Razzaq Pathan receiving the award from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for hiswork on cow conservation. Also seen are chairman of editorial board of LokmatMedia and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, Asha Bhosle, vice©president of Sanjay KakdeGroup, Usha Kakde and Pathan’s wife.

Maharashtramy

janmabhumi,karmabhumi

Ranveer Singh

‘LokmatMaharashtrianof the Year’programme tobe telecast on‘ABP Mazha’ &IBN Lokmat onApril 8 & 9.

Union road transport and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari was declared as the most influential leader by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, whogave him the award, while Kanchan Gadkari, chairman of editorial board of Lokmat Media and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda and editor©in©chiefRajendra Darda look on.

‘That’ quote troubled me: Aamir KhanMumbai: "My statement on intoler-ance was misinterpreted by themedia, which caused lot of anguishto not only me, but also my near anddear ones. My mother, wife, children,sister and brother too were reallyupset. In those days, I was in a com-pletely different different mentalstate. But many supported me inthose trying difficult times whichgave me moral support," said actor-director Aamir Khan in a heart-to-heart chat with the joint managingdirector and editorial director ofLokmat Media Rishi Darda.

Darda interviewed the heartthrobof millions, who is dubbed as ‘MrPerfectionist’ for his penchant forperfection at the 'Maharashtrian ofthe Year Awards' function inMumbai. During the course of theinterview, multiple layers of Aamir’spersonality were revealed and theaudience got to know the sociallyconscious personality of the actor offthe screen.

Q: What is your concept of success?A: I do not work with the aim ofachieving success. On the other hand,I just take a plunge into any work withfull dedication. I have never selected awork on the premise of success or fail-ure. I believe that if you work withdedication, you are most likely to getsuccess. Even if you fail, you can learnsomething from that failed opportuni-ty. Therefore, one must focus on workto achieve success in life.

Q: Due to your different style of work,you have got the identity of ‘MrPerfectionist’. What do you feel?A: (Smiles) There is no one in theworld who can call himself perfect intrue sense of the term. I work patient-ly and when I select a work, I completeit with full dedication. When I work Iam in a different universe. Therefore, Iwork as if possessed and do not resttill I complete the chosen work.

Q: Rumour mill about you having

signed a film with Sunny Leone isworking overtime?A: I have not signed any film withSunny Leone. But if the script is good,I would love to work with her. I am busywith two projects as of now. I will meetthe audience with the film ‘Dangal’which is based on the life of renownedwrestler Mahavir Singh Fogat. Besides,I am working on the issue of water cri-sis faced by Maharashtra. I am workingunder ‘water’ foundation to take stockof the situation, planning water stor-age and many such issues. The team ofSatyamev Jayate is also working onthis project.

Q: What is your view about the trendof things getting viral in the socialmedia?A: Anybody can say anything in thesocial media. It is often painful. Thereis no proof.There is 'mob psychology' behindwhat is shared in the social media.Just as we can not recognise whoshouted in the crowd, similarly wecan not recognise who shared what insocial media. This fact is increasinglybecoming a cause for concern due tothe expansion of social media plat-form.

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What was going on in your mind during T-20 WC semifinals?When Simmons was batting powerfully I sent an SMS "Dosomething” to Nita Ambani and Nita replied, ‘What can I do?’.But the luck was with Simmons, it was his time. It's such a spe-cial circumstance; team India lost the match to an energeticteam.... Aamir Khan gave this reply to a Rishi Darda’s query.

Maharashtra selects 18 jewelsLokmat Maharashtrian of the Year : Ajoy Mehta, MP Rajiv Satav, Prof Deepak Phatak, Nana Patekar, Shankar

Mahadevan, Dr Anand Deshpande, Satish Magar, SP Sandeep Patil, Amruta Subhash, Mukta Barve,Shashikant Dhotre, Lalita Babar, Razzaq Pathan were honoured

‘Maharashtra my maternal home’

Honour for cow conservation!

