RANVEER SINGH TALKS ABOUT A PROJECT THAT COMBINES HIS LOVE FOR RAP AND MUMBAI
by ASJAD NAZIR
The past 12 months have been incredible for Ranveer Singh. The dream year has included blockbuster hits Padmaavat and Simmba and also saw him marrying long-term love Deepika Padukone in a dream wedding that made global headlines.
He has also firmly established himself in the top tier of Hindi cinema and shown off his immense versatility as an actor with challenging roles dramatically different to each other.
The A-list superstar continues to venture into new territory with his latest film Gully Boy, which is based on real-life events and revolves around the rise of a rapper from the Mumbai slums. He stars opposite Alia Bhatt in the Zoya Akhtar-directed drama filled with superhit music. Eastern Eye caught up with the seriously in-demand actor to talk about his remarkable rise, Gully Boy, rap skills, versatility and inspiring next project.
The year 2018 was incredible for you, have you had a chance to enjoy the success?
I did take a week off after the release of Simmba and then came back to work in January. That was a really lovely, much needed and welcome break where I kind of applied the brakes and soaked in everything that is happening. Yes, 2018 has been a really incredible year, which included two of my biggest blockbusters and one of the most glorious chapters in my life, my wedding. It has been a very blessed year.
2019 has started with a bang…
Then the trailer of Gully Boy came in soon after and kind of hit the spot with audiences. Now people are very excited about watching the film. The song Aapna Time Aayega has become a hit, so the going is good and it is a reward for all the honest effort one puts into the work. (Laughs). I am feeling the love, what can one say.
Is it a coincidence that all the roles have been so dramatically different to one another?
It is actually not a coincidence at all, Asjad. But also, the thing is, what kind of roles you are doing and in what sequence is a function of when they get offered to you, so a lot of it is not in your hands. In terms of choices, I have always tried to build a very diverse filmography and have tried to be recognised as a versatile actor. The talk about the versatility aspect about me as an actor is now more significant than ever before. It started in 2013 when Ram Leela and Lootera came out in the same year.
Yes, then in 2015 when Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani came out in the same year…
Yes, so it has been going on for some time now, but Padmaavat and Simmba happening in the same year, and Gully Boy coming out soon after means that talk about versatility is louder than ever and I am aware of it. I am very appreciative of it and it’s very heartening for me that the audience is recognising that because it is what I have always endeavoured to be. I’m trying to be the best actor I can possibly be and in my estimation, the best actor is the most versatile one, so I am always consciously working towards that.
You are succeeding because all your films are so different to each other…
I try to do films that are very different from the last one I have done. It is very important to me and a very conscious endeavour. I like to switch things up and don’t like to play it safe. I like to deconstruct and break it down and do something completely different in my next outing. That is what excites me as an artist. That comes through in my content, for instance, playing a really evil character like Khilji in the same year as Simmba and then Gully Boy.
What did you like about Gully Boy?
It is the coming together of too many things that I love. It is something that appeals to me on a very deep level. Zoya (Akhtar) is someone I have a personal connection with, beyond just a filmmaker and an actor. She is a close friend, a confidante, somebody who I can trust, someone who nurtures me as an artist and somebody I can share a laugh with. She is a wonderfully warm person. I have a tremendous amount of love and respect for Zoya. I am a quintessential Mumbai lad, so for me, I have a very deep connection to my motherland. I am as hard a Mumbaikar as they come.
That connection means the film must be close to your heart?
So it is my connection to Mumbai and the love story of my city; my love story with Zoya; it is my love for hip hop; my love for the spoken language of the streets. It is Mumbai, it’s rap, it’s Zoya and the coming together of so many things. I made a deep connection with that when it was offered to me. It was an irresistible prospect and something so tailor-made for me that it was too good to be true. It has been such a fulfilling journey.
Who discovered you have mad rap skills?
I knew that I was decent at it. Zoya was unsure and said, ‘we will put you in a studio and only if you are good enough we will allow you to use your own voice for the character, but if you don’t make the cut you will have to go with someone else’s voice’. I didn’t want that, because to stay true to the nature of hip hop it would only be authentic if I gave my own voice. She said, ‘if you are not up to the mark we won’t do it’.
What happened next?
