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By:

Bharati Dubey

17 May 2026 at 1:38:10 am

After Don-3 controversy, Ranveer’s next film goes on floors

Mumbai: After months of attention surrounding his reported exit from Don 3, Ranveer Singh has finally moved on to his next major cinematic venture. The actor’s ambitious survival spectacle Pralay has officially gone on floors in Mumbai today, marking the beginning of filming on one of the most ambitious and scale-driven projects in Indian cinema. Headlined by Ranveer Singh and directed by Jai Mehta, Pralay is an original end-of-the-world action thriller that promises to take audiences into a...

After Don-3 controversy, Ranveer’s next film goes on floors

Mumbai: After months of attention surrounding his reported exit from Don 3, Ranveer Singh has finally moved on to his next major cinematic venture. The actor’s ambitious survival spectacle Pralay has officially gone on floors in Mumbai today, marking the beginning of filming on one of the most ambitious and scale-driven projects in Indian cinema. Headlined by Ranveer Singh and directed by Jai Mehta, Pralay is an original end-of-the-world action thriller that promises to take audiences into a world on the brink of annihilation. Produced by Ananya Birla’s Birla Studios, Hansal Mehta and Sahil Saigal’s True Story Films, and Maa Kasam Films, the film combines large-scale spectacle with a deeply human story of survival, courage and the instinct to fight for what matters most. The film marks Ranveer’s next major motion picture following Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar – The Revenge, which emerged as the highest-grossing film of all time. With Pralay, the actor once again ventures into unexplored cinematic territory, taking on a disruptive new concept that demands both physical intensity and emotional conviction. Ranveer will also serve as a producer on the film. The project comes at an important point in the actor’s career. His reported exit from Don 3 had generated considerable buzz, particularly as he was expected to carry forward one of Indian cinema’s most iconic franchises. With Pralay, Ranveer now turns the page with an entirely original story rather than stepping into another established universe. Joining him is Lokah breakout actress Kalyani Priyadarshan, who plays a pivotal role in the film and brings together another exciting performer from the new generation of Indian talent. For Ananya Birla, Pralay represents Birla Studios’ ambition to push the boundaries of mainstream Indian cinema by collaborating with contemporary creative forces. For True Story Films’ Hansal Mehta and Sahil Saigal, the project reflects their commitment to disruptive storytelling and content-driven cinema. Behind the camera, Jai Mehta leads the ambitious project. His work on Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, which he co-directed with Hansal Mehta, and Lootere has earned widespread acclaim. With Pralay, he steps into a significantly larger canvas, bringing together an ensemble of creative and technical talent from India and around the world. Set against the unmistakable pulse and landscape of Mumbai, Pralay follows a relentless journey of survival against the terrifying possibility of an end-of-the-world catastrophe. The film aims to marry breathtaking spectacle with an emotional core, exploring what people are willing to do to survive when the world as they know it begins to collapse. The makers are shooting extensively at live locations in and around Mumbai, embracing the physicality and unpredictability of real-world environments. The approach is designed to add scale, texture and realism to the apocalyptic world while creating an immersive theatrical experience. The film had already undergone several months of highly technical and intensive pre-production before cameras began rolling. Its ambitious mounting and unusual premise have made Pralay one of the most talked-about upcoming projects in Indian cinema.

Crude Hypocrisy

If there is one thing more exhausting than Donald Trump’s tantrums, it is America’s staggering capacity for hypocrisy. In slapping a 50 percent tariff on Indian exports ostensibly for continuing to buy discounted Russian oil amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump is not merely bullying a democratic ally but betraying the very principles America claims to stand for. This is not a defence of free markets or global order. It is economic hooliganism dressed in the rags of nationalist theatre.

 

The claim that India deserves punishment for doing while dozens of countries including EU countries, the US and China continue to trade with Russia is laughable. The United States remains a steady buyer of Russian fertilisers, uranium and palladium, to the tune of over $24 billion since 2022.

 

India, meanwhile, has shown spine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s defiant stand that India will never compromise on the interests of its farmers and fishermen is a reminder that India’s agricultural backbone, which feeds 1.4 billion people and employs half the workforce, will not be sacrificed at the altar of American agro-industrial bullying. US agriculture enjoys massive state support and scale-driven cost advantages that make competition lopsided. India’s refusal to open its farm markets to such imports is not protectionism but food sovereignty.

 

Modi’s response has been statesmanlike. He has neither descended to Trump’s bluster nor allowed strategic ties with Washington to blind him to national interest.

 

Contrast that with Rahul Gandhi, who chose this moment to echo Trump’s bizarre remark that the Indian economy is “dead.” Gandhi, like Trump, has a flair for soundbites divorced from data. That he chose to parrot a foreign leader attacking India is not just poor politics but sabotage masquerading as dissent.

 

Modi’s planned visit to China for the SCO Summit offers a chance to deepen BRICS unity against Trump’s economic coercion. Brazil’s President Lula has already hinted at a coordinated response. If anything, Trump’s belligerence may succeed only in accelerating the de-dollarisation of global trade and the rise of alternate economic platforms that include China, India and Brazil. India must pursue a multipolar order in which the rules are not rewritten every four years to suit the whims of American presidents.

 

The more Washington bullies, the more New Delhi must double down on self-reliance and diversify its global alignments. As for Trump, his scattershot trade wars have historically backfired. In the past, he crippled American farmers with tariffs on China, turned allies into adversaries, and nearly gutted the WTO. His renewed campaign of tariff madness is less about policy and more about peacocking before his domestic base. It should be ignored with the contempt it deserves.

 

India is no longer the easy target it once was. It does not need to appease loudmouth populists to be taken seriously. The country’s economic rise is real. Its confidence is growing. And its farmers and workers deserve a world where trade is fair and not weaponised. Let America huff and puff. India will not bend.


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