Miss Universe to allow married women from 2023, deets inside

Mumbai [India], August 22: The Miss Universe beauty pageant is expanding eligibility for its competition by allowing mothers and married women to enter, clearly a historic decision!

Swati Bhat

According to Fox News, Marital status and parental status will no longer be criteria for eligibility for pageant contestants starting in 2023.

The Miss Universe pageant's regulations have always required that winners be single and maintain their status as such throughout their reign as the title.

Mothers have historically been excluded as well and victors are typically required to avoid getting pregnant while serving as Miss Universe.

Miss Universe 2020 winner Andrea Meza of Mexico praised the rule change. She labelled established rules exist' and 'unrealistic.' "I honestly love that this is happening," Meza said in an interview with Insider. "Just like society changes and women are now occupying leadership positions where in the past only men could, it was about time pageants changed and opened up to women with families."

Meza criticised the current guidelines as being "sexist" and "unrealistic" in their endeavour to choose a winner that would appeal to the largest possible audience.

"A few people are against these changes because they always wanted to see a single beautiful woman who is available for a relationship," Meza added. "They always wanted to see a woman that, from the outside, looks so perfect that she's almost unreachable. The former is sexist and the latter is unrealistic."

The Miss Universe pageant is broadcast in over 160 territories and countries around the world, including the United States on FYI and Telemundo. Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned Miss Universe 2021.

Harnaaz Sandhu, from Punjab, represented India at the 70th Miss Universe 2021 pageant, which was held in Eilat, Israel. Before Harnaaz Sandhu, only two Indians had won the Miss Universe title- actresses Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000.

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22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav concludes in Mumbai

Mumbai, August 14: The 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav programmes, jointly organised by National School of Drama, Ministry of Cultural Affairs and P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Akademi, Mumbai concluded yesterday.

Swati Bhat

The festival was inaugurated on Tuesday, 9 August at Rabindra Natya Mandir in the presence of Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

The festival showcased plays of renowned theatre directors based on life and sacrifices of our freedom fighters.

I Am Subhash

Hindi Drama ‘I am Subhash’ by Bhopal based theatre group ‘The Rising Society of Art and Culture’ and directed by Chandrahas Tiwari was played on the first day of the festival.

‘I Am Subhash’ play is based on the life of the great patriot Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The performance depicts the struggle right from Netaji's student life to the formation of the 'Azad Hind Fauj' and subsequently his mysterious extinction. The play tells how Subhash Babu, in spite of adversity and opposition from prominent national leaders, not only made his place in the hearts of the people by awakening the spirit of patriotism, but also separated himself from politics and formed an army Azad Hind to free the country. The play is an attempt to show the ideology of Subhash Chandra Bose, his style of work and his dreams.

Gandhi-Ambedkar

On August 10, Hindi play 'Gandhi-Ambedkar' by Mumbai-based Samyak Theatre and directed by Dr. Mangesh Bansod was performed. The play is a powerful statement on the dialectical confrontation, of different ideological practices and methodologies, between Mahatma Gandhi and the architect of the Constitution of India, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, for the same purpose. Mahatma Gandhi had his own views on the issues such as country, society, people of india, Hindu-Muslim, untouchability, Chaturvarna system, Hinduism, where as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar had his own conations towards the same. This has been the reason for the mutual differences and ideological conflict between them.

August Kranti

Rupesh Pawar's Hindi play "August Kranti" was staged by Nagpur-based group ‘Rashtrabhasha Parivar Samajik Sanskritik Sanstha’ on August 11

The play Agast Kranti is based on true events that took place during Quit India Movement 1942. It speaks majorly about Gandhiji. It mentions leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, etc. Lastly, at the grassroot level it underlines the importance of the rural people and their inspiration to fight unitedly for complete independence. An attempt has been made to showcase August Kranti play by exploring a few of these incidents.

