EXCLUSIVE: Siddharth Anand shares a special moment with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar; says “White is the story of the GLORY of India”

In a significant meeting on January 20, India’s premier blockbuster filmmaker Siddharth Anand met global spiritual leader Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar along with producer Mahaveer Jain. Both Siddharth Anand and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have had several conversations before but this meeting was special. It was held in an atmosphere of deep reflection and vision, centred around the upcoming international thriller White, a project that marks a unique milestone in Indian cinema. The film, which features National Award winner Vikrant Massey alongside an international cast, is inspired by the incredible true story of the 52-year-long civil conflict in Colombia and its historic resolution through non-violence and peace. Reflecting on the film’s vision after his meeting with Gurudev, Siddharth Anand shared his excitement for the film, “In many ways, White is the story of the glory of India. At a time when the world is grappling with unprecedented division, this film is truly the need of ...

Hugh Hudson: smash-hit pop classic Chariots of Fire director was a hero of British film

Hudson brought an ad-man’s eye to the brilliant 1981 drama about athletics and bigotry, as well as directing the hilarious Cinzano commercials

As the 1980s dawned, British ad director Hugh Hudson took on his first feature film and made it a legendary hit: an inspirational story which supplied a sugar-rush of patriotism and a swoon of nostalgia which hit the spot both sides of the Atlantic. It somehow brought off the trick of being about the underdog and the victim of bigotry and religious discrimination – and yet also being a resounding endorsement of the status quo which could, on grounds of decency and meritocracy, always accommodate the outsider. This was the era of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, and the ethos of success for the hardworking and the deserving.

The film of course was Chariots of Fire, the true story of the 1924 Olympic runners Harold Abrahams (played by Ben Cross), a Jew who ran to defy prejudice, and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a devout Christian who found a creationist glory in his speed. It was the destiny of so many involved to be forever associated chiefly, or solely, with this smash-hit pop classic: certainly Cross and Charleson never again found roles to match Abrahams and Liddell. And maybe Hudson himself never again had a triumph like it: though he was no one-hit wonder, later directing the Oscar-winning Tarzan drama Greystoke, and later Revolution, an epic about the American revolution starring Al Pacino which was derided but then grew in acclaim, giving his Hudson his own misunderstood masterpiece moment.

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