Joy, celebration mark Lokmat'sMaharashtrian of the Year awardMaharashtra is

the birthplace ofmy parents and

hence the award givenby Lokmat is very spe-cial to me, said NitaAmbani expressingthanks to the jury andLokmat group for herselection for theMaharashtra Youth Iconof the Year award .

I want to share certainthings close to my hearton this occasion. I hadbeen working in thefields of education,sports and social workfor several years andhad been closely moni-toring the developments

in these fields. Hencewanted to share myexperience.

After working in thefield of education, Irealised that I was a ded-icated teacher and that Iloved the field of teach-ing. Education is veryclose to my heart.Through the medium ofDhirubhai Ambaniinternational school, Iworked in the field ofeducation. Studentsfrom various socialbackgrounds study inthe school. Along witheducation, we alsoimpart skills to the stu-dents. Now thousands of

the students are step-ping out of the schoolsto take on the world.They are proving theirmettle in the outerworld. It was due to thededication and love foreducation, that theschool became the top-most school in the coun-try.

Sports is one morefield wherein I amactive. I am active in thesports like cricketthrough the MumbaiIndians team which hadadded the feathers to thecap of Mumbai twice.We are also associatedwith the football and

make sure that thesports are preserved andthe youngsters areencouraged to developinterest in sports. Shesaid she had learnt a lotfrom sports. Victory anddefeat are two parts ofthe same game. Whenyou are victorious youfeel on the top of theworld, but when you aredefeated you feel humili-ated. These two thingsnot only teach us a lotbut mould our personal-ity, I think.

We are active in thefield of ‘India-BharatJodo’ initiative andthereby making ourpresence felt in therural area too. We areworking in the ruralIndia with a view todevelop the communityand promote the devel-opment of the poor anddeprived sections. Thisis an attempt to changethe face of rural part ofthe country. I am activein the field of youthdevelopment. The coun-try has a large popula-tion of youngsters and Iobserve them from closequarters and I am work-ing for them. Youth isthe future of the nationand therefore our effortis to empower them andhelp them realise theirdreams. This work givesme great deal of satis-faction. I alwaysremember the greatthoughts of Dhirubhaiabout the youth. Hesaid, “ Give best servic-es and facilities to theyouth and create afavourable atmospherearound them. Give themencouragement andprovide them all typesof cooperation. Theyouth is the source ofenergy and they havethe potential to realisetheir dreams."

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis gave away the ‘Youth Icon of the Year’ awardto founder of Dhirubhai Ambani International School Nita Ambani, while (fromL) president of Sakhi Manch Ashu Darda, singer Asha Bhosle, former Union min©ister Praful Patel, editor©in©chief Rajendra Darda and managing director ofDhoot Transmission Pvt Ltd Rahul Dhoot look on.

NITA AMBANI IS YOUTH ICON OF THE YEAR

Renewed effort needed after failureVictory and defeat are two parts of the same game.When you are victorious you feel on the top of theworld, but when you are defeated you feel humiliated.These two things not only teach us a lot but mould ourpersonality, I think.

Nitin Gadkari the most impressiveIn politics, good work never getsappreciation and bad work never getspunishment. But, despite being apolitician, I was honoured with the

award by Lokmat and for it I am thank-ful to Lokmat, selection committee and peo-ple of Maharashtra. I will try to do more workthan what I have done till now for the socie-ty. I will fulfill all the expectations of people,which they have from me and will alwayswork for Maharashtra and my country.

-Nitin Gadkari,Union Road Transport & Shipping Minister

Jeevangaurav worth ` 5 lakh: Lokmathonoured renowned singer Asha Bhosle withJeevangaurav award. The award carries acash prize of ` 5 lakh and memento.

14 lakh voters: Around 14 lakh voters hadvoted online to select ‘Lokmat Maharashtrianof the Year’ award in various categories. Thisnumber of online votes is the highest for anyaward.

