Goswami was charged with using derogatory language against CM, NCP chief; Ranaut was charged for comparing Mumbai to PoK
Dharmendra Jore (MID-DAY; September 9, 2020)

The Maha Vikas Aghadi members in the Maharashtra Legislature have moved a breach of privilege motion against the editor of a private news channel, Arnab Goswami, and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut.

Senior Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik submitted the motion against Goswami in the Assembly, charging him for using derogatory language against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) boss Sharad Pawar.

Congress veteran Bhai Jagtap filed the motion against Kangana in the upper house for comparing Mumbai to Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Both personalities have also been accused of defaming the Mumbai police.

The presiding officers hadn't decided on accepting the motion for further action which includes cross examination of the people involved by a privilege committee of the houses. The committee recommends punishment, including imprisonment, for the guilty. In some instances, journalists, activists and bureaucrats have been punished.

MVA Vs BJP
Sarnaik's motion was supported by parliamentary affair minister Anil Parab, who said Arnab acted like a judge and used foul language against the CM and Pawar. "He is a tin pot journalist, who has been contracted (by some people) to malign the image of our leaders. If this house can make a law to protect journalists from violence, it can also take action against such a journalist," said Parab.

Parab asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whether it gets hurt when someone insults the prime minister. "You should support our move and condemn such journalists," he said. Senior minister Chhagan Bhujbal also spoke in support of the motion. But prompted by certain remarks from the MVA side, the opposition took up a noisy protest. The house was adjourned twice before Deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal said due procedure will be followed.

'What About The PM And Governor?'
Debating the supplementary demand later in the day, opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis asked the government if it wanted to suppress the media by using legislative tools. "We don't support derogatory language against the CM or any other leader. Will you apply the same yardstick to Saamana (Sena's mouthpiece) that uses highly objectionable words against the PM and the Maharashtra governor?

We definitely want the CM to be respected, but we don't like your double standard in respect with the PM and governor," said the ex-CM, adding that he could say the Mumbai police was the best after working five years as the home minister, but didn't understand who put them under pressure to delay and divert the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe. Fadnavis reminded the house that (the CM) Thackeray had also insulted the police by saying that "their ability was restricted to the job of cleaning utensils'.

Ram Gopal Varma launches pay-per-view streaming service for his movies
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; August 7, 2020)

Ram Gopal Varma has a knack for making headlines — when he is not making insensitive jokes about testing Coronavirus positive, the director announces a film based on Arnab Goswami as a mark of protest against his brand of journalism. In the latest, Varma has launched the movie app, rgvworldtheatre.com, as a one-stop platform for his works. The filmmaker reveals that going forward, the streaming platform will have features of advance booking and paid trailer previews.

"The movies I make here on will be streamed [exclusively] on the app. We have already made four films, including Thriller, Power Star and Coronavirus, which was shot entirely during the lockdown and is the world's first film on the pandemic. These films are about 20 to 50-minute long. It's a pay-per-view app and the charges — ranging from Ra 150 to Ra 250 — are at par with multiplex ticket prices," says Varma.

Ask him how he shot the four movies amid the restrictions, and the director reveals that he has been selecting subjects that don't demand outdoor shoots. "We have been shooting in a controlled environment. I shot the song, Corona pungu, on a cell phone."

Close associate reveals how Om Puri had found it impossible to recover from family betrayal (wife Nandita in her book) and public humiliation (on Arnab Goswami's show) over his heartfelt statements
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 11, 2017)

To those who knew him, the downslide for Om Puri started some time ago, when his outspokenness invited a backlash he had never imagined and never recovered from. Smita Singh, who had recently been brought on board for his 'image correction', tells mid-day about how, in the days before he died, Puri poured his heart out on everything that was troubling him.