So she put me in the studio. Zoya, rapper Divine and the music supervisor were there. They made me rap Meri Gully Mein and said ‘that was great’ after hearing it. I went onto record songs in different meters and flows. So it has been very fulfilling and helped me discover another dimension within me that has been latent. The experience has been very rewarding.
Tell us about your connection to hip hop?
Hip hop has been alive in me ever since I was a kid. I started off with the more mainstream pop guys like MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Will Smith and then I gradually got into Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G, Dr Dre, Wu Tang and NWA. Then, of course, Eminem became a phenomenon. I used to go on the internet, memorise the lines and rap along. Even when I was working as a copywriter for a brief period of time, whatever jingles or taglines I used to write would be done in a rhyme scheme. So I always had this as a side skill. But it was very latent. After entering show business I had kind of done it for some live shows, ad campaigns and once briefly in a film. I got to explore it in depth for the first time in this movie.
Would you feel confident in a rap battle?
Yes. I think I would be able to hold my own for sure. The journey of this film helped me to discover my own musicality and myself as a hip hop artist. I thought I was okay and decent. I feel much more confident in my ability as a musician now. I realised I am able to express my thoughts and feelings in a fluid manner. I realised that I have got some kind of flow that people actually like.
Aapna Time Aayega has gone onto becoming a chart-topper…
That song is a significant thing for me, although it is written by Divine and in his flow. I think that over this period of time I discovered myself, also as a rapper and a musician.
Your chemistry with Alia Bhatt looks amazing in the trailer; what was she like to work with?
Alia is one of the most special actors to have ever graced Hindi cinema. At a young age she has such emotional depth and maturity. Any day I go to shoot with Alia I would become completely carefree because I knew that all I had to do was just be present in the moment with Alia and react to what she is doing, and my job would be done and the scene would fly. She is so good that she makes her co-actors look good. She is extremely secure, generous as an actor and a thorough professional.
How does Alia compare to other actors you have worked with?
Alia is one of the best actors I have had the good fortune of collaborating with. She is doing so well and if she continues on the same path, I am sure she will succeed because she has a severe passion for what she does, she has the making of an all-time great.
What most inspires you right now?
I am really excited and inspired about the film I am going into next because it is one of the most extraordinary stories I have ever heard. An underdog story about a team of guys who people had written off and went onto achieve the ultimate glory. It is one of the most glorious chapters of our nation’s history, which changed the face of sport and cricket in our country. The story of the 1983 World Cup win, which is such an amazing human story that the current generation is not fully aware of.
Tell us more?
It is about the spectacular journey of the world cup winning team. How nobody believed in them and they went onto achieve the ultimate glory. It is really one of the most amazing extraordinary human stories I have ever heard and I’m very honoured to be part of the project.
TWO survivors of grooming gangs have called for politicians to step back and let women shape the new national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.
Holly Archer and Scarlett Jones, who helped run a local inquiry in Telford, said the political fighting over vulnerable women must stop before the investigation begins, the Guardian reported.
"We have to put politics aside when it comes to child sexual exploitation, we have to stop this tug of war with vulnerable women," said Archer, who wrote a book about her experiences called I Never Gave My Consent: A Schoolgirl's Life Inside the Telford Sex Ring.
"There are so many voices that need to be heard. There's some voices, though, that need to step away. We can do it, let us do it – we don't need you to speak on our behalf," she was quoted as saying.
Jones, who works with Archer at the Holly Project support service, said people were taking advantage of survivors. "There are so many people out there at this moment exploiting the exploited – it's happening all the time," she explained.
Both women use false names to protect themselves and their families. Archer said she no longer uses social media after receiving threats. "I've been called a paedophile myself, a paedophile enabler, a grooming gang supporter. They said they hope my daughter gets raped. It's just constant," she said.
She also described how the far-right Britain First group gave her leaflets in Telford after her book came out in 2016. "They handed me leaflets that had quotes from my own book in them. They didn't know it was me, and they were telling me I was very pro what they were doing. It was insane," she said.
The government announced this week that police will collect ethnicity data for all child sexual abuse cases. This follows a report by Louise Casey that found evidence of "overrepresentation" of men of Asian and Pakistani heritage among suspects in some areas.
However, Casey also said police data from one region showed that the races of child abuse suspects matched the local population. She urged the public to "keep calm" over the ethnicities of offenders.
