iWorld
Yash Soni starrer Mithada Maheman to premiere on ShemarooMe
MUMBAI: Some journeys aren’t defined by the destination—they’re shaped by the people you meet along the way, and how they quietly help you rediscover parts of yourself. That’s the kind of journey Mithada Maheman takes you on. It’s an emotionally layered Gujarati film filled with drama, twists, and moments of laughter. The movie is now set to reach audiences across the globe with its world digital premiere on ShemarooMe from 14 August 2025, perfectly timed for the Independence Day weekend.
Directed by Chinmay Parmar, Mithada Maheman follows the lives of four individuals whose paths cross by chance, but whose lives are transformed through kindness, empathy, and acceptance of one another. At its center is Aditya (played by Yash Soni), a young man fighting his own emotional battles. Just when he is on the verge of giving up, he meets Hari (Mihir Nishith Rajda), a warm-hearted taxi driver who takes him on an unplanned road trip, one that slowly becomes a path to healing.
Their path soon brings two others into their circle—Komal (Aarohi Patel), whose grounded presence provides emotional clarity, and Jay (Mitra Gadhavi), whose humour masks a quieter pain. As these strangers travel through hill stations, highways, and tea stalls, what unfolds is a story of unexpected bonds, vulnerability, and slow but steady emotional transformation.
Sharing his thoughts on the role, Yash Soni said, “Aditya isn’t a loud or dramatic character, his pain is internal and hard to explain. That’s what made him feel so real to me. Playing this role reminded me that sometimes we don’t need to fix people, we just need to sit with them, without judgment. ‘Mithada Maheman’ is about those silent moments of understanding and small acts of care. I’m grateful to be part of a film that approaches such a delicate subject with honesty and warmth. I believe a lot of people will see themselves in Aditya, or in the people who walk beside him on this journey.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
