Syed Firdaus Ashraf feels director Omung Kumar shares too much in the trailer of his upcoming film, Bhoomi.
'The real leader is not the one who builds flyovers and bridges. The real leader gets into the space of the human hearts which are at war and brings them together.' 'Gandhi did that. There cannot be a nation which is vibrant and strong where there is hatred which is tearing you apart,' filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement are glaring with lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12-hour long power cuts making life miserable. And most of the people are hopeful that Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya. Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to some Ayodhya residents to get a hang of their real issues.
'We don't trust the prime minister's words on repealing the laws because he had promised us that he will implement the Swaminathan Commission report, but he never did.'
'He also understands and foresees potential challenges.'
'...to address the serious faultlines that had got exposed during the pandemic.' 'If the economy is looking up this year, we could have been allocated an increase of at least 20%.'
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janambhoomi movement are lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12 hour-long power cuts. Most residents hope Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya.
If you're young and depressed, and don't know where your life is heading, Naseeruddin Shah seems to have the answer.
'Political narrative in our country today is tilted towards Hindutva orientation and so Kejriwal becomes very dangerous to the BJP.' 'For them, he is a leader to watch.'
'Had it not been for the complicity of the state and Biren Singh's leadership, these riots would not have spread this far and for so long.'
'Therefore, these people want Imran Khan out of the elections whenever it is held.' 'For this, he will have to be disqualified from contesting on the basis of cases against him, declaring that he is not sadiq (honest) and ameen (righteous).'
'Siddaramaiah was openly taking on the BJP's communal agenda, which very few non-BJP politicians do.'
Congress leaders are a jubilant lot after the results.
Ahead of the floor test in Maharashtra, what is more crucial is who becomes the pro-tem speaker. And bagging this post is part of the BJP's plan to retain power, reports Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com/
'Writers are always nervous.' 'If you go to a party, you will notice that the writers are always in a corner of the party, looking anxious, sweating and tense about something or the other.' 'I am that kind of person.'
'Ajit Pawar's speech leaves no room for reconciliation.'
'The BJP has 106 MLAs and Eknath Shinde claims the support of 40 MLAs. So why are they both not forming the government right now in Mumbai? Why the delay?' Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf reports.
One Anil Kapoor seems more entertaining than two Arjun Kapoors!
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer and popular historian William Dalrymple tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer-historian William Dalrymple, whose latest book Return of a King is a historical work based on the First Afghan War, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
In his second term in office, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has retained 34 portfolios.
'Since I was held at gunpoint I had no option but to give them the car keys.' 'They took the car and drove away.'
'All this while he has been maintaining that he is innocent and, if that is the case, why will he run away?'
Shankar is India's answer to Hollywood, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
A sixth of AAP's 67 MLAs in Delhi are either out on bail or behind bars in cases ranging from domestic abuse to sexual harassment, to desecration of holy books, to corruption charges.
'It was Maulana Azad's foresight which created the IITs, UGC, science academies across the country.'
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Narendra Modi can never be Vajpayee because the poet-prime minister had a heart. Modi doesn't. He only understands the language of business, of profit and loss. It is beyond his capacity to understand a complex country like India, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'My father's life sends a message that there are positive things happening between India and China, no matter what happens at the border.'
'Akhilesh did politics like Rabi and Kharif crop which come once a year. Politics is not seasonal, you have to harvest your field all through the year and only then you get a good crop' Political analyst lists 12 reasons why Akhilesh Yadav lost the UP elections.
'The collegium system will remove any such doubts from the minds of people and the political parties.'
'Badle ki bhavna (revengeful politics) was never seen in Maharashtra and Indian politics, but now we are witnessing all that today.'
'It is a frightening situation as the most threatening aspect is the development and growth of society.' 'Once our society comes into perpetual violent mode, then investments will drop.'
'A slum free Mumbai cannot happen with Dharavi at the centre of the city.'
'This trope must have been taken in 30 films.' 'The rogue agent is a common trope and not something unique.'
So worried is Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde of desertions that he is asking rebel MLAs in Guwahati to sign affidavits affirming that they won't go back on supporting the 'cause of Hindutva' after reaching Mumbai.
'Where was the armed police?' 'Did you see armed constables around him?' 'There was deep negligence by the UP police and this was a deep conspiracy.'
'William Mustoe, the director of horticulture during British rule, named the Presidential Palace garden after the Mughals.' 'He simply kept the name because it was made on the pattern of a Mughal garden.''He simply kept the name Mughal gardens because it was made on the pattern of Mughal garden.'
Even as a teen, Syed Firdaus Ashraf was terrified about losing his hair. So here's what he did.
'The BJP always said Rahul Gandhi is an 'air-conditioned leader', but after this yatra he has proved them wrong.'
