Note Saying 'Padmavati Ka Virodh' Found Near Body Of Man Found Hanging In Jaipur's Nahargarh FortNEW DLEHI -- The body of a 40-year-old man was found hanging from the outer walls of Nahargarh Fort here on Friday morning, with the message "Padmavati' ka virodh" - in protest against the film Padmavati.

ANI reported that the man was identified as Chetan Saini:

Body found hanging at Nahargarh Fort in #Jaipur is of 40 year old local Chetan Saini

— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2017

The message, written on the stones near the fort wall adjacent to the body, read, "Hum putle nahin jalate....latkate hain" (we don't burn effigies, we hang them).

"It is early to comment on it as the matter is under investigation. The identity of the man, around 40-years-old, is yet to be ascertained," Satyendra Singh, DCP Jaipur (North), told IANS.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati has been mired in controversies since its shooting started. Activists of the Karni Sena, a Rajput community, besides other groups have been protesting against the movie, claiming the film "distorts" historical facts.

"They are trying to defame queen Padmavati by distorting historical facts. It is not acceptable," an activist of the Karni Sena said.

Activists of the Karni Sena earlier this month vandalised a theatre in Kota, Rajasthan, over reports that it was showing a trailer of Padmavati. A Karni Sena leader threatened actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the lead in the movie, with physical harm.

The release of the movie, earlier scheduled for December 1, has been deferred.

"Tumhari Sulu", an aspirational drama about a housewife, has ended Vidya Balan's dry run at the box office and the actor believes the film clicked with the audiences because its story is rooted in middle class ethos.

Vidya says it is not that she was not taking risks as an actor but somehow her experiments did not work until now.

"Every time I tried something new, the films didn't work.

It is the unfortunate truth," she says in an interview with PTI.

"When the films don't do well, it means not many people have seen it. But at the same time, whenever I have attempted to do something different, I have given my best. Thankfully, my work was appreciated always."

The film, directed by Suresh Triveni, features Vidya as a housewife, who is full of business plans and one day lands herself the job of a Radio Jockey.

The actor says the movie is a celebration of every day woman and her indomitable spirit.

"A woman is balancing everything in life. Most of the time, women are not appreciated, unless they are achievers.

You do not have to be Indra Nooyi (to be appreciated). Women should be appreciated for everything they do as they do it with commitment and dedication. This script does that."

The film has been appreciated for its witty one-liners and Vidya's chemistry with Manav Kaul, who plays her husband.

The actor credits Triveni for putting together a great story and successfully capturing the real-life emotions.

"There were some impromptu elements that we added during the shooting. I can't take the credit, I just followed what was in the script. Suresh sees humour in real life situations, in the mundanity of every life. This is one of the best scripts that I read and it just got better when we started shooting."

The national-award-winning actor says the love that is pouring in for the film is primarily because the sensibilities between her and the director matched.

"It is difficult to say where an actor's job has ended and the director's had started. If I get credit for making the character look relatable it is also to the director's credit."

The actor recently visited a theatre to gauge the audience reaction and found it heart-warming to see that people engaged with the story.

"I do think rooted stories are doing well. Most of India lives in middle class, people tell me I capture little things of middle class life. I am like, I have grown up in a middle class family. I am grateful for life, for everything," Vidya says.

The 38-year-old actor says "Tumhari Sulu" once again proves that a good story will resonate with the viewers.

"Good content always works. When a certain film resonates with the audience, they love it. Today no one type of film is working. The story has to connect with people."

Produced by T-Series and Ellipsis Entertainment, the comedy-drama released on November 17.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Pakistan released 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest, saying that the former's 'Hugplomacy' with US President Donald Trump failed.

Gandhi to his Twitter handle and said "more hugs were urgently needed" between PM Modi and Trump.

"Narendrabhai, ??? ???? ???. Terror mastermind is free. President Trump just delinked Pak military funding from LeT. Hugplomacy fail. More hugs urgently needed (sic)," he tweeted.

Earlier on November 24, Saeed was released from house arrest in Lahore.

Police guards were removed from his residence where a large number of supporters gathered to celebrate the end of his house arrest.

In his first address after being released, Saeed blames India and the U.S. for detention and raked up Kashmir.

Saeed is said to be the head of the U.S.-designated terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba and had been under house arrest since January 31 this year.

The decision to put Saeed under house arrest in January was seen as a response to actions by US President Donald Trump's White House against nations deemed linked to terrorism.

He has been declared a global terrorist by the United Nations and the US for his role in the Mumbai attack which claimed the lives of 166 people and maimed over 300 others.

He has a USD 10 million bounty on his head.

Also on HuffPost India:

CAIRO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Militants killed more than 230 people at a mosque in North Sinai on Friday, detonating a bomb and gunning down worshippers in the deadliest such attack of Egypt's modern history, state media and witnesses said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but since 2013 Egyptian security forces have battled a stubborn Islamic State affiliate in the mainly desert region, and militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers.

State media showed images of bloodied victims and bodies covered in blankets inside the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of El Arish, the main city in North Sinai.

Worshippers were finishing Friday prayers at the mosque when a bomb exploded, witnesses said. Around 40 gunmen set up positions outside the mosque with jeeps and opened fire from different directions as people tried to escape.

"Four groups of armed men attacked the worshippers inside the mosque after Friday noon prayers. Two groups were firing at ambulances to deter them, said Mohamed, a witness.

The public prosecutors' office said in a statement 235 people had been killed and 109 more wounded.

Hours after the attack, Egypt's military launched air strikes on targets in mountainous areas around Bir al-Abed, security sources and witnesses said.

"The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force," Sisi said in a televised address.

"What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism, to destroy our efforts to stop the terrible criminal plan that aims to destroy what is left of our region."

Striking at a mosque would be a change in tactics for the Sinai militants, who have usually attacked troops and police and Christian churches.

SUFI MUSLIMS

Arabiya news channel and some local sources said some of the worshippers were Sufis, whom groups such as Islamic State consider targets because they revere saints and shrines, which for Islamists is tantamount to idolatry.

The jihadists have also attacked local tribes and their militias for working with the army and police, branding them traitors.

The Sinai branch is one of Islamic State's surviving branches following the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq after military defeats by U.S.-backed forces.

Sisi, a former armed forces commander who presents himself as a bulwark against Islamist militancy, convened an emergency meeting with his defense and interior ministers and intelligence chief soon after the attack.

Security has long been one of the key sources of public support for the former general, who is expected to run for re-election early next year for another four-year term.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a post on Twitter on Friday, called the assault a "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack."

"The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence," he addded.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also condemned the attack and said Paris stood with its ally.

SINAI STRUGGLE

North Sinai, which stretches from the Suez Canal eastwards to the Gaza Strip and Israel, has long been a security headache for Egyptian security forces because of smuggling.

Sisi has support from some Bedouin tribal leaders, who have helped the army locate weapon-smuggling routes used by jihadi groups, security officials said.

Local militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, once allied to al Qaeda, split from it and declared allegiance to Islamic State in 2014.

Bloodshed in the Sinai worsened after 2013 when Sisi led the overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Islamic State earlier this year posted a video of the beheading of two Sufis in northern Sinai, accusing them of practicing "sorcery."

In July this year, at least 23 soldiers were killed when suicide car bombs hit two military checkpoints in the Sinai, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

Militants have tried to expand their operations into Egypt's heavily populated mainland, hitting Coptic Christian churches and pilgrims. In May, gunmen attacked a Coptic group traveling to a monastery in southern Egypt, killing 29. (Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah in Cairo and Yousri Mohamed in Ismalia; Editing by Andrew Roche)

In what feels like an episode that'd sit comfortably in the dystopian-thriller Black Mirror, a Canadian company has been quietly trawling your social media feed to delve deeper into your psyche and emotional state, as chronicled online. The gathered data is then fed into a software developed by them, which then predicts what an 'ideal screenplay' would look like.

On the sidelines of the Film Bazaar, organised by NFDC, HuffPost India spoke with Jack Zhang, founder of the said company, who said, "Although human emotions are irrational, human behaviour is not. In fact, it's very predictable. What we do is analyse your online behaviour and come up with patterns of what a certain demographic might like in a movie."

Zhang further added that the whole point of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in filmmaking is to exploit big data in a way that can be used to make commercially successful films. "We have about 200 million profiles on our system. We analyse their likes, shares, comments, conversations and we co-relate them with core elements in a film."

Zhang said that after doing a comprehensive analysis, they are able to identify the nature of films that a particular demographic likes, their geographic location, their job titles, and even their social status. Producers, in turn, can use this data, which is admittedly very sensitive, to market their films in territories where they'd get maximum profits from.

While e-commerce websites routinely track your online behaviour to organise targeted advertising, one thought movies were more about the heart, less about, well, algorithms, as was pointed out by veteran actor-filmmaker, Satish Kaushik, who was also present at the session Zhang spoke at.

Zhang believes it's upto the filmmaker to use the tools in their benefit. And while tech can empower them with information, what they do with it, is entirely their call.

But wait. Wasn't movie making all about a concept coming to a writer-director organically, who then nurtures a story in a manner that s/he hopes people will like? Wouldn't handing a writer a digitally-sourced blueprint of an emotional chart at odds with the very idea of filmmaking in the sense that you are technically working your way backwards?

Zhang ponders over this thought but firmly believes it's something that'd complement filmmaking, even saving millions for producers, who may not want to invest in a movie if the software throws results that doesn't agree with a filmmaker's original vision.

