Shah Rukh Khan's latest film offers no emotional connect with the audience even as its story flops in the telling says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy, who was in New York on 9/11, relives the day that changed America and the world.
'Hazare is not the issue, and the government should not make him into one. Rather, it should focus on the issue he has voiced: Corruption that is depriving people of the mind-boggling welfare funds but for which India would already be a member of the Comity of Nations the prime minister often speaks about.'
The film is less about reservations and more about education.
All those castigating the government for a feeble reshuffle are missing the point. Which is that the exercise was not meant to be anything more than a message, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The summit in Korea, Ahluwalia pointed out, was the first to be held in a newly developed nation, as well as in Asia, home to many emerging nations. With the financial crisis that necessitated the meeting of minds in 2008 a thing of the past, Korea is keen to bring development to the forefront.
The Ayodhya verdict, far from legitimising the deeply divisive rath yatra Advani set out on, has tried to repair the damage he did to inter-community relations in India, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'I wish somebody would tell the prime minister that peace with Pakistan is a good thought. Indians and Pakistanis can be friends, but India and Pakistan can never be friends in our lifetime,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy discovers that you can take a Tamil director out of Tamil Nadu, but you can't take Tamil Nadu out of him.
'The prime minister's worst achievement is that in the one year of his second government, he has not sent out the message that he means business,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'True closure will come only when we as a people, as a civilisation, can relax in crowded, public places without fear, when the ugly metal detectors that greet us at the entrance of every single public space goes forever. That is a distant dream, towards realising which Kasab's sentence is but a baby-step.'
Vipassana will surely take you to your destination; but it is not going to take you any sooner than the other paths you have chosen. The important thing, according to me, is to get on the path, not the road you are on.
For the Congress, at 125 years, there is double good news. One, the dynasty is back and in control of things. Two, the BJP is in terrible disarray. But it also faces crucial challenges, writes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Today's India is vastly different from the one most of us grew up in. There is a new India that is rising, a young India that is yearning to join the international ranks of the brightest and best.
'I am the chief minister of Gujarat, and I believe I will not be removed as CM,' Narendra Modi told rediff editors in an exclusive interview.
Even as the criticism against Chandni Chowk To China gathers momentum, our columnist, on the other hand has some very nice things to say about the film and it's protagonist.
Today was the beginning; a humble beginning if you want to call it that, but one that will rock the foundations of many hard-held beliefs, one that will show the rest of the country what committed citizens can do if they only step out of their comfort zone.
How buying an insurance policy on your credit card can lead to a lot of harassment and sleepless nights.
'Isn't it hypocritical that we who berate the religious minorities day after day for not 'assimilating fully' with the majority, whatever we mean by that, are loath to do the same when it comes to language?'
He is not your run of the mill superstar. In fact he is not like your other superstars, and I am not talking only of him outstripping the others in the number of crores earned per film.
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