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Time of India
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Khazana, Ghazal festival, pays tribute to musical legends and supports cancer and thalassemia treatment
The 24th annual Khazana festival, a celebration of ghazals, will be held on July 18-19 in Mumbai, honoring Ustad Zakir Hussain and Mohammed Rafi. This monsoon-themed event, featuring both established and emerging artists, supports the Cancer Patients Aid Association and the Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust. MUMBAI: The two-day (July 18-19) Khazana, a festival of ghazals, a medley of mellifluous music and soulful shairi (poetry) at a five-star hotel in the city, will pay tribute to tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain and legendary playback singer Mohammed Rafi as part of the centenary celebrations of the iconic singer. It is a blending of poetry, melody, and purpose. Being held in the middle of the monsoon, the event is expected to embody 'monsoon ragas' as singers, both veterans and new talents selected from a talent hunt, mesmerise the ghazal lovers. Carrying the legacy of ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas, the 24th year of the festival, like the previous ones, is for the noble cause of supporting the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) and Parents Association Thalassemic Unit Trust (PATUT). 'This is one festival ghazal connoisseurs eagerly wait for. We have people tell us that they did not miss a single edition of the festival in the last 24 years. Speaking of myself, I come more to listen than to sing,' said Ghazal-Bhajan Maestro Anup Jalota, who, along with Udhas and Talat Aziz, originally planned Khazana. Jalota added that the festival is wedded to a good cause as 'treatment of thalassemia and cancer is very expensive, and all proceeds go to the treatment of the patients while no artiste charges anything. ' You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Apart from Jalota and Aziz, the festival will also feature Rekha Bhardwaj, Sudeep Banerji, Osman Mir, Amir Mir, Pandit Ajay Pohankar, Ajit Pohankar, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Pratibha Singh Baghel, Barnali Chattopadhyay, Kalpana Gandharv, and Himaanshu Sharma. The festival is so popular that ghazal lovers from across the country and even from abroad fly in only to attend the two-day event. 'Khazana carries the echo of my late father Shree Pankaj Udhas even if he is not physically present. It will always remain a beautiful gift he gave to the world,' said Nayab Udhas, Udhas's daughter, the force behind the show. One out of eight carriers of thalassemia live in India, and annually 10,000 children with thalassemia major are born in India. India ranks third globally in new cancer cases, with over 16 lakh diagnosed each year.
India.com
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
7 Bollywood Movie Names Inspired By Songs: From Ranbir Kapoors Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani To Janhvi Kapoors Param Sundari
photoDetails english 2927099 Whether it's nostalgia, lyrical beauty, or sheer popularity, these songs have inspired filmmakers to turn beloved tracks into cinematic journeys with the same name. Updated:Jul 05, 2025, 04:25 PM IST Bollywood Movie Names Inspired By Songs 1 / 8 Bollywood has long drawn inspiration from its melodies, and now, some of the industry's most iconic songs are making their way from playlists to film posters as full-fledged movie titles. Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani 2 / 8 Original Song: From Jawani Diwani (1972), sung by Kishore Kumar Inspired Movie: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) Mere Mehboob 3 / 8 Original Song: From Mere Mehboob (1963), sung by Mohammed Rafi The title of the Movie same as well. Saiyaara 4 / 8 Original Song: Saiyaara Popular romantic track from – Ek Tha Tiger (2012) Inspired Movie: Saiyaara (2025). Param Sundari 5 / 8 Original Song: Param Sundari from Mimi starring Kriti Sanon. Inspired Movie: Param Sundari (2025) Aap Jaisa Koi 6 / 8 Type: Iconic disco song from the 1980 film Qurbani, starring Feroz Khan. Inspired Movie: Aap Jaisa Koi (2025) Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan 7 / 8 Song: Romantic duet from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) Inspired Movie: Aankhon Ki Gustakhiyan (2025) Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na 8 / 8 Original Inspiration: The film's title is taken from the famous line in the song Tera Mujhse Hai Pehle Ka Naata Koi, sung by Kishore Kumar from Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973). Movie: Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008)
India.com
05-07-2025
- India.com
Amarnath Yatra 2025: 36 Amarnath Yatris Injured In Bus Collision At Chanderkote, Ramban