"We are not mechanising your emotions. What we are doing is telling you if your emotions are for yourself or for a larger audience. You are not making films for yourself, right? You make it for people. We are telling you what the people want so your investor gets the returns," Zhang said.

Zhang declined to name the projects they have worked on so far but mentioned an Indian company who reached out to him to plan their release in an international territory.

Talking specifically about the kind of information he's sitting on, Zhang said, "We learn that if you want to make a romantic comedy, it'll work great if you throw in a father-daughter track and a wedding sequence in between." And how did they arrive at this? "Data that was sourced online. We can even tell you that this works best with 25-year-old urban women."

And can the AI also tell them what doesn't work? "Well, yeah. So, for instance, young Asian women, under the age of 25, don't like physical, gory violence in horror movies. They'd like to see the bad guy play psychological tricks instead."

Woah.

Zhang's next phase is an ambitious programme which will analyse tons and tons of existing screenplays and will tell a writer the exact points where s/he needs to insert 'scenes.' "It'll give you a graph and tell you the emotional highs and lows of your draft. It will also tell you what particular moments to amplify, what to tone down."

He added, "People think they are in control of themselves. But people are predictable. We can predict what a person is going to do next."

Zhang points out to an interesting trend seen in monster movies. "So Spain and Mexico like ghosts. Japan and Korea like zombies, whereas vampires are very popular in Russia. When I told our Russian friends about this, they said it adds up as vampires used to trade extensively in Eastern Europe."

Does any of this feel dystopian to Zhang? Not exactly. "It's a tool. It can empower your film. But as for the soul, that the filmmaker will have to add," he smiled.

Also see on HuffPost:

ISLAMABAD -- A security person was killed and over 150 others were injured today in Pakistan during clashes which broke out after police and paramilitary forces launched an operation to disperse hundreds of protesters blocking main highways leading to the capital Islamabad.

The operation was launched after Islamabad High Court (IHC) yesterday issued contempt of court notice against Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal for failing to implement orders to clear the roads

The Pakistan government has blocked popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube amidst ongoing operation against protesters. The decision was taken after almost all news channels were suspended.

Military spokesman said that army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa talked to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on telephone and urged for peaceful solution to the problem.

So far police have failed to dislodge the protesters from Faizabad interchange which they have been occupying for about three weeks.

At least one security person was killed and over 150 persons, including protesters and security personnel, were injured, police said.

About 2,000 activists of Tehreek-i-Khatm-i-Nabuwwat, Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR) and the Sunni Tehreek Pakistan (ST) for more than two weeks have been blocking the Islamabad Expressway and Murree Road that connect Islamabad with its only airport and the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The protesters demand the resignation of law minister Zahid Hamid for changes made about Khatm-i-Nabuwwat or finality of prophethood oath in the Elections Act 2017 passed in September.

More than 70 people have been injured. They were shifted to hospital of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, a health official said. Those injured include also more than 35 security personnel who were hit by stones thrown by protesters, the official said.

Islamabad city magistrate yesterday issued a warning to protesters to disperse by midnight or face the consequences.

TV footage showed police firing teargas and security personnel in riot gears charging at the protesters. Dozens of them were arrested and shifted to various police stations. Some of the security personnel were injured due to stone pelting by protesters. According to a security official, more than 8,000 security personnel took part in the operation against around 2,000 protesters.

The operation was still going on and police were facing stiff resistance from the protesters.

Earlier, IHC last Friday had given a 24-hour deadline to the government to clear the roads which was later extended till Thursday.

However, the court yesterday expressed strong displeasure at the government for failing to take action against the protesters.

Also on HuffPost India:

NEW DELHI -- A woman was allegedly gang-raped and looted by a taxi driver and his associate in Delhi.

A case has been registered in Hauz Khas police station.

On November 14, the woman took a taxi at midnight near Ansal Plaza to go to Rohini. The driver allowed another person to board the taxi and both started misbehaving with the woman.

The girl was taken to Greater Noida where the driver and his associate allegedly raped the victim.

The accused took away her gold ornaments, cell phone and Rs 12,000 cash and dropped her near Greater Noida and fled away.

A case has been registered at Hauz Khas police station and the investigation is underway.

"The courts should be extremely slow in passing any kind of restraint or order stopping a creative man from writing drama, a book, philosophy or projecting his thoughts in a film or theatre art."

This is what a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had to say as it disposed of a petition filed by Nachiketa Walhekar, a man who allegedly threw ink at Aam Aadmi Party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2013.

Walhekar, through counsel, sought a stay on the release of the film An Insignificant Man, based on the life of Kejriwal. His counsel argued that the film portrayed Kejriwal as a victim, and hence violated Walhekar's right to a fair trial.

At a press conference at the Constitution Club in Delhi, Walhekar, who claimed to be a BJP worker from Maharashtra, threw ink on Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia.

