Suchitra Pillai, whose latest show Hello Mini 3 is streaming on MX player recently joined NewsX for an exclusive interview. She talked about her role in Hello Mini 3 and also told our viewers what made her accept the offer for the role. The actor was gregarious in sharing her experience as an actor and also offered our viewers a glimpse into her filmography

When asked about what led her to take up the role she is currently playing in Hello Mini 3, the actor said, “ What really got me hooked to this was the fact that Goldy Bahl (director) of the show called me after 23 years and said that only I can do this role ”. Briefing about her character in the show she said, “ Her character in the show is head of some sort of cult, with a very hypnotic personality”, adding more bits about her character in the show, she said, “ her character is very interesting and powerful and is a new entrant in the show “. Responding to the question of whether she has seen season 1 and season 2 of the show, the actor informed that season 2 was shot alongside season 3rd but she did watch season 1st.

In answer to the question of what is the genre she prefers to watch, the veteran actor responded, “I love watching thrillers, horror, crime mystery. I must have been a detective in my last life I don’t like war movies unless it’s something like Platoon”.

“ I have always been an actor who chose to be part of all sorts of medium whether it’s theatre, television film, OTT ..I am a dubbing artist for international actresses for the Hindi versions of the movies. I have never curtailed myself to be in only one genre. The difference in all of these mediums is that a film will take a very long time to make, OTT platform finishes off your work straight away” was her answer when asked about the difference in the three medium. “ with daily soap you are stuck with 22 days a month that becomes a little bit monotonous”, added Pillai.

“I have run the whole gamut. Theatre is my biggest and first love. Had the theatre paid her more or she was on Broadway I would have been doing theater only”, she admitted with a beaming smile.

Talking about her experience in the industry she shared, “ I have seen the whole gamut, I have been in the industry for altogether 27 years, about 23 years in India and four before years before when I started in England, I have seen the whole system of whether me being a VJ .. whether it was being a part of the old tv serials and then coming into Bala JI Tv serials. I have kind of seen a journey which has been very interesting to be part of. I turned 50 last year’s and I have no qualms in saying that I worked the most last year than I have for a long long time”.

Responding to question about game-changing projects or roles in her career, the actor said, “ The Hollywood film The Valley which I did in 2016 was what got me my first tick off my career bucket list of winning an international award. I won the best actress award at the Milan Film festival and I won best actress ay Long Island for that movie. The movie was also a turning point for me story-wise. It’s a very hard-hitting film that needs to be seen by all because it deals with teenage depression. Coming back to home OTT is the game changer for me. Dil Chahta was a game-changer for me as far as Indian Cinema is concerned no doubt”. She added, “ The OTT platform, I think is another big game-changer for actors all around because of how we work, how we get more money and it’s interesting because you get more interesting stuff to do here. The storylines are different and the directors have begun experimenting”.

“ Last year, sitting seven months at home was like torture for me, because I am of those people who needs to be doing 80 km a day in Mumbai. I was lucky that during the lock I had four releases on OTT that stood me in good stead”, she replied when asked about what kept her going during these trying times.

Towards the end of the segment, she said, “I have worked the most from September till now, I have done about seven or eight new projects. You are going to see me a lot this year in a lot of stuff and each one is completely different and I am very excited that MX player is the first one because why not start with being a Godwoman”.

Actor Meera Chopra recently joined NewsX for a special conversation as part of NewsX India A-List. In the exclusive interview, the actor opened up about not just her latest web series The Tattoo Murders, in which she shares the screen space with Tarun Virwani but also about her experience of playing a cop on-screen and her journey in the Hindi Film Industry as well as Tollywood. 

Talking about her latest web series The Tattoo Murders on Disney + Hotstar, Meera said, “The Tattoo Murders was previously called Kamathipura. As the name suggests, it’s about prostitution, drugs, mafia, and also about police. How they work hand in glove with the whole system. The script was very raw. We have heard about prostitution in India but we have not seen much stuff in Bollywood or on Indian television on prostitution. It’s strange because it’s illegal but still it happens in such a legal way in our country. The script itself was very different, very raw and i was being offered a role, which i had not attempted before. I had never even imagined myself in the role of a cop because you always have a bucket list of roles you want to do but cop was never on my list for some reason. I had never even imagined it. Everything about it was very exciting and that made me sign the show.”

When asked about her experience of playing a cop on-screen and if she did any special prep for the role, she responded, “I couldn’t do any physical prep for it but i did saw a lot of movies, especially Bollywood movies where the main protagonist is female cop, like i saw Gangajal, both Mardani’s. In Gangajal, Priyanka did a role of cop and then i saw Drishyam, so my reference point was these Tabu in Drishyam. The way she was walking, her body language and everything, so i wouldn’t say that i tried copying that but that was a very strong referral point.” 