Mumbai: The Lokmat‘Maharashtrian of the Year’ awardceremony was held at NationalCentre for Performing Art (NCPA)with a galaxy of people from poli-tics, society, industry, business, liter-ature and arts attending the func-tion in large numbers. Amir Khan,Ranveer Singh performed dance,Asha Bhosle reminisced about hermusical career spanning decades,Nita Ambani radiated her philan-thropic aura, and the resoundingclaps that greeted the felicitations toDr Rajendra Badve.

A large number of people fromvarious fields like sports, movies,science, technology, business, arts,infrastructure, society, politics andadministration were present at thefunction where the awards were dis-tributed at the hands of the chiefminister Devendra Fadnavis. AmirKhan was prominently present onthe occasion.

Industrialist Nita Ambani washonoured with Maharashtra YouthIcon of the year award while emi-nent singer Asha Bhosale was pre-sented with Lifetime Achievementaward. She said that she had notreceived any Maharashtra gauravaward but Lokmat had given her thegreatest award, she said.

Dr Rajendra Badve, director ofTata cancer hospital who is playing

a great role in fight against cancerwas felicitated with LokmatManbindu award. Ranveer Singhwas felicitated with LokmatAbhiman Award.

Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis, Mr Perfectionist AmirKhan, Ranveer Singh, evergreenAshatai Bhosle, Nita Ambani, actorNana Patekar, singer ShankarMahadevan, union minister NitinGadkari, former union ministerPraful Patel and others were presenton the occasion. Lokmat mediagroup chairman and MP VijayDarda and Lokmat editor in chiefRajendra Darda were present at theceremony.

Amir Khan and Ranveer Singhasked questions to each other abouttheir innings. Amruta Khanvilkaralso asked them questions. Ranveerasked Amir to dance with him andthen the duo danced to the tune of‘Malhari’. Even those present couldnot control themselves and starteddancing. Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis got young MLAs likePraniti Shinde, Pankaja Munde,Vishwajeet Kadam and even ShainaNC to answer questions about them-selves.

Lokmat’s editorial director RishiDarda got actor Amir Khan to speak.The frequent rounds of applauseproved that he must have preparedwell for the interview.

A total of 21 actors, both young andold, participated in the singing of‘Maharashtra Geet’ amidst the clap-ping from the audience.

As the names of the winners wereannounced the members of the audi-ence gave them the standing ovation.

AURANGABAD Monday, 4 April 2016 PUBLISHED FROM AURANGABAD, NAGPUR & NASHIK 12+8 Pages, ` 3.00

www.epaper.lokmat.com/lokmattimes/

Mumbai: Official ambas-sador cars, snazzy luxurycars, actors and actresses,social workers, peoplefrom all walks of life gath-ered at the NCPA campus.The occasion was LokmatMaharashtrian of theYear award. The peoplewho hardly talk and mixother times, came togeth-er, chatted and laughedtogether.

It is said that celebritiesnever attend any functionin time, but this time thecelebrities came in time toattend the function wherethey shed their inhibi-tions and allowed them-selves to be photographedwith their fans andfriends alike. Most of thecelebrities came andexpressed their affectionfor Lokmat media group.Madhur Bhandarkar,Ganesh Acharya, JackieShroff allowed their fans

to be photographed withthem. Many young fanstook selfies with ‘Bajirao’Ranveer Singh at theLokmat stall. Manyactresses were seen casu-ally talking and chattingwith their fans. Everbody,including superstar AmirKhan to chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis, keptthe formalities aside andmixed with one and all,the atmosphere becamequite friendly. It lookedlike a family function.

Shankar Mahadevansang a song, Nana Patekarexpressed his sympathywith the suffering farm-ers, and CM gave him adefinite assurance.Ashatai expressed hergratefulness about theaward, Amir-Ranveer’sperformance, someexpressed their wish totake the country forwardand develop science and

technology, and some stat-ed their wish to work con-tinuously for the society.There was enthusiasmamong the audience whoshouted for joy from timeto time and expressedtheir wonder at such sys-tematic organisation ofthe programme.Everybody, while steppingout of the auditoriumafter the programme,expressed joy and saidthanks to the organisers.They said they got newenergy to work withgreater determination.

