Virat Kohli pleased his fan by signing a hand-painted poster of his, while sitting in the team bus. After returning from his family vacation in London, Kohli joined the Indian Test squad in Chennai ahead of their two-Test home series against Bangladesh starting September 19. Kohli had been on a cricket break since early August.
Rajinikanth and Raj Bahadur’s friendship goes way back. The two have been friends since the time Thalaivar wasn’t even an actor. Rajinikanth and Raj Bahadur met each other when they worked for a transport service as a conductor and a driver. However, it was Raj who pushed Rajinikanth to pursue his dreams and become an actor.
Years ago, when Rajinikanth was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, he dedicated it to his best friend and credited him for his success in showbiz. Addressing the gathering, he said, “I dedicate this award to my mentor and guru, K Balachander, sir. Also, my thanks to my friend and colleague, Raj Bahadur, who was a bus transport driver. When I was the bus conductor, he was the one who identified the actor in me and encouraged me to join cinema.”
Soon after Rajinikanth was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Raj Bahadur got ready to meet his best friend and congratulate him for the same. Speaking to the media, he said that he felt overwhelmed when Thalaivar took his name while receiving the award.
Raj Bahadur lauded his humbleness and said, “He never forgets his friends, as they were the ones who encouraged him. Even if he meets his relatives, he makes it a point to meet his friends whenever he comes to Bengaluru.”
Raj Bahadur was the driver of the bus where Rajinikanth worked as a conductor. At some events, Thalaivar shared that he used to flip coins on the bus while giving change and it was his best friend who instantly saw the actor in him.
Therefore, during the 1970s, Rajinikanth began to work in dramas as the main lead. These events were organized by the employee’s association. Initially, he was hesitant to become an actor, but Raj Bahadur kept pushing him to pursue his passion. He even helped the superstar join Madras Film Institute for acting lessons.
In an old interview, Rajinikanth even shared that Raj Bahadur used to send half of his salary when he was in Chennai to help him with his fees and other utilities.
Nonetheless, the two have been best friends for years and have known each other for almost 50 years.
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Walkie-talkies used by Iran-backed Hezbollah members blew up in its Beirut stronghold on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 450 others. At least one of Wednesday’s blasts took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed the previous day.
The explosions came a day after thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon, killing 12 people, including two children, and injuring about 2,800.
Hezbollah said Israel was “fully responsible for this criminal aggression” and vowed revenge. Israel has so far not officially said anything about the explosions.
In Tuesday’s explosions, sources said Israeli spies remotely detonated explosives they planted in a Hezbollah order of 5,000 pagers before they entered the country.
Hezbollah members turned to pagers and other low-tech communication devices to evade Israeli surveillance of mobile phones.
Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East, said on Wednesday it attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets. The Israeli military, however, said there were no reports of any damage or casualties.
The US warned all sides against “escalation” in the Middle East after two days of blasts in Lebanon. “We still don’t want to see an escalation of any kind. We don’t believe that the way to solve where we’re at in this crisis is by additional military operations at all,” US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned that the pager blasts targeting Hezbollah indicate “a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon and everything must be done to avoid that escalation.”
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Friday over the pager blasts in Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting across the Lebanese border after the war in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, a Hezbollah ally also backed by Iran, attacked Israeli towns.