New Delhi: At least 36 Amarnath Yatra pilgrims were injured on Saturday morning when a bus part of the Pahalgam-bound convoy lost control and rammed into four stationary vehicles at Chanderkote in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district. The incident occurred at the Chanderkot Langer site, a designated stop for breakfast, where the convoy had halted. The last vehicle in the line failed to brake in time, triggering a chain collision. According to Deputy Commissioner (DEO), Ramban, the bus damaged four vehicles and caused minor injuries to the yatris. 'The last vehicle of the Pahalgam convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles at the Chanderkot Langer site, damaging 4 vehicles and causing minor injuries to 36 Yatris. The injured have been immediately shifted to DH Ramban,' the DC's statement said, according to ANI. #WATCH | The last vehicle of the Pahalgam convoy lost control and hit stranded vehicles at the Chanderkot Langer site, damaging 4 vehicles and causing minor injuries to 36 Yatris. The injured have been immediately shifted to DH Ramban: Deputy Commissioner (DEO), Ramban (Visuals… — ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2025 According to Hindustan Times report, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ramban, Kulbir Singh said the majority of the injured pilgrims are in stable condition and have chosen to continue the Yatra after receiving medical aid. 'The convoy had stopped for breakfast at Chanderkote. Pilgrims suffered minor injuries, the majority of them willing to continue their pilgrimage after first aid,' he said. 'Three to four of the injured may not be able to proceed further due to the nature of their injuries,' he added. At the District Hospital Ramban, medical teams swiftly attended to the injured. 'A bus carrying pilgrims to the Amarnath Yatra collided with another bus. We received a total of 36 injured patients. All the patients have been treated here; we did not refer anyone to any other hospital,' said Dr Mohammed Rafi, In-charge Medical Superintendent, DH Ramban, ANI reported. '10 patients have been discharged, and in the next 1 hour, almost all the patients will be discharged,' he added. #WATCH | Ramban, J&K: Dr Mohammed Rafi, In-charge Medical Superintendent, District Hospital Ramban, says "A bus carrying pilgrims to the Amarnath Yatra collided with another bus. We received a total of 36 injured patients. All the patients have been treated here, we did not refer… — ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2025 The annual Amarnath Yatra, which began on July 3, draws thousands of devotees from across India who trek to the sacred cave shrine situated at 3,888 meters in the Kashmir Himalayas via the Pahalgam and Baltal routes. More updates are awaited as officials continue monitoring the situation.
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
After 18-year battle with genetic heart disease, 41-year-old Bengaluru resident gets transplant
For 18 long years, life for a 41-year-old Bengaluru resident was a battle against a failing heart. Diagnosed with a genetically inherited cardiomyopathy in his early twenties, his struggle of nearly two decades ended with a life-saving heart transplant at a private hospital in the city. A marketing manager by profession, Mohammed Rafi — who hails from Kerala — was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) at the age of 23, a disease that has been running in his family for ages. From then on, his life took an unexpected turn from being unable to go to gym and or play in cricket tournaments to a daily battle for survival. Runs in family His mother, sister, grandmother, uncle, cousin, and even his young daughter had the same condition. However, it was not until his daughter passed away, at the age of four, that they began to explore the genetic factor. Doctors at Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, where the transplant was done, said the patient, who otherwise led an active life, experienced unusual fatigue while playing cricket during an office excursion. However, he ignored it to be a normal consequence of skipping breakfast. Other symptoms of dizziness, breathlessness, and bloating persisted for days. Worried about this sudden change in his health, he visited a doctor in Kerala, only to discover that he was in the early stages of HCM — a serious, often hereditary condition where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick. Although he continued to lead a normal life, the physical toll began to affect his professional and personal life over time. 'Because my job included business travel to different places, I had to ask people to help push my bike through traffic. At one point, I realised I could not even lift my laptop,' he said. Initially treated by Sridhara G, Consultant - Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, for over a decade, he underwent the implantation of an AICD (Automated Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator). While this intervention gave some relief for a couple of years, his health gradually worsened with symptoms, such as swelling in the body, constant fatigue, and reduced mobility. This was when he was diagnosed with heart failure, with a heart transplantation being the last resort. Wait for organ donors The waiting period for a heart transplant was lengthy, with a severe shortage of compatible organ donors. Registered on the transplant list since 2019, it was only three months ago that he finally underwent the transplant, on March 21, 2025. A team of doctors led by Devananda N.S., HOD and Consultant – Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery, and Heart and Lung Transplant Surgery, conducted the surgery. After two weeks of hospital stay, he was discharged on April 5, 2025. His recovery process is still ongoing, with doctors anticipating another 3-4 months for full recovery. 'If families like Mr. Rafi's are screened early, disease modification to some extent is possible, and other asymptomatic members of the family can also be helped. This is high time we work on creating a national genetic database on such rare cardiac disorders,' said Dr. Devananda.
