'I kept urging Salman to see Pokiri, and one day, past midnight, he finally turned up at a Mumbai preview theatre to see it. Nervously, I waited for Salman's reaction to Pokiri. After watching it, he walked past me without a word. I followed anxiously, and before sitting in his car, he just signalled thumbs up.'
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
In 2025, OTT series were entertaining enough, even though most were in the crime genre.
Abhishek Sharma smashed the joint third-fastest half-century and broke his own record for most sixes by an Indian in a T20 innings while scoring an unbeaten 148 in Punjab's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match against Bengal, in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
The Karnataka Legislative Council passed a bill to curb hate speech, facing strong opposition from BJP and JD(S), who criticized it as 'draconian' and a threat to free speech. The bill proposes jail terms and fines for hate crimes and repeated offenses.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
The 19-year-old looked set for a double century and join the likes of India's Abhigyan Kundu and South Africa's Jorich Van Schalkwyk in the elite 200-plus club.
This is seen as the first concrete opportunity to break HAL's monopoly in combat aircraft manufacturing, potentially opening the door to a private-sector fighter jet producer.
Prasad now will have the onerous task of bringing top-flight cricket back to the state, which got sidelined after the stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4 in which 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru fans were killed.
Atiqa was coming into the weekend after a stellar October when she secured multiple podiums across championships including a race win at the RMC Championship.
The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The publication of the draft rolls will mark the end of the enumeration phase and the beginning of a far more contentious stage - claims, objections and hearings that will stretch into February 2026.
An unhappy Lewis Hamilton said his first season with Ferrari had been the worst of his career after he started last in Las Vegas and finished 10th.
This was Virat Kohli's 84th century in international cricket only behind Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the world record with 100 hundreds.
At a time when Indian football is staring at unprecedented uncertainty with its domestic season in limbo, the Asian Football Confederation on Wednesday delivered a triple blow to the country's top club
Red Bull's four-times World champion Max Verstappen gave his fans fresh hope -- at least for some of the afternoon -- with a stirring and spirited fightback at Interlagos.
Writer and director Anusha Rizvi returns to cinema after 15 years with warmth, wit and many a laughs.
Between April and August this financial year, passenger car exports rose 8.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), while domestic sales fell by 8.5 per cent.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has hinted at his interest in becoming Chief Minister if there is a leadership change in the state. This comes amid demands for a Dalit CM and speculation about a power-sharing agreement between the current CM and Deputy CM.
Sarfaraz fell to Manav Suthar (4-0-23-3) after a whirlwind knock laden with powerful hits down the ground which saw Mumbai stutter as they lost wickets in heaps.
The IPL consistently rewards smart squad building, tactical flexibility, and balanced team composition over individual star power. So what exactly are franchises paying for when the bidding war begins?
For the first time since 2012, India walked off Eden Gardens on the wrong side of a Test result. A tricky pitch, a chaotic chase, and the absence of captain Shubman Gill combined to hand South Africa a 30-run win that reshapes the WTC race.
Puligilla-Sherif becomes first Indian pair to finish on WRC3 podium
Lando Norris stretched his Formula One championship lead to nine points after winning Saturday's Sao Paulo sprint while McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri crashed in a big blow to the Australian's bid to get back on top.
Kolkata Knight Riders splashed the cash as they spent a record breaking Rs 25.20 to buy Australian all-rounder Cameron Green.
Among Sensex firms, Power Grid, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and Infosys were the biggest laggards. However, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India were among the major gainers.
Premier League leaders Arsenal needed two own goals, the second deep in stoppage time, to scrape a 2-1 home win over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers and open a five-point gap, while earlier on Saturday Mohamed Salah put aside a tumultuous week to help Liverpool beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0.
The Briton goes into Sunday's title decider in Abu Dhabi 12 points clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri a further four behind.
Vampires, murders, superheroes and romantic reunions galore, it's quite a package of emotions on OTT this week.
Mbappe chasing Ronaldo record as Real Madrid host Celta
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh criticizes the BJP's functioning, stating he is not being consulted. He rules out rejoining the Congress but expresses willingness to help Sonia Gandhi personally. He also discusses Punjab's political landscape, AAP's performance, and national security.
Cummins, who was previously optimistic of taking part in a significant chunk of the series, appears to have no chance of playing the series opener in Perth from November 21 and could even miss all five Tests, leaving superstar batter Steve Smith as his stand-in captain.
Rajasthan's Sanskar Saraswat clinched his maiden Super 100 title after eking out a three-game victory over fellow Indian Mithun Manjunath in the men's singles final of the Guwahati Masters in Guwahati on Sunday.
Lockheed Martin plans to establish a C-130J Super Hercules co-production facility in India, the first outside the US, as the IAF seeks to procure new transport aircraft.
'It was very clear in the Parliament election that there was an erosion of Hindu votes in southern Kerala from the CPI-M to the BJP.'
Max Verstappen sees no need to change the way he goes racing despite the threat of a race ban hanging over him at the Canadian Grand Prix.
All of a sudden, the Ramayana is a much sought-after source for epic movie makers.
Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's touchdown in Kolkata in the early hours of Saturday sent the city into a frenzy.
Hardik Pandya made a memorable comeback to the Indian team, smashing a blistering half-century to power India to a thumping 101-run win over South Africa in the first T20 International.
Marc's teammate Francesco Bagnaia could not capitalise on his first pole position of the season, losing the lead to Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi after a slip towards the end of the first lap, before settling for fourth.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances