News and Views

By The QuintNews

News and Views episodes

April 24, 2020 Extraction: Hemsworth and Hooda Make this All Out Action Film Work
We meet a bloodied Chris Hemsworth surrounded by absolute mayhem as he crawls to safety dragging his injured leg. Hemsworth coughs blood and as he stares into space we wonder what could possibly have happened that lead to so much pain? Almost on cue we are quickly prompted to what transpired 2 days earlier to give some context before director Sam Hargrave can bedazzle us with his stunt genius. Don’t forget, Sam has been the stunt coordinator for films like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers :Endgame, so the adrenaline rush is an absolutely legitimate expectation.

Tune in to this podcast for the full review!

VO: RJ Stutee
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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6 min
April 18, 2020 Goonj Founder Anshu Gupta Explains Why It's Wrong to Say Migrant Workers Are 'Escaping'
DISCLAIMER: This podcast has been recorded on Skype due to the ongoing lockdown. We apologise for the bad audio quality.

Even though the coronavirus pandemic is the big crisis of the moment, for the underprivileged it is hunger and starvation that is the bigger crisis.

Did it take a pandemic and a lockdown for the country’s privileged to understand who does the bulk of our work?

The migrant labourers who help in running are households are stuck in cities without jobs and money. The farmers who bring food to our plate are at the receiving end of an agrarian crisis triggered by the lockdown.

Tune in to this podcast where we speak with Anshu Gupta, Founder-Director of Goonj and NGO which is currently helping the migrant workers on ground. Gupta talks about why they felt the necessity to take the drastic measure or walking back home, what the government needs to do for them and what citizens like you and me can do for them.

The Quint has partnered with Goonj in their Rahat COVID-19 initiative to support the migrant workers.

We urge you to click here and donate. All monetary donations are critical for essential purchase and logistics to support the affected communities.

Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha
Guest: Anshu Gupta, Founder-Director, Goonj
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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23 min
April 17, 2020 ‘Four More Shots Please!’ S2 Is a Refreshing Take on Love & Gender
Siddhi, Damini, Umang and Anjana –the fabulously flawed women are back! A little more than a year later after we first met them, the warm familiarity and the infectious joie de vivre help us form an instant connect again -all positive signs while welcoming a new season. Season 2 of Four More Shots Please! starts four months after what ensued in the lives of our 4 women protagonists.

Umang’s dramatic coming out to her family, Sidhhi’s internet secret that put her relationship with her parents in jeopardy, Damini still reeling under how her website can be taken away from her and Anjana trying to make peace with her ex-husband and his wife. A quick recap later the first episode begins with Siddhi (Maanvi Gagroo) making a distress call to Umang (Bani J) from Istanbul. The girls apparently have had a fallout but a reunion is engineered quickly and enter headlong into their lives.

Tune in to this podcast for the full review!

VO: RJ Stutee
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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5 min
April 09, 2020 Dia Mirza Talks About the Nature Healing as a Result of the Lockdown
Actor and Producer Dia Mirza has had a longstanding relationship with the environment. UN's Goodwill Ambassador Dia in a conversation with The Quint said that we must listen to what nature is telling us and learn from it.

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25 min
March 27, 2020 India May be in Stage 3: COVID-19 Hospital Task Force Convener
“Yes, we are calling it Stage 3. Officially we may not call it – but it is the beginning of Stage 3,” said Dr Girdhar Gyani, the convenor of a task force on COVID-19 hospitals, in an interview to the The Quint.

Dr Gyani, who’s the founder of the Association of Healthcare Providers, was part of a video conference of healthcare professionals with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 March. This task force on COVID-19 hospitals is among a couple of task forces that were created in response to an initiative led by NITI Aayog to combat coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Dr Gyani is an engineer who holds a PhD in Quality Management. His NGO – the Association of Healthcare Providers – actively advises the government with policy-making around healthcare.

“We are running short of time in preparing COVID-19 hospitals as the outbreak in India can happen any day in the coming weeks. We do not have enough trained medical staff and COVID-19 hospitals yet,” Dr Gyani further added.

Host: Poonam Agarwal

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30 min
March 26, 2020 A Reminder, Relentless Human Spirit Can Overcome Even Coronavirus
The human spirit is indefatigable! We have stood upto some arduous times and learn to come out of it stronger.

It is true that sometimes we fall victims to our own vanity. We have drawn boundaries all around us – borders on maps, borders of caste, creed, race, religion, gender, wealth – to separate us from the rest.

