'Xi's assumption of absolute power is neither complete, nor irreversible.' 'Nor is it safe, for Xi, for his party, or for his country more generally.' 'And the government knows this,' says Mihir S Sharma.
Aseem Chhabra looks at the year's best Non-Hindi Indian movies.
How China's all powerful Communist party bungled the response to the coronavirus crisis.
'Unfortunately, prostitution is looked down upon.' 'It should be legalised.' 'Imagine the sexual frustration in the country if it didn't exist!' Chunky Pandey tells Rediff.com's Ronjita Kulkarni how he bagged Begum Jaan and more.
'The starting point of the Udta Punjab casting was that we didn't think stars would do a film like this, so we'd take non-stars. As the names kept rolling in and we had Kareena Kapoor and Shahid and Alia Bhatt, I was like yaar yeh ho kya raha hai?'
'Director Abhishek Chaubey didn't think I could be this girl. He didn't even think of coming to me. Shahid thought of coming to me and that's how everything happened. I feel if I don't take risks, I'll never know. I have to play around a little bit. I want to do a film like Udta Punjab as well as an out-and-out comedy.' Alia Bhatt is ready to fly high with Udta Punjab.
'People ask me if I miss living a normal life, since I don't have privacy, and I tell them I don't want to have a normal life. I want people standing outside my house, I want to be loved by them. I have been fortunate enough to live like a star for 25 years and I would like to die as a star.' Shah Rukh Khan, unplugged.
Three eminent writers from Punjab announced that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, while Kannada writer Aravind Malagatti resigned from the body's general council, joining the growing protest by litterateurs over "rising intolerance" and "communal" atmosphere.
'Those days, none of the leaders thought of amassing wealth.' 'All of them wanted to sacrifice their all for the country.' 'There are many who didn't have any money, but sacrificed their lives for the country.' 'There are many who spent their own money and worked for the country.' 'There are many more about whom we do not even know what they had done; they did everything so silently and selflessly.'
The genius of Deadpool lies in the audacity of its storytelling, raves Raja Sen.
Aseem Chhabra lists the elements that he loved and was pleasantly surprised by in the movies.
.jpg)
'I am not a fan of remakes. The Shaukeens does not have a single scene or character taken from the original.' Abhishek Sharma, director of The Shaukeens, explains why his film is different.
'For women, it's about, 'See idiot, this is what we go through.' For that, they will get their men.' 'When he comes, he will understand women's problems and say, "You are special" and she will get that 10 minutes ka bhaav. But it's very important.'
'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?'
'It's very expensive for a girl to become an actress. I remember I was nominated at all the award shows for Tanu Weds Manu, and conscientiously, like a new actress, I attended all of them and I was bankrupt by the end of it! I had to find a costume stylist, a hair stylist, a makeup stylist...!' Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com gets inside Swara Bhaskar's mind.
Despite the government crackdown on Web sites advertising escort services, the Internet leaves enough wiggle room for debauchery to thrive.
Ananth Mahadevan takes on the audience.
'Indian nationhood is indeed at the cusp of alarming redefinition -- hate-filled, and exclusionary.' 'Nations are not built this way, instead these are the ways of liquidating nations.' 'We must pre-empt it.' 'Can we?' asks Mohammad Sajjad.
'Saif is very passionate as an actor. He is always thinking way ahead. He wants to make movies for the future. He doesn't necessarily stick to the current trends.' Director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK discuss Happy Ending.
Trisha Prabhu has developed an app to prevent cyber-bullying.
Natwar Singh's book is un-illuminating, largely self-justificatory, often contradictory, and at times tendentious. He is too preoccupied with depicting himself as a victim of the Congress party's machinations, says Praful Bidwai.