"They have betrayed the people of this country. They have betrayed Annaji. They have betrayed the Jan Lokpal movement," Walhekar had said at that time. Walhekar claimed that he has been depicted as a convict in the movie despite the fact that trial in that matter was still pending, according to PTI.

"The incident happened in 2013. It was alleged that the petitioner had thrown the ink on Kejriwal. Trial is still pending. How can they show me as a convict of throwing ink at Kejriwal," Walhekar's lawyer argued.

"It is worthy to mention that freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct and the said right should not be ordinarily interfered with."

His counsel told the bench, also comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, that the film contains a video clip, which was originally shown by media, pertaining to him and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) should not have granted a certificate to the movie for its release.

"It is worthy to mention that freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct and the said right should not be ordinarily interfered with," the bench said.

It said when the CBFC has granted a certificate and only something with regard to the petitioner, which was shown in the media, was being reflected in the movie, "this court should restrain itself in not entertaining the writ petition or granting injunction".

"Be it noted, a film or a drama or a novel or a book is a creation of art. An artist has his own freedom to express himself in a manner which is not prohibited in law and such prohibitions are not read by implication to crucify the rights of expressive mind," the bench said.

It said that "human history" records that there were many authors, who expressed their thoughts according to the choice of their words, phrases, expressions and also created characters who may look absolutely different than an ordinary man would conceive of.

"A thought provoking film should never mean that it has to be didactic or in any way puritanical. It can be expressive and provoking the conscious or the sub-conscious thoughts of the viewer. If there has to be any limitation, that has to be as per the prescription in law."

"A thought provoking film should never mean that it has to be didactic or in any way puritanical. It can be expressive and provoking the conscious or the sub-conscious thoughts of the viewer. If there has to be any limitation, that has to be as per the prescription in law," it noted in its order.

Regarding the petitioner's apprehension that the documentary film would be used as an evidence during the trial of the case, the bench said it cannot be commented upon as it would be for trial court to adjudge under the Evidence Act.

The bench, however, said that prohibiting exhibition of a documentary or a film was "very serious" and courts should be very slow in interfering with it. It said that only the courts have the right to convict a person of any crime.

"Everyday, debate takes place in this court and people write about it as they understand. We do not gag them. Pre- censorship by courts should not be done," the bench said.

The court's ruling comes at a crucial time for cinematic freedom.

The Shri Rajput Karni Sena, protesting Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati has called for a country-wide bandh on 1 December. Mahipal Singh Makrana of Karni Sena threatened to maim Deepika Padukone, the actress who plays the titular role in the period drama.

Rajputs never raise a hand on women but if need be, we will do to Deepika what Lakshman did to Shurpanakha: Mahipal Singh Makrana of Rajput Karni Sena in a self-made video #Padmavatipic.twitter.com/82AWKGO7IU

— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2017

Recently, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh resigned from his post of jury chairperson to register his protest against interference by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry at film festivals.

The I&B Ministry allegedly got two films — Sanal Kumar Sasidharan's Sexy Durga (which was re-titled S Durga so it could play at the Mumbai Film Festival) and Ravi Jadhav's Nude — dropped from the selection of the International Film Festival of India, slated to take place in Panjim from November 20. The films were dropped despite being selected by the 13-member IFFI jury, a committee ironically formed by the Ministry itself.

(With inputs from agencies)

As two Uttar Pradesh ministers of the Yogi Adityanath cabinet watched in silence, Ranjeet Kumar Srivastava, the outgoing chairperson of the Nawabganj Nagar Palika, openly threatened Muslims at a rally earlier this week. He gave Muslim voters the ultimatum of either voting for his wife Shashi Srivastava, who is contesting the civic polls to be held later this month in Barabanki, or face "unforetold difficulties."

The Indian Express published a part of his speech, which is nothing short of alarming.

"Samajwadi ki sarkar nahi hai. Yahan par tum jaa kar ke DM, SP se apna kaam nahi kara sakte ho. Yahan par tumhara koi neta tumhari koi madad nahi kar sakta hai. Sadak, khadanja, naali nagar palika ka kaam hai. Doosri bhi kuch museebatein tumhare upar aa sakti hain. Aaj tumhara koi pairokar BJP ke andar nahi hai. Agar hamare sabhasadon ko tumne bagair bhedbhao ke chunav nahin jitaya... Agar Ranjeet Sahab ki patni ko tumne vote de kar ke chunav nahi jitaya... To yeh doori jo tum banane ja rahe ho, ab agar yeh doori banegi to tumko Samajwadi Party bachane nahi aayegi. BJP ka shashankaal hai. Jo kasht tumko nahi jhelne pade the, woh kasht tumko uthane pad sakte hain."

He essentially told Muslims that if they did not vote for Shashi Srivastava, the Samajwadi Party, not in power any more in the state, will not "be able to save them".

