The unique pageant aims to show the world that beauty can have various meanings.
Sobhita Dhulipala makes her debut with Raman Raghav 2.0.
On its 25th anniversary, Sukanya Verma lists 10 things she still loves about Mohra.
'It's an experience of a lifetime. It's the first time I acted in a South Indian film where I was treated as an equal by an actor.'
'A lot of people in the West think that India has a very conservative culture, so we don't show much intimacy and sex in movies here. But I always say that, without sex, India won't have a population of over 1.2 billion people.'
'My stay in Mumbai was taken care of by Vinod Khanna, food by Daisy Irani, work was provided by Feroz Khan, and Sunil Dutt paid me without my doing any work. My wife is 12 years younger than me. She was a child artiste. I got the title Shakti Kapoor: Cradle snatcher. But she was too good so I decided to marry her. I will marry Shraddha off after three years. I don't want her to be an older heroine or marry at 40. I want her to marry at the peak of her career. But I will not force her.' Straight talk from Shakti Kapoor.
'I didn't want to be the bottom-most in the food chain of a commercial film.' 'I'd rather do something experimental and learn and hope that this translates into somebody noticing me.'
Vanita Kariappa's NGO Rangmanch uses performing arts as a method of building skills and values in children from low-income communities in the six to 16 year age group. This is her story.
Putting together a play about the Father of the Nation is no easy task. But when that play is a musical, the challenges increase.
'The BJP has lost 5 states and Lok Sabha elections are due in less than 90 days.' 'The reservation bill is a jhunjhuna (lollipop) for the upper castes.'
'We had decided that if the audience liked Stree, then after two or three years we would plan a sequel.' 'Because of the kind of reaction we received for the film we have already started work on it.'
Despite all the controversies, the IPL's brand value hasn't diminished. Instead, says Harish Kotian/Rediff.com, the IPL made the BCCI richer by over Rs 3 billion!
Urban Indians are developing a taste for freshly brewed and bottled craft beer.
Simanta Roy Buck finds out why Indian-American singer-songwriter Zoya Mohan bought a one-way ticket to Mumbai.
'When the national anthem is played it has to be played for 52 seconds.' 'It is mandatory. It is in the law.' 'One or two seconds here and there is fine when kids sing. But you cannot deliberately stretch the national anthem by singing in long aalaps.'
'Drought in the 1990s was essentially the drought of a poor India.' 'This 2016 drought is of a richer and more water-guzzling India.' 'The severity and intensity of the drought is not about lack of rainfall.' 'It is about the lack of planning and foresight, and criminal neglect.'
'When the forensics have collapsed, approver is clearly proved to be a liar from the beginning to the end... Does the prosecution genuinely believe that we ought to remain in judicial custody despite showing that their own story is not being corroborated by evidence, for another 192 witnesses?'
Desis in the US recall their earliest celebration of the festival of lights on American soil. Chaya Babu reports
Vin Diesel can't get enough of Deepika Padukone!
'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.
If you have a 15-to-17 year old looking to fly off to the land of opportunity, Anjuli Bhargava tells you how you could secure admission into an Ivy League college.
'Today, the world has changed. You have to be very persistent. You need to have a talent that is your 'X' factor -- be it in any field.' Aarambh actor Rajniesh Duggal tells us what his 'X' factor is.
'I want to leave behind the bank stronger and better than when I took over.'
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'It would be rude to reject a girl who kisses me. So I kissed Diandra back. There was nothing more than that. I am going to marry the girl that my mother chooses for me.' Bigg Boss 8 winner Gautam Gulati is ready to move on.
'There has been a lot of ups and downs, unexpected highs and unimaginable pain, almost thinking that I'm going to die.'
Come August and the world's finest athletes from 206 countries will be out to prove their best at the Olympics.
'Her greatest strength is not her acting or her dancing abilities, but that she has an incredible number of fans.'
Children can be quite lucky at the box office too!
Sonali Bendre talks about making her debut in a fictional television series.
Indians in countries like the United States, China, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Egypt, Israel and South Africa celebrated the day with hoisting of the national flag and singing of patriotic songs.
Articulate segments of Muzaffarpur have been at the the forefront of all anti-establishment mobilisation, which makes their silence over the atrocities in a shelter home in the town puzzling. Could it be that if those accused of horrific crimes belong to dominant castes and if the victims belong to the vulnerable groups, then the middle classes become mute, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Today, it is modish to be part of a yoga class, to post stories on Instagram while striking an impressively complex asana in a bralette and crop-top paired with neon yoga pants, to bond over green tea and yoga bars after a strenuous session at the studio and have subscriptions to yoga studios, not ashrams, says Manavi Kapur.
'Neither the Congress nor the BJP has the political will to take on the Sanatan Sanstha.'
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
'Ashwiny Iyer comes from a school of Nil Battey Sannata.' 'The writer of the film Nitesh Tiwari made Dangal.' 'So you can see the kind of cinema they have done and how they will treat the film.' 'That will make Bareilly Ki Barfi different.'
'The first time we actually got to meet a Bollywood star, it was Salman Khan.' 'We met him at his farm house.' 'For Pia, an actor is just an actor. There is no such thing as a star in her world, and that may or may not go down well with some people.'
'There is nothing bigger than Bigg Boss. I was lucky and blessed that I stayed inside the Bigg Boss house for three months. The love that I got from people was so humbling that I started crying. That's the first thing that I did when I came out.'
Patcy N/ Rediff.com had spoken to Mubarak Begum back in 2011. We republish the interview.
