Mumbai, May 13 () Filmmaker Farah Khan says her daughter Anya has raised over Rs 2.5 lakh by sketching pets, the proceeds of which will go towards feeding the homeless and stray animals affected by the coronavirus pandemic.Last month, the filmmaker took to social media to announce that Anya, 12, decided to sketch a pet and sell the artwork for Rs 1,000 to support such neglected animals.Farah on Wednesday gave an update on Anya's sketches, saying that her daughter had so far finished 100 sketches and is ready for the next set of orders. The video was shot by the "Om Shanti Om" director's other daughter Diva."Over a 100 sketches done and a little more than 2 and a half lakhs collected and donated!! Thank you to all the generous contributors. Anya is ready for round 2 of orders.. #sketchapet #sketchforcharity .. video shot by… #divakunder," Farah wrote on Instagram.Anya has so far fulfilled orders by several Bollywood celebrities, including Zoya Akhtar, Gauri Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Shweta Bachchan, Sonu Sood, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonali Bendre Behl, Raveena Tandon, Tahira Kashyap. KKP RDSRDS

COVID-19: Farah Khan's daughter raises Rs 2.5 lakh to feed homeless stray animals

Mumbai, Apr 21 () Filmmaker Rohit Shetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for on-duty policemen to rest and have meals amid the coronavirus pandemic. The news was shared by the official handle of Mumbai Police on Twitter, thanking the "Singham" filmmaker for his gesture."#RohitShetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for our on-duty #CovidWarriors to rest, shower &amp; change with arrangements for breakfast &amp; dinner. "We thank him for this kind gesture and for helping us in #TakingOnCorona and keeping Mumbai safe," read the tweet from Mumbai Police.Shetty had previously donated Rs 51 lakh to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) in order to support the daily wage workers from the film industry in the wake of the national lockdown. Before Shetty, his "Simmba" star Sonu Sood had offered his hotel in the city for the healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and the paramedical staff, for stay.Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri had also offered their 4-storey personal office space for treating COVID-19 patients.According to Union Health Ministry, COVID-19 death toll has risen to 590 in the country as the number of cases climb to 18,601. JUR RBRB

Rohit Shetty facilitates hotels for policemen fighting against COVID-19

New Delhi, May 2 () Internet companies like Urban Company, MakeMyTrip, Dunzo, HealthifyMe and Zomato are changing their social media handles and app icons to promote wearing face masks as a hygiene practice amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Apna Mask initiative -- an effort by StartUpVsCOVID (a startup community with over 1,000 members) -- is promoting homemade masks and aims to drive behavioural change to ensure that people wear masks and stay protected as they step out of their homes. The #ApnaDeshApnaMask campaign was kicked off by startup industry stalwarts like Rajan Anandan of Sequoia India, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Alok Mittal (Indifi), Vishal Gondal (GoQii) and others. They were later joined by celebrities like Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza, Juhi Chawla, Divya Khosla Kumar, Juhi Parmar, Deepshika Deshmukh, Sonu Sood, Shama Sikander, Preetika Rao and others. Within a span of two weeks, the initiative has garnered 100 million outreach across digital platforms, including WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The team working on the campaign also reached out to various organisations to support the initiative, especially as parts of the country get ready to come out of the lockdown which has been extended till May 17. "Urban Company, MakemyTrip, Dunzo, HealthifyMe, Zomato, Redbus, Ixigo, MoneyTap, MyUpchaar, Bounce, RazorPay, Medanta, WittyFeed, LBB, Porter, Meesho, Daily Hunt, 1mg, Paytm Games have changed their social media handles while some are changing the app icons as well," a statement said. These brands are also inviting more companies to join the initiative. "Given the immense response we have received, we will have more brands join #ApnaMask in this critical initiative. We believe some of these steps will be helpful in building habit changing behaviour towards wearing homemade masks," Poonam Kaul, co-founder of ApnaMask, said. In a separate statement, Crowdera -- an online fundraising platform -- said it is offering its premium syndicated fundraising technology solutions for free to companies and NGOs working to help the COVID-19 affected individuals, families and health workers. "Crowdera will be extending its support through offering its products and services worth almost USD 150,000 (Rs 1 crore) free to organisations aiding the affected...The solution will help corporations and NGOs to quickly syndicate with their own employees, influencers, other foundations, or charity partners to raise funds 10X more than through a regular crowdfunding campaign," it said. Under this pledge, Crowdera has already extended its support to companies like Rapido, Repos, BYJU'S, SirfTaxi, and Tartl to engage their employees and partners in fundraising for the COVID-affected workforce. SR ABMABM

