The possibilities of this serviceable thriller are immense but the makers prefer to play it safe and hold back the daredevil in the diplomat's clothing, observes Sukanya Verma.
As the Queen star found herself in the middle of a row, with the BJP distancing itself and the Congress attacking it, here's a look at some of the controversies, political and otherwise.
Veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra and two others have been summoned by a Delhi court in a cheating case related to the "Garam Dharam Dhaba" franchise. The court found a prima facie case of cheating and criminal conspiracy, ordering the accused to appear on February 20. The case stems from a complaint filed by Delhi businessman Sushil Kumar, who alleged that he was induced to invest in the franchise in 2018. The complainant claims he paid Rs 17.70 lakh but was later ignored by the accused.
Amid tight security, members of a judicial commission on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and other areas which witnessed violence over a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era mosque.
A complaint was filed at a court in Muzaffarpur against suspended BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal who were in news for their derogatory statements against Prophet Muhammad.
It said the high court, while finding fault with the reasoning adopted by the magistrate for issuing the summons, went ahead and decided the matter on merit and held that no case for defamation was made out.
Vivekanand Gupta, a functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mumbai unit, had approached the magistrate court with a complaint alleging that Banerjee did not stand when the national anthem was played at an event during her visit to Mumbai in December 2021.
On April 29 last year, Tankha had recorded his preliminary statement in the court in the criminal defamation case.
The toll in the clashes between police and protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, rose to four following the death of one more injured person, officials said on Monday.
The accused, Babu Gudgiram Kale, was apprehended on Sunday near Mulund suburb in neighbouring Mumbai, where he had been working as a labourer and selling flowers for livelihood, he said.
Two Indian-origin brothers wanted in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old MTech student from India have been arrested by Australian police, media reports said.
Mumbai-based social activist Teesta Setalvad on Monday appeared before a sessions court in Ahmedabad in a case where she is accused of fabricating evidence to frame "innocent" people and defame Gujarat in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Days after violence erupted over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, an imam of another mosque was fined Rs 2 lakh for allegedly using a loudspeaker at high volume. The incident occurred in the Anar Wali Masjid, prompting authorities to take action. The imam, identified as Tahzeeb, was fined and granted bail, with orders to refrain from similar conduct for six months. The incident comes amid ongoing tensions in Sambhal following the November 24 violence during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, which resulted in four deaths and several injuries. The incident has become a major political controversy, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raising the issue in Parliament.
Former Sri Lanka cricketer Sachithra Senanayake was on Wednesday arrested over match-fixing allegations.
The case dates back to 2005, when the Punjab police arrested a man under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and later claimed that he escaped from custody. His father filed a habeas corpus and a few days later, a body was found and it was assumed that it was of the accused person arrested under the NDPS charges. Incidentally, the man was found alive after 14 years.
Following the Supreme Court's verdict on bulldozer action, victims of demolition drives in Uttar Pradesh are seeking compensation for their losses. The court ruled against arbitrary demolitions without prior notice, prompting victims to pursue legal action. The Uttar Pradesh government maintains that demolitions were carried out following due process and on properties built on encroached lands.
A local court in Mumbai ordered that 26/11 handler Abu Jundal, in custody of Maharashtra police, be produced before Tees Hazari court in Delhi on Thursday in a case of conspiring to carry out terror attacks in India.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been booked in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for his "poison in Yamuna" remark, which was made ahead of Delhi assembly elections. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by a local resident and advocate, accusing Kejriwal of making provocative statements and spreading false claims about industrial waste being drained into the Yamuna. The case has been registered under sections related to inciting riots, promoting enmity between groups, and outraging religious feelings.
The Sealdah court on Friday granted bail to former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and R G Kar Medical College and Hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in the rape and murder case of an on-duty doctor.
A sessions court in Surat on Thursday said it would pronounce on April 20 its order on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea for a stay to his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
Around 1,000 Nepalese students studying at KIIT were issued suspension notices and asked to leave the campus immediately on Monday following protests after the body of a student, Prakriti Lamsal, was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room on Sunday.
The Sambhal administration in Uttar Pradesh, India, has announced plans to put up posters of individuals involved in violence that occurred on November 24. Over 400 people have been identified and 32 arrested in connection with the violence, which stemmed from a local mosque survey. The administration is currently designing the posters and will finalize them today. Posters will be displayed after excluding those who have been arrested.
The 48-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth prison in south-west London, appeared via videolink from prison before district judge David Robinson. "I am told that your case is proceeding in accordance with the directions for a final hearing on 11 May," the judge told Modi, as he set the next 28-day remand hearing via videolink for February 27. Modi's extradition trial is scheduled for five days starting May 11, with the case management hearings in the case set to begin once all the evidence has been handed in to the court for the trial.
The Gujarat high court on Thursday sentenced four policemen, including an inspector, to 14 days of simple imprisonment in a case of contempt of court that stemmed from the public flogging of some minority community members at a village in Kheda district of the state in 2022.
Prashant Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, has been on a fast-unto-death protest in Patna, demanding the cancellation of the BPSC exam due to alleged question paper leaks. The presence of a luxury 'vanity van' near his protest site sparked controversy, with Kishor arguing that the focus should be on the future of the exam aspirants rather than his personal amenities. The district administration has declared the protest illegal and has threatened action against Kishor and his supporters.
The Mumbai police's crime branch on Tuesday submitted to a local court that the two arrested accused opened fire outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's house 'in an attempt to kill him'.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank scam case, has made around six previous attempts at bail at the magistrates' court as well as at the high court level.
According to the complaint, Awami League leaders and activists attacked the protesters and hacked Hossain to death with sharp weapons.
The Mumbai police on Thursday told a court in Mumbai that there is a possibility of an 'international connection' in the recent firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's residence.
The actor had filed the transfer petition before the chief metropolitan magistrate last month, saying that she had 'lost faith' in the magistrate's court hearing the case, as it indirectly 'threatened' her of issuing a warrant if she failed to appear before it in a bailable offence.
Yadav was arrested by the Noida police on Sunday in connection with its probe into suspected use of snake venoms as recreational drugs in parties he hosted.
Medha Somaiya, in her complaint filed through advocate Vivekanand Gupta, had alleged that Raut made baseless and completely defamatory allegations against her and her husband.
Devotees thronged the Khaggu Sarai area in Sambhal on Tuesday to offer prayers to an idol of Lord Hanuman that was discovered in the Bhasma Shankar temple, reopened last week after being shut for 46 years.
A metropolitan court on Wednesday asked former Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy to file his written submissions by Friday in response to a plea by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a no-objection certificate to facilitate issuance of an "ordinary passport" to him after he surrendered his diplomatic passport upon his disqualification as an MP.
The Meerut Conspiracy Case was aimed at curbing communist influence in India. However, it fueled nationwide sympathy, shaping the course of leftist politics in the country.
He appeared via videolink from the prison as his legal team offered a package of "stringent" bail measures, including bail security of 4 million pound, house arrest with a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and a strictly monitored access to gadgets and telephones.
Hearing Gandhi's petition on Tuesday, Justice S V Kotwal of the high court noted that it raises some "important questions of law."
The Delhi high court on Wednesday stayed the trial court proceedings against senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.
Under the title of "legal enforcement", states and Union Territories were directed to appoint officers solely responsible for discharging the functions of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers at the district level.
In a major victory for the Hindu side, a Varanasi court on Wednesday allowed Hindu devotees to offer prayers inside the 'Vyas ka Tekhana' area inside the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
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