On sharing the screen space with Tanuj Virwani in The Tattoo Murders, Meera expressed, “First of all, Tanuj is younger than me. He is like a kid so i treated him like that. Ofcourse, he was fun to work with. Even he was playing the role of a crazy villian for the first time. The energy level of both of us was very high. We shot 80% of the show in Kamathipura and it is very difficult to get permission to shoot in Kamathipura. 90% of the show is Gorilla shoot, wherein we go with spy cameras without any unit. We didn’t have our staff with us. There were only 4-5 members with us when we were shooting. At times, it can be scary because Kamathipura is not an easy place to shoot. But, the energy levels of both of us was so high that every time the director would ask us that ‘Would you shoot without any permission?’ and we would like, ‘yeah, let’s do it.’ It was fun to work with him because we both were on the same page. There was no attitude problem. We both were equally excited about the show. Everything just fell into place when Tanuj came on board.” 

Encapsulating her journey so far in Bollywood as well as Tollywood, Meera said, “Both the journeys have been very different. The working styles are very similar in both the industries. But, in South, things were very easy for me. My first movie became an instant hit and whatever films i did after that, were served to me on platter. When it came to Hindi, it was totally opposite. The struggle was crazy difficult. It is really not easy to get what you want here. The competition in Bollywood is humongous. I am still struggling to get what i want in Bollywood. Things became easier after Section 375. But, before that, at times, it would be depressing. You would start questioning yourself. Do you want to continue or do you just want to give it up. Bollywood was a battle emotionally but now things are becoming easier and easier. For that, i always say that you need to be really strong. You need to have crazy passion to be in this industry. Otherwise, it is really easy to breakdown.”

Check out the entire conversation here:

Britain on Monday reported 1,649 new COVID-19 infections and one new death within 28 days of a positive test.

Monday is a public holiday, which has in the past affected the numbers reported. The death toll from the disease in Britain now stands at 127,539. Meanwhile, some 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been given to people across Britain, the government said.

The new development came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there is a “good chance” the one-meter plus rule for social distancing can be ditched next month.

But he also said that the move would be dependent on the data, and “we can’t say it categorically yet”.

With the vaccine rollout moving fast, Johnson once again called upon British people to come forward and get their jabs when asked to do so.

The British government is easing its COVID-19 restrictions step by step. Its roadmap shows that all legal limits on social contact could be remove on June 21.

The ban on foreign holidays is expected to be lifted for people in England from May 17 as part of the next easing of coronavirus restrictions.

Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is “still not out of the woods” amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, and the third wave of pandemic on the European continent.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Russia, the United States as well as the European Union have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.

NICOSIA: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after trying to change the country’s history through his involvement in numerous conflicts in the Middle East and Nagorno Karabakh, appears to be determined to change the geography also by trying to create a second Bosporus strait. His plan is to dig an artificial 45-kilometer canal, parallel to the Bosporus, linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. But this grandiose project, which Erdogan himself in the past described as “crazy”, may prove to be a white elephant expected to cause huge ecological catastrophe, anger the inhabitants of Istanbul and create problems with Russia.

Erdogan always had a strong penchant for megaprojects, like the world’s largest airport in Istanbul, a railway tunnel under the Bosporus, a third bridge across Bosporus, a giant mosque, a billion-dollar port complex, and a 1000-room presidential palace in Ankara. In this way, he created thousands of new jobs, dished lucrative jobs to his cronies and increased his power base.

However, some of these projects did not perform as good as the Turkish President expected. For example, the Italian-Turkish consortium operating the third Bosporus Bridge and the Marmara motorway walked away from the project and is expected to be replaced by a Chinese consortium. Also, the Istanbul airport, mainly due to the devastating effect of the pandemic, is losing money and the Turkish government is trying to get China’s ICB Bank to refinance about USD 6.2 billion of its loans.

The cost of the Istanbul Canal is expected to amount between USD 13 billion to USD 25 billion. Planning for the project started in 2011, but it was put to the back burner for years. According to the Turkish government, the canal will help moderate traffic through the Bosporus, reducing the number of ships and oil tankers that pass through Istanbul.

It is difficult to understand the reason why the mercurial Turkish President announced last month that tenders for the construction of the canal project would be awarded very soon. He argues that the project will attract much-needed investment and invigorate economic activity, while the government estimates that annual transit fees from the canal will be about USD 5 billion.

