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By:

Minal Sancheti

2 May 2026 at 12:26:53 pm

BEST strike paralyses Mumbai

Mumbai: For Sai More, an LIC agent, the Friday commute from his home in Century Bazar, Worli to work place in Churchgate, proved as an expensive affair. On a normal day, he spends Rs 12 on a BEST bus fare till Dadar station and then takes the local train to Churchgate. However, he had to shell out more money than his usual spending on the travel. Thanks to the strike by BEST Samyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, a joint action committee comprising 12 unions, pressing for its demands of better wages...

BEST strike paralyses Mumbai

Mumbai: For Sai More, an LIC agent, the Friday commute from his home in Century Bazar, Worli to work place in Churchgate, proved as an expensive affair. On a normal day, he spends Rs 12 on a BEST bus fare till Dadar station and then takes the local train to Churchgate. However, he had to shell out more money than his usual spending on the travel. Thanks to the strike by BEST Samyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, a joint action committee comprising 12 unions, pressing for its demands of better wages and working conditions. The strike paralysed the city’s second life line – the BEST bus. Only 32 of 2,766 buses were operated in the city in a rare collapse of the transport system. The strike forced the government to hold a meeting with the officials and workers later in the day to discuss their demands. More, the sole bread winner in this family, earns Rs 25,000 a month. When he learned about the BEST strike the first went to Aqua Line metro. He boarded the crowded metro from Worli and got down at Dadar. Then he took a local train to Churchgate and hired a share taxi to his office at Nariman Point. “I travel from Dadar to Nariman Point every day using bus and train. But today we faced difficulty because there were no buses. My colleagues and I went together to our office by cab.” The Samiti has been pressing for three demands. Rangnath Satavase, a representative of the Samiti, said, “We don’t want an independent budget for the BEST. You should include it with the BMC’s budget. The employees are facing issues due to salary arrears since 2016. We demand proper wages from 2016 to 2026 and apply seventh Pay Commission recommendations to the BEST workers. The wet lease workers should be included in the BEST as its workers and they should get minimum wages.” The BEST bus operators face many issues because there are fewer BEST buses that are working every day. This makes their work difficult. They complain that their salary has not increased since a long time. Vaishali Chavan, a bus conductor, said, “My salary is Rs 18,000 and I don’t get holidays. Now since they have reduced the number of buses, it is difficult to manage the huge number of passenger crowds. This makes our job tough. So, we demand higher wages and better work conditions.” The operators also claim that they don’t get any holidays except one weekly off. They have to work even during festivals, and if they don’t, their salary gets deducted. Imran Sheikh, a bus driver, said, “We don’t get equal wages. The salary ranges from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month without any holidays. We just get one weekly holiday, but other than that we have to work even on the Labourer’s Day, Gandhi Jayanti, Diwali and Ramzan. If we take leave because of some emergency work, they cut our salaries.” He has been working for two years. “Some of my colleagues have been working for more than five years. Even their salaries have been the same. They promise they will increase, but they never do, and there is no bonus given.” Trushna Vishwasrao, chairperson of the BEST Committee, criticised the workers and said they should not have gone on strike when the BEST is already going through a loss. She said, “We agree with their demands, and we will fulfill it, so there is no need for a strike. It takes time to implement all the demands. We have got a gratuity of Rs five crores that we will be using to compensate the salary, and more funds will be coming, which we will use to fulfill their demands.” She said BEST is running at a deficit in any way. Their strike has also troubled the common public who depend on the BEST buses to travel. Commuters Stranded The strike left commuters stranded during the morning rush hour, with long queues seen at bus stops across the city. They later scrambled for already packed local trains, Metro services, autos, and cabs to reach their workplace. A spokesperson of the civic undertaking said only 48 buses were on Mumbai's roads during the day while some others were forced to return to depots after incidents of stone-pelting and obstruction by striking employees. BEST is Mumbai's second-largest public transport provider after the suburban railway network and carries around 25 lakh passengers daily through its bus services. It also supplies electricity to more than 10 lakh consumers in south and central Mumbai. However, union leaders claimed the strike was 100 per cent successful on the first day. Both transport and power divisions of the BEST took part in the strike. However, power supply to BEST customers in the island city remained unaffected by the agitation. Many passengers were forced to rely on alternative modes of transport, such as suburban trains, Metro services, autorickshaws, taxis, and app-based cabs, while others reported delays in reaching their workplaces and educational institutions. "During weekdays, I travel to work by public transport, but today I took my bike out as there were no buses on the roads," said Sachin Nalawade, who works as a consultant. The strike commenced despite an ad-interim order passed by an industrial court restraining employees from resorting to a strike and the Maharashtra government's invocation of the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA), which prohibits the disruption of essential services. “Shared autorickshaws usually charge Rs 30 from Bharat Nagar to Bandra or Kurla, but today drivers were charging as they pleased. Some were demanding Rs 40 to Rs 50,” an employee of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said. "The issue is not merely that of workers. It is the outcome of the BJP-led Mahayuti government's negligence and wrong policies. It was known to the administration that employees were planning to go on strike. Was the government asleep until lakhs of Mumbaikars were held to ransom? Who will take responsibility for allowing the situation to deteriorate to the point where BEST services came to a halt?" Varsha Gaikwad, President, Mumbai Congress

