go with Sunil Narine?" I said, "Till what budget do you want to go in the auction? How much is the limit?" He said, "Two million. But who is this guy? Are you sure you want him?" I said, "Yes. And if the limit is two million, go to two million. We don't need anyone else."And he replied, "If you want him, we'll get him." And see what he's done. I think neither Shah Rukh nor our CEO knew who he was because he had only played one game for West Indies before that. And when he got picked, he himself was surprised. So that is the sort of free hand which has been given to me.<br />
<br />
<strong>We see you doing far fewer ads than many of your colleagues.</strong><br />
<br />
I'm very conservative. The second thing is I'm just too shy for all these things. A lot of people after winning the IPL would've shown their emotions. I still remember going in the press conference and they asked me how I feel. And I said the same thing, "For me, mission accomplished. That's about it." They said, "Has it sunk in?" "There's nothing to sink in. We were here to win the IPL and we did it." That's what I've been picked for. I've not done anyone a favour, I've not done myself a favour. I've not done the team a favour. I think they've picked me with this objective that we will win the IPL. We have won the IPL. There is nothing to be surprised, there is nothing to be going over the top about because this was my job - to play the finals and win. They don't pay me so that I look beautiful or I talk well or I do different things or celebrate better. They're giving me money so that I can perform and I can lead the team the right way, and try and win, and that is what we've done. This has always been my point of view when I've walked down the field, and other than that, I've just been too shy. I'm just too closed at times.<br />
<br />
<strong>But you must be getting more offers for ads you refused perhaps? Or you are seen as somebody who'll not come out and say yes?</strong><br />
<br />
Eventually, you need to realize what you want to achieve out of cricket. Do you want to achieve the limelight, that people should recognize you, or do you want to be known as someone who's gone out there and done something. Two IPL wins, no one can take these away from me. And there are a lot of other cricketers who would never have this in their CV. They can be everywhere, they can be seen on every billboard, but these records and performances will live with me forever. This is what you need to realize. Whether I'm playing or doing well so that I get more ads, or I want to be satisfied coming back home saying, "Yes, I was picked to do something and I've achieved it." That is a far better feeling for me than thinking, if I do well and if I get more ads, that is more satisfactory than winning the IPL.<br />
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For me, winning the IPL, scoring runs, and my performance and the team's performance, gives me more happiness than any other thing. So it is just your perspective of what you want to get out of cricket. And I've always been a strong believer that I want to do well for the team so that every time I walk out of the field I want to come back a winner. For me, winning does matter a lot. You must have heard a lot of people saying that results do not matter. You go out there, do your processes right, give your 100%. If winning is not everything, then why do people keep scores? Why do we always talk about who won this game? Why do we not say "Who's given more effort?" Even when you watch a cricket match, you ask, "Who's won?" You don't ask, "Is KKR putting in more effort or is the other team putting effort?"<br />
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For me, winning is everything. You might take it the wrong way, that how can someone say that winning is everything? But for me, it is. It fascinates me, it keeps me happy, it keeps me on my toes. It keeps me from complacency. Someone asked me after five games, I was giving a press conference, and they said, "I hope KKR does not get complacent." I said, "My team will never get complacent." They asked, "Why?" I said, "For me, winning is everything." Next time I walk on the field, I will not be thinking that we won five games in a row. For me it will only be about winning that game at any cost. Obviously, within the rules, but at any cost. So that always keeps me on my toes. That always makes me happy. Winning is the fascination which I have.

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