Archer said collecting ethnicity data was important but people should not rely on stereotypes. While she was abused from age 14 by men of Pakistani origin, most of the men who "bought" and raped her as a child were Chinese. Jones said she was first abused within her own white family before being drawn into a child sexual abuse racket.
"Nobody wants to know about that because that doesn't meet their narrative," Archer said. "You're told that you're just not relevant, that it didn't really happen to you anyway. You're a liar. You're a fake person."
The new inquiry will coordinate five existing local investigations through an independent commission with full legal powers. The National Crime Agency will lead efforts to reopen historical group-based child sexual abuse cases, with more than 800 cases set for review.
Both women welcomed the plans but criticised the previous independent inquiry into child sexual abuse led by Prof Alexis Jay.
"Years later, nothing has been done, none of the recommendations have been implemented," Jones said. "The worry is that that is what will happen again."
The government will also change the law so that all sexual acts with children under 16 are charged as rape, and will quash criminal convictions of victims who were prosecuted for offences while being exploited.
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Canadian prime minister Mark Carney and India's prime minister Narendra Modi shake hands before posing for a photo during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, June 17, 2025. (Photo: Reuters)
INDIA is involved in foreign interference in Canada, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
The report was released shortly after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney held talks during the G7 summit in Alberta.
Modi and Carney agreed to restore the top diplomats both countries had withdrawn in 2023. Both governments described the meeting as productive.
Carney's decision to invite Modi to the G7 drew criticism from some members of Canada’s Sikh community. Tensions between the two countries have remained since September 2023, when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau accused India’s government of playing a role in the June 18, 2023, killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.
India has denied involvement in Nijjar’s killing and has accused Canada of sheltering Sikh separatists.
The CSIS report said transnational repression is “a central role in India’s activity in Canada,” but added that China is the biggest counter-intelligence threat. It also named Russia, Iran, and Pakistan.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in October they had communicated more than a dozen threats to Sikhs advocating for an independent homeland carved out of India.
“Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians,” the CSIS report said. “These activities attempt to steer Canada’s positions into alignment with India’s interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan.”
The Indian High Commission and the Chinese embassy in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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The footage of the removal quickly circulated on social media
Rockstar Games has taken swift action against a GTA Online player who streamed unreleased content from the upcoming Money Fronts update using a jailbroken PlayStation 5. The player was removed from an online session in real-time by a Rockstar administrator, reinforcing the studio’s zero-tolerance stance on leaks and unauthorised access.
Player ejected during livestream
During the livestream, the user was showcasing content from the Money Fronts downloadable content (DLC), which is officially due for release on 17 June 2025. Midway through the broadcast, the stream was interrupted with an on-screen message that read:
"You have been kicked from this session by a Rockstar Games administrator."
The footage of the removal quickly circulated on social media, drawing attention from both fans and modders. Viewers noted that the player was accessing the content through a modified PS5 system, exploiting preloaded update files made available ahead of the launch.
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Jailbroken console used to access preloaded files
As part of standard procedure, Rockstar Games preloaded the Money Fronts update on servers in advance of the public launch to manage server strain. However, some users with jailbroken consoles were able to bypass restrictions and unlock parts of the content prematurely.
This particular streamer not only accessed the content but also chose to broadcast it publicly, which likely triggered the quick intervention by Rockstar staff monitoring such activity. Jailbreaking a PS5 is a breach of Sony’s terms of service, and combining that with unauthorised access to unreleased game data raises significant legal and ethical concerns.
Rockstar’s enforcement stance
Rockstar Games has long maintained a strict policy against hacking, cheating, and leaking within its community. Following high-profile leaks of GTA VI in 2022 and previous GTA Online updates, the company has intensified efforts to prevent similar incidents.
The publisher views such violations seriously and often takes disciplinary action ranging from game bans to legal notices. Parent company Take-Two Interactive has also actively pursued legal action against modders and leakers in the past.
Warning to the community
This latest incident serves as a reminder to players ahead of the official Money Fronts DLC launch. Rockstar is actively monitoring its online platforms and is prepared to act against those who access or distribute content ahead of schedule via unofficial means.
With anticipation building for the new expansion, the developer has made it clear: unauthorised early access will not be tolerated.
