Latest news with #Dharmendra
Hindustan Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
No new excise policy for Delhi, current one to continue till March '26
With no clarity on a new excise policy that has been under preparation for over 33 months, the Delhi government on Friday announced the extension of the existing liquor policy till March 2026 — one of the longest such extension since the scrapping of the 2021-22 excise regime in September 2022 following allegations of irregularities. The last implemented excise policy (2021-22) was withdrawn following allegations of irregularities in September 2022.(Representational) The extension means the city will continue to operate under the 2020-21 policy — which has already been extended five times. The move, officials said, was necessary to ensure uninterrupted liquor supply as the current extension was set to expire on June 30. The last implemented excise policy (2021-22) was withdrawn following allegations of irregularities in September 2022. 'The competent authority has granted approval for continuation of the excise duty-based regime… for the excise year 2025-26 (July 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026),' said a June 27 order issued by the excise department. It confirmed that wholesale licenses (L-1, L-1F), retail (L-2), hotel, club, and restaurant licenses would be renewed on existing terms upon payment of the applicable fees. An excise official said licensees across all categories will need to renew their permits to continue operations, including Delhi government-run liquor vends. The rollout of a new policy has now been stalled for nearly two years. Initially expected in late 2022, its drafting was delayed first due to ongoing probes into alleged corruption in the 2021-22 excise policy and later by the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, and assembly elections in early 2025. Following a CBI inquiry and the arrests of several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the government reverted to the 2020-21 regime in September 2022. The continued extensions have created supply issues, with many popular Indian and international liquor brands — especially premium whiskies, vodkas, and wines — frequently out of stock. Industry observers and consumers have urged the government to revamp the policy to match the more liberal excise regimes in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where private retail players are allowed and customer experience is more robust. Currently, only government-run liquor outlets operate in Delhi. While the current policy technically allows for private participation, no decision has been taken on whether to allow private players until the new policy is implemented. The newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Delhi has said it is drafting a new excise regime that will focus on 'transparency, quality, and accountability,' with improved consumer experience and safeguards for public health. A high-level committee headed by chief secretary Dharmendra is reviewing practices from other states and consulting stakeholders. Chief minister Rekha Gupta recently told HT that the new policy aims to reduce business flight to neighbouring Gurugram and Noida. 'It will enhance consumer experience while ensuring regulatory checks,' she said. However, this policy appears to have been delayed for now. A separate circular issued Friday added that all existing licenses, including L-6 (government retail), L-6FG (supermarkets), and L-10 (hotels/clubs/restaurants), would be renewed for the nine-month period starting July 2025, subject to compliance with the Delhi Excise Act, 2009, and Delhi Excise Rules, 2010. Vinod Giri, director general of the Brewers Association of India, the extension of the policy should have been extended in entirety. 'Old policy had provision for private retail which is essential for ensuring a consumer friendly and market driven product availability and retailing experience in the city. So we urge the government to ensure that private vends is introduced using existing provisions in the policy as soon as possible which is in the interest of consumers, industry and also the government,' he said.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
New Excise Policy Not Ready To Roll, Existing Regime To Stay Till Next March
New Delhi: Delhi govt has extended its existing excise policy for the remaining nine months of the 2025-26 financial year to regulate the liquor trade in the capital. Sources said a new policy, which the govt had decided to roll out from July 1, was still in the making. Officials said a meeting was held on Thursday, following which the excise department issued an order saying the competent authority had approved the continuation of the excise duty-based regime, which was in effect from the licensing year 2022-23 and continued in 2023-24, 2024-25 and the first three months of 2025-26. The current policy will be extended with effect from July 1 to March 31, 2026, stated the order. Officials said they issued an order for the issuance of wholesale licences on the terms and conditions of the existing policy and payment of a proportionate licence fee, and the order for retail licences would be issued soon. "The terms and conditions of all licences, which are renewable every year, are also continued for excise year 2025-26," the order stated. There will be no change in price structure, brand registration fee and profit margin, and the retail business will continue to remain with four govt corporations, officials added. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi A high-level committee headed by chief secretary Dharmendra has been entrusted with the responsibility of drafting the new policy by going through the policies of other states. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Livguard Lithium-X: The Future of Power Backup Livguard Buy Now Undo The committee met last Friday and again on Monday. The govt aims to come up with a new policy that ensures the supply of quality liquor with transparency while generating revenue for it. The extended policy came into operation in Sept 2022 after the then AAP govt scrapped its reformative 2021-22 policy that ran into rough weather amid allegations of irregularities in its formulation and implementation. The old policy has since been extended for varying periods. It was meant to be a stopgap measure to prevent a regulatory vacuum due to the sudden scrapping of the 2021-22 policy.
