My travels made me realise how different the ground situation and people's mindsets in the two states are. People seemed happy and secure in Tripura whilst there was only complaining and suspicion in J&K, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
In an all Dalit village in Muzzaffarnagar, three girls who do mazdoori after finishing the day's chores, will cast their vote for the first time. Opening their home and heart to Archana Masih/Rediff.com, they say all they want is a high school, a vehicle to take them to the main road and a sewing machine.
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar masterfully weaves a compelling human story, says Sukanya Verma.
'I believe in giving my opinions and standing up for what's right but in the past two-three years, I thought it was scary to say anything because everything is twisted and a lot of it was damaging my career. People are just nasty.' Sonam Kapoor puts on a brave front for Neerja.
As returns from fiction fall, broadcasters are experimenting with high-cost programming and new genres to grab more eyeballs. But can production houses rise to the challenge?
'The BJP should know that simple caste arithmetic may have ceased to follow the basic law of addition.' 'Adding up seemingly distinct vote banks can even cause overall reduction in numbers,' says Sudhir Bisht.
The endorsement career of India's megastar Amitabh Bachchan displays his relevance in diametrically opposite roles and product categories.
'The BCCI is -- and always has been, across successive dispensations -- allergic to criticism.' 'It has used the 'control' it enshrines in its name to destroy anyone who has dared to point fingers at its functioning,' says Prem Panicker, the distinguished cricket writer.
'To be complimented for a fantastic performance after just viewing the trailer! This never happened to me before.' 'If you have given a party a mandate for five years, stop blaming it for everything under the sun.' 'My kind of films do not make stars. Now we, the actors, after years of struggle, have created a parallel industry where we have made a name for ourselves. But stars we are not nor can we be.' 'For a boy coming from a remote village of Bihar at the Indo-Nepal border where no transport was available to commute to the nearest town, even coming to Delhi and then Mumbai and finally watching himself on the silver screen was a huge thing!'
They live on the road under a temporary, plastic roof. But, for 11 days, Lord Ganesha finds a home in their abode.
Does India's first majoritarian government that is hard-focused on economic development have it in it to provide the Muslim community the healing touch? On evidence available so far, I am not hopeful at all. Yet, like the besieged community, I too find it impossible to abandon hope in the land's millennia-old syncretic traditions, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
In our special series revisiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at Randhir Kapoor and Jaya Bhaduri's 1972 film, Jawani Diwani.
Amitabh Bachchan talks about Te3n, Aaradhya and actors he would love to work with!
'Like 2014, 2017 was also Modi's election.' 'Every voter you met, apart from those who are BJP cadres, everybody said they would vote for Modi, not the BJP.' 'The one and only factor is the Modi juggernaut. He is the one who turned the tide.' 'The wave which he created in 2014, and to maintain it for three years, is a huge task in itself.'
With the images of Rajendra Babu, Radhakrishnan, K R Narayanan, V V Giri and Kalam in my mind, the image of my beloved hero dancing ungainly to 'Merey angney main tumharra kya kaam hai', doesn't make a smooth transition, says Sudhir Bisht.
'There was an overt campaign and there was a covert campaign. The overt campaign may be development, government, and all this nonsense. But the covert campaign, which Mr Amit Shah was doing, was far more important with the help of RSS cadres. This has been an RSS election. From day one I have been saying, this is not Congress versus the BJP, this is Congress versus the RSS,' says Jairam Ramesh, one of the key strategists of the Congress party.
Ankit Kawatra's Feeding India has already fed more than 1 million people.
'I've answered all those people who are tweeting nonsense about Varnika Kundu and trying to shame her.' 'Shame her for what? For being a young girl at a party with friends? For enjoying herself?' 'I think it is ridiculous for somebody to say that she should not be out at night.' 'Why should a girl not step out at night?' 'What does that mean?' 'Does it mean that something happens to the boys at night and they change into monsters?' 'If so, then the problem lies with the boys, not with the girls.' 'Please keep your sons at home at night.' 'Why are you telling girls where to go and what to do?'
Akshay Manwani traces Aamir Khan's fascinating journey to stardom.
PepsiCo India's new CEO admits to being an ardent follower of the world's management gurus and they clearly mould his outlook.
'I got the script of OMG: Oh My God and I believed in it so much that I quit my job. Singh Is Bliing was a success but it was not a film that made a difference.' Meet Ashvini Yardi.
'After Lagaan, Aamir would sit up the whole night and drink an entire bottle of Bacardi.'
'A friend of mine was going through a midlife crisis with me, so we sat down and talked it out.' 'He said, you know, we are going through a midlife crisis. I asked him for how long it would last. He didn't know, so we tried to Google it but nobody had an answer.' Saurabh Shukla fields questions in his signature witty way.
'Peddlers isn't a movie of grand cinematic achievements, but one of small yet startlingly original victories.'
Sanjay Kapoor talks Tevar, and more.
Does Pranab Mukherjee want to be 'PM' by office, not just by initials? The very prospect, with memories of the Narasimha Rao years scarred into their memories, scares the Nehru-Gandhis, says T V R Shenoy.
Giving up cricket isn't easy for a cricketer especially when you are the son of a cricket legend.
'Anu Malik has great respect for lyrics and lyrics writers. He has worked with big important people through the '80s and the '90s -- everyone from Gulzar and Majrooh Sultanpuri. He treated me with great respect.' 'I don't think the AIB controversy will affect any comedian who can think right and straight, who is clear about his comedy and politics.'
'I don't know about being superstar, but one day if I become like Shah Rukh Khan, I will not mind that. If I get the kind of films that I really want to do, and if I manage to survive in this industry, I will become somebody like that.' Sushant Singh Rajput talks movies.
For Arnab Goswami, the television studio is a stage and he plays his part to the hilt, with a finger on the pulse of the English-speaking audience, says Veenu Sandhu
Back on the small screen after quite a while, actress Pallavi Kulkarni relates the many unlikely adventures she experienced during her time away from the spotlight.
'I loved doing Bunty Aur Babli. I love working with Rohit Shetty. I just shot for Dilwale. Kuch bhi karva leta hain mujhse (he makes me do anything)!' I worked in Jolly LLB for free. It was just a night's work. We laughed till we died during the shooting. It was such a cute character!' Meet Bollywood's busiest actor, Sanjay Mishra.
Vinita Bisht and Vinita Kamte lost their husbands -- one an NSG commando, the other an IPS officer -- in the 26/11 terror attack. Six years later, Archana Masih/Rediff.com meets them to discover that closure is one of the hardest things to find.
Shah Rukh Khan, in an uncensored and extensive interview.