Under Rajkumar Hirani's light touch and unwavering optimism, the darkness of Sanjay Dutt's life acquires the spirit of a sportsman, grit of a soldier, humour of a rascal and regrets of a son, notes Sukanya Verma.
'No country has moved from bigotry to equality fast, and India, with its leisurely, elephant-like pace for the most non-controversial of things, will only take longer.'
'The stereotype of an actress is that she's dumb, somebody who will sit on your lap, giggle on stupid jokes, come to the van when she's being called, receive a call at 3am and come over to your house. So when a girl comes along and challenges this, people get uncomfortable.'
If only making it official was as easy as falling in love, says Sukanya Verma.
Hrithik Roshan insists his run-in with Kangana Ranaut is not a lover's spat.
After an RSS affiliate withdrew the invitation to Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi for an iftar, senior Sangh leader Indresh Kumar on Saturday told Pakistan to worry about calls for freedom emerging within that country and stop interfering in Kashmir.
'I belonged to the working class, not the middle class.' 'I was a rag-picker. I used to pick up coal from the railway tracks.' 'I was rejected from the FTII, as I was very unkempt and skinny.' 'I did not look like a hero, villain or comedian.' 'But Girish Karnad and Jairaj said I should be taken based on merit, not looks.'
'If 17-year-old Modi wanted to get out of the marriage, which was imposed on him by a socially backward society and his family, it's not only ethical but his right to walk out of the forced marriage...' 'Jashodaben, a highly conservative woman who understandably, by the social standards of India of the 1960s, opted to remain confined to the marriage instead of kicking Modi out from her life for not starting the marriage in the real sense...''In spite of media pressure, if she does not speak against Modi, it suggests that Modi has not ill-treated her or exploited her after parting ways.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt speaks to people in the know about the controversy over Narendra Modi's marriage.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
Books like Sunil Khilnani's Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, simple and straightforward though they appear, are instead powerful arguments for complexity, for empathy, and for curiosity
Rajasthan has taken the lead on structural reforms which could help India attract business and employ a fast-growing workforce.
'We live in a time when hideous anger easily flares up, particularly on identity-related issues.' 'Often advocates of harmony and compassion fall victim to the same anger and end up hating the 'haters'!' 'This changes the moment we are able to turn the slanging match into a conversation.' 'More often than not you may find that there is agreement on a fundamental truth -- respect for the life and dignity of all.'
'And Indians are loving it,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Ansari believes a national debate on a Uniform Civil Code is a must. 'The need of the hour is to debate this issue at length in order to create a consensus,' Ansari tells Rediff.com, adding, 'Such a debate must take place at the grassroot level. We must understand all the divergent viewpoints before any draft can be prepared.'
An upcoming film on Mohammad Azharuddin promises to be a potboiler, though not a true biopic.
In Khushwant Singh photographer Mustafa Quraishi found a grandfather he always wanted.
The unfolding scenario has thrown up doubts in the minds of people whether the government will be able to complete its tenure.
The government must get rid of the clutter of old, obsolete laws.
Here's what went down in the curtain raiser episode.
With the bill to prevent disqualification of convicted politicians to decide the RJD chief's political fate, there's a lot at stake, especially with the upcoming elections in mind. Anita Katyal reports
Peter said he needed a broom to sweep his cell because, he joked, there are no vacuum cleaners in jail.
The underlying tone of a call for separate Mumbai city is always seen as a class war and a linguistic war, says Neeta Kolhatkar
'Of the 32 captains who have led India in Test cricket, only four have been pure bowlers -- Ghulam Ahmed, Venkatraghavan, Bishan Bedi and myself.' 'The captain must lead with only one idea in mind -- to win the game. The draw mentality is partly because captains lacked confidence and partly because they want to protect their record. If you don't think winning is the point of the game, there is little point in even entering the field.' 'As the Monekygate controversy raged, I received a message from Bishen Bedi, no stranger to controversies himself. "As a captain," he wrote, "take a decision you will be proud of when you look back on history".' Anil Kumble, cricketing legend, on the Art of Captaincy.
'One of the director's primary jobs is to make sure that all the actors perform as if they are in the same movie, playing in the same band -- one is not acting in a different band than the other.'
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.
Prakash Bhandari chalks the journey of Lalit Modi from his troubled adolescent days to his mid-life crisis, from his grand success at the India Premier League to his dramatic exit from it
The 16th Mumbai Film Festival had a delicious spread of movies.
'In Carol, Cate Blanchett reminds us what a real movie star is and why we are enamored by her acting and looks.'
Narendra Modi's mother washed utensils to make a living. Madhusudan Mistry's grandmother, who brought him up, was a vegetable vendor. Mistry's trajectory from poverty to membership of the all powerful Congress Working Committee is moving. the man who has Rahul Gandhi's ear and is all set to take on Narendra Modi in Vadodara, speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in a fascinating interview.
