Canadian Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, who is on a three-day visit to India, held talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Karan Johar has stepped in after Sunny Deol’s recent angry exchange with the paparazzi, urging everyone to stop invading the Deol family’s space during a deeply emotional time. Calling it painful to watch a “media circus” unfold around veteran actor Dharmendra, who is still recovering, Karan expressed how upsetting it was to see such disregard for someone who has given so much to Indian cinema.

On Thursday, Karan shared a heartfelt note on Instagram Story, addressing the lack of sensitivity shown towards the family. He reminded everyone that the Deols are already dealing with a heavy emotional load and asked people to show some basic humanity. “When basic courtesy and sensitivity leaves our hearts and our actions we know we are a doomed race,” he wrote, followed by, “PLEASE leave a family alone!!!! They are already emotionally combatting so much…. Its heartbreaking to see a paparazzi and media circus for a living legend who has contributed so massively to our cinema… this is not coverage it’s DISRESPECT.”

Karan’s message came shortly after Sunny Deol was seen losing his patience with photographers gathered outside his home just hours after Dharmendra returned from the hospital. The actor folded his hands and lashed out at the paps for filming his family at such a vulnerable moment. “Aap logon ko sharam aayni chaiyeh… Aapke ghar mein maa-baap hain, bacche hain… Ch******n ki taranh video liye jaa rahe ho.. Sharam nahi aati,” Sunny told them, questioning their insensitivity.

Dharmendra was discharged on Wednesday, and later, Sunny’s team issued a statement confirming that the actor will continue his recovery at home. They also urged the media to avoid speculation and give the family the privacy they need. “Mr. Dharmendra has been discharged from the hospital and will continue his recovery at home…” the team shared, thanking fans for their prayers and adding, “Please respect him because he loves you.” Dharmendra, who was last seen in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, will next appear in Sriram Raghavan’s Ikkis, scheduled for release in December.

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Santhana Prapthirasthu is one of the upcoming Telugu films that have garnered a lot of curiosity. While many consider talking about ‘infertility’ is a taboo, actor Vikranth says that the film touches the issue gently. Directed by Sanjeev Reddy, and co-starring Chandini Chowdary, the film chronicles the tale of couples who don’t have children.

‘Quirky content, need of the hour’

Vikranth who was earlier part of films like Spark says that unless youngsters come up with quirky subjects, they can’t grab eyeballs. And picking up a story that deals with couples who don’t have children is a step in that direction. “Template films are gone; we are living in an era where audiences are watching world cinema, so we can’t get away with mediocre content. Unless there’s an interesting element in the story, it is tough to grab audiences’ attention,” express the actor who is glad that Santhana Prapthirasthu’s posters and trailer have resonated with the audiences. “It’s a very relatable subject and makes the audiences think. That’s what we want to establish in the trailer, and we were bang on,” says Vikrant who thanks producers Nirvi Hariprasad and Madhura Sreedhar for backing such a unique content.

Vikranth points out that just like Ayushmann Khurrana in Bollywood comes up with unusual stories, he too wants to carve a similar niche. Stating that he watches all Ayushmann’s films, Vikrant notes that audiences always welcome fresh and unusual content. “Ayushmann’s film Vicky Donor deals with sperm donation, our film showcases the struggle of a couple to conceive a child as the man has a low sperm count. Ours is a heartwarming family and comic caper that showcases babies shouldn’t be born out of pressure, but out of love.”

Sensitive issue dealt hilariously

Talking about the film, Vikranth shares that a sensitive issue has been handled in a comical and an entertaining way. “We know the seriousness and the gravity of the subject we are dealing with, so we have employed a careful approach. Out of every 10 couples, three couples suffer from this issue, so we wanted to address the subject sensibly. There’s a very fine line between comedy and mocking, and our director Sanjeev ji wrote the script in such a way that we can hold our heads high.” The actor further shares that he was fascinated with the quirkiness in the script when the director narrated. “The kind of experience Sanjay ji has certainly infused confidence in me.”

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