There was enthusi-asm among the audi-ence who shoutedwith joy from time totime and expressedtheir wonder at suchsystematic organisa-tion of the pro-gramme.

Joint managing director and editorial director of Lokmat Media RishiDarda interviewing superstar Aamir Khan during the ‘LokmatMaharashtrian of the Year’ awards function.

MONDAY | 4 APRIL 2016 |AURANGABADwww.epaper.lokmat.com/lokmattimes/

Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year 2016Lokmat Maharashtrian of the Year 2016

Mumbai : Though, I have notreceived MaharashtraGaurav award, but thisaward by Lokmat is thebiggest award I have got.Today, I feel that this awardof Lokmat is bigger thanany other award, said theeminent singer Asha Bhoslewho has dominated theIndian music scene sincedecades. She was honouredwith Lifetime AchievementAward at the hands ofMaharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavisin the LokmatMaharashtrian of the Yearaward ceremony. This awardis for her. The award com-prised of a memento and acheque of Rs five lakh.Addressing the audience,Asha Bhosle said that shehas been on the music scenesince long. I have beensinging since for the last 72years. People listen to mysongs with great affectionand watch my show evennow. This gives a great satis-faction. I am happy that I gotthe award at the hands ofthe chief minister. Whatmore can I say? I am lucky.Senior singer ShankarMahadevan sang somesongs from her repertoireand entertained the audi-ence in her presence. Hesaluted her musical innings.Mahadevan describedBhosle as the soul of IndianBollywood music. She hasexpressed herself throughvarious song forms andmoods including jazz, lyrics,drama songs, ghazals, devo-tional songs and entertainedthe audience with her heav-enly voice, Mahadevanadded.

Maharashtra my janmabhumi, karmabhumi !

Mumbai: Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis foundhimself in the line of firewith celebrities asking himmany questions includinguncomfortable questions.He evaded the direct replyon the issue of separateVidarbha by stating that hewould appoint ShrihariAney to answer the ques-tion of separate Vidarbha.However, he gave an impor-tant assurance to NanaPatekar on providing hous-ing to the policemen.

The Maharashtrian of theYear award programme ofLokmat held at NCPA con-

cluded with chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis answer-ing a volley of questionsfrom the celebrities and theaudience and received max-imum round of claps.

Renowned lawyer andjurist Ujjwal Nikam got upto ask the CM at which hesaid, “ Please do not crossexamine me” which pro-voked a round of applausein the hall. In reply, Nikamsaid though I am yourlawyer, Lokmat has appoint-ed me to cross examine you.When those, who are closeto you make demand aboutseparate Vidarbha, what is

your feeling as the chiefminister and how do youregain your mental peace?In reply, Fadnavis said smil-ingly, “If I am allowed toappoint a lawyer during thecross examination, I wouldlike to appoint advocateShrihari Aney. Concerningthe mental peace, a politi-cian must hear a thingthrough one year and put itout through another. Thereis no other option.”

After this, former advo-cate general Shrihari Aneystood up to ask the CM.“While working as the advo-cate general, I found that

the state government is thebiggest litigant, how willyou solve this questionrather than wasting time infighting these cases?”

CM replied that if the inci-dence of the cases filed bythe state government isreduced, the burden on thecourt will reduce too. Stepwill be taken to set up aforum to dispose of the longpending cases. The burdenon the court was reducedthrough the Lok Adalat ear-lier. That kind of mecha-nism needs to be evolved toget rid of the ever pilingcases. CM said that a defi-nite policy on filing thecases, appeal, etc. will beevolved.

Aney once again stood upand asked, “Will you ask thejudges to work 365 days toclear the cases?” In reply,CM said only Aney can tellthat to the court whichcaused the audience tolaugh loudly.