He went on to say that he was not begging for their votes, but simply informing them that if they voted for his wife, they'll be untouched, but if they didn't, there will be "difficulties".

Srivastava later told ETV that he didn't threaten Muslims but "was just trying to make them understand that there is a huge difference between Hindu and Muslims and these differences should come to an end."

Ministers Dara Singh Chauhan and Ramapati Shastri were present on the stage when Srivastava made the threats.

For us the figure is not the most important. Each unnecessary death is one too many. Geert Ates, director of United for Intercultural Action

I’m not convinced, I have to be honest. Marijuana is a drug that’s impairing, but not one that’s known to cause issues like those described in the paper. Dr. Bruce Goldberger, chief of forensic medicine at the University of Florida

There are so many things going wrong in our world right now, when we’re given the chance to do something right, we should do it.

It is a fact that most of those who raged and fulminated and fatwa-ed against Salman Rushdie had never ploughed through The Satanic Verses. Geoffrey Robertson who defended Rushdie in the blasphemy case writes "As with the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, his fatwa was a case of sentence first and trial later." And so it is with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, a film that has not yet been released but has already become target practice for the likes of the Shree Rajput Karni Sena, issuing threats of violence and bodily injury.

Mahipal Singh Makrana, the president of the Sena has threatened to do to Deepika Padukone, the lead actor in the film what "Lord Ram's brother did to Surpanakha." Her latest "provocation" was to say that nothing can stop the release of Padmavati. The film's sets have already been vandalised, not once, but twice. Bhansali himself was attacked while shooting in Jaipur. Thakur Abhishek Som, national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Yuva Mahasabha demanded that Padukone leave the country or face beheading. He announced a Rs 5 crore reward to anyone beheading Bhansali or Padukone though he offered no proof the Yuva Mahasabha has Rs 5 crore to spare. He has finally been booked but remains defiant. The Bajrang Dal has already protested against even showing the trailer of Padmavati in Meerut. The Karni Sena vandalised shops in a mall in Kota in Rajasthan where a theatre was screening the trailer. To add more drama the Shri Rajput Karni Sena has vowed to write letters of protest in their own blood. At least it's their own blood.

It is time, yet again, for the lumpen fringe to relish their fifteen minutes of fame.

Bollywood films often do not even pretend to pay lip service to logical accuracy. It's ludicrous that they are being held to demands of historical accuracy.

At one level, one could ignore them, deny them the media oxygen they desperately crave as they posture before news cameras. But when the Uttar Pradesh government says they are concerned that the release of Padmavati could be provoke "serious law and order problems" it means the fringe has very much entered the mainstream. "The release of the film of December 1 is not in the interest of peace and order," the Uttar Pradesh Home Department has told the Union Information and Broadcasting ministry. The Sarv Samaj Samiti blocked the gates of Chittorgarh shouting "Jai Jai Rani Padmini." The CBFC has returned Padmavati's application for certification citing "technical difficulties" which will probably delay its release.

But at least the Karni Sena and its cohorts are unequivocal about their demands, bloodthirsty as some of those demands are – heads and noses.

The government is playing a far more duplicitous game – talking pieties about law and order on one hand, yet indulging and coddling those threatening to disrupt law and order.

Haryana minister Vipul Goel has said "glamourising Alauddin Khilji's character" was "like praising those who carry out acid attacks on girls."And it does not really help matters when highway minister Nitin Gadkari says "People have a right to be offended... filmmakers should not distort historical facts." And he's added that freedom of expression is not absolute.

Of course, people have a right to be offended. It's probably the right exercised with most gusto in India these days. But to be offended means to not read a book, to not watch a film, to not listen to a song. To be offended can even mean a call to boycott a film. To be offended cannot mean to vandalise theatres, kill writers, ransack movie sets, and threaten to maim and behead people. And every time the government does not put that squarely front and centre, every time it says the law must be followed and then qualifies it with a "but filmmakers should show sensitivity" the vandals, the so-called fringe see it as a green signal, a wink and nudge. It is grotesque that Sanjay Leela Bhansali needs to show sensitivity in his film but the Karni Sena can threaten to cut off someone's nose in real life.

The Kerala High Court has rightly asked if "we are going backwards" and whether the 1973 national award-winning film Nirmalyam could even be made today.

Bollywood films often do not even pretend to pay lip service to logical accuracy. It's ludicrous that they are being held to demands of historical accuracy. A member of Chhattisgarh's former royal family has said Rajput maharanis never danced in front of anyone and the filmmakers "cannot play with history." It's as if Shah Rukh Khan's Ashoka was historically accurate. Or Mughal-e-Azam or Mohenjo Daro for that matter. Bollywood exists to tell stories, usually love stories preferably with song and dance, and mint money. It's not just Bollywood. Even Richard Attenborough's Oscar-winning Gandhi was attacked for sidelining Subhas Bose and Pakistanis objected to its portrayal of Jinnah proving that history will always be a contested place and no film whether it's Padmavati or Jodhaa Akbar or Bajirao Mastani will please everybody. But at least no one threatened to decapitate Ben Kingsley or Hrithik Roshan.