The Thrill of Encounters in Bollywood: A Cinematic Reflection

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Thrill of Encounters in Bollywood

The recent encounter of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, has become the talk of the town, with supporters and critics expressing their views. However, this article isn’t about the police action or the criminal case itself—that’s for the judiciary to decide.

What this encounter does remind me of is Bollywood’s long-standing obsession with encounters, and how the Indian audience perceives them. Films based on real-life encounters offer a mix of thrill, drama, and a reflection of society’s complex relationship with crime and justice.

Encounters in Bollywood films have always been more than just police actions. They are spectacles, filled with tension, and moral dilemmas. The connections between the underworld and Bollywood have often been whispered about but rarely discussed openly, adding a layer of intrigue to films dealing with gangster encounters. This “unsaid truth” has become part of the allure that surrounds these movies. In Bollywood, the encounter drama is portrayed in two major ways. One, where the gangster tries to escape from the police—either after being cornered, or when the police receive a tip-off.

When the gangster refuses to surrender and tries to flee, the police, after warning him, fire, often aiming for the leg. If he still attempts to run, he is killed. The second type involves a gangster attacking the police, sometimes even while in custody, grabbing their weapons and trying to make a run for it—leading to his death. These scenarios have played out numerous times in Bollywood, embedding themselves in the audience’s memory.

Take the iconic 1975 film Deewar, where Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) meets his tragic end in an encounter. In the film’s climax, Inspector Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) confronts his brother Vijay, asking him to surrender. When Vijay refuses and tries to escape, Ravi shoots him, ending the movie with an emotional scene where Vijay dies after meeting his mother. Another similar encounter can be seen in Shakti (1982), where Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) runs after killing JK Verma (Amrish Puri).

Despite being asked to surrender by his father, Inspector Ashwini Kumar (Dilip Kumar), Vijay is shot dead when he refuses. These encounters were personal, driven by family conflicts that spiraled due to the protagonist’s underworld connections.

Bollywood has produced numerous films that focus on police and gangster confrontations, often claiming to be inspired by real-life incidents. The 2002 film Encounter: The Killing was one of the first to fully explore the genre. Directed by Ajay Phansekar and starring Naseeruddin Shah, the film is a gripping take on police encounters and the impact of crime on families. The plot revolves around a police officer who kills a young boy in an encounter, only to later search for the boy’s parents, who never claimed the body. The movie poignantly highlights the hypocrisy of middle-class parents, disconnected from their children’s lives until tragedy strikes. Then there’s the 2004 film Ab Tak Chhappan, directed by Shimit Amin and produced by Ram Gopal Varma. The story of Inspector Sadhu Agashe, portrayed by Nana Patekar, is loosely based on the life of Mumbai police officer Daya Nayak, famous for his role in the Mumbai EncounterSquad.

The film, known for its realistic portrayal of police procedures and moral ambiguity, became a classic, with Nana Patekar’s performance earning critical acclaim. It’s a film that refuses to sugarcoat the harsh realities of life as a police officer tasked with eliminating gangsters.

The audience’s appetite for encounter-based films was further fueled by the 2007 film Shootout at Lokhandwala, based on the infamous 1991 gunfight between Mumbai Police and gangster Maya Dolas. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Vivek Oberoi, this film took dramatic liberties but stayed rooted in real events. The film’s tagline, “based on true rumours,” perfectly encapsulates Bollywood’s relationship with encounters—a mix of fact and fiction, driven by the desire to entertain while reflecting societal issues.

A few years later, the 2013 film Shootout at Wadala hit the screens, bringing to life the story of gangster Manya Surve, played by John Abraham. The film was praised for its gritty realism and intense action sequences, once again putting the spotlight on the phenomenon of police encounters. While films like Singham and Simmba have more recently presented a more polished, commercial version of police encounters, it is movies like Ab Tak Chhappan, Shootout at Lokhandwala, and Shootout at Wadala that remain etched in the audience’s memory for their hard-hitting portrayal of crime and justice.

In a country where encounters—both real and reel—fascinate the public, Bollywood continues to be at the center of this complex narrative. Whether glamorizing the gritty world of gangsters or raising questions about the morality of encounters, the industry keeps its finger on the pulse of a society that finds itself grappling with these very real issues.

(The writer is a communication professional. Views personal)

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