Union minister Smriti Irani said on Monday that the BJP government at the Centre is tolerant and it understands that a joke should be taken as a joke. 
 
The information and broadcasting minister was speaking at the inauguration of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here. Her remarks came in response to a banter actor Rajkumar Rao threw at her at the event.

Rao, who was co-hosting the event with actor Radhika Apte, said it was a coincidence that film director Majid Majidi was an &quot;Irani&quot;, just like the Union minister was. Hearing the remarks, the Union minister smiled. 
 
Later, in her address at the event, Smriti Irani said: &quot;Rajkumar Rao, this (incident) should be known to the rest of the country, that you poked fun only at a minister. And it showed as a government how tolerant we are.&quot; 
Majidi&#39;s film Beyond the Clouds&nbsp;inaugurated the film festival. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan in lead roles, the film is based on life in Mumbai.&nbsp; 
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The information and broadcasting minister was speaking at the inauguration of the International Film Festival of India

Union minister Smriti Irani said on Monday that the BJP government at the Centre is tolerant and it understands that a joke should be taken as a joke. The information and broadcasting minister was speaking at the inauguration of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here. Her remarks came in response to a banter actor Rajkumar Rao threw at her at the event. Rao, who was co-hosting the event with actor Radhika Apte, said it was a coincidence that film director Majid Majidi was an "Irani", just like the Union minister was. Hearing the remarks, the Union minister smiled. Later, in her address at the event, Smriti Irani said: "Rajkumar Rao, this (incident) should be known to the rest of the country, that you poked fun only at a minister. And it showed as a government how tolerant we are." Majidi's film Beyond the Clouds inaugurated the film festival. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan in lead roles, the film is based on life in Mumbai.

IFFI 2017: Rajkummar Rao pokes fun at Smriti Irani, Minister says government knows how to take a joke

Director Amit Masurkar&#39;s political satire &quot;Newton&quot;, starring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role, is India&#39;s official entry at Oscars 2018.

The Film Federation of India (FFI), which announced the news today, said film was the unanimous choice of its selection committee headed by Telugu producer CV Reddy.

&quot;Newton&quot; has been selected as India&#39;s official entry to the Oscars. It was unanimously chosen from 26 entries this year,&quot; FFI secretary general Supran Sen told PTI.

An ecstatic Rajkummar Rao called the decision to choose the film -- which hit theatres today -- the proverbial &quot;cherry on the cake&quot;.

&quot;It is a really honest film and we are already getting an overwhelming response. We will put all our energies to take the film forward,&quot; the actor told PTI.

Amit Masurkar said the news &quot;doubles the happiness.&quot;

&quot;We are really happy. The fact that the film is releasing today doubles the happiness. We hope that people will now really head to the cinema halls to watch the film,&quot; the director told PTI.

Newton is a political satire which around an honest election officer&#39;s attempt to conduct a free and fair poll in a conflict-hit area of Chhattisgarh.

The film co-stars Pankaj Tripathi, Raghubir Yadav and Anjali Patil.

&quot;Newton&quot; is Masurkar&#39;s second film as director after the 2014&#39;s &quot;Sulemani Keeda&quot;.&nbsp; 
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The film is a political satire revolving around an honest election officer's attempt to conduct a free and fair poll in a conflict-hit area of Chhattisgarh

Director Amit Masurkar's political satire "Newton", starring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role, is India's official entry at Oscars 2018. The Film Federation of India (FFI), which announced the news today, said film was the unanimous choice of its selection committee headed by Telugu producer CV Reddy. "Newton" has been selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. It was unanimously chosen from 26 entries this year," FFI secretary general Supran Sen told PTI. An ecstatic Rajkummar Rao called the decision to choose the film -- which hit theatres today -- the proverbial "cherry on the cake". "It is a really honest film and we are already getting an overwhelming response. We will put all our energies to take the film forward," the actor told PTI. Amit Masurkar said the news "doubles the happiness." "We are really happy. The fact that the film is releasing today doubles the happiness. We hope that people will now really head to the cinema halls to watch the film," the director told PTI. Newton is a political satire which around an honest election officer's attempt to conduct a free and fair poll in a conflict-hit area of Chhattisgarh. The film co-stars Pankaj Tripathi, Raghubir Yadav and Anjali Patil. "Newton" is Masurkar's second film as director after the 2014's "Sulemani Keeda".

'Newton' is India's official entry to Oscars 2018

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IFFI 2017: Rajkummar Rao pokes fun at Smriti Irani, Minister says government knows how to take a joke

'Newton' is India's official entry to Oscars 2018