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Tag: Mrunal Jain

  • TPL serves up Season 7 in Ahmedabad with global stars and local passion

    TPL serves up Season 7 in Ahmedabad with global stars and local passion

    MUMBAI: Game, set, Ahmedabad, India’s only professional tennis league is ready to smash new ground. The Tennis Premier League (TPL), under the aegis of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), will stage its 7th season from 9–14 December at the Gujarat University Tennis Stadium, marking its first-ever move outside Maharashtra.

    In hitting this milestone, TPL becomes only the fourth Indian sporting league to enter a 7th season, joining the ranks of IPL, Pro Kabaddi, and ISL. The eight-franchise tournament has heavyweight backers, from Leander Paes, Sania Mirza, and Mahesh Bhupathi to Rakul Preet Singh and Sonali Bendre. On court, fans can expect fireworks as international players ranked between 30 and 50 in the ATP rub shoulders with India’s finest, including two-time Grand Slam champion Rohan Bopanna.

    What sets TPL apart is its trademark 25-point format quick, high-octane matches designed to keep crowds hooked. Over 400 tournaments across 20 plus cities in a single year and its Race to Gold Scholarships have made TPL a genuine grassroots-to-glory pipeline. Gujarat has already felt its impact, with age-group tournaments and scholarships energising the local tennis scene.

    “This will be a real shot in the arm for tennis in Gujarat,” said Gujarat state Tennis Association secretary Shrimal Bhatt highlighting the historic arrival of top-ranked ATP stars. For co-founders Kunal Thakkur and Mrunal Jain, the shift to Ahmedabad is about scale and spirit bringing world-class tennis to a city fast emerging as a sporting capital.

    With 250 plus matches played across seasons, international stars, and the promise of electrifying rallies, Season 7 is primed to be TPL’s most exciting chapter yet. Ahmedabad, brace yourself, tennis fever is about to hit full throttle.

  • Season five of Tennis Premier League to air on Sony Sports Network

    Season five of Tennis Premier League to air on Sony Sports Network

    Mumbai: After the immense success and closely fought battles in the first four seasons of the Tennis Premier League (TPL), India’s Premier tennis tournament is set for a fifth season, which is slated to begin on 12 December, with a grand finale scheduled for 17 December 2023. The fifth season of the Tennis Premier League, powered by Clear, is determined to cater to a larger audience on Sony Sports Network, the broadcast destination for the league.    

    The following for tennis in India has been growing steadily, and fans have another chance to witness their favourite tennis stars at the fifth edition of the TPL, live in action on Sony Sports Ten 2 channels.

    Pune Jaguars, Mumbai Leon Army, Delhi Binny’s Brigade, Gujarat Panthers, Punjab Tigers, Bengal Wizards, Hyderabad Strikers and Bengaluru Spartans are the teams in the fray, with prominent personalities such as Taapsee Pannu, Sonu Sood, Sonali Bendre, Rakul Preet Singh, Leander Paes and Sania Mirza associated with them.    

    Top Indian tennis talents such as Sumit Nagal, will play for the Gujarat Panthers after the current AITA number one was made the most expensive player at the auction by the franchise. Alongside Nagal, Hangzhou Asian Games silver medal-winning duo Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni will also feature in season five of TPL, as they will play for Bengaluru SG Mavericks and Hyderabad Strikers respectively. While Asian Games 2023 Gold Medallist, Rutuja Bhosale will don the colours of Pune Jaguars in season five of the TPL.  

    Along with them, foreign tennis athletes like former World No. 10 Ernests Gulbis and former World No. 26 Lukas Rosol, will feature for Mumbai Leon Army and Pune Jaguars respectively in the upcoming season. Additionally, current World No. 125 Maria Timofeeva was snapped up by Leander Paes-backed Bengal Wizards at the auction and the highest-ranked Austrian Tennis player in the world Dennis Novak will lead the charge for Delhi Binny’s Brigade in season five of the league.  

    Sony Pictures Networks India chief revenue officer – distribution & international business and head – sports business Rajesh Kaul said, “The Tennis Premier League has engaged audiences over the last four seasons with its fast-paced format. For tennis fans, the addition of India No. 1 Sumit Nagal, and 2023 Asian Games medallists Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, and Rutuja Bhosale will be another reason to attract audiences for the fifth season of the league.”  

    “The fifth season of the TPL is being graced by some very entertaining tennis stars, who have walked the talk consistently at the highest level. The likes of Sumit Nagal, Ernests Gulbis, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Karman Kaur Thandi will definitely be a big attraction for the fans, and we are confident that the trend of high-octane clashes will not be disturbed,” said TPL co-founder Kunal Thakkur.  

    “Over the past few years, the TPL with its healthy mix of high-quality sport and entertainment, has become one of the most awaited tournaments in India. And the fact that the tournament will be broadcast on Sony Sports Network, the home of the Australian Open and US Open, makes it even more special for us. May the best team win,” said TPL co-founder, Mrunal Jain.  

    All the franchises will play a total of match matches to qualify for the semi-finals as the league’s revolutionary format captures the imagination of tennis fans. All matches between the two franchises will comprise Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles and Men’s Doubles. There will be 80 points at stake in each tie between two franchises, where each category would be worth 20 points. Each team will play a total of 400 points (80 points x 5 matches) at the league stage. All games of the TPL will be played in the Balewadi Stadium in Pune.  

  • Satya 2: An insult to the original

    Satya 2: An insult to the original

    MUMBAI: Since long people have been expecting anything worthy from a Ram Gopal Varma film; they come and go. How badly Varma has lagged behind in the art of filmmaking is finally proved by Varma himself with Satya 2. In that, the comparison with his original Satya from 1998 becomes inevitable and besides showing the degeneration of its maker, Satya 2 is also an insult to the earlier one. The cheap intent to use the title tells of a desire to lure the people despite this film having nothing to qualify as a sequel.

    Producer: M Sumanth Kumar Reddy.
    Director: Ram Gopal Varma.
    Cast: Puneet Singh Ratn, Anaika Soti, Sharvanand, Mahesh Thakur, Mrunal Jain.

     

    The story – for whatever it is – is a kind of sci-fi of the crime world. Puneet Singh, the hero of the film, walks into Mumbai with dreams of giving the city’s underworld a new identity. To turn it into an organisation with precision; this organisation is called Company! The qualifications of Puneet are in his get up. He dresses like a middle rung executive and sports specs to complete the effect. His speciality is that he takes the mistakes committed by his peers, the dons of yore, as his lessons to stay ahead of rivals as well as authorities.

     

    Puneet decides to make his presence felt with three murders of city’s top names; an industrialist, a media tycoon and the police commissioner. The crimes take the cops by surprise but they have no clue who perpetuates them. They have no clue of the arrival of a new don.

     

    Puneet may be a calculated don but he surely has a romantic side to him. He has a sweetheart in Anaika Soti and, like any young man who decides to settle down after launching his career; Puneet too decides to marry his girlfriend so that they could sing a song in Kashmir. Sadly, even that does not bring a relief from the tedium that has been set by the proceedings.

     

    Ram Gopal Varma seems to be counting on luck factor now. Just make a film and hope it works! Sadly, with this kind of an all-round mediocrity in his film how can luck smile? He had better diversify from the underworld theme because it has been done to death and the underworld is presently dormant. And, what is not in news generates no interest. He tries props such as photography and background. However, his efforts to experiment with camera are disturbing to ones’ senses and the sudden bursts of background music are jarring. The performance of his actors is mediocre to bad. Puneet makes no impact. Anaika has little to do. The film lacks in interesting characters which could inspire an actor.

    Satya 2 has nothing going for it.