riteshmisraworld

[riteshmisraworld]

Ajay Devgn shines as Amay Patnaik in Raid 2. Riteish Deshmukh is superb.

We have many cop movies, but the unsung Income tax officer usually fails to attract the attention of movie makers. A reason could be that the job is perceived as unexciting and monotonous, and the image is of someone neck deep in files, and generally an anonymous person, away from publicity. Raid, a 2018 movie, had a Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Amay Patnaik, as the hero. Ajay Devgn played…

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Pune Highway on Amazon Prime. Dark, intense, suspense thriller with comic touches. Loved it.

Seema Mohapatra is not just a childhood friend, but also the wife of one of my closest friends, Subrat. She gave up her flourishing corporate career at a very high level to pursue her passion for movie-making as a producer with Jahanara Bhargava. I have a fond memory of subscribing to Zee5 only to watch their movies, Barot House, and Posham Pa. I loved them both and subsequently also saw Nail…

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Wiaan Mulder joins the extremely rare 300 club. Just the 2nd South African to do so.

Wiaan Mulder became the latest entrant to the rare 300 runs in a test innings club when he scored 367 not out versus Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. He is just the second South African to do so after Hashim Amla had scored 311 versus England at the Oval in 2011. Mulder, on his test captaincy debut also became the holder of the highest score by a captain on debut, both in an innings and in a test. He had a…

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Congrats Kraigg Brathwaite for joining the rare and coveted 100 Test Club.

Kraigg Brathwaite has become the 82nd and latest entrant to the coveted 100 Test Club. The opener and former West Indies captain achieved this landmark during the second test versus Australia at St George’s in the 2025 home series. He is the 10th West Indian to achieve this landmark, the others being Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Courtney Walsh,…

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The importance of Temba Bavuma.

June 14, 2025. South Africa defeated Australia in the final of the 2023-2025 World Test Championship. The win is not just any win. The context makes the win even more important and can prove to be a turning point in South Africa’s cricket history. Congrats to the entire team, and congrats to the captain, Temba Bavuma. Temba means faith, and for a long time, Temba Bavuma has had the faith of his…

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Why the win of Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 French Open is highly significant.

Carlos Alcaraz defeated World Number 1, Jannik Sinner, in an incredible final at Roland Garros, 2025, to win his 5th Grand Slam Title. It was a dramatic comeback by the Spaniard after losing the 1st two sets. An incredible level of shot-making by both ended in a pulsating 5 set win for Alcaraz after 5 and a 1/2 hours. This was the 43rd Grand Slam final between world number 1 and 2 and 42 had…

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Congrats Jannik Sinner for completing 52 weeks as the Number 1 tennis player in the world.

Every tennis player has two dreams: to be the number 1 player in the world and to be a Grand Slam Champion. Once these dreams are achieved, other dreams follow- such as to win at least one Grand Slam each at all the four Grand Slam tournaments, winning as many ATP Masters tournaments as possible, to maximize one’s stay at the top, and so on. As the 2025 French Open begins, top contender and…

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Mistakes Rabbit Made. By singer-bureaucrat Rajesh Dhabre. My book review.

Rajesh Dhabre is my friend, brother, and batchmate. An Engineer from REC Rourkela who joined IRS Customs, he is currently the Commissioner of GST and Customs, Mumbai. Rajesh is a brilliant musician, lyricist, composer, and singer who has done several shows throughout India and abroad. We brothers were together in Mumbai for some time, and then we were transferred out. Coincidentally, both of us…

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Fasinating Conversations, priceless learnings, and life-lessons. Part-2

A few days back, I met two seniors. In both cases, the meeting started on time and ended on time. That reminded me of a fantastic conversation with a traffic cop, which I am sharing now. Thanks for appreciating Part 1. Indeed, we can learn a lot from conversations, and simply by inculcating the fast vanishing skill of learning. Let us accept that we usually just hear, and it goes in one ear and…

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Fasinating Conversations, priceless learnings, and life-lessons. Part-1.

Listening is something most of us are not good at, let’s accept that. Usually we want to talk about ourselves, what we have achieved, and what we want others to hear from us. When the other person speaks, we tend to start thinking in our minds what we would be responding with, and as a result, we only hear-not listen. Yes, there is a distinct difference between hearing and listening. Let us…

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Why India's Champions Trophy win is special.

Congratulations to Captain Rohit Sharma, Coach Gautam Gambhir, every player, and every support staff member for a spectacular tournament, culminating in a Champions Trophy triumph. As an avid cricket analyst, I find this tournament win special for the following reasons. First and most importantly, this was an excellent team performance with every player contributing. India fielded 12 players in…

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Which Asit Sir are you talking to? Just pick up the phone and talk. Do not be a slave to texting.

I have four Asit’s in my telephone contact list. The first is a highly respected senior, Asit Singh Sir, who is currently posted as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. His name is stored as Asit Singh Sir, so there was no confusion. The second is Asit Mahapatra Sir, another highly respected senior, who recently retired as Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. The third is Shri Asit Das, a senior of…

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Remembering Pankaj Udhas fondly.

Ghazals in Arabic means conversing with the beloved. One of the best exponents of Ghazals was Pankaj Udhas, who passed away on February 26, 2024, one year after his 72nd birthday. He was awarded the Padma Shri in his lifetime and the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2025. Let us fondly remember him by reminiscing about his life and his achievements. Born in a landlord family in Rajkot, Gujarat,…

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Finally saw Dunki. Good job by Rajkumar Hirani and SRK on an important topic.

President Donald Trump has made mass deportation of undocumented migrants a key policy. In the USA, unauthorized immigrants are 3.3% of the total population. According to the Washington-based think tank, Pew Business Center, they are as much as 23% of the foreign-born population. The US Administration has so far sent 4 batches of illegal Indian immigrants back to India numbering about 350, and it…

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Not Destiny. It is hard Work combined with grit and discipline. Congrats Kerala for maiden Ranji Final.

Kerala entered the final of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season with a dramatic 2-run 1st innings lead over Gujarat. In the QF, they had a slender 1-runover 100 short lead over J and K, when they scored 281 to J and K’s 280, after being 200-9 at one stage. In the SF, Gujarat was just 2 runs short of Kerals’s total of 457. At one stage, Gujarat was 100 short with 3 wickets left but a 79-run 8th…

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Remembering Ameen Sayani fondly today on his 1st death anniversary.

The words “Behno aur Bhaiyon’ enthralled us for such a long time. The magical voice left us on 20th February 2024. Announcer and compere par excellence, Ameen Sayani who has featured in the Limca book of records for having been announcer, compere, or having given voice-over for 54000 programs and 19000 spots/jingles left us to move on. He was 91. Ameen Ji was the grandson of Rahimtullah Sayani,…

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Hathi Ram Chaudhary is back in Paatal Lok Season 2. A must watch.

“What next for Paatal Lok and Hathi Ram Choudhary. Since Season 1 is a success one can certainly expect a Season 2 and in his interaction with fans, Jaideep has also said that “I think the team is working on that “. What can we expect in season 2? Possibly bigger roles for Gwala Gujjar and Bajpayee and the continuation of their political rivalry. Maybe Ansari comes back as an IPS officer and…