Apps don face masks to promote healthy practices amid COVID-19

<ul><li><keyword id="10049960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ramu-dosapati">Ramu Dosapati</keyword>, an HR executive in a corporate firm, has been running a ‘<keyword id="9060220" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="rice-atm">Rice ATM</keyword>’ – a 24X7 supply of rice and other rations for the needy in Hyderabad since April 2020.</li><li>Over the months, Dosapati claims to have spent almost ₹50 lakh out of his own pocket. </li><li>From <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> days to during Hyderabad floods, Dosapati has been helping out the needy in the city.</li></ul>In the gruelling months of the <keyword id="8637077" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coronavirus-lockdown">coronavirus lockdown</keyword> earlier this year, several stories of migrant workers and the poor being stranded without jobs and money emerged. This also led to the emergence of stories of Sonu Sood and the likes – the real heroes who went out of their way to help people out. And in the southern state of Telangana’s capital city Hyderabad, one such story is that of Ramu Dosapati. Dosapati, an HR executive in a corporate firm, has been running a ‘Rice ATM’ – a 24X7 supply of rice and other rations for the needy in Hyderabad since April, 2020. Over the months, Dosapati claims to have spent almost ₹50 lakh out of his own pocket and has no intentions of claiming it back. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> How it all started Just about a month into lockdown, Dosapati’s younger son wanted to have chicken for his birthday. Dosapati went to the nearest shop to buy chicken, only to find a security guard buying chicken for ₹2000. “I was quite surprised as to why this lady is buying so much chicken. When I asked her I got to know she was buying it as a treat for migrant workers sheltered nearby, who had run out of food. When I asked her about her salary, she said it was ₹6,000. That made me think that if a lady with ₹6,000 salary can spend ₹2,000 on the needy, why can’t I do the same?,” Dosapati told Business Insider. In the next few days, Dosapati got to work. He went with the security guard to the place where the migrant workers were and made a list of 192 people who needed ration and other necessary items. “There were people who wanted to go back to their hometowns by walking over 400-500 kms, I asked them to stay back and told them I would help them out,” he said. <div type="image" title="IMG-20201221-WA0007" msid="79851891" hostid="261"></div> He started out an initial ₹1,50,000 from his savings to feed the needy. But the amount could only result in ration for a few days. And as the word spread about the Rice ATM, more and more people came forward asking for help. “Then I went to the local kirana store owner and requested him to lend out ration on my word. I broke my provident fund and showed him the receipt for the same, assuring him that the money would come to me and I would pay him,” he said. Giving up his 3 BHK dream to feed the needy Dosapati, who currently lives in a 1 BHK with his wife and two sons, also wanted a bigger 3 BHK. “My sons have been fighting for a long time as they want separate rooms,” Dosapati tells us. He had even selected a 3 BHK and sold land in his ancestral village for ₹38.5 lakh. But one morning at 6 am, his apartment guard woke him up saying about 50-60 people had gathered outside and wanted to meet him. The word about ‘Rice ATM’ kept spreading and people wanted help. “That’s when my wife supported me and asked me to go ahead and carry on with the initiative,” he said. He gave up on the 3BHK house and instead directed the money to helping out more people, even when floods struck Hyderabad. Over time, there has been an outpouring of support from other groups and people to help his initiative, which Dosapati vets before taking any help. It’s been over 250 days since Dosapati has been running this initiative, and for now there’s stopping him. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/google-microsoft-invest-in-dailyhunt-for-its-short-video-platform-josh-making-it-the-latest-unicorn-in-india/articleshow/79850804.cms">Google, Microsoft invest in DailyHunt for its short video platform Josh – making it the latest unicorn in India</a>

This man spent almost ₹50 lakh, let go of his 3BHK dream to run a ‘Rice ATM’ for the needy in Hyderabad