Mint
28-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Gulshan Kumar, the juice seller who rose to become the music mogul of Bollywood
On a sweltering August morning in 1997, Mumbai pulsed with its usual chaos of cars and hawkers, along with the hum of Bollywood tunes wafting from roadside stalls. Suddenly, the comforting rhythm of daily life was rudely interrupted by the sharp crack of sixteen bullets at the gates of the Jeeteshwar Mahadev Temple, where Gulshan Kumar Rai had come to offer his daily prayers. The assailants, shadows of the notorious Dawood Ibrahim syndicate, vanished into the city's sprawl, leaving behind the crumpled body of a man who had, over the previous two decades, turned India's music industry into his own audacious symphony. With his killing, a burgeoning business empire built on melody and commerce lay shattered. It was a brutal coda to Kumar's life lived at full, often reckless, volume. Born in 1951 into a family that ran a fruit juice stall in Delhi's Daryaganj, his entrepreneurial education started early. In the 1970s, when a relative's records shop came up for grabs, the Kumars pooled their savings to buy it. The cassettes business For young Gulshan, the shop was a revelation. Behind the counter, amid stacks of vinyl from the Gramophone Company of India (now Saregama), he watched customers bewitched by the strains of Mohammed Rafi or Lata Mangeshkar. Music, he realized, wasn't just art; it was commerce too. Also Read: How CR Bhansali exploited India's NBFC blind spots in the 1990s In 1980, he set up Super Cassettes Industries that would, under its T-Series label, completely redefine the way Bollywood music was distributed. While the incumbent leader Gramophone Company of India stayed satisfied with its dominion over a niche market of record players and vinyl, Kumar saw a future that lay not in the cumbersome, expensive turntables of the elite, but in the torrent of affordable Japanese cassette players that had flooded the market, thanks to a liberal import policy. He began producing cassettes at low cost by leveraging the concessions available to small-scale manufacturers and pricing them aggressively. Sales outlets were not restricted to high-end music stores but fanned out to the capillaries of India's informal economy, the panwallahs and neighbourhood grocers. By 1985, T-Series cassettes were everywhere, their garish covers promising hits from Bollywood's latest blockbusters. His genius, and his most controversial manoeuvre, lay in exploiting a subtle lacuna in the Indian Copyright Act, which permitted the production of cover versions of popular songs as long as the vocalists and instrumentalists were different from the originals. A nominal royalty was all that was required. To this end, Kumar tapped into a wellspring of untapped talent, including singers like Sonu Nigam, Anuradha Paudwal, Mohammed Aziz, Kumar Sanu, and Alka Yagnik, who, despite their immense gifts, struggled for a foothold in an industry still largely beholden to titans like Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, and Kishore Kumar. Kumar paid them a fraction of what the established stars commanded, yet offered them an unprecedented platform. Also Read: Jayanti Dharma Teja: The enigmatic genius whose shipping empire was built on deception He was also an early evangelist for devotional music, seeing a vast, underserved market for spiritual hymns and chants. T-Series churned out tapes of spiritual songs, from Jai Mata Di to Sai Baba Aarti and Hanuman Chalisa, the latter sung by Hariharan and Vaishno Devi devotee Kumar himself. These tapes, sold at stalls outside temples, cemented T-Series as a cultural force, as much a ministry of faith as a music label. An entertainment behemoth By 1997, T-Series was a ₹500 crore behemoth. Yet, with every rupee earned, Kumar was also notching up enemies. His cutthroat pricing strategies sent tremors through the established music industry, pushing rivals to the brink of collapse. Moreover, a significant portion of his empire was built on what some considered a grey area of copyright, and others outright piracy. It wasn't just the music labels that felt the sting; filmmakers, too, saw their potential profits from music sales eroded by these readily available, cheap, and often unauthorized, cassettes. The resentment eventually boiled over into threats. Kumar received extortion calls from Dawood's lieutenant Abu Salem after a dispute with music director Nadeem Saifi over the music of the latter's album Hi! Ajnabi. The simmering tensions eventually exploded when contract killers, allegedly acting on the behest of the Mumbai mafia with reported connections within Bollywood, shot him dead. The investigation that followed cast a wide net, even implicating Nadeem as a co-conspirator, though he was later acquitted. Eventually, Abdul Rauf, one of the assailants, was handed a life sentence in 2001. The case exposed the mafia's grip on the Mumbai film industry, leading to increased government scrutiny and crackdowns. The film industry too underwent corporatization and professionalization, reducing the reliance on informal financing and protection rackets. Also Read: Alagappa Chettiar's legacy of fortune and philanthropy Happily, Kumar's death didn't mute the music of T-Series. His son, Bhushan, then barely twenty-two, inherited a wounded empire but a father's brilliant blueprint. Under his stewardship, T-Series diversified into film production while maintaining its musical dominance. Today, the company holds a 30% share of India's music market and, with over 296 million YouTube subscribers as of May 2025, trails only Mr Beast in global reach. Its channel, a digital cornucopia of Bollywood hits and bhajans, is a testament to Gulshan Kumar's grand vision. His legacy, though, is no simple hymn. While some call him a democratizer who gave voice to the overlooked and brought music to the masses, to others, he was a predator whose empire was built on the margins of ethics.
