After Gautam Gambhir names Angad Bedi's Inside Edge character in his World XI pick, the actor calls out his double standard; reminds MP of his nepotism allegation against dad Bishan Singh Bedi
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; December 27, 2019)

Earlier this week, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir sprang a surprise on fans when he shared the World XI for 2019, on Twitter. While the list included cricket stars Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes among others, the mention of Arvind Vashishth — Angad Bedi's character from Inside Edge — raised a few eyebrows. This, especially since Gambhir, in August this year, had a war of words with the actor's father, former India skipper Bishan Singh Bedi, insinuating that the latter had tried to block Navdeep Saini's entry in the Delhi Ranji team. The exchange turned ugly when Gambhir stated that Bedi, earlier, had "pushed his undeserving son for selection", thus accusing the senior athlete of indulging in nepotism.

While Angad had maintained a dignified silence then, the actor is not too amused by Gambhir's recent tweet. "I didn't say anything back then because I didn't want to add fuel to fire. But now, he mentions Arvind Vashishth in the World XI, when he didn't think Angad Bedi was deserving of playing Under-16 cricket. I don't know if he realises that Angad and Arvind are the same people. If he feels I am talented enough [to make it to his list], I am grateful. I thank him for changing his mind," says Angad, who has played for the Delhi Under-16 and Under-19 teams.

On the public war of words that ensued between his father and Gambhir, Angad does not mince words as he says that the latter's tweet was "distasteful". "I value my father's contribution to Indian cricket. He was captain for four years [1975-76 and 1978-79] and has led his life with integrity. When we were growing up, our coaches taught us that we don't need to [necessarily] agree with our seniors, but we don't need to disrespect them either." Bedi was India's finest left-arm spinner in the late 1960s and 1970s. He claimed 266 wickets in 67 Test matches.


Angad Bedi at the MIG Cricket Ground in Bandra (east) where he represented Delhi U-16 against Saurashtra U-16 in the three-day Vijay Merchant Trophy quarter-final held from January 6 to 8, 1997. Pic/mid-day archives

Exclusive: Bollywood and cricket stars get one step closer to their bow in the electoral potboiler. Also starring: Sonu Nigam, Gurdas Mann, and others
Dharmendra Jore (MID-DAY; December 5, 2018)

A Pan-India survey by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party about the winning prospects for stars from Bollywood and cricket has strengthened the likely candidatures of A-listers like Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for the 2019 polls.

While some of these names, including Madhuri's, have been making the rounds for a while now, the survey has zeroed in on Pune or Mumbai as the most apt battlefield for the Dhak-Dhak star.

Similarly, the survey — respondents included hard-core BJP supporters, neutrals and anti-BJP voters alike — has said that the swashbuckling Sehwag's prospects in Rohtak will be bright, while his stoic former India opening partner Gambhir will be best suited for a constituency from New Delhi.

Sources told mid-day that the surveyors provided respondents with the names of probable star candidates and asked them to rate their winning chances. In constituencies that the party currently holds, the questionnaire slotted them alongside sitting MPs and their prospects. In non-BJP seats, the survey featured the stars alongside other hopefuls.

As per the survey, the star-struck Gurdaspur constituency, a BJP fortress where the late Vinod Khanna held sway for many decades, might feature the political debut of bhangra king Gurdas Mann. Several reports have said the seat would go to Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, but he is a Canadian citizen and cannot contest elections in India.

The survey found that Marathi mulgi Madhuri will be a strong candidate from Pune where the sitting BJP MP Anil Shirole is on a weak wicket. Besides Madhuri, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and state minister Girish Bapat were also favoured by the respondents.

Madhuri emerged popular among respondents in Mumbai, too. Sources told mid-day that she could contest one of the Mumbai seats depending on the competition in Pune and the seat-sharing arrangement with Shiv Sena (Party president Amit Shah met her in June). Sources said Nigam could be considered for a reserved constituency, but mid-day could not independently verify if the singer falls in any socially reserved category.

Good wicket in cow belt
While it is all Bollywood stars in the West, it is cricket all the way in the cow belt. It is common knowledge that cricketer Gambhir (who incidentally, announced his retirement on Tuesday evening) and his now-retired senior Sehwag are diehard BJP supporters.

Gambhir — who never misses an opportunity to stand up for the armed forces and is equally vocal in putting down what he thinks are anti-national voices; also on Tuesday , he took a dig at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Twitter — was popular among respondents in New Delhi, where firebrand party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi is the sitting MP.

Sehwag — who famously took on 19-year-old student Gurmehar Kaur to brandish his right-wing credentials — could be fielded against Congress strongman Deepender Singh Hooda. Unlike Gambhir, Sehwag has a strong grassroots presence in Rohtak thanks to his world-class education institutions and social work.

Proven formula
The idea of fielding film and television stars worked well for the BJP in 2014. Saas-bahu serial actor Smriti Irani, who took on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and lost in 2014, is the highest-ranking star in the BJP. Other star lawmakers include Hema Malini (Mathura), Kirron Kher (Chandigarh), Babul Supriyo (Asansol), Manoj Tiwari (north-east Delhi).

Two others — ex-cricketer Kirti Azad (Darbhanga) and Shatrughan Sinha (Patna Sahib) — have recently turned against the party leadership. While he refused to comment on the survey, BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said having celebrities on board was part of party's all-inclusive policy that has given it great leverage all these years.

"Achievers from various fields come with their own experiences and expertise. We have always welcomed them into the party fold and given them roles that suit their strengths. This has helped in governance and policy making. The party organisation too benefits from such successful people," he said.

Madhureeta Mukherjee (BOMBAY TIMES; August 30, 2018)

Shahid Kapoor is all set to embark on what is probably one of the most ambitious projects of his career. Lately, we have seen a string of films based on sports and the lives of sporting heroes, and now, we will see Shahid portray former boxing champ and Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh on screen. The film will be directed by Raja Krishna Menon (who has directed Airlift and Chef), and it will go on floors sometime around April 2019.

Ngangom Dingko Singh, known as Dingko Singh (from Manipur) was the first and only Asian gold medallist boxer from India in the Bantamweight category. In 2013, he was awarded the Padma Shri. The former Indian Navy boxer has seen extreme adversities in life; his unbelievable experiences go beyond the boxing ring and that’s what makes his life a fascinating story. Dingko has been an inspiration to many boxers who came into the ring after him, and he is so passionate about the sport, that he went on to become a coach for young boxers.

In 2017, he had to battle cancer and he struggled to raise funds for his treatment. Shahid, who is deeply involved in this film, exclusively told BT, “The thing that I loved about this story is that he is one of those superstars who we don’t know much about. If a film like Dangal (2016) wasn’t made, we wouldn’t know as much about the Phogat sisters from Haryana. Dingko is a cancer survivor, and he went through 13 rounds of chemotherapy. He has even gone on to say that his biggest win was surviving cancer and not the gold medal he won at the age of 19 at the Asian Games in Bangkok (1998). In 2017, cricketer Gautam Gambhir became aware of his situation and sent money towards his treatment. Soon after, people found out who he was and 13 doctors came forward to help him with his cancer treatment. He is a sports star who survived cancer, and at some point in his past, he had almost become a Naxalite. His life story is unbelievably crazy; it is very human and extremely inspiring. Such amazing stories of heroes need to be told.” For an actor, these are big gloves to fit into, and Shahid is gearing up to do everything he can to give us a knockout performance.

Hemali Chhapia (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 8, 2016)