<ul><li>Business Insider brings you a <keyword id="1614221" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="reading-list">reading list</keyword> by the famous leaders and authors, amid the global pandemic. </li><li>This week, we bring you the recommended books by leaders like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey and more. </li><li>Here are all the stories you can explore from their chosen list.</li></ul>The Coronavirus pandemic is showing no signs of dying down and social distancing and self isolation are here to stay. This is also causing anxiety among business leaders, employees and even students who are stuck at home. To counter that, Business Insider brings you a reading list by the famous leaders and authors, amid the global pandemic. Business Insider collates interesting <keyword id="4100211" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Books-to-read">books to read</keyword>, giving an outlook on career and professional growth, setbacks and opportunities. This week, we bring you the recommended books by leaders like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey and more. According to them, these books have the potential to make a difference in the real world. Here are all the stories you can explore from their chosen list. The Choice: Embrace the possible by Dr Edith Eva Eger Recommended by Microsoft co-founder <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/bill-gates-2020-summer-reading-list/">Bill Gates</a>, The Choice is a book that instills hope in difficult times. According to Gates, the book is a guide to overcome a trauma. At the age of 16, Eger was sent to Auschwitz — where she was forced to dance, hours after her parents were killed — to survive. After going through all the chaos and decades of struggle and flashbacks, she returned to her place and became a therapist. She healed, and helped others heal in the process — and finally forgives herself. The book narrates how our own minds can confine us and the way to freedom. Humankind: A hopeful history by Rutger Bregman This book is one of the latest recommendations by the <a href="https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/15-great-leadership-books-on-adam-grants-summer-reading-list.html">American psychologist and author Adam Grant. </a> Written by Rutger Bregman, Humankind is a book that offers positivity and portrays a more uplifting and rewarding human nature — discarding a general perception that humans are selfish. Humankind is a story that showcases a future where there are more givers than takers. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger Recommended by Bill Gates, The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger narrates <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Ride-of-a-Lifetime">what it takes to be a CEO of a large organisation.</a> The story talks about the struggles and success of the Walt Disney Company during its most testing times. Rober Iger became the CEO of the Walt Disney Company in 2005 when the technology was fast changing and the businesses needed to adapt to it. The book talks about four leadership principles — optimism, courage, decisiveness and fairness — to sail through. Iger shares his journey leading over 220,000 employees. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, recommended by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, explores the present lives. Yuval Noah Harari shows how to protect from nuclear war and technological disruptions, which is relevant in the current times. The Making of a leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development by J Robert Clinton Recommended by Adam Grant, The making of a leader takes us through the leadership journey — <a href="https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/15-great-leadership-books-on-adam-grants-summer-reading-list.html">how a leader develops over time</a>. The book narrates how to recognise your direction in life, and where you stand in the leadership development cycle. It also offers to identify people with leadership characteristics. The book shares insights on achieving and sustaining success. Keeping at it: The quest for sound money and good government by Paul Volcker Warren Buffet, a global investor recommends reading Keeping at it, a book that narrates the changes that have taken place in America — its people, government and the economy after World War II. Paul Volcker was the chairman of the Federal Reserve for eight years. Through his book, Volcker shows how to deal with a crisis. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/in-meerut-india-monkeys-snatch-coronavirus-tests-locals-fear-transmission/articleshow/76090064.cms">Watch the bizarre video of monkeys who snatched blood samples of COVID-19 patients in India — locals fear transmission</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/sonu-sood-life-story-first-film-love-story-net-worth/slidelist/76088911.cms">Sonu Sood’s life story, his date of birth, see his family pics ⁠— all the things that Indians want to know about the latest internet sensation</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/instamojo-is-now-approving-small-ticket-loans-on-whatsapp-and-it-has-become-an-instant-hit/articleshow/76088012.cms">Instamojo is now approving small ticket loans on WhatsApp and it has become an instant hit</a>

Six books recommended by luminaries like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett

<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we talk to brands to understand how they are coping with the new normal and their strategies towards navigating these difficult times.</li><li><keyword id="5030059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mayur-Hola">Mayur Hola</keyword>, Head of Global Brand, <keyword id="2808667" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> Hotels &amp; Homes voiced his optimism about the future with us as he told us all that OYO will be doing to make things safer for all its stakeholders.</li></ul> The world is slowly opening up, trying to get back to a normal routine. With cities opening up, so are businesses. Travel has been an industry that has impacted massively. With people stuck at homes, many travel-related businesses came to a complete standstill. However, with flights slowly opening up, people are still cautious. People are still only travelling if there is an absolute necessity. We are probably still some time away from people getting comfortable with travelling for leisure, things are definitely moving in that direction. In an attempt to understand how things have been for an organization which has its core businesses closely wired with the travel industry, we caught up with Mayur Hola, Head of Global Brand, OYO recently. And we are glad we did because he gave us just the right dose of optimism that we need during these bleak times. Hola not only told us how the organization has been coping all this while but also shared some really quirky learnings from the <keyword id="91743" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="lockdown">lockdown</keyword> experience. Edited excerpts: Q) The world as we knew it has perhaps changed forever. The post-Covid world will be very different, and so will be the consumer’s expectations from different brands that have been a part of their lives. As a brand, how are you prepping up to meet these uncertain expectations of the future? The world isn’t in a great place right now (figuratively). But it’s not all bad. I’ll try and inject a few mg of optimism here. Women leaders are managing their countries brilliantly. The world needs more of them. Doctors (and the entire healthcare system) are helping hundreds of thousands of people make a full recovery. Millions of people are speaking up for issues that matter and not sitting on the fence. There are countless sensitive and caring souls willing to help each other and our fellow creatures in the real world. Billions of dollars are being donated. Amongst it all, SpaceX has sent a manned space flight to the International Space Centre. People are people and while the worst amongst us get seen and noticed, it is the best within all of us that will bring the world back to being the imperfect little rock we know and love. The same is true for brands. We do the right things to support our universe and sooner than later they come back to support us. We’ve been helping our hotel partners reopen and sanitise their spaces. We are informing our customers about the efforts we are making together to welcome them back and keep them safe. And today many are returning to us. Q) How have the past few months been for the brand? Since hospitality has been one of the worse affected, what is your expectation from the rest of the year? We’ve been set free! Free from office, from 9 to 5, from conference rooms and belts and creased trousers, from blow dried hair and appropriate attire. We can live in PJs, work from wherever! So we will actually see more domestic tourism coming our way than ever before. However we aren’t a tourism-dependent hospitality brand. We get a huge number of same city and business travel bookings. We’re seeing a lot of our pre-lockdown booking patterns make an encouraging comeback and are fairly positive in the long term. We might see a lot of work calls being made from hilltops and beaches later in the year, but that’s a whole other matter. Q) How did you, as an organization, deal with this dynamic situation? How did you ensure you kept the morale of your teams high? Being optimistic and helpful gets one past a lot of the doomsday theories. When you focus on hosting those who need to quarantine, on feeding the hungry and contributing monetarily and in all ways possible for you including housing Lucy the beagle and her doctor father (they were pushed out by their society, we helped), then keeping morale high is not a challenge. Our job was to stay open, help and communicate with those who needed help so they knew where to come. We did that. Q) As a marketer, what have your key learnings from this experience been so far? In no particular order, here are some learnings that may or may not help market stuff. 1. Mahabharat over Netflix. 2. Ludo over PS4. 3. Daru over dawa. 4. Motiyon waaley masks over motiyon waaley daant. 5. Binge wash over binge watch. 6. Namaste over shake it baby. 7. Sonu Sood over Akshay Kumar. 8. Ghar ki daal over bahar ki murgi. 9. Air India over hot air. 10. Kirana store over app store. Q) How difficult was it to figure out your communication strategy during these adverse times, considering it is easy for consumers to misread <keyword id="6354839" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing">marketing</keyword> communications as opportunistic? Difficulty is relative. Here’s what was easy. Working together became super easy, as everyone realised that we need to help each other. Deciding to be empathetic and sensitive was easy. Making sure that all our acts and our communication about those acts, was designed to be helpful and not tactical. All this was easy. Q) Going forward, what is your marketing strategy going to be for the next few months, which from where we are now, is still shrouded with uncertainty? Do you think, marketing as we know it, will also change in the post-Covid world? Will your priorities as a marketer change? As a country we need to get back to work, get the economy going, get life back on track. This is what we know and it is what we will do. Every single brand’s strategy has to be to support that. So as folks go about reviving life and business, we will scrub our spaces and protect them. ‘Sanitised Stays’ is our strategy to build consumer trust and meet their expectations. We’ll focus our efforts to deliver this on-ground and convey the same via all channels and mediums to our partners and guests. This will include some key partnerships which we’ll announce soon. We will play our part in helping India reopen. Finally, the world will find a way to recover, we just will. I don’t know if that is visionary. But it is the vision OYO has.