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
Man kills wife & tries to burn body, arrested
Indore: Hatod police arrested a 29-year-old man on Friday just hours after he allegedly murdered his wife over suspicion of infidelity. The accused, Dharmendra Chandriwal, a resident of Kakariya Pal village in Indore district, was caught attempting to burn his wife's body at a local cremation ground at around 4pm when villagers intervened and alerted the police. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A police team reached the spot and found Dharmendra at the cremation site with a can of petrol trying to set a pile of wood and cow dung on fire with his wife Pooja's body on it. He was arrested. During questioning, Dharmendra confessed to killing his wife with a sword in a fit of rage, alleging that she would frequently leave the house, which led him to suspect her character. Based on his statement, police registered an FIR under Sections 103 and 238 (A) of the BNS for murder and causing disappearance of evidence of an offence. Hatod police station in charge Sangeeta Solanki said that the weapon used in the crime was seized.
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Dharmendra: I was offered the role of Gabbar and Thakur...But I wanted to play Veeru as he is so much like me
says Sholay could easily be considered ' duniya ka aathwan ajooba .' And for the fans of the 1975 cult classic, it's hard to disagree. The film marks its 50th anniversary this year as its restored version premieres in Italy. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In a recent chat, the veteran actor spoke to us about his favourite memories of Sholay. 'MY FAVOURITE SCENE FROM SHOLAY IS THE DEATH OF AMITABH BACHCHAN 'S CHARACTER' ' Aur jaan daal di FHF (Film Heritage Foundation) ne ,' says Dharmendra about the film's restoration. Talking about his favourite scenes from the film, the actor shares, ' Tanki wala scene, temple wala scene log kaafi pasand karte hain . Aur bhi aise kai scene hain jo kaafi pasand hain mujhe .' But the moment that lingers most for him is the emotional turning point of the film. 'My favourite scene from Sholay is the death of Amitabh Bachchan's (character). Woh jahan marte hain, wahan zindagi puri picture mein palta kha jati hai . That was the best scene. Do doston ke jo emotion thay woh aate hain ,' he says. 'MAIN CHARACTER MEIN CHALA JAATA HOON' When asked how he prepares for a scene like that? Dharmendra scoffs at the idea of preparation. 'To me, nothing is difficult. Main koi practice nahi karta . Main Dharmendra nahi lagta wahan – main Veeru hi lagta hoon . Pratiggya (1975) mein bhi wohi lagta hoon . Om Prakash ke saath jab Hindi boli thi (as Pyarelal in Chupke Chupke ) toh wohi lagta hoon , Dharmendra nahi lagta . Baaki maine dekha kai actor wohi lagte hain jo woh hain . Main character mein chala jaata hoon . Mujhe toh second lagta hai .' 'The real hero is the coin in Sholay'Whenever Jai and Veeru have to make a decision in Sholay , they flip a coin and it always seems to fall in Jai's favour. It's only in the climax that Veeru realises Jai used a trick coin with heads on both sides. Referring to the coin, Dharmendra says, 'Every character is a hero in the film. But the real hero is the coin.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending
Sippy Films Fifty years after it first exploded on Indian screens, Sholay (Embers) - arguably the most iconic Hindi film ever made - is making a spectacular return. In a landmark event for film lovers, the fully restored, uncut version of Ramesh Sippy's 1975 magnum opus will have its world premiere at Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy, on Friday. This version includes the film's original ending - changed due to objection from the censors - and deleted scenes. The screening will take place on the festival's legendary open-air screen in Piazza Maggiore - one of the largest in Europe - offering a majestic setting for this long-awaited cinematic resurrection. Crafted by writer duo Salim-Javed and featuring an all-star cast led by Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar and the unforgettable Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh, Sholay draws cinematic inspiration from Western and samurai classics. Yet, it remains uniquely Indian. The 204-minute film is a classic good-versus-evil tale set in the fictional village of Ramgarh, where two petty criminals, Jai and Veeru (Bachchan and Dharmendra), are hired by a former jailer, Thakur Baldev Singh, to take down the ruthless bandit Gabbar Singh - one of Indian cinema's most iconic villains. When it first released, Sholay ran for five uninterrupted years at Mumbai's 1,500-seater Minerva theatre. It was later voted "Film of the Millennium" in a BBC India online poll and named the greatest Indian film in a British Film Institute