Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 302 films in 365 days on airplanes, on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Hulu, DVDs and even on YouTube.
Rajiv Gandhi would have turned 72 on August 20. Had he lived. On a humid night 25 years ago, the former prime minister of India was murdered in cold blood by an LTTE suicide bomber. Neena Gopal was an eyewitness to the assassination, and in this exclusive extract from her new book, The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, she reveals for the first time what she saw in Sriperumbudur that night.
The Avengers: Age Of Ultron is one madly indulgent film says Raja Sen.
'To expect that he has a magic wand to resolve all differences and announce breakthroughs in all issues during his first visit to the US is to be unrealistic,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'I know of at least one techie who quit his job to join the AAP in Delhi. Many others traveled to India to volunteer during the election. If you ask these volunteers why they were doing it when they can't even vote in India, they say, "We want a corruption-free India".' Ritu Jha looks back on the year that was; it was party time, she says, for news junkies like her.
Gajendra Chauhan is just one the many troubles that ail the national film institute. But all may not be lost yet.
There are many firsts in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha speech which constitute the cardinal elements of a strategy which has all the potential to serve as the mainspring of the polity for the rest of the century, says B S Raghavan.
'Perhaps the finest example is from the current avalanche itself.' 'The Commanding Officer of 19 Madras (the affected unit) is Colonel Um Bahadur Gurung, a Gurkha who joined the Madras Regiment.' 'He inspired this recovery operation at 19,500 feet, a unique feat by itself.' 'He knew that if it was delayed the chances of finding the mortal remains in the Saltoro's ice would be impossible.' 'He did not pass orders from his base at Kumar (15,000 feet) or gave directions; he simply went there himself, inspiring the multitude that followed.' Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who has served on the Siachen Glacier, salutes the incomparable spirit of the Indian Army.
And you won't guess which film tops Raja's list! And why.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
The plain, simple, minimal user interface that the CyanogenMod custom Android ROM brings to the One is delightful.
There's something quite serene about an endless stretch of barren land discovers Abhishek Mande Bhot/Rediff.com
'The darkest days of Indian democracy were (during) the Emergency when basic democratic rights were suspended. For a time it seemed as though India would move along the East Asian model -- everybody works hard, nobody asks questions, certainly not of the government.' 'There are people who say we are headed that way, but I am not persuaded by the evidence,' says Mahesh Rangarajan who recently resigned as director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi.
'After 8 to 10 hours of running, when my body starts paining, I keep thinking about the pain and sacrifice of my mother and it makes my will stronger.'
Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com continues his jungle adventure and narrates his last day at the Kanha National Park.
Ramon Magsaysay winner Anshu Gupta, whose non-governmental organisation Goonj has been leading the relief efforts in Nepal which was ravaged by a devastating quake in April this year, speaks to Ankita Mishra.
Vernon Gonsalves, who spent nearly six years in jail after being labelled a Naxalite by the security agencies, recounts in detail his arrest, the case against him and his future plans in an exclusive interview.
On Kishore Kumar's 86th birthday, we revisit a Rediff.com exclusive special by Pritish Nandy on the late legend.
'He's not dead. I am dead. I am dead. He didn't love me like I wanted him to. He didn't love me as much as I wanted him to. But it doesn't matter, I loved him. And he's dead. And he has my first silly poem in his drawer. And he has all the imperfect paintings I tore to pieces in his files. ' For Sameera, time froze still on December 13, 2013.
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com continues his jungle adventure and narrates his day at the Kanha National Park.
Brijesh Kumar Saroj, the son of a poor weaver, overcame every hardship, to make it to IIT-Bombay. When he cleared the IIT entrance exam, villagers threw stones at his home because he is Dalit. This has only hardened his resolve to 'make it in life'.
Twenty years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, India is in rebirth mode. Whether there is a Babri Masjid or a Ram temple or not in Ayodhya, India will go on. And it will see many tomorrows, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'The best Indian movies today are ones that portray life as "something that doesn't end when the movies do".' 'There's no real arc to traverse or easy lessons to learn. And Irrfan and Nawazuddin -- who can both swerve a movie purely on the strengths of their instincts -- are just the perfect actors for this kind of movie sensibility,' says Sreehari Nair.
Rediff.com's Love Guru has answers to all your relationship problems.
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
Irrfan Khan's fascinating interview with Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com.
The inspiring story of Birubala Rabha who will go to any lengths to protect the 'witches'!
Depression is not just stress, nor is it only sadness. Depression is an illness.
In this extract from Vikram Seth's latest work, Two Lives, he narrates how his dentist-grand-uncle lost his arm