As folks go about reviving life and business, we will scrub our spaces and protect them: Mayur Hola, OYO Hotels & Homes

<ul><li>With COVID-19 impacting the hospitality industry, bringing revenues down to almost zero, to now the steady recovery of the industry, there’s a lot that has happened through the course of the year. </li><li>Hospitality was one of the worst affected industries worldwide, however, with cities unlocking and global restrictions easing gradually, India topped the charts for OYO as the most booked country.</li><li>As OYO launches its annual Travelopedia, Rohit Kapoor, CEO, <keyword id="7036155" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-Hotels-Homes">OYO Hotels &amp; Homes</keyword>, India &amp; South Asia tells us about India's favourite tourist hotspots, COVID-19 impact on OYO, <keyword id="10519936" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="travel-sentiment">travel sentiment</keyword> this year and some trends he expects to see in 2021. </li></ul>2020 has been a unique year that pushed every brand and industry to transform itself. While it started on a good note for the hospitality industry, with January 2020 (pre-covid) being the most travelled month, April 2020 witnessed most cancellations across the country owing to the government’s precautionary lockdown. Hospitality was one of the worst affected industries worldwide. The grinding halt on travel and tourism impacted home-grown hospitality brand OYO by bringing its revenue down to zero levels during the lockdown. However, with cities unlocking and global restrictions easing gradually, India topped the charts for OYO as the most booked country while Delhi clocked in the most bookings across the world in 2020. Consumer confidence was at its highest during December 2020 as OYO saw the highest number of bookings since India unlocked. Today, Ritesh Agarwal’s OYO has reached ~45% of pre-COVID occupancy levels and its used room nights have grown steadily 40% m-o-m since bottoming out in May. Some of the brands are performing much better with <keyword id="4100346" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Oyo-Townhouse">OYO Townhouse</keyword> operating at 85% of pre-COVID occupancy levels. An OYO Hotel in Shahjahanpur and another in Chennai witnessed an average occupancy of 100% since lockdown. Over 8.5 million new user bookings were made on the OYO app and website in 2020. We caught up with Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO - India &amp; South Asia to discuss some of the key trends that came out in its third annual report - OYO Travelopedia 2020. <div type="Video" msid="80040904" hostid="261" title="Rohit Kapoor of OYO hotels and homes on India’s favourite travel hotspots and trends to be expected in 2021" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=80040904"></div> Lockdown’s impact A month down into the nation-wide lockdown, OYO realised that the macro factors cannot be controlled. As the hospitality industry came to a complete halt till the end of June, OYO decided to focus on improving its consumers and stakeholders’ pain points. It also wanted to use its space smartly by giving back to the society. It offered a helping hand to various hospitals and their doctors across the country. “After a few consumers started showing interest in travel, we launched an extensive campaign across the country to get in touch with our partners and stay in very close touch with our consumers. We tried to identify what consumers were thinking, some problems they were facing and what we could do to solve them. We worked with 24+ state ministries, 50+ government and private hospitals and hosted about a 250,000+ hospital staff and asymptomatic patients during the lockdown. 200+ sailors were safely quarantined at OYOs across India. 1,50,000 litres of disinfectant and 70,000 litres of sanitisers were used since April to welcome our guests,” shared Kapoor. OYO also on-boarded Sonu Sood as its brand ambassador, who emerged as a knight in shining armour and has been applauded for his humanitarian work to send thousands of stranded migrants back home during the lockdown. It launched a nation-wide campaign with Sood to woo its consumers. <div type="Youtube" id="ijSg92O1d30" title="OYO Sanitised Before Your Eyes" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ijSg92O1d30/mqdefault.jpg"></div> When Vande Bharat started, approximately 73,000 repatriated Indians completed their institutional quarantine at OYOs across India. Amongst these, most bookings were made by guests travelling from the Middle East, primarily UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar. Insights from OYO’s Travelopedia According to Kapoor’s predictions based on travelopedia’s