"Over the last few weeks, he wouldn't stop saying 'Jab main chala jaunga, tab duniya ko meri value hogi…' He never got over the public humiliation on Arnab Goswami's show. His pride was bruised, more so, because of his army lineage. He was never the same after that night. He publicly admitted that he had said those words ("Did we force them to join the army?..."), but that wasn't all what he said. The nature of news in this country, especially in the Twitter age, is such that only a part of the statement is shown to the world. Yes, he apologised. We started talking about that show. He was telling us how he went to Etawah (UP) to meet the parents of Nitin Kumar, the soldier martyred in the Baramullah attacks. He hosted a hawan at their home and gave them a huge sum of money. When he apologised to the family, Kumar's father had said, "Omji, insaan uttejna mein bohot cheezein bol jata hai. Aapko afsos hai aur humein aapse koi shikwe nahin hai." That was solace for him, to a certain extent, till the media made a mockery of that as well. He was patriotic. After that episode, he wanted to start his own political party, called Insaniyat, but could never muster strength for it. His spirit was shattered."

Losing a friend
Singh also talked about how a fallout with his best friend stung him. "That evening, we even got to know how he fell out with his best friend, who had been with him through college and drama school. After he spoke out against Aamir Khan’s intolerance statement vociferously, his dearest friend sent him a text message saying, "F*** you!" That was that between them. He made multiple attempts to reconcile, but never got a reply," she said.

Wife's betrayal
Personally, too, his life was turbulent. The evening before he passed away, he talked about how his wife (Nandita Puri) had made a public joke of him (after she published his biography that had some salacious details about his life). "He was doing his best to move on. He was vulnerable that evening, gurgling down pegs of whiskey like he did every day, but he had the haunted look of a broken man. The producer of his next film (Rambhajan Zindabad) Khalid Kidwai offered to drop him to his friend, Manoj Pahwa's, house," she said.

His estranged wife Nandita tells us, "We were supposed to go for Pankaj Kapur's daughter, Sana, and Pahwa's son, Mayank's engagement ceremony. Om called me and by the time we got there, he reached my house. He went up to my mom and said, "Kya budhia, kyun sadd rahi hai yahan. Tu bhi mere saath swarg chal." He was in high spirits. He called me again and said, "Tum aur Ishaan jaldi aa jao." I told him we'd see him later. When he called me again, I told him, "It's too late; we’ll see you tomorrow." Ishaan and I still regret not seeing him that day. Ishaan was going to be with him on January 8, 9 and 10 for the shooting of 'Tubelight', and they were to head to Khandala from there,” says Nandita.

Nandita adds, "We were not divorced and are still legally married. We had a separation. Trishul is his home and my marital home. By the Hindu law, he was allowed one wife. It can be an ex-wife and a current wife. Om had only one wife. He helped his nephews and strangers, but now when his son needs him, he is gone. I’ll miss him terribly because he is a habit. I have spent the longest part of my life with him more than my son or my parents."

Waited for son
Manoj told us, "He came for barely 15 minutes and left soon after. I don’t know where he was headed." Khalid drove him down to Nandita’s house, but by the time they reached, Ishaan was already at the party. "Omji didn’t want to go back to the party and asked Ishaan to return home. But, when Ishaan didn’t come for a bit, we left. I dropped him home," said Khalid.

Buddhism beckoned
Singh said Buddhism and its values had immensely influenced Om in his last days. "He wanted to take a 15-day trip to Lumbini (Nepal), the birthplace of the Buddha. He was scheduled to be there for 15 days later this month," Smita said.

MUMBAI MIRROR (December 27, 2016)

Mirror has learnt that actor-comedian Sunil Grover’s introductory song in the upcoming film, Coffee With D, features a hook-line inspired by an often-repeated phrase by Arnab Goswami’s news debate, “The nation wants to know.”

Playback-turned-composer Shaan has lent his voice to the number. Interestingly, not long ago, Sunil had denied reports that his character is fashioned after the real Arnab in the film directed by Vishal Mishra.

Thirty nine-year-old Sunil, who rose to fame as Gutthi on the now-defunct Comedy Nights With Kapil, plays a loud show anchor in the film that also features Dipannita Sharma. Now, we wait to see how Arnab reacts to this odd homage.

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 15, 2016)

Dawood Ibrahim is a dreaded name, one that evokes everything from anger to hatred. But, Bollywood has never stopped using him as a muse. Zakir Hussain is the latest to play the don in upcoming film, 'Coffee With D', that also marks the debut of stand-up comic Sunil Grover.