Former minister JayantPatil asked, “CM, how didyou reduce your weight andwho is your dietician?” CMreplied that he tried all thetricks but continued to gainweight. Later he contactedJayashri Todkar whoassured him of weight lossthrough a diet plan in whichweight is controlled withoutstaying hungry.

Film director MadhuBhandarkar reminded theCM of his modelling portfo-lio and asked him if hewould play a role in the

Bollywood. Fadnavisreplied that the pastinstance of modelling wasjust an accident as after theBJP lost power in 2014, hisfriend Vivek Ranade hadsuggested that he shouldprepare a portfolio for him-self. He had also put up thehoardings featuring CM inthe role of a model by get-ting him garbed in colourfulcostumes which provokedthe former prime ministerAtal Behari Vajpayee to callhim ‘a model legislator’.CM said that it is not thenews if a dog bites man butif the man bites dog it isnews. However, if the mangoes on biting spree, itwould cease to be news.

Narayan Agarwal askedCM that the former presi-dent APJ Abdul Kalam haddreamed of the nationwhere there would be nobeggars at all. Is it possiblefor the welfare of the nationand the society, askedAgarwal. In reply, CM saidthat if the society desired,there would not be a singlebeggar around. Nothingcan be achieved dependingon the government, thesociety should take thelead, Fadnavis said.

Noted actress TejashreePradhan underlined theinjustice to the Marathiactors with regards to thecommercial gains asagainst the actors whowork in the Bollywoodindustry despite their hugetalent.

Lokmat’s award is thebiggest award: Asha Bhosle

The award is certainly agreat honour. In fact, allthe nominees are goodartists.I say thanks to those whocast online votes for giv-ing this award to me, I amtruly grateful to Lokmat.Since childhood I amreading Lokmat and it ismy favourite newspaper.

Politics (Influential)

Since I have received thisprestigious award, I amthrilled and fumble forwords. This is an achieve-ment and recognition formy work. All the nomineespresent here are winnersof this award. Lokmat hasbeen doing great socialwork and the newspaper isstriving hard to get justicefor the society. Thereforethis Lokmat award is veryprestigious for me.

Thanks a lot to Lokmatgroup for my selection forthis award. I am happy toget the award. I am deter-mined to work harder forthe development of thisgreat state.The award has increasedmy responsibility manifoldand work harder to makeour cities livable and pol-lution-free.

Admn (State-level)

I am thankful to Lokmatfor this award. Lokmat hastaken note of all my work.I am happy. I wish Lokmatall the best for future. Inrecent times, there is hugestress on infrastructureand it has to keep pacewith the burgeoning popu-lation. The onus is on us todevelop best infrastructurepossible.

I am happy I got the award.It will encourage me towork with determination.The time is very conducivefor the growth of business.With technologicaladvancements, the worldhas shrunk to become a bigglobal village and it isupon us to make betterconnected.

Sports

Award is the acknowledge-ment of the artistic work.There is natural expectationthat the person should fur-ther improve his perform-ance. I look at the award as aspur to do better. Nominationand selection have differentreasons and there is no needto have suspicion regardingthat. Besides, just because onehas been selected and anotherrejected, does not signify thathis contribution is minor.

I was born in Maharashtrawhere I work. I am Marathiby culture I have also mar-ried a Marathi girl. I amfully Maharashtrian and Ihave receivedMaharashtrian of the Yearaward. I am happy. I amconnected to Lokmat sincelong time. I was includedin the song ‘AmhiMaharashtrian’ composedby Lokmat.

Lokmat award is an honour tothe brave jawans and policemenwho are sacrificing themselvesto keep democracy alive innaxal affected Gadchiroli dis-trict. I dedicate this award tothem. I am thankful that youtook into account our contribu-tion and honoured us inMumbai. This will createawareness about the problemsin naxal affected area and peo-ple will take note of the workgoing on in the distant area.