insights, leisure travel is making a steady comeback - with tourist hotspots of Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Tirupati, Goa, Mussoorie recovering faster than other destinations. The data also revealed that Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad ranked as the most popular cities among business travellers while Jaipur, Goa, Kochi were travellers’ favourite domestic leisure hotspots. <div type="image" title="Oyo travelopedia" msid="80040415" hostid="261"></div> Speaking on one of the most important trends this year for OYO, Kapoor said, “One of the most humbling things we found out that has stayed with me is that a guest has stayed with us 128 times this year, something that tells us that we are on the right path and that our customers have immense faith in us even in tough times. While 2021 will be a new learning in itself, we’re hopeful that the changes we have brought in 2020 will set new precedents in the travel and hospitality sector and we are completely motivated to work towards providing safe stays to all our customers.” We're at that time of the year when people normally are in the mood to travel. Across India, without any surprise, the tourist hotspot of Goa emerged as the most booked beach destination, followed by Kochi, Vizag and Pondicherry. To target these beach-lovers, OYO also launched a campaign earlier this month titled ‘Chalo Beach Chalein.’ <div type="Youtube" id="6W_9U2C7G30" title="OYO | Chal Beach Chalein" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6W_9U2C7G30/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Interestingly, OYO has also seen a resurgence in religious tourism. Puri emerged as India’s top pilgrimage destination, followed by Vrindavan, Tirupati, Shirdi, and Varanasi. In December 2020, over 17 lakh people checked-in over the weekends. December 12, 2020 saw the most number of bookings (so far). The next estimated date is December 31, 2020 (bookings still coming in) Telling us how December turned out for OYO, Kapoor said, “This month, people are traveling to places they wouldn’t have thought of visiting earlier. For example, many of our users have shown interest in Mukteshwar, Ramgad or Bhimtal. Plus, one big change for everyone is that during this part of the year, people travel to international locations -- that’s not happening this year. That demand is getting funnelled to domestic markets and that is a trend I foresee continuing for at least 12 more months.” Kapoor has been traveling himself to locations he wouldn’t have been to otherwise. He has been to Jaipur and Udaipur with his family, then he went to Ramgad and worked from there for 15 days. He has also been on a road trip to Lucknow, Allahabad and Kolkata. From his many road trips to different parts of our country and from OYO’s in-depth research study, Kapoor noticed how people aren’t staying with their relatives anymore. They preferred living in a hotel, which is a cultural shift in our country. Walking us through Travelpedian further, Kapoor said, “If you look at the patterns emerge, the first unlock started with the big cities and we wondered what is it that these big cities offered: one type of cohort was those who wanted to just leave their homes and work from somewhere else. Secondly, people were worried about going and staying in someone else’s home, which is pretty common in India. I was in Allahabad in September and was trying to book an OYO, it was fully sold out. It was because of an exam which was going on and it was booked by parents whose kids were appearing for that exam. Third thing we saw is seasonality disappearing because work from home is allowed. The classic pattern of people travelling during peak seasons and vacations is phasing out. People are going away for staycations, working for 8-10 hours and using the rest of time for leisure. Lastly, they are also up for impromptu plans because they want to be reasonably sure that they are ready to travel.” OYO’s goals for 2021 The focus areas in 2021 would be more or less the same at OYO. Kapoor said that one thing that COVID-19 has taught us is that the future is unpredictable and the team is prepared for uncertain 2-3 quarters. “We have learnt the power of building product-led solutions for partners and that we will continue to invest in that. We want to open OYO-products and solutions to a much wider set of customers. We have all kinds of customers today but I think we have the opportunity to present OYO as the best option for anybody who is seeking good-quality experience. OYO has been recognised as the best start-up to work with and my focus would be to continue being the best place to work with for our target not just in India, but globally as well.”

