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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know Olympics News India Times (July 27 - August 2, 2024) August 2, 2024 27 India Has 78 Athletes, Officials From 12 Disciplines In Parade Of Nations At Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony T he Indian contingent in the Parade of Nations in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony features 78 athletes and of- ficials from 12 disciplines, whose teams are in France. Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha and Chef-de-Mission Gagan Narang have given top priority to athletes in the composition of the contingent in the Parade of Nations. All athletes who made themselves available will be part of the parade. Many players will be in action in different competitions on Saturday, July 27, and IOA has been respectful of their decision to prioritize preparation and not take part in the opening ceremony. Star shuttler PV Sindhu and seasoned table tennis star Sharath Kamal are the flagbearers for India in the opening ceremony. Both stars will become the first athletes from their respective sports to be India’s flag-bearers at such a big event. Before the opening day, India has already made its mark at the Paris Olympics. India’s men’s and women’s archery teams directly qualified for the quarter-final in the respective events. India named 117 athletes in the contingent for the Paris Olympics. India will be getting their first shot at a medal during the mixed team air rifle medal matches scheduled for July 27 at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux. Two Indian teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, will be competing in this event. Manu Bhaker will compete in two individual pistol events and the 10 m air pistol mixed team competition as well. PROMINENT ATHLETES FROM THE 12 DISCIPLINES: •Archery: Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai. •Badminton: PV Sindhu •Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain •Equestrian: Anush Agarwalla •Golf: Shubhankar Sharma •Hockey: Krishan Pathak, Nilakanta Sharma and Jugraj Singh •Judo: Tulika Mann •Sailing: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Ku- manan •Shooting: AnjumMoudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish. •Swimming: Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desin- ghu •Table Tennis: Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra •Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal and Sriram Balaji. -ANI Photo:X @ArcheryAssociation of India Archers who are part of the Indian Olympics team. Web Review: This Pill Is Midway Between Sweet And Bitter! I t’s the turn of the pharmaceutical industry’s evils to be exposed now. After the fabulous Human some years ago, which was like a “whistleblower” on mor- al corruption in the medical world, Pill examines an ominous, obnoxious and odious nexus between drug manufacturing companies, medical authorities appoint- ed by the government, doctors and even the media. The ‘sweet’ nature of this pill is that it sees a welcome, if thriller-trope-laden culmination to the story rather than the usual cliffhanger, laced by some fine perfor- mances, a slow and rather real pace, and dry humor. But the ‘bitter’ portion is that the narration is not only simplistic but also absurd in many matters. For example, we are led to believe that there is no other significant competition (as in products by other companies) in the market for drugs available for as common a condition as diabetes. We are told that a top company whose profits run in millions and whose busi- ness is running smoothly for donkeys years are actually conducting spurious trials all along and selling dubious drugs in the market. What’s more, their expired medi- cines are distributed free (as charity) to the poor, no harm done and no questions asked. Finally, we are made to believe that everyone is cor- rupt in the Medical Authority of India, which, we are told, is run by the government, and the victims have not a single protestor or whistleblower all these years! And no one in the whole inhuman chain even has a whisper of conscience within him! The obligatory corrupt politician is also brought in (an unknown actor) whose daughter (an actress I have seen in a few series but whose name eludes me—and Google did not help out!) is the innocent soul engaged to Ekam, the son (Nikhil Khurana) of the wily pharma- ceutical giant, Brahma Gill (Pawan Malhotra). This girl exposes her own dad and renders him powerless to help the Gills. Then we have the needlessly harangued and innocent doctor, Dr. Prakash (Riteish Deshmukh) who tries to passively fight for the truth and gradually moves on to languid but planned activity. He is unwilling to sacrifice his integrity even when he cannot afford to do his best for his family, comprising of a cantankerous and nag- ging yet loving and supportive wife (Neha Saraf) and a cute kid, Samay (Hanish Kaushal). His dogged allies are his colleague, Gursimrit Kaur (Anshul Chauhan), who has a back-story with a prin- cipled and affectionate father as her pillar of support, Noor Khan (Akshat Chauhan), a journalist who focuses on their mission to expose and does not seem bothered about his daily bread. What’s more, he does not even try to approach another publication when his own editor is scared to print his most worthwhile story. As the villains, Brahma Gill (Pavan Malhotra), his son Ekam (Nikhil Khurana) and the abovementioned politician and multiple others, including Brahma’s new employee, Dr. Natarajan (Baharul Islam) and officials of the MAI, are arraigned against Dr. Prakash. But unex- pected help comes from an employee, Ashish Khanna (Kunj Anand), but is that enough to twist the scales in favor of Dr. Prakash and his loyalists? And when we see courts fighting these cases seem- ingly overnight (another simplistic trait in the script), and the same judge contradicting himself and other legal licenses taken, and the way the nexus has access to brute power and even murder, I increasingly looked at Pill with almost a full barrel of salt, as a serious subject has been dealt with in a flippant, frivolous and filmi manner. And this is a surprise from Rajkumar Gupta, who gave us the powerful No One Killed Jessica and the gritty Raid. It is here that he seems to return to the simplistic mould of his debut film, Aamir, which had illogic pollut- ing the realism to the point that it became absurd. But like many such flawed vehicles, Pill is studded with some nice performances. Pavan Malhotra brings in the demonic, amoral shades effortlessly. Riteish Deshmukh is perfectly in tune with his simple doc- tor who believes in principles and humanity over pelf. Neha Saraf shines as his wife, as does Kunj Anand as the determined yet frustrated Ashish. This actor is superb in his breakdown sequences, showcasing his helpless frustration with impeccable maturity. Akshat Chauhan as Noor Khan is another bright feature—his intrepid act is a great asset to the series. Baharul Islam is perfectly slimy, and the woman who plays the greedy MAI official, yet another unknown actor, is fabulous in her not-so- detailed role. One wishes that the writing was deeper and yet more thrilling (a la the series Human), spotlighting more of the emotional woes and troubles of the traumatized, and less stereotypical in its depiction of the ‘good’ folks and the ‘bad’ and the snakes and ladders game that Dr. Prakash plays. All in all, this is a merely passable ‘good-wins-over- evil-but-only-in-the-end’ saga. And the pharmaceutical background only seems a choice by chance to give some freshness without getting into the depth or truthful facts of the subject. By RajivVijayakar Photo:TrailerVideo Grab Riteish Deshmukh in Jio Cinema’s Pill. Entertainment