Chennai born Meera Mitun landed her first modelling break when she least expected it.
Some 230 kilometres from Kolkata, in West Bengal's Birbhum district, 500 children stand out because of their 'unconventional' education, says Anjuli Bhargava.
'My father thinks I'm not ambitious and too slow. He wants me to work in Hindi films with big superstars.' Meet Baahubali director, SS Rajamouli.
Aseem Chhabra's take on the highlights of Indian cinema this year.
Several big budget movies, including one for Rs 300 crore on Karna and another Rs 1,000 crore movie based on Bhima, have been launched on the same model.
'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.
The inspiring story of B Udhaya Krishna and his friends is the story of today's aspirational India, the India that encourages entrepreneurial spirit. Hurdles like poverty, discouragement and insults are just temporary hindrances in front of them to work hard to achieve their dreams.
'Being a hero is not a very easy task. You have to dance around trees, not to mention all the odd and unnatural things you have to do. Now I am spared of all that.' Jagapathi Babu reveals why playing an antagonist is far more rewarding than being a hero.
Visually impaired Srikanth Bolla is the CEO of Hyderabad-based Bollant Industries, an organisation that employs uneducated disabled employees to manufacture eco-friendly, disposable consumer packaging solutions.
What began as a challenge ended up a way of life for 'Paalam' Kalyanasundaram, whom the United Nations adjudged one of the most outstanding people of the 20th century.
'2 hours and 20 minutes later, I walked out of Sachin: A Billion Dreams learning not one additional thing about Tendulkar: Not one factoid, not one statistic.' 'Maybe it's convenient filmmaking, or maybe just the essence of God,' says Sreehari Nair.
'I got Rs 300 for a dubbing job, and I was so happy with that money because it was my first income in Mumbai!' Laal Rang heroine Pia Bajpai shares her story.
This start-up connects diners with regional cuisines that restaurants do not serve.
'Goran had quite a big influence on me to change my mentality and focus on my game. He changed my serve, I started to get aggressive and that is what I needed in my career'
'I never wanted to be an actor. I took it up because it was about a boxer.' Ritika Singh talks about her amazing film journey so far.
'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.
India's limited-overs' skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be a shadow of his old self but former Australian batsman Dean Jones feels the Jharkhand dasher will be "missed more in sub-continental conditions" once he calls time on his illustrious career.
The author finds out if India's love affair with Old Monk has ended
With the threat of Twenty20 cricket eating into the share of the five-day formats, former India middle order batsman VVS Laxman said that it's high time that they bring in new innovation like introduction of day/night matches to sustain the legacy of Test cricket.
'Mistaking carnality for sensuality, X: Past Is Present rings as too literal-minded and too talky, with a technique that just about drains any real density or genuine playfulness that may exist beneath all the talk,' says Sreehari Nair.
With tiger stripes and India in its logo, Gautom Menon wants the world to drink Indian.
'How can anyone ask me to stop what I have been doing since I was 6?'
And no, the list doesn't start and stop with Boman Irani!
Did you know that 80 per cent start-ups shut shop in the first three years?
'From the beginning (I have told her) "Whatever it may be -- you are losing or winning -- on the ground you're not going to cry!" She never cried.' '"I don't want you to project that you are a loser. You are a winner".' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com speaks to Leela Raj about her famous daughter, now in the West Indies for the women's T20 World Cup.
Anshuman Magazine of CBRE discusses effective leadership, millenials, Trump's America and his core business -- the real estate market -- with Nivedita Mookerji.
Sofia Ashraf's video 'Kodaikanal Won't,' slamming Hindustan Unilever for alleged 'mercury poisoning,' has gone viral with over 25,000 online petitioners demanding that the multinational clean up the mess as well as compensate those who worked at its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal.
'There are hundreds of items from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra, Rajasthan, Gujarat in Subhash Kapoor's loot. The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing wants to just prosecute Kapoor for three cases and close it. To me that's myopic.'
'When we became a Rs 100 crore company in October, we celebrated in grand scale. We have grown from producing 10 packets a day in 2005, with just my cousin managing the kitchen, to 50,000 packets a day with 1,100 employees in 10 years.' 'If you have the passion to start something, do it immediately. Don't wait for tomorrow.'
'Mrinalini Sarabhai was gracious, well-read, liberal, very secular, and very well informed,' recalls film historian S Theodore Baskaran of the celebrated dancer who passed into the ages last week.
'I looked at the smiles around and realised that each day that I smiled was amazing.' 'So I put into play something that I have been toying with for years.' 'I called it the Rich Universe.' 'You often hear people say "I wish I become a superstar and my life gets made".' 'I wondered how it would be if I said if I hug my father, it would be an amazing day, or if I hugged my mother and said how lucky I am.'
Jeremy Irons considered maths 'very boring' till he read G H Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology. The actor, who plays the British mathematician in The Man Who Knew Infinity, talks numbers, acting and his legacy with Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com.
Former Australian batsman Michael Hussey warned teams against underestimating India after their 0-2 loss in the Tests series.
Art of Living's spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, faced the ire of activists and the National Green Tribunal for environmental violations that would occur when an event of this scale - the festival is said to have seen 3.5 million footfalls -- is hosted in an ecologically sensitive region.
'The cooperation of Yakub with the investigating agencies after he was picked up informally in Kathmandu and his role in persuading some other members of the family to come out of Pakistan and surrender constitute, in my view, a strong mitigating circumstance to be taken into consideration while considering whether the death penalty should be implemented,' B Raman had written in August 2007.
A documentary on football and a biography of Jesus make Roopa Unnikrishnan mull over the lessons organisations can learn from honest outsiders.
An excerpt from Conde Nast India's Make In India magazine.
Meet 28 year-old Dusyant Sridhar who is a techie by day and an Upanyasakar after work, giving discourses on ancient scriptures.
Leander Paes talks to Harish Kotian/Rediff.com about his recent Australian Open mixed doubles triumph and the special bond he shares with his former Grand Slam-winning partner, Martina Navratilova.
Computer whiz Jefferson Prince, who has built a 70-employee gaming company from scratch, tells S Saraswathi about motivations and challenges of entrepreneurship.