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Simone Ashley appears without dialogue in Brad Pitt’s F1 after major cuts to her role
Simone Ashley, best known for her breakout role in Bridgerton, won’t have the screen time fans expected in Brad Pitt’s upcoming Formula 1 film F1. Despite being part of the film’s promotional buzz and having filmed scenes alongside the main cast, Ashley’s role was trimmed down to a blink-and-miss appearance with no dialogue.
Director Joseph Kosinski confirmed the change, stating that the edit came down to tough decisions made during the final cut. Speaking in an interview, he said, “Every movie has more content than it can use. We had to drop two or three storylines for pacing. Unfortunately, Simone’s was one of them.”
Director praises Ashley but fans question repeated sidelining of actors of colour
Kosinski was quick to express admiration for Ashley, calling her “an incredible talent, actress, and singer” and adding, “I’d love to work with her again.” Still, the move has reignited conversations around how actors of colour are often given prominent placement during production and marketing, only to be cut back when the film is finalised.
Ashley has not directly commented on the cut since previews began, but earlier this year, she acknowledged that her role was “very small.” She said, “I’m just grateful to be in that movie. I got to experience many Grands Prix. I don’t think I’ll ever do anything like that again.” She also shared that the filming process felt like live theatre, given how tight and chaotic the schedule was while shooting during actual races.
Director Joseph Kosinski says Ashley’s storyline was cut for pacing and time constraintsGetty Images
The incident has drawn comparisons to Filipino-Canadian actor Manny Jacinto’s reduced screen time in Top Gun: Maverick, also directed by Kosinski. Jacinto’s part was heavily promoted but eventually cut down to a wordless cameo. Critics have noted a troubling pattern where actors of colour are regularly used for marketing but sidelined in final edits.
While F1 continues to generate buzz ahead of its 27 June release, Ashley’s reduced role can be seen as emblematic of the industry’s ongoing issues with representation and why more inclusive stories need to come from within.
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Social media users quickly pointed out that large portions of the statement
Air India has come under fresh scrutiny following the deadly crash of Flight AI171 in Ahmedabad on 12 June 2025, which claimed more than 270 lives. This time, controversy surrounds the airline’s chief executive, Campbell Wilson, who is facing allegations of plagiarism over the phrasing used in his speech following the tragedy.
Speech similarity sparks online backlash
Two days after the crash, Air India released a video of Wilson expressing condolences and detailing the airline’s response. However, social media users quickly pointed out that large portions of the statement closely resembled remarks made by American Airlines CEO Robert Isom after a separate fatal mid-air incident in the US earlier this year.
“This is a difficult day for all of us here in India. Our focus is entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew, and their loved ones… We are actively working with the authorities on all emergency response efforts.”
These phrases mirrored those used by Isom following the 30 January 2025 collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over Washington, DC. Online commentators posted side-by-side comparisons of the two speeches, highlighting word-for-word overlaps, including references to “emergency response efforts” and “working with authorities.”
Standardised language or unoriginal content?
The similarity triggered debate on social media, with some accusing Wilson of copying or using AI-generated templates. Others dismissed the criticism, suggesting that such statements often follow a familiar script during crises. “This seems like an SOP playbook response more than plagiarism,” one user commented. Another added, “There are bigger things to question Air India on.”
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Prominent industrialist Harsh Goenka also responded to the viral posts, calling the comparison “a good perspective” without taking a clear side.
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The airline has not publicly addressed the plagiarism allegations.
Context: India’s deadliest air disaster in decades
The controversy follows one of India’s worst aviation disasters in decades. Flight AI171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for London Gatwick, crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. The aircraft struck a government hospital hostel, killing 241 passengers and crew on board and at least 29 people on the ground. One passenger, a British national, survived with serious injuries.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, with India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) working alongside British and American agencies. The aircraft’s black box was recovered days after the incident.
In response to the crash, Air India has scaled back Dreamliner operations by 15% and cancelled several international flights. The airline is also facing questions over maintenance protocols and safety oversight.
Crisis communication under the spotlight
While the debate over Wilson’s speech continues, communication experts note that statements made during public tragedies often rely on structured, empathetic language. Whether Air India’s CEO used common phrasing or copied directly remains unclear, but the incident has brought renewed focus on the airline’s crisis management, both operationally and publicly.