Incidentally, as part of prep for another film earlier, Zakir had read many of crime writer S Hussain Zaidi's books, especially Dongri to Dubai. "But, the best way to really know about Dawood is to go through archives and news stories. There is so much written about the man that it's enough to understand his behaviour and mannerisms," he said.

Was it a challenge for him, though? "Well, the real challenge was to recreate his look. There is a certain image of how the man looks and dresses. We have done our best to come close to it," he said, adding, "There is possibility that he dresses differently now. I can't tell you when the movie is set and what the backdrop is, but we wanted the man to look like the Dawood of the '90s."

This is the third time this year that Dawood has managed a screen reference in Bollywood. Last month, Farhan Akhtar shot for a special sequence for Arjun Rampal's film Daddy (based on gangster Arun Gawli) at Mehboob Studios. Farhan had earlier told us, "I had seen videos of how he looked, the way he dressed. It is a cameo, but a well-fleshed out one. The characters (Dawood and Arun Gawli) are shown to have a few meetings like they did in real life."

DAWOODS, UPCOMING AND IN THE RECENT PAST:

> Farhan Akhtar in Arjun Rampal's upcoming film, Daddy, based on gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli

> Siddhanth Kapoor in Apoorva Lakhia's next, Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai, based on Dawood's sister, Haseena Parkar (played by Shraddha Kapoor).

> Rishi Kapoor as Iqbal Seth alias Goldman, a character modeled after Dawood, in D-Day (2013).

> Akshay Kumar as Shoaib Khan, loosely based on the don's life, in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara (2013).

> Emraan Hashmi as a younger Dawood in the first part of Once Upon... in 2010.

Doctor saab turns journo

Sunil Grover, better known as Dr Mashoor Gulati on Kapil Sharma's show, will play a television journalist in 'Coffee With D'. His character, Arnab Ghosh, has been sketched out on the lines of journo Arnab Goswami. Grover, however, maintains, "Arnab Goswami is an entertaining journalist, but I am not trying to imitate him. It's the director's call to name the character. "Subconsciously, I might have picked up a few things of Arnab, but it's a fictional film."

DNA (October 8, 2016)


On Tuesday night, Arnab slammed Om Puri for his politically incorrect statements regarding the Indian Army and the jawaans. Om was also not allowed to speak a word in his defence as the panelists slammed him and sneered at the actor for “acting arty” at a time, when the country is at war.

Censor chief Pahlaj Nihalani spoke up against what he calls the tyranny of television journalism. He says, “They command you to come on their channel, and then humiliate you. I’ve stopped going on Arnab Goswami’s channel. Why should I, when he has already made up his mind that I am wrong about everything and he is right about everything? It is worse than being on one of those ‘roasts’.”

Nihalani also accuses Goswami of carrying on his own private war against Pakistan from his newsroom. “He has made up his mind that India is at war with Pakistan. Anyone who says we aren’t, is anti-national. What I want to ask Arnab is, does he think he runs the country from his newsroom?,” he says.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; July 27, 2016)


Irrfan’s argument was simple. All he politely submitted to the panel of angry attackers was, he didn’t need any mediators and go-betweens to establish a connection between him and God.

This naturally incensed the religious heads who sarcastically suggested that Irrfan should restrict himself to acting and not intervene in religious matters, This is the typical argument offered by religious heads when they feel threatened by an emboldened rational line of thought which comes forward to ask basic question on ritualistic practice in any religion.

Irrfan very clearly stated he didn’t need any support to uphold his beliefs. That his doubts and misgivings about the way religion and the holy scriptures are interpreted, were his own. At a time when terror attacks are creating havoc with human faith and basic trust among human beings, Irrfan has thrown the option for all individuals with a voice to say they are united in creating peace and harmony in a world torn apart by divisive forces.

For his outspokenness, Irrfan has apparently been flooded with threats and intimidation. While he refused to comment any further on the matter, a colleague said, “This is not an attempt to be fashionably irreverent. His expression of doubts and misgivings come from a deep-rooted conviction that much of what is wrong in the world today, has to do with the wrong interpretation of religious books. He’s aware of the dangers that his frankspeak poses to him and his family. We are very proud of him.”