Feature
Urmila Matondkar the politician! All you need to know
Whenever I think of Urmila Matondkar, I think of a lot of warm food and conversation. Urmila talks a lot. If you know her, you’d know what ‘nineteen to the dozen’ means. She is a one-woman entertainment industry in the living room if she warms up to you. Or else, she freezes you out of her life.
I can’t say I am totally surprised by her move into politics. Urmila has always been an adventurous soul, and never afraid to speak her mind. At the same time, she can be killingly diplomatic when the need arises. In brief, the consummate politician. What I like the most in her personality is her firmness of resolve.She is well-informed about current affairs. And if she is half as enterprising in politics as she was in her choice of films (from “Kaun” to “Pinjar” to “Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara”) she would make a huge impact in politics.
Anupam Kher, who directed Urmila in his only directorial venture – “Om Jai Jagdish’ – and also played her father in one of his finest films, “Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara”, talks fondly of Urmila’s inner drive to excel at whatever she does. Half-measures don’t work for Urmila. I’ve seen her fierce dedication at getting it right from the time she came in.
Like Sridevi, Urmila’s debut film as a leading lady in Hindi (“Aa Gale Lag Jaa”) was a disaster. Like Sridevi, Urmila was re-launched and the rest is history. On September 8, 1995 at 12.05 noon, a star was born. It was like a war chant. The minute Urmila Matondkar screamed “Yaeee re, yaeee re, zor lagake nachee re” in her micro-mini Manish Malhotra outfit that left EVERYTHING to the imagination, she was a certifiable star.
I remember Ram Gopal Varma telling me Urmila’s stardom had nothing to do with him. “When people say I made Urmila’s career in ‘Rangeela’, I completely disagree. I am the same guy who earlier made ‘Drohi’ with Urmila. What happened to that? For any actor, success is a question of getting the right opportunity. Then everything falls into place. During ‘Drohi’, the choreographer didn’t turn up for a song. So I asked Urmila if she would dance on her own and she agreed. And she did a great job. That’s when I decided to make ‘Rangeela’ with Urmila.”
Urmila’s career shows her to be constantly making brave choices. She isn’t afraid of taking risks. She may stumble and fall while taking the ragged route but she doesn’t let the fear of failing and falling stop her from being adventurous.
Shabana Azmi, a dear friend to both Urmila and me, recalls her enthusiasm even as a child artiste in Shekhar Kapoor’s “Masoom”, describing Urmila as a born star.
Above all, Urmila is an entertainer. She can take centrestage effortlessly. Unlike Hema Malini, who had to coax herself out of her shyness to become a politician, Urmila is comfortable with crowds.
I remember her walking into the premiere of Kamal Haasan’s “Abhay” many many years ago in Mumbai. The flashbulbs went berserk. Urmila posed preened pouted and then rushed towards me as the cameras continued to click, not the least self-conscious about greeting a friend while the photographers were clicking.
I knew some day she will captivate crowds on a far larger scale than the entertainment industry allows. The moment has come now.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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