Over 8.5 million new user bookings were made on the OYO app and website in 2020: Rohit Kapoor

The dust around <keyword id="6354583" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Salman-Khan">Salman Khan</keyword>'s callous 'raped woman remark' is failing to settle down, partly because he hasn’t yet come out with an apology, and partly because other actors are coming out with their opinions about the same. 
 <keyword id="6355923" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Aamir-Khan">Aamir Khan</keyword>, Salman’s good friend and co-star from the 1994 sleeper hit Andaaz Apna Apna, , is the latest to join the bandwagon, by speaking out about the issue. 
 
At a recent event, Aamir was asked about his views on Salman's comments, to which he said, "What Salman said was rather unfortunate and insensitive." 
 
It was only last week that Shah Rukh Khan has expressed his views on the ‘rape’ remarks, to which he had said, "In the last few years, I have come to realize that I have made so many inappropriate comments myself. I don't think I am someone to sit in judgment for somebody else's comment." 
 
Salman’s comments have faced flak from several Bollywood celebrities, including Kangana Ranaut, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Sona Mohapatra, while some other celebrities, like his father, screenwriter Salim Khan and brother, actor Arbaaz Khan, actors Sonu Sood and fillmaker Subhash Ghai have also defended his remarks. 
 
<a href="http://i.bollywoodmantra.com/albums/events/miscellaneous/aamir-salman-farhan-riteish-deshmukh-raj-thackeray-meet-to-discuss-a-better-mumbai/aamir-khan_salman-khan__860689.JPG">Image source</a>

Aamir Khan labels Salman's rape remark as ‘unfortunate & insensitive’

This Diwali there were plenty of fireworks at the Indian <keyword id="25892" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="box-office">Box Office</keyword>. And these fireworks were delivered by none other than the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer <keyword id="43845" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Happy-New-Year">Happy New Year</keyword>. 
 
Happy New Year, which is directed by Farah Khan, also stars Boman Irani, Sonu Sood, Vivaan Shah, Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone 
The movie released on October 24, 2014 and raced on to collect Rs 44.97 crore. The movie managed to earn Rs 100 crore in just 60 hours and has already been crowned the fourth highest grosser of 2014. 
 
However, the movie could not sustain this momentum on Monday and ended up netting Rs 15 crores, which took its overall tally to Rs 123.86 crore. 
 
Nevertheless, we cannot rule out the fact that Happy New Year has the potential to topple the collections of Dhoom 3 (which had recorded Gross collection of Rs 542 crore) and earn the title of Bollywood’s Top earner movie. As of now, Shah Rukh Khan starer Chennai Express is at the second position with total gross earning of Rs 422 crore. 
 Another movie that we feel has the potential to enter the Rs 500 crore club is Aamir Khan-starrer <keyword id="6396827" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="PK">pk</keyword>, which is scheduled for a December release. 
 
(All figures courtesy <a href="http://www.koimoi.com/">koimoi.com</a>)

Box Office: Happy New Year Gets A Cracker of An Opening

Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh’s final lady love <keyword id="650554" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hazel-Keech">Hazel Keech</keyword> - who he got hitched with in a private ceremony in Bali on Wednesday evening on the occasion of Diwali – may not be as famous as the Bollywood actresses he has been linked with like Kim Sharma and Deepika Padukone, but she is still a well-known face in the Bollywood circle. 
 Born in Essex to a British father and Mauritian mother, 28-year-old Hazel shot into the limelight when Bollywood actor <keyword id="6354583" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Salman-Khan">Salman Khan</keyword>, famous for launching young actresses in the film industry via his films, offered Hazel a role in his movie Bodyguard. 
 
Before that, she debuted with an item number in a Tamil film Billa, however, it failed to get her any attractive film projects. She also appeared in a music video “Kahin pe Nigahein, Kahin pe nishana” which was comparatively famous among all her other works. 
 It was Salman who gave her the first break in Bollywood in a supporting role alongside <keyword id="2165" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kareena-Kapoor">Kareena Kapoor</keyword> in Bodyguard. Then, for some reason, Hazel disappeared from the scene only to make a comeback in a very hot item number - Aa ante amlapuram in Kabir Kaushik's Maximum with Naseeruddin Shah and Sonu Sood. She also appeared on 'Bigg Boss 7', but failed to get noticed as she was voted out in the first week itself. 
 
