The Editorial Page: How to fast-track reservation for women in Parliament — a roadmap 8 MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2026 JOURNALISM of COURAgE MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES ₹5.00 l www.indianexpress.com DA I LY F R O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , KO L K ATA , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N AG P U R , PAT N A , P U N E , VA D O DA R A REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 - 20 RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57 cHETAK ScREEN AWARDS 2026 Dhurandhar sweeps Homebound is Best Film; Dhurandhar bags 14 awards, including Best Actor (Male) and Best Director; Yami Gautam Dhar is Best Actor (Female) for Haq TRUMP’S TUESDAY ULTIMATUM ON HORMUz APPROAcHES US rescues airman; Trump goes ballistic, drops the f-bomb Officer hid in mountain crevice as US and Iran forces fought to get to him Phil Stewart & Menna AlaaElDin Washington, Cairo, April 5 Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Mukesh Ambani and producer Karan Johar with the team of Homebound, which won the Chetak Screen Awards 2026 in the Best Film category, in Mumbai on Sunday. PRAVEEN KHANNA Heena Khandelwal Mumbai, April 5 l BOLLYWOODBLOCKBUSTER Dhurandhar swept the Chetak Screen Awards 2026 with 14 winsataglitteringceremonyon Sunday, including Best Actor (Male) for Ranveer Singh, Best Director for Aditya Dhar and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for Akshaye Khanna. The film dominated the technical categories too, winning awards for editing, sound design, special effects, cinematography, production design, background score, action, hairstyling and make-up. It shared the Best Costume award with another blockbuster Chhaava. Haq, Suparn Verma’s film documenting the landmark ShahBanocase,wonBestActor (Female) for Yami Gautam Dhar’s portrayal of Shah Bano, and Best Film for Gender Sensitivity. thewinners BEST DIREcTOR: Aditya Dhar, »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 Dhurandhar BEST AcTOR (fEMALE) -OTT fILM: Sanya Malhotra, Mrs The evening’s other significantrecognitions,includingfor BestFilm,wenttoNeerajGhaywan’s Homebound, inspired by a true story of friendship and tragedy during the Covid lockdown. On stage to receive the awardwastheentireteam,from director Ghaywan and lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa to producer Karan Johar and Adar Poonawala, »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 BEST fILM : BEST AcTOR IN A SUPPORTINg ROLE (MALE): Akshaye Homebound BEST AcTOR IN A SUPPORTINg ROLE (fEMALE): Shalini Shubhajit Roy New Delhi, April 5 EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S Jaishankar spoke to the foreign ministers of Iran, Qatar and UAE on Sunday as US President Donald Trump threatened to resume attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by Tuesday. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called up Jaishankar and they discussed the “present situation”. “Received a call from Foreign Minister @araghchi of Iran. Discussed the present situation,” Jaishankar posted on X, after the call. According to the Iranian embassy, “Seyed Abbas @araghchi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 BEST AcTOR (MALE): BEST AcTOR (fEMALE): Yami Tejpal, Stolen Khanna, Dhurandhar Vatsa, Homebound BEST BAcKgROUND ScORE: Shashwat Sachdev, Dhurandhar BESTcHOREOgRAPHY: Vijay Ganguly, Shararat, Dhurandhar BEST cINEMATOgRAPHY: Vikash Nowlakha, Dhurandhar BEST cOSTUME: Dhurandhar BEST DIREcTOROTT fILM: Karan Ranveer Singh, Dhurandhar BEST EDITINg: Shivkumar V Panicker, Dhurandhar BEST fILM fOR gENDER SENSITIvITY: Haq BEST fILM WRITINg (STORY & ScREENPLAY): Homebound BEST HAIRSTYLINg & MAKE-UP: Preetisheel Singh D’Souza, Dhurandhar Gautam Dhar, Haq (fEMALE): Shreya Ghosal, Saiyaara Title Track BEST PRODUcTION DESIgN: Saini S Johray, Dhurandhar BEST ScRIPT - OTT fILM: Stolen BEST SONg: Saiyaara Title Track BEST SOUND DESIgN: Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Dhurandhar BEST SPEcIAL EffEcTS: BEST LYRIcS: Gulzar, Ul Julool Dhurandhar BEST OTT fILM: Stolen, BREAKTHROUgHDEBUT DIREcTOR: ShaziaIqbal,Dhadak2 Ishq, Gustaakh Ishq Gaurav Dhingra BEST PLAYBAcK SINgER (MALE): Faheem Abdullah, Saiyaara Title Track BEST PLAYBAcK SINgER l REMAINS KEPT AT MORTUARY, FAMILY TO FILE FIR TO INITIATE DNA TESTING Last journey home of Indian seafarer killed in a distant war BREAKTHROUgH NEW AcTOR (MALE): Ahaan Panday, Saiyaara BREAKTHROUgH NEW AcTOR (fEMALE): Aneet Padda, Saiyaara business as Usual By EP UNNY Purnima Sah Mumbai, April 5 159 62 the city ELPhINStoNE brIdgE IS Now hIStory wIth dISmANtLINg comPLEtE PAgE 4 Strait ‘deadline’ looms, Jaishankar talks to Iran counterpart Araghchi BEST AcTOR (MALE)- OTT fILM: Abhishek Banerjee, Stolen BEST DIALOgUE: 129 An image on IRGC’s website shows what state media claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in rescue ops, in Isfahan. REUTERS MORE REPORTS, P 11 BEST AcTION: Dhurandhar Sheetal Iqbal Sharma, Chhaava; and Smriti Chauhan, Dhurandhar 101 US SPECIAL forces rescued an airman in a high-risk mission deep inside Iran while President Donald Trump threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil flows vital to the world economy. Trump announced the rescueintheearlyhoursofSunday in a social media post that described the operation in a mountainous area as “one of themostdaring”suchmissions in US history. The airman — weapons officeroftheF-15EStrikeEaglejet shot down on Friday — was wounded but “will be just fine”, Trump said in a message on X. The pilot of the aircraft was rescued on Friday itself. In another post, laden with expletives, Trump repeated a demand that Iran open the Dixit Solanki’s father Amratlal Solanki and sister Mitali Solanki receive his remains at the Mumbai airport on Sunday. GANESH SHIRSEKAR MITALISOLANKIdidnotsleep on the night of April 4. She sat withapileofdocuments,checking and rechecking, charging her phone and a power bank. Thirty-fivedaysafterherbrother Dixit Solanki, a 32-year-old seafarer,diedaboardavesselcaught in the West Asia conflict, his remainswerefinallymakingtheir way back to Mumbai. Nothing should go wrong now, she said. »cONTINUED ON PAgE 2 idea exchange ‘Coaching culture trains students to game the exam rather than build conceptual understanding’ PROf SHIREESH KEDARE DIRECTOR, IIT BOMBAY PAgE 13 Mumbai