Those against the project say that in addition to uncontrolled building development, the Istanbul Canal project will put the country into deep and unnecessary debt, while Turkey is currently facing massive foreign debt, an inflation rate exceeding 17 per cent, and depleted foreign currency reserves.

Economist Mustafa Sonmez says that the project “lacks any economic rationality, while the Bosporus already guarantees good conditions for shipping and allows sufficient passage.”

Turkey’s environmentalists hate the project because it will destroy large forested areas bordering the Black Sea, damage Istanbul’s freshwater resources and the ecosystem, while it would lead to the creation of a second city with an estimated population of two million along its banks. Furthermore, it will cut land to the west of Istanbul which could be used as an evacuation zone in case a major earthquake hits the country’s biggest city, which sits on an active fault.

China is boosting its leverage over financially vulnerable countries and ensnaring some in sovereignty-eroding debt traps by extending loans with strings attached.

The latest to fall prey to China’s debt-trap diplomacy is Laos, which recently signed a 25-year concession agreement allowing a majority Chinese-owned company to control its national power grid, including electricity exports to neighbouring countries, writes author Brahma Chellaney for The Hill. This shows that Beijing continues to weaponise debt as part of its strategy to expand its economic, political and military presence abroad, even as countries reel from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lopsided nature of Chinese-dictated contracts curtail the options of borrowing nations and give China’s state-owned banks a huge discretion over any borrower, including the power to scrap loans or even demand full repayment ahead of schedule.

“Such terms give lenders an opening to project policy influence over the sovereign borrower, and effectively limit the borrower’s policy space to cancel a Chinese loan or to issue new environmental regulations. Some of the debt contracts in our sample could pose a challenge for multilateral cooperation in debt or financial crises, since so many of their terms run directly counter to recent multilateral commitments, long-established practices, and institutional policies,” the study noted.

As China leverages its state-sponsored loans to aggressively advance its trade and geopolitical interests, many Chinese loans have not been publicly disclosed, raising a ‘hidden debt’ problem, Chellaney wrote.

Every contract since 2014 has incorporated a sweeping confidentiality clause that compels the borrowing country to keep confidential its terms or even the loan’s existence, the study found, which breaches the principle that public debt should be public and not hidden from taxpayers so that governments can be held accountable.

According to the study, the Chinese contracts obligate the borrower to exclude the Chinese debt from any multilateral restructuring process, such as the Paris Club of official bilateral creditors, and from any “comparable debt treatment”.

This confirms that China’s infrastructure financing comes mainly in the form of market-rate loans and little of its loans are for aid or low-interest lending. The more dire the borrower’s financial situation, the higher the interest rate China is likely to charge for lending money, Chellaney wrote for The Hill.

Laos’ decision to hand over majority control of its national electric grid to China also holds implications for national water resources as hydropower makes up more than four-fifths of the country’s total electricity generation.

In 2011, China secured 1,158 square km of strategic Pamir Mountains territory from Tajikistan in exchange for debt forgiveness. Tajikistan’s unending debt crisis has also forced it to grant Chinese companies rights to mine gold, silver and other mineral ores.

Sri Lanka also transferred the Hambantota Port, along with more than 6,000 hectares of land around it, to Beijing on a 99-year lease.

Challeney further wrote that China’s debt-trap diplomacy has not even spared its ally Pakistan, which has given Beijing exclusive rights, coupled with a tax holiday, to run Gwadar Port for the next four decades.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is known as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature initiative, has been plagued by allegations of corruption and malpractice, and many of its completed projects have proved not to be financially viable, the author wrote for The Hill.

With BRI central to its debt-trap diplomacy, China continues to enlarge its footprint in that state to become its economic master of vulnerable and poorly-financed countries.

At least five people were killed after a series of explosions went off in the Central Bago region of Myanmar on Monday, as protests against the hostile military continue.

Three explosions occurred on Monday, killing three police officers who had joined a civil disobedience movement in opposition to February’s military coup, Kyodo News reported citing local media. A villager who had taken in the officers was also killed, and another police officer was seriously injured.

A local council member of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by ex-State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, was among the deceased, according to local media.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians and police officers have been staying in villages in the Bago region to escape the violent crackdowns on protests by the armed forces.

The military rule entered three months on Saturday since the coup on February 1. Since then, a total of 766 people have been killed as the junta intensified its crackdown on anti-coup protests, while 3,614 people have been detained, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a non-profit.

Furthermore, 50 journalists are currently detained, 25 of whom have been prosecuted. This is in addition to two journalists on bail awaiting trial, and 29 journalists evading arrest warrants, AAPP said.

Last month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders had urged the head of Myanmar’s military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, to end the violent crackdown in the country.