That Rajputs might be upset about how their heroes are portrayed on screen is perfectly understandable. But it's strange to think that Rajput honour is made of such flimsy tinsel that a Sanjay Leela Bhansali costume drama can bring it to such hysteria, that too sight unseen.

But it's not difficult to see how we have come to such a pass. Even when his sets came under attack, a flagrantly illegal act, Sanjay Leela Bhansali bent over backwards to appease those incensed not by his film but what was rumoured to be in his film. He and the film's stars denied the film has a dream sequence showing a romance between Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji. Bhansali put up a video on Facebook saying "The rumour is that in this film, there is a dream sequence between Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji. I have denied this before and provided written proof of the same then, and today, through this video, I am reiterating that in our film, there is no scene between Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji that will hurt any sentiments." But what if there had been a dream sequence? It's a dream, it's not reality. Shall we police dreams sequences for historical accuracy now? The Kerala High Court has rightly asked if "we are going backwards" and whether the 1973 national award-winning film Nirmalyam could even be made today. In that film a temple oracle pushed to poverty spits on the idol. It just goes to show that appeasing bullies only emboldens them especially when they feel the government has their back.

In the Rushdie case the Ayatollah Khomeini waited till the book came out before issuing the fatwa. But now we do not need to bother with such niceties. Today we do not even have to wait to see the film before deciding it's offensive.

A lot has been spoken about Congress's recent social media rise, particularly the shift in tone, language and promptness of Rahul Gandhi's tweets. Many are hailing Gandhi as a rising social media star, courtesy his witty tweets and sharp attacks in recent times. While it's true that popularity on Twitter or any other social media site doesn't guarantee electoral success. But it's definitely a good start for a party and a leader of which obituaries were written even until few months ago. Not only has Gandhi and the Congress being able to bring about a significant change in their social media strategy. They've also been able to capture the narrative in the digital space which was until recently being dominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The otherwise digitally savvy BJP too has started to feel the pinch and is trying hard to adapt to this sudden change in narrative.

This spectacular success story can be attributed to Former MP from Mandya, Divya Spandana, who is also known with her screen name Ramya. She's the current Head of Social Media and Digital Communications of the Indian National Congress. Termed a novice during her appointment, Ramya was handpicked by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to take over the reigns of the party's lack luster social media in May 2017. In less than five months, she has not only proved her credentials but also turned the tide completely for the grand old party on social media. The otherwise digitally savvy BJP too has started to feel the pinch and is trying hard to adapt to this sudden change in narrative.

Question is, if Gandhi and his social media rise is so insignificant, why does the Modi government feel the need to field senior ministers to counter him?

This can be witnessed with the jittery behaviour of many senior ministers of the Modi government who seems to be on an overtly defensive mode. Sample this. For every tweet done from Rahul Gandhi's handle that is critical of the Modi government, Smriti Irani would instantly counter it with another tweet as if on cue. Whether it warrants the stature of a cabinet minister to come down to trolling on social media is a different debate altogether. Question is, if Gandhi and his social media rise is so insignificant, why does the Modi government feel the need to field senior ministers to counter him? Irani who had once called Rahul Gandhi a 'failed politician' incidentally lost the Amethi Lok Sabha elections in 2014 to the Congress scion. Quite an irony I must say.

Not only on Twitter, senior ministers like Smriti Irani, Piyush Goel and Nirmala Sitharaman have come out to attack Gandhi by holding regular press conferences. If anything, they've been ceding more ground and attention by doing so. Even in the absence of a fight, their behaviour is giving the electorate a sense that the ruling party is getting jittery and defensive. Interestingly, a recent story done by ANI claimed that Gandhi's rise on his Twitter following, which jumped from 20 lakhs in May to nearly 37 lakhs, within the next two months can be attributed to bots. Same was claimed for the high volume of RTs that Gandhi had attracted, even crossing popular leaders like Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal who are the most and second most followed Indian politicians on Twitter respectively.

In politics, it is perception more than reality that matters.

Now even if we were to believe that what the story claimed is true, it hardly makes any difference as in politics, perception matters more. For that matter, a Twitter audit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter account suggests that out of his 35 Million plus followers 13 Million are real where as close to 22 million are fake or bot accounts. As per a CNBC report, close to 48 Million accounts on Twitter are bots. So out 48 Million of those, if nearly 22 Million belong to Modi. You can imagine the magnitude of the smokescreen created by the ruling party to highlight the popularity of the Prime Minister on Twitter. But as mentioned earlier, in politics it is perception more than reality that matters.