And as if it’s to mock at our conceit, a microscopic virus, invisible to our naked eyes has gotten the better of us. It’s made us realise yet again that we’re all the same. It’s transgressed all our borders, binaries, and differences. Whether we are a wealthy billionaire in US, or a Chinese engineer, or a farmer from the Middle East — this virus had ridiculed all these walls we’ve built between us. We are the same for the virus. We are just all humans.

But people say that the biggest learnings come from the worst tragedies. The COVID-19 coronavirus is right now our biggest enemy but the indefatigable human spirit is much bigger than this virus. But it’s necessary that we fight this crisis together. There’s no battle that can’t be won when we’re together but we’ll have to put aside our differences for this one.

We need to face this crisis with compassion instead of competition. This civilisation has seen pandemics and calamities before, and we have come out of those dark moments together. Our little acts of care and kindness can make a big difference. Little acts like thinking about others when buying groceries and medicines. Instead of hoarding, let’s buy enough for ourselves and let others have the rest.

As we stay indoors and maintain social distances, let us distance ourselves from prejudices. When we wash our hands off germs, let us wash ourselves off these man-made boundaries and divisions.

VO and Scripting: Athar Rather
Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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5 min
March 23, 2020 ‘She’ Succumbs to a Confused Plot & Problematic Protagonist
Desperate times call for desperate measures. While the coronavirus is forcing everyone to stay at home, what is the best way to put those idle hours when not working from home to good use? A new series, She, created by Imtiaz Ali, has dropped on Netflix. Ali hasn’t been in the best form lately, and after his last offering Love Aaj Kal 2, the apprehension about his work is only increasing.

However, there is a curiosity too because She looks like something we haven’t seen Imtiaz Ali associate himself with. The story, which he has co-written with Divya Johry, is about a nondescript police officer who goes undercover to nab a dangerous drug dealer.

This seven-part series (each episode running for around 35 minutes) has been directed by Arif Ali and Avinash Das. The striking quality about every episode is how, bit by bit, it kills our interest and expectations. Tune in to the podcast for the full review!

VO: RJ Stutee
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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5 min
March 20, 2020 Did PM Modi’s Coronavirus Speech Miss A Few Important Points?
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” - That's what JFK said at his inaugural speech as America's President in 1961.

"Stand at your doors, windows and balconies and beat your plates, and ring your bells to thank those providing essential services during this crisis," and that's what PM Modi said on 19 March 2020, while addressing the nation about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The focus of his speech? Three key points - A ‘janta curfew’ on 22 March, the constitution of an Economic Task Force to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus and the measures Indians need to take to stop the spread of COVID-19.

At a time like this, when the country is doing what it can to battle this unprecedented crisis, will the PM’s address to the nation serve to boost morale? Or was it missing some important points?

Here we find out.

Host and Producer: Vishnu Gopinath

Editor: Shelly Walia

Additional Listening:
COVID-19 & Social Distancing: How to Prepare Smart and Not Panic

COVID-19: How to Protect Your Mental Health During Work From Home

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17 min
March 18, 2020 ‘Special Ops’ Keeps Us Hooked Despite Its Uneven Pace
Neeraj Pandey has a natural flair when it comes to making films revolving around India’s internal security or tackling threats from neighbouring countries. Having directed films like A Wednesday, Baby, Naam Shabana (he wrote the screenplay), it’s a turf that feels like home to him.

Having enlisted Shivam Nair as the director, Pandey’s latest offering is an eight-episode strong slow-burning espionage thriller Special Ops, that has released on Hotstar. With cinema halls shut across the country and all major film releases postponed owing to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s a good time to stay at home and watch what’s available on OTT platforms.

So how worthwhile is it to spend time with Special Ops? That’s exactly what this review will proceed to explain. Tune in!

VO: RJ Stutee
Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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6 min
March 13, 2020 Review: ‘Angrezi Medium’ Is Irrfan’s Show All the Way
A spin-off to the much-loved Hindi Medium, Angrezi Medium makes us realise right at the outset how much we missed seeing Irrfan Khan on screen. It's where he shines his brightest.

Taarika (Radhika Madan) is an average student, who shares an endearing bond with her dad and has big dreams of travelling the world.

Champak soon realises that no matter how much he tries and keeps her aspirations in check because of his own fears, she is likely to leave him, his unconditional love for the daughter eventually makes him relent.

The only problem - he unintentionally commits an act that jeopardises her scholarship to a university in London.

So, if Taarika wants to study in the UK in the college of her choice, it would be a financial burden borne solely by the family.

Host: Stutee Ghosh

Producer: Zijah Sherwani

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5 min

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