Tilak and Agarkar

Marathi play "Tilak and Agarkar" directed by Sunil Joshi was presented by Mumbai-based Abhijat Natya Sanstha and Shri Aryadurga Creations on August 12. The play Tilak Ani Agarkar has been awarded golden leaf in Marathi theatre. The social and political situation of the time of Tilak and Agarkar had not changed much. The differences between the two during pre-independence period and their apparent friendship, which were gradually falling apart, led the two to choose different ways to reach the same goal. Tilak and Agarkar, who used to live together in the same house and started ‘Kesari' and 'Maratha’ newspapers after taking the oath of national service, are seen together in the beginning. But after that, the gap between their thoughts widened and their verbal disputes, then their jealousies; and the integration of the families of the two, after their own independence, becomes the central picture in this play. But one of the common threads of this play is the friendship, they feel from time to time: the audience is stunned to see all this.

Rang De Basanti Chola

The festival concluded yesterday with the Bhopal-based KARWAAN theatre group’s Hindi play 'Rang De Basanti Chola' which is directed by Mohammad Nazir Qureshi.

The play Rang de Basanti Chola has been written by Bhisham Sahni. Based on the background of Jalian Wala Bagh Kand, Play starts with the Court Marshal of General Dier. Instead of feeling sorry, he adamantly replies to the question, that he wants to demoralise the Indian, and performed his duty. To create the atmosphere of Punjab, Shabad and Prabhat Pheri are added to the play. Play revolves around the life of Hemraj and his wife Ratto. Hemraj believes in Gandhian Ideology. His brother-in-law visits his house. He belongs to Garam dal, and an argument takes place between them on each other's Ideology. British Army and officials remain vigilant and alert every time to break the unity of Indians. A few British characters like Principal Vathur, are there, who are Indian supporters and don't like cruelty.

National School of Drama under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav has organised "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022 (Azadi Segment)" to pay tributes to our freedom fighters.

As part of the 22nd Bharat Rang Mahotsav, 2022 (Azadi Segment), 30 plays will be showcased in Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Bengaluru and Mumbai from 16th July to 14th August, 2022.

Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM) (भारत रंग महोत्सव) or the National Theatre Festival, started in 1999, is the annual theatre festival organized by National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. Bharat Rang Manch was started to stimulate the growth and development of theatre across the country. Originally a national festival showcasing the work of the most creative theatre workers in India, it has evolved to international scope, hosting theatre companies from around the world, and is now the largest theatre festival of Asia. The National School of Drama is India’s premier theatre training institute funded by Govt. Of India.

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Second Jammu Film Festival to screen 54 films, documentaries from 15 countries

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 23: The second edition of the Jammu Film Festival will be held over 2 days from September 3 in Jammu city. It will screen 54 projects from 15 countries including feature films, documentaries, and shorts.

Swati Bhat

Speaking about the festival, its director Rakesh Roshan Bhat explained, "We had opened the call for entries for the second edition in October last year and we got an overwhelming response. Owing to the success of the first edition there was a lot of excitement around the second edition. However, we had to postpone the festival which was scheduled earlier to be held in March to September this year because of the looming fear of Covid 19."

He added, "We received around 140 entries from 21 countries and our panel of judges has carefully curated screenings for the second edition which include the screening of 6 feature films, 39 shorts and 9 documentaries" The panel of judges for the Jammu Film Festival includes prominent actor Lalit Parimoo, 'Geetiyan' fame director Raahul Sharma, Iranian filmmaker Alimohammad Eghbaldar, producer Kapil Mattoo and storyboard writer and critic Amit Singh. The panel is headed by Sangeet Natak awardee and well-known actor-director Mushtaq kak. "We are presenting the best of world cinema to cinema lovers in Jammu. It is an excellent opportunity for the youth of J&K to learn and network," said Lalit Parimoo. He continued, "We will continue to have a separate section for J&K where we will showcase work from local talent. We have tried to accommodate most of the local projects for screening" added Mushtaq Kak. Renowned actor and festival advisor Mir Sarwar expressed happiness over the participation of local youth in the festival The festival will be held over 2 days and is likely to be attended by delegates across the country and abroad. Many side events including local folk performances, acting, and writing workshops are also planned.

Bollywood presence is also expected. "We are leaving no stone unturned to raise the bar with every edition and make Jammu film festival a name to reckon with", said Rohit Bhat, the festival co-director. It is pertinent to mention that Jammu Film Festival received a lot of attention and appreciation in its first edition. It was perhaps the first big event after the abrogation of article 370 to be held in J&K. Jammu film festival is being organized by Vomedh which is a very prominent cultural organization of J&K.

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