The shifting dynamics with growing palpable anger against the government and it's policies is helping the grand old party script it's success on social media. With interesting infographics, statistics, fact checks and prompt and witty responses, the Congress seems to be winning the digital game as of now. Many might feel that the euphoria is far fetched but it clearly helps in building a popularity perception for Gandhi. Specially at a time when elections are due in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh as well as Rahul's elevation to the Congress President's post. We shouldn't forget that this is not restricted only to social media, but almost all mainstream news channels and newspapers have debated and discussed this sudden change in dynamics. Which in turn, results in a complete media blitzkrieg in spreading the message to the masses that Rahul Gandhi has completely transformed himself as a mature politician.

This has made the ruling party extremely nervous as it goes against their strategy of painting Gandhi as a novice and a failed politician

The impact can be seen on ground given the large number of crowds that he's drawing in all his rallies in Gujarat where he's singlehandedly running the campaign. This has made the ruling party extremely nervous as it goes against their strategy of painting Gandhi as a novice and a failed politician. But this renewed vigour with which Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party is fighting the battle both on the social media and on ground is a welcome change. The electorate seems to be receiving it positively. Whether it translate to a electoral victory is something that we'll have to wait. But a lot of credit for their spectacular rise on social media has to be given to Divya Spandana who seems to be doing a fabulous job. Let's see if they can sustain the momentum and whether it delivers them electoral dividends in the near future.

The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of HuffPost India. Any omissions or errors are the author's and HuffPost India does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.

NEW DELHI -- The air quality in the National Capital Region improved on Saturday to the "poor" level following overnight rain as the concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) decreased. Another government department, however, placed the air quality at "moderate".

The major pollutant, PM2.5, or particles with diameter less than 2.5 micro meter, was recorded at 288 units. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Saturday recorded the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi-NCR (at 288) at 10 a.m. as compared to 299 at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Notably, most of the 17 monitoring stations of the CPCB in Delhi found air quality on Saturday in the "poor" bracket. In neighbouring Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, the AQI also showed "poor" category.

Experts say the rain in the national capital on Friday night and early Saturday morning was responsible for the improvement in air quality.

Mahesh Palwat, Director of Skymet, a private weather forecast agency, said air quality had improved due to overnight rain, wind from the northwest and cyclonic formation in Rajasthan.

"The western disturbance has moved away from hills and hill states that have witnessed rainfall and snowfall. So winds from northwest with speed of upto 15 kmph are bringing pollution levels down. The situation will be better day-by-day," Palawat said.

He said that rain always had a washout effect on particulate matter.

According to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research), an app instituted by the Ministry of Earth Science, the air quality levels in Delhi improved to "moderate" on Saturday morning.

SAFAR records 24-hour rolling averages of PM10 and PM2.5 and uses this data to estimate the AQI. PM10 and PM2.5 are ultra-fine particles that are the dominant pollutants in Delhi. The acceptable levels of PM10 and PM 2.5 are 100µg/m3 and 60µg/m3 respectively.

The larger particulate matter, measured by PM10, docked at 199 µg/m3 in the morning while PM2.5, which measures very poor and more dangerous particulate matter, hovered around 130 µg/m3.

Dr. Mahinder Watsa, please save us.

The nation needs you. Acche Moody if not din might be upon us. But alas, when it comes to the birds and bees, we seem to be going backwards.

Frankly speaking, we need someone like you desperately, a no-nonsense sex columnist, one who still shoots from the hip at the age of 93, to give our netas some straightforward sex talk. And remind them that sex is natural, it's nothing to be ashamed about.

We know India always has had a sex problem, the old Kamasutra meets Victorian prudishness meets Mahatma Gandhi's experiments with sexual control. Our bursting population shows that we are having sex, and lots of it, but we remain stubbornly squeamish about it.

But when the head of IT cell of the ruling party starts behaving like a snickering adolescent as well, we cannot just shrug it off saying we are like that only. This is not the old schoolboys' WhatsApp group with its randy Playboy jokes.

Amit Malviya's latest contribution to the Twitter wars was a collage of Jawaharlal Nehru with a variety of women. Malviya tweeted: "It seems Hardik Patel has more of Nehru's DNA, contrary to what @shaktisinhgohil claimed." Gohil, a Congress politician had said Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel could not be bought out, because he had the DNA of fellow Gujarati leader Sardar Patel. Somehow Malviya made the rhetorical leap from that to try and paint Hardik Patel and Nehru as both carrying some womanizing gene.

This is not the old schoolboys' WhatsApp group with its randy Playboy jokes.

As it turns out, several of the women Nehru was embracing in that thoughtfully put-together collage were his family members. That, in the world according to Malviya, hugging your sister or niece is Exhibit 1, 2 and 3 in Portrait of the PM as a Man of Lustful DNA is deeply troubling. That he cannot tell the difference between lust and affection is concerning. That he cannot see a photograph of a man putting a tika on the wife of an American president without thinking Dirty Picture is even more worrying.