After her eviction from the highest TRP reality show, she has now made a comeback as Yuvi’s fiancée. Sources said the duo have known each other for more than three years now, but they started dating only three months back. Things started materializing only after Yuvi’s mother Shabnam met Hazel’s parents in England last month and everyone approved of their relationship. 
 
The duo then went straight to seek the blessings from Yuvi’s Guruji Baba Ram Singh Ghanduan wale near Daphera village in Fategarh Sahib. If reports are to be believed they are likely to tie the knot at the Hansaliwale Gurdwara in Fatehgarh Sahib early next year. 
 
Recently, Harbhajan had hinted at Yuvraj's marriage in a funny exchange of a series of tweets between the two: 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
	
		<a href="https://twitter.com/YUVSTRONG12">@YUVSTRONG12</a> u should also come in a line and play straight now. No cut pull 😂😂😂😛😛😛
	— Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh) <a href="https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/659768648391782400">October 29, 2015</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en">
	
		😄 yes mr <a href="https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh">@harbhajan_singh</a> from Diwali onwards I'm going to play straight see u Tom night 💃🏼🎊🎉
	— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) <a href="https://twitter.com/YUVSTRONG12/status/660008031569080320">October 30, 2015</a></blockquote>

Item girl, Big Boss 7 contestant: Here’s everything you want to know about Yuvraj Singh’s fiancée Hazel Keech

When the name of the movie itself is “Entertainment”, then there are high expectations that the movie will do just that. The movie is named after a Golden Retriever, who plays a pivotal character in the movie and it comes as no surprise that the movie is getting a warm response from the Indian cinema viewers. 
 Girish Johar, Film Business expert says, “In the opening weekend <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="entertainment">Entertainment</keyword> has managed to rake in 32 crores and seems to be getting a good response even on Monday”. 
 
In addition, Entertainment has also earned the title of being Akshay Kumar’s sixth highest grossing film by collecting approximately Rs 11.57 crores on the first day. In the past, Once Upon At Time In Mumbai Dobaara had managed to garner Rs. 11.25 crores on opening day while Khiladi 786 had managed to collect Rs. 10.40 crores. Nevertheless, the title for the highest grossing Akshay Kumar is still secure with Rowdy Rathore that had collected Rs. 48.30 crore in its first weekend. 
 
Coming back to Entertainment, this movie has been declared this year’s eighth highest opening weekend grosser. The movie is currently trailing <keyword id="6354583" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Salman-Khan">Salman Khan</keyword>'s <keyword id="6362088" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="kick">Kick</keyword>, Jai Ho (Rs 60.68 crore), Ek Villain (Rs 50.70 crore), Gunday (Rs 43.93 crore), Holiday - A Soldier Is Never Off Duty (Rs 41.32 crore), Humshakals (Rs 40.13) and 2 States (Rs 38.06 crore). 
 
Entertainment is directed by debutant duo Sajid-Farhad and is co-produced by Ramesh S. Taurani of Tips Industries Ltd and Jayantilal Gada. The movie that has been made on a budget of 80 crores also stars Tamannaah Bhatia, Sonu Sood and Johnny Lever. 
 
Though Entertainment is enjoying its stint at the Box Office, things might not be as rosy for the movie going forward. On one hand, Salman Khan starer Kick continues to be strong, on the other hand there is <keyword id="2230269" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Singham-Returns">Singham Returns</keyword> releasing on August 15, 2014 . 
 
Kick, starring Salman Khan and <keyword id="6354417" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jacqueline-Fernandez">Jacqueline Fernandez</keyword>, is currently in its third week and continues to be strong. “The movie has not just entered the Rs. 300 crore club but has also surpassed Chennai Express to become the second highest grosser movie,” observes Johar. 
 
So it will be interesting to see if Kick continues to rule at the Box office in its fourth weekend and whether or not Entertainment manages to break even as Ajay Devgan’s next big movie hits cinema screen in a few days.

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