'Everybody knows that any solution would upstage and expose official bungling.' 'That is something Mrs Sitharaman's masters will not allow.' 'No matter how high the cost in human misery, they will squander a fortune on the unnecessary Central Vista extravaganza,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
A worn-out fantasy of shallow wisdom and unspectacular effects, perhaps it's time to close the book on the Mowgli legend, feels Sukanya Verma.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'If I had become father at a younger age, I would probably have been casual about it.'
'Luka Chuppi is my Hum Aapke Hai... Koun! type of film.'
Actresses who weren't exactly high up in the popularity charts this year.
Why did RA&W hire a man with a questionable record, wonders David Devadas.
'When I sign a film, I know exactly what I am supposed to do. No one tells me I have 10 kissing scenes and five lovemaking scenes. Alone is the boldest film I have ever done.' Bipasha Basu, who celebrates her birthday today, discusses her upcoming film.
'Where children are told soothing bedtime tales, our daily fare were stories of the bloodshed my family had witnessed, scenes, my father said, of the sewers turning red and the overpowering stench of corpses,' remembers Sunil Sethi.
'In this moment, many women are incandescent with anger at the injustice of it all, and are done with being patient. They want to breathe.' 'They've decided to set fire to this toxic oxygen, and to make it as uncomfortable for men as it is for women,' says Mitali Saran.
On his birthday on June 25, Sukanya Verma celebrates some of Raghuvir Yadav's best roles on big screen and small.
'The colloquial language forced a turn to the recent past and I thought about the hangings of men like Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon.' 'Whatever their deeds, proven or still in doubt, did their deaths not deserve to be mourned by a sister, wife, or child?' A fascinating excerpt from Amitava Kumar's Writing Badly Is Easy.
The Hindustan Times, whose reporter was the target a foul-mouthed tirade by Virat Kohli in Perth on Tuesday, has filed complaints with the International Cricket Council and Board of Control for Cricket in India.
'When you are sitting in a small city like Chandigarh, you think it is tough to make it in Bollywood. Sometimes when you see actors like Ranbir Kapoor and Varun Dhawan on screen, you think these things are beyond your reach.'
'I come from a film family so I guess people will say it will be easier for me.' 'But people don't know how hard I worked to get a film.'
Joginder Tuteja lists those who are expected to score big with their Bollywood debuts in the months to come.
'I remember I was doing The Hate Story and had finished shooting all the other bits with Paoli (Dam, actress), only the erotic bits were left. It was the first time I was doing lovemaking scenes and I had no clue how to do that. My wife was like, 'don't worry, just be comfortable, it's your job.' It was comforting coming from my wife.' Knowing Gulshan Devaiah better.
'People always associate being thin or fit with starving yourself. I keep reading articles about actors doing some orange diet, eating one banana and black coffee a day. We grow up with so many insecurities and want to look like those air-brushed models we see.'
Sukanya Verma lists the 2018 films that impressive her.
'It is intense, riveting, clever, dark, sad, lyrical, heartfelt, relevant and understated,' says Sukanya Verma.
After all these years, Jaws still taps into the nightmares, says Raja Sen.
Joginder Tuteja points us to the busiest actresses down south.
During a war, there are just four possibilities a soldier faces. One: Victorious and safe. Two: Wounded. Three: Killed in action. Four: Prisoner of War. It was my fate to face the fourth, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) on the year spent as a prisoner of war in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi is a tiring watch, warns Paresh C Palicha.
The IMF's predictions for India's near-term growth may seem rosy, but the usual caveats apply - that is, we are apt to under-perform.
'If not now, then when will I take risks and enjoy myself?'
1929-2018: The life and legacy of Ursula K Le Guin in her own words.
By some strange and bizarre twist of fate, Omar Mateen did exactly what he did not intend to do. He took the lives of gay people and made them extraordinary. He infused their stories with a poignancy they might not have possessed otherwise. He enabled the rest of the world to see themselves in their stories, to weep at the sheer waste of lives cut short, says Sandip Roy.
'Despite its noble attempts, tight editing, terrific sound design, good performances and a compelling story, Hotel Mumbai tells a big lie.'
'You have to be very equipped to even want to have children.' 'There are entrance exams for even MBAs ...and this is a life we're talking about.'
'I went to Kashmir for the first time during the shoot of The Final Call. It was stunning!' 'The people are amazing.'
Still to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones in violence in parts of northeast Delhi, relatives are anxiously waiting outside GTB hospital's mortuary for the postmortem to be conducted before the bodies are handed over to them.
A look at the hits and misses at the box office this week.
Faraaz Hossain, 20-year-old, was one such extraordinary human being as he chose to die at the hands of the terrorists rather than leave his friends alone.
The woman belongs to Gurugram and was in the Sohna area around 8-8:30 pm on Monday, when some people, driving a Swift car, dragged her inside and raped her.
Watching the mild-mannered actress return to screen after a personally difficult time resonates with the headway she makes as Maya, says Sukanya Verma.
Take a look at the releases and vote!
... you won't feel anything either.
The horror in numbers: November 26, 2008. 66 hours. 10 terrorists. 166 innocent people dead.