But it speaks to a larger hang-up. Even if the pictures were of women unrelated to Nehru, so what? Even if Nehru had romantic relations with women, so what? His wife Kamala died in 1936. Nehru survived her by almost 30 years. Why should any of us, least of all Amit Malviya, be bothered about his sex life as long as it did not interfere with his political life?

Why do we have to treat sex like a national dirty secret? Why do we spend so government time and money trying to figure out ways to deny access to porn sites in the name of cleaning up child porn? In the process the Swachh Internet-wallahs provided the good Indian citizen with a handy list of 857 porn sites, a sort of Beginner's Guide to Internet Porn. The International Film Festival balks at films with names like Nude and Sexy Durga. "We had Khajuraho and Kamasutra. Now we can't talk about sex, and the word sexy is abusive," saysSexy Durga filmmaker S K Sasidharan. Our censor board comes up with a list of forbidden words like "masturbating" and haramzada or even "ass". The latest idea is the Har Har Mahadev app, which plays devotional music or chants Allahu Akbar everyone someone tries to access an adult video. The makers obviously did not consider the fact that conversely every time someone hears a bhajan they might now think sex.

In short, why are we so afraid of sex even as we are obsessed about it?

The Malviya episode was triggered, of course, by the infamous so-called "sex video" of Hardik Patel in a hotel room with a woman. They seem to be two consensual adults who have checked into a hotel room together. Instead of debating the ethical morality of reservations for Patels as Hardik Patel has demanded, we are debating the morality of his sex life. That's the real scandal here.

Even worse, political columnist Shefali Vaidya has snidely quipped "Hardik Patel's CD, if it is true, should actually be an inspiration to all those young people out there that someone so odious, ugly n talentless has a sex life!" It might be a joke but it's a low blow to go after someone's looks, to insinuate that someone is not good looking enough to have a sex life. It's not that our politicians who are married and producing children presumably not through immaculate conception are exactly Adonises. Or is this plain jealousy that even Hardik Patel is getting some action?

The list of sex scandals and sex CDs in Indian politics is long and checkered and cuts across party lines. Before Hardik Patel there was Rajesh Munat (BJP), Sandeep Kumar (Aam Aadmi Party), Narain Dutt Tiwari (Congress), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress), Raghavji Lakhamsi Savala (BJP), Thomas Varghese (CPM), Gopal Kanda (Independent), Mahipal Maderna (Congress), Sanjay Joshi (BJP/RSS), Amarmani Tripathi (Samajwadi Party and others), Ram Mohan Garg (BSP), Gopinath Munde (BJP). Some of these cases were actual scandals. People died. People were blackmailed. Property was transferred. But some were just affairs and liaisons that became public. Many of them have also been met by protestations of conspiracy and strenuous claims that the CDs are fake. In that sense Hardik Patel was rather refreshing when he said "I am a man, I am not impotent."

In short, why are we so afraid of sex even as we are obsessed about it?

But there's one thing our netas just don't seem to get. Sex, per se, is not scandal. As opined in an Indian Express editorial, "The personal lives of public figures, as long as there is no harassment, impropriety, or quid pro quo involved, do not concern the Indian public beyond their value as salacious gossip." Birds do it, bees do it, even netas do it and we need to get over it. That we have sex on our minds a lot is apparent given that our most Googled celebrity is Sunny Leone and Indians are fifth in terms of most number of daily visitors to Pornhub. Incidentally traffic to Pornhub goes up during Republic Day and Independence Day. Perhaps if we worried less about sex and more about consent, we'd be better off as a nation.

And for those like Amit Malviya, a few simple ground rules. Any picture of a man and a woman together, whether hugging, laughing, or even lighting a cigarette does not spell out S-E-X. Sex and scandal are not synonyms in any thesaurus anywhere. Just remember it's not a scandal just because it's sex. And next time you want to make snide tweets about someone's sex life, real or alleged, check in with the good Dr. Watsa first. It will save you some embarrassment.

Also On HuffPost:

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Buckingham Palace issued a new photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip on Saturday to mark their upcoming 70th wedding anniversary.

The couple married at London's Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947, just two years after the end of World War Two, in a lavish ceremony attended by statesmen and royalty from around the world.

The portrait, taken earlier this month, showed the queen wearing the same dress which she chose for a service of thanksgiving to mark their diamond wedding anniversary held at the Abbey where they were married.

She is also wearing a "Scarab" brooch in yellow gold, carved ruby and diamond which Philip gave her in 1966.

To mark The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh's 70th Wedding Anniversary, new photographic portraits have been released worldwide. pic.twitter.com/Jl6elndhFe

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 18, 2017

Elizabeth has been married for far longer than any other royal, and the newly-released picture showed the couple framed by Thomas Gainsborough's 1781 portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte, who were married for 57 years - the second longest royal marriage. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Toby Chopra)