poll. Half a million records and cassettes of RD Burman's score and the film's instantly recognisable dialogues were sold. Sippy Films The film is also a cultural phenomenon: dialogues are quoted at weddings, referenced in political speeches and spoofed in adverts. "Sholay is the eighth wonder of the world," Dharmendra, who plays a small-town crook and is paired up with Bachchan in the film, said in a recent statement. Shooting the film was an "unforgettable experience," Bachchan said, "though I had no idea at the time that it would become a watershed moment in Indian cinema." This new restoration is the most faithful version of Sholay, complete with the original ending and never-before-seen deleted scenes, according to Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation. In the original version, Gabbar Singh dies - killed by Thakur, who crushes him with spiked shoes. But the censors objected. They balked at the idea of a former police officer taking the law into his own hands. They also found the film's stylised violence too excessive. The film faced unusually tough censors because it hit the theatres during the Emergency, when the ruling Congress government suspended civil liberties. After failed attempts to reason with them, Sippy was forced to reshoot the ending. The cast and crew were rushed back to the rugged hills of Ramanagaram in southern India - transformed into the fictional village of Ramgarh. With the new, softened finale - where Gabbar Singh is captured, not killed - in place, the film finally cleared the censors. The road to the three-year-long restoration of the epic was far from easy. The original 70mm prints had not survived, and the camera negatives were in a severely deteriorated condition. But in 2022, Shehzad Sippy, son of Ramesh Sippy, approached the Mumbai-based Film Heritage Foundation with a proposal to restore the film. Sippy Films Sippy Films He revealed that several film elements were being stored in a warehouse in Mumbai. What seemed like a gamble turned out to be a miracle: inside the unlabelled cans were the original 35mm camera and sound negatives. The excitement didn't end there. Sippy Films also informed the Foundation about additional reels stored in the UK. With the support of the British Film Institute, the team gained access to archival materials. These were carefully shipped to L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, one of the world's premier film restoration facilities. Despite the loss of the original 70mm prints and severely damaged negatives, archivists sourced elements from Mumbai and the UK, collaborating with the British Film Institute and Italy's L'Immagine Ritrovata to painstakingly piece the film back together. The effort even uncovered the original camera used for shooting the film. Sippy Films Interestingly, Sholay had a rocky start when it first hit the screens. Early reviews were harsh, the box office was shaky, and the 70mm print was delayed at customs. India Today magazine called the film a "dead ember". Filmfare's Bikram Singh wrote that the major problem with the film was the "unsuccessful transplantation it attempts, grafting a western on the Indian milieu". "The film remains imitation western - neither here nor there". In initial screenings, audiences sat in silence - no laughter, no tears, no applause. "Just silence," writes film writer Anupama Chopra in her book, Sholay: The Making of a Classic. By the weekend, theatres were full but the response remained uncertain - and panic had set in. Over the next few weeks, audiences warmed up to the film, and word of mouth spread: "The visuals were epic, and the sound was a miracle…By the third week, the audience was repeating dialogues. It meant that at least some were coming in to see the film for the second time," writes Chopra. A month after Sholay hit screens, Polydor released a 48-minute dialogue record - and the tide had turned. The film's characters became iconic, and Gabbar Singh - the "genuinely frightening, but widely popular" villain - emerged as a cultural phenomenon. Foreign critics called it India's first "curry western". Sholay ran for over five years - three in regular shows and two as matinees at Mumbai's Minerva. Even in its 240th week, shows were full. Sholay hit Pakistani screens on April 2015, and despite being 40 years old, it outperformed most Indian films over a decade old - including the 2002 hit Devdas starring Shah Rukh Khan. As film distributor Shyam Shroff told Chopra: "As they used to say about the British Empire, the sun never sets on Sholay." Why does Sholay still resonate with audiences, half a century later? Amitabh Bachchan offers a simple yet profound answer: "The victory of good over evil and… most importantly, poetic justice in three hours! You and I shall not get it in a lifetime," he told an interviewer. Asia Film Bollywood India
