December 22 marks the 129th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the greatest Indian mathematician of our time. Just 32 when he died, Ramanujan has fascinated mathematicians, writers and filmmakers for nearly a century.
What's eating the Kapoors? Sukanya Verma gives you some answers.
The big challenge is beating piracy and convincing users to pay for content.
'The government's principal aim should be to reduce the volume of cash transactions.' 'That would bring more of the Indian economy within the purview of taxation.' 'The current downturn in economic activity due to a lack of adequate cash is likely to be limited to a year,'
A childhood favourite turned silver. A childhood icon passed away. And a childhood heartthrob from Hollywood showed up to surprise a movie screening. Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week.
'You walk out of Mukkabaaz feeling good about yourself, but unlike Kashyap's best pictures, it releases you from the responsibility of seeing yourself in it; the movie is darn clever, most of the way, but it hardly has any wisdom,' says Sreehari Nair.
We bring you the latest on supermodels, style, designers and everything in-between!
'I love commentating for a reason that not many will admit.' 'Yes, it gives me financial security; yes, it lets me stay in touch with the game; but importantly, it gives me visibility.' 'In a way, commentary ensures that people don't forget you.'
Hamari Adhuri Kahani director Mohit Suri talks about finding success.
Businessman P C Mustafa wants Indian Americans to return home, Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza outlines how Indian tech companies could grow, Gaurav Dalmia has some investment recommendations while Subramanian Swamy warns that India is flirting with a debt trap.
'You can't take your eyes off him.'
Hailed as one of the finest filmmakers of his time, K Balachander, who passed into the ages on December 23, has left behind a rich legacy of hard-hitting films, some of which have been routinely credited with redefining Tamil cinema.
The propaganda aspect of the movie -- despite it stemming purely from the writer's deepest convictions -- is a clincher for it is highly unlikely that you'll walk out of a screening of Talvar saying, 'I loved the movie, but I still think the parents are guilty.' If you are swept away by the power of the movie, it's also sure to swing your perception in a certain direction,' says Sreehari Nair.
The Japanese prime minister's visit to the memorial in Hawaii, the spot that was bombed 75 years ago, shows that it is possible for two powerful former enemies to transcend recriminatory impulses, observes Rajaram Panda.
In our special series re-visiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at Dev Anand and Asha Parekh's Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai (1961).
After all these years, Jaws still taps into the nightmares, says Raja Sen.
'I can tell you, Mr Chairman, from personal experience that there is nothing sadder than witnessing a close one, a loved one with mental illness at close quarters.' 'I have lived with a victim of mental illness. Like many in that condition, very often such people are in a state of denial.'
'The use of nuclear/biological/chemical weapons by Islamic terrorists is just a matter of time.' 'It must be clearly understood what the world faces is a global level insurgency against the world order.' 'Terrorism is merely a tactic and Islamic State its most brutal face, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The prime minister has followed a dual strategy. He is invoking Gandhi to project himself as a statesman and yet, because he is essentially a politician, he has to take the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh along as well
Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting the entry of people from seven Muslim-majority nations widened the rift between the Trump administration and several leading American companies.
'China's excessive military aid to Pakistan is the real elephant in the room as far as Sino-Indian relations are concerned. India should be confident enough to accept a degree of closeness between China and Pakistan, since China may wish to use this link for its foray into the Muslim world.' 'But the Chinese must be realistic enough to know that as time passes, the tactic of using Pakistan as a proxy to check India will yield diminishing returns. The US tried it for 60 years but failed, so will China,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The city was never the same after the attack. It was scarred,' says Nicolas Saada whose movie Taj Mahal offers a unique view of the Mumbai attacks.
'2016 was the age of convenience for Hindi movies; of down pat effrontery and planned feeling triumphing over attempts to discern something complexly beautiful,' says Sreehari Nair.
The Mars mission is overwhelmingly irrelevant to space science and won't advance the frontiers of knowledge. It will divert attention from the real technological challenges facing the Indian space programme, and will further distort our science and technology priorities, says Praful Bidwai.
'Modi is likely to make more announcements to win or retain popularity, and put himself at the centre of things even more than now,' says T N Ninan.
'I can tell you the case that hurts me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over.' 'You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, you tell him he must sign this over or else...'
Manobi Bandyopadhyay, India's first transgender principal of a college, speaks of her struggles in a moving interview.
Apple Inc's embrace of wireless charging for its new Watch may be a defining moment for a technology that's languished for years amid competing standards and consumer confusion.
From Boyhood to The Grand Budapest Hotel, we've seen some brilliant cinema this year.
No-Punchline humour reminds us how in our daily lives, we all are by turns 'The Corrupt Politician we criticise,' 'The Chauvinist Male we frown upon,' 'The Rule Breaker we deride through our Facebook posts,' 'The Communal Virus we so easily lampoon' and 'The Bad Artist we spoof.' In a land where the aforesaid prototypes are our major sources of 'funny,' is there an audience for the NPL kind of humour, asks Sreehari Nair.
Users seem to like the idea too: in a recent survey by technology consultancy IHS, 83 per cent were interested in wireless charging; in China, the figure was 91 per cent.
Here's celebrating Dilip Kumar by re-visiting his best movies.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'
Not Mekhail. Not Rahul. Not anyone. 'Wouldn't someone have asked?' Indrani asked.
'We are dealing with a size of the world that equaled England and France combined. We are talking about 250 years of history.' Sultans of Deccan India, 1500-1700: Opulence and Fantasy -- a first of its kind exhibition anywhere in the world -- opened at the Met, April 20. Aseem Chhabra spoke to Navina Haykel, the curator of the show.
'For years American academia has used the concerns about Hindutva in India to almost completely trash the concept of Hinduism.' 'In the American debate, Wendy Doniger's point of views perpetuated Hinduphobia.' 'Americans were willing to change... Indian intellectuals let us down badly.'
In a recent lecture, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan dished out some frank advice -- don't get into 'jugaad', instead try for the long haul. Only that will sustain in the long-run.