I am full of joy as my namehas been selected for thisgreat award which is ofgreat value and impor-tance to me. There weremany other names in therace for the award given byLokmat. I salute their worktoo.This award will give megreat strength to strength-en my bond with the com-mon man.

Feel blessedto get theaward andverythankfulto Lokmat.We areproud of ourdaughter.Every parentshould giveopportuni-ties to theirdaughters toexcel in life.

Actor Ranveer Singh expressed his happiness by dancing on the

stage and made singer Asha Bhosle too match her steps with him.

Great is the joy of receiv-ing the award. Lokmat hasperformed a great task oflisting great people’snotable work and selectingthem. Looking at the largenumber of celebritiesattending the function, itcan be realised whyLokmat is the number onenewspaper inMaharashtra.

Laments not receiving Maharashtra Gaurav

Huge crowdA large number ofcelebrities that includedpoliticians, sportsper-sons, actors and actress-es, doctors, jurists,administrative officers,writers, educationexperts, police officersattended theMaharashtrian of theyear award function.Even common people andworkers were present onthe occasion. Besides,many youngsters werepresent.

Screen for the audienceSince the auditorium waspacked to the capacity,screens were put up out-side the auditorium for theaudience, who could notget seats inside. Hence,many enjoyed the pro-gramme on the big screen.

Round of applause forNana PatekarBefore the announce-ment of theMaharashtrian of theYear award, nomina-tions were shown. Therewas nomination forNana Patekar for‘Natsamrat’ and as soonas the audience saw hisname, they clapped loud-ly. Votes for the nomina-tions were called onlineand he got the highestnumber of votes.

Standing ovation forNana PatekarAs soon as the award forNana Patekar wasannounced for his roleas Appasaheb Belavkarin the film ‘Natsamrat’,the audience gave him astanding ovation.

I got a true joy which isbeyond words. This awardgiven to me is great recog-nition. It is because ofincomparable honesty andbeing Maharashtrian that Ihave been added to thisaward. I am very gratefulto the audience andLokmat. Today, a close rela-tionship with Lokmat hasstarted.

There is no honour to activeworkers in politics and nopunishment to shirkers. Butdespite being politician,Lokmat has given me thishonour. I have been present-ed this award and thereforeI say thanks to the selectioncommittee, the readers ofLokmat and Lokmat groupthat considered me worthyof this award. I will contin-ue to work for the state andthe country.

Nitin GadkariUnion road transport

minister

Science-Technology

Ajoy Mehta,BMC commissioner

Prof Deepak Phatak,Akash Tab

Admn (Divisional)

Sandeep Patil,(SP, Gadchiroli)

Movie-Male

Nana Patekar,(Actor)

Politics (Expectation)

Rajiv Satav,(Congress MP, Hingoli)

Infrastructure

Satish Magar,(Magarpatta Township Co)

Business

Dr Anand Deshpande,(Persistent Systems)

Performing Art

Shankar Mahadevan,(Katyar Kaljat Ghusli)

Theatre

Mukta Barve,(Actress-Chhapa Kata)

Movies – Female

Amruta Subhash,(Actress - Killa)

Lalita Babar’s parents,(Athlete)

Public service-social service

I am happy to receivethis award. My entirefamily was present onthe occasion. I will addone lakh from my pock-et to the amount of onelakh received fromLokmat and donate thesame to chief minis-ter’s relief fund. Iappeal to all residentsof Maharashtra that ifyou want to stayhealthy you must drink milk of desi cows. You need to keepdesi cows and if you are not able, you drink milk. No optionto desi cow milk to keep India strong and healthy.

Razzak Jabbarkhan Pathan,,(Loni Deokar, Pune)

Art

Shashikant Dhotre,(Pencil Sketch)

Actor Ranveer Singh replying to queries posed by cine©star Amruta Khanvilkar.

ÇQuestions from separate Vidarbha to modelling

CM in line of fire

HIGHLIGHTS