<h2>Colours of freedom</h2>
John Abraham holds the tricolour with pride at a promotional event for his film in Juhu on Wednesday. Pic/Sameer Markande
<h2>In the spotlight</h2>
There are Indians who do the country proud without leaving its shores, and then there are those who flee the nest to make a mark.
<img title="Sundar Pichai" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/pichai.jpg" alt="Sundar Pichai" />
A new book will now tell the stories of some of these personalities, via the medium of interviews that journalists have conducted with them.
<img title="Amitabh Bachchan" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Amitabh-flag.jpg" alt="Amitabh Bachchan" />
Titled Peerless Indians (Harper Collins India), and edited by Pritish Nandy and Tapan Chaki, it features conversations with Salman Rushdie, Amitabh Bachchan and Sundar Pichai among others. Pick it up for a dose of inspiration.
<h2>An unusual jugalbandi for I-Day</h2>
Joshua Pollock may now be known as a practitioner of heartfulness meditation, a technique on which he has co-authored a book with Kamlesh D Patel.
<img title="AR Rahamn. Pic/Getty Images" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/ar-rahman.jpg" alt="AR Rahamn. Pic/Getty Images" /> AR Rahamn. Pic/Getty Images
But the American violinist first arrived in India as an instructor in AR Rahman's KM Conservatory in Chennai. And to wish India on her Independence Day, the US Embassy has roped him in for a video where Pollock plays the violin to the tune of Rahman's Maa Tujhe Salaam.
<img title="Joshua Pollock " src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Joshua-Pollock.jpg" alt="Joshua Pollock " />
We would have loved to hear more of Pollock's tunes, which seemed overpowered by the music. But it's the thought that matters, after all.
<h2>A daughter's gratitude</h2>
It was theatre stalwart and writer Shanta Gokhale's 81st birthday yesterday, and daughter Renuka Shahane used the opportunity to share a blast from the past, with a collage of sepia-tinted photographs (including one where we can't tell if it's her or Gokhale).
<img title="Renuka Shahan" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/daughter-Renuka.jpg" alt="Renuka Shahane" />
"Grateful and privileged to be born your daughter. Even the word 'love' can't express my feelings," said Shahane, who was joined by artistes Annup Sonnii and Kaushal Inamdar in wishing Gokhale.
<img title="Shanta Gokhale" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Shanta-Gokhale-aaa.jpg" alt="Shanta Gokhale" />
<h2>From Chennai to Mumbai via Iran</h2>
The Internet is a bizarre phenomenon; its reach and use leave us surprised every time videos go viral. This time, it's a bunch of men at a gym in Iran warming up to a Tamil number with latkas and jhatkas that would put our very own dancers in a baraat to shame.
<img title="From Chennai to Mumbai via Iran" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Irani.jpg" alt="From Chennai to Mumbai via Iran" />
It's no wonder that the 50-second clip has caught the fancy of netizens, especially those in India. Among them is Anand Mahindra, who, like us, couldn't believe what he saw. "I love it.
<img title="Anand Mahindra" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Anand-Mahindra.jpg" alt="Anand Mahindra" />
I'm going to make it my new morning routine. Going to get out of bed, put on some Tamil music and bounce out to meet the new day," tweeted the industrialist, known for his witty posts. We'll wait for him to make a video of this new routine!
<h2>Madboy's web film debut</h2>
Naseeruddin Shah's son Imaad Shah has made quite a dent in the music scene with his electronic funk duo Madboy/Mink and a solo act. And though he's kept the actor in him alive with theatre performances, musicals and a couple of films, Shah is now foraying into the digital space with Posham Pa, a web film whose trailer released yesterday. "I admire director Suman Mukhopadhyay's works, and Mahie Gill, Sayani Gupta, Shivani Raghuvanshi and Ragini Khanna made for a powerhouse of female acting talent.
<img title="Imaad Shah" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2019/aug/Imaad-Shah-c.jpg" alt="Imaad Shah" />
The plot is well-written and realistic, and deals with the subject matter with a lot of complexity. Shivani and I play two documentary filmmakers. So, we are like two detectives unravelling the case," he tells this diarist. And yes, it was a conscious decision to opt for a web film, he adds. "I had been waiting for the right subject matter to come along," he explains, adding that he is also working on a web series and a web film called Ezra with Emraan Hashmi, which is the remake of a Malayalam film.
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