The BJP, especially in its current edition under the prime minister, is clear that it seeks total exclusion of India's largest minority against whom it holds historical resentment, points out Aakar Patel.
Vijay Varma delivers a tour de force performance in Nagraj Popatrao Manjule's Matka King, a compelling eight-part series that chronicles the rise and fall of a gambling trailblazer in 1960s-1970s Bombay, notes Sukanya Verma.
If the men of 1983 gave India a reason to dream, the women of 2025 could give it something rarer -- the courage to live that dream in full daylight, under an open sky that finally belongs to them, points out Prem Panicker.
Supreet Singh, filmmaker and co-founder of Red Dot Foundation, explains how the 4km long Infinite Saree is a larger campaign against all forms of sexual abuse, including marital rape.
'There are cases of suicides, and middle-class families losing their entire family savings.'
The Indian government has introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to ban online games played with money, aiming to curb addiction, money laundering, and financial fraud. The bill also targets advertisements and financial transactions related to such games.
An advertisement showing two women talking about Cars24's promise that you can test drive the car and return it with full refund in seven days if it doesn't work for you has upset a section of men. In the ad, the women say there should be such a policy for husbands, too. "Will same return policy be taken so laughingly as this one if we reverse the #gender? (sic)" asks a complainant to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). Another complaint, this time against a FreshToHome ad, reads: "Suggest to ban gory and repulsive photos of animal parts in ads - just as photos of accident victims."
Even after 50 years, Sholay remains a lasting reminder of unity, shared memories and the joy of cinema, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
This was a soaring evening that sent hearts aflutter and for a few brief moments we tasted the breath of pure freedom that has been missing in this country for the past several years.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
'When you are a pioneer and someone who's put on a pedestal, but then the pedestal gets dusty, people don't look at the statue anymore.' 'They would say, 'Yes, yes, of course I know Bimal Roy. He made Do Bigha Zamin.'.'
'The quality of justice is directly linked to the quality of judges -- if that suffers, justice delivery suffers.'
Though advertisers cannot force re-negotiations on ad rates, as they are bound by contracts, the dip in viewership and waning interest among Indian viewers is irking them.
The advertisement and circulation revenue had already declined due to recession and the digital onslaught, it noted.
'Looking at how quickly the hostilities were escalating, the nuclear threshold did not seem that far.'
For nine weeks starting October 7, broadcasters and advertisers will have to function without viewership data.
Can a culture survive as a way of life, even as the language and writing at its core, alter with time? Can we be rational and Malayalee or do we have to necessarily be religious and proudly cultural to be Malayalee? asks Shyam G Menon.
'A lot of people are famous. But for how long will you be there?' 'It changes after every three days of release, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.'
With nearly 100 launches and unveils, the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, held in Delhi from January 17 to 22, made one thing clear to automobile enthusiasts: Electric vehicles (EVs) are the way ahead for the Indian auto market for years to come.
'I don't think Waheeda had the confidence that I could pull it off, so she said no.'
No great achievement or discovery or invention has been achieved without hard work. While the inspiration may have been an insight, it needs work to flesh the insight which requires hard work, asserts Mudit Jain.
Delhi Metro on Thursday said it has withdrawn a poster on breast cancer awareness that asked women 'to check your oranges' but the questions remained -- does the metaphor obscure the message, does it help women in a cloistered society get comfortable or more awkward by sexualising a body part.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
60-plus men and women who live independent lives are becoming the cynosure of ad men's eyes.
The world awaits a creative breakthrough for mobile phone ads, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Cynics don't make it big in advertising.' 'Often, the medium calls for a rock-like commitment to puny, easily digestible ideas.' 'Here's a text that understands this facet of advertising and one that keeps its tone breezy and reporter-like; that's set across a wide canvas but one that never overstates its own importance,' says Sreehari Nair.
More than 50 per cent of SIP accounts come from semi-urban and rural areas.
His cinema of compassion inspired me, gave me tools to develop empathy for others. But it also made me understand that serious, socially committed cinema with deeply engaging narratives and great performances is an art form to admire, appreciate and explore. Aseem Chhabra remembers Shyam Benegal, who passed into the ages on Monday evening.
'The election results mean that the Opposition can no longer either be ignored or attacked in the way that it has been.' 'For this reason it will be interesting to see how it behaves from here on and whether there is any change in its behaviour,' notes Aakar Patel.
It seems that the West is sending a signal to India that it can return to old hostilities unless India toes their line on Russia. It is no surprise that India is being compared with Putin's Russia in terms of targeting 'dissidents' as the West calls these Khalistani terrorists, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Thirty per cent of the world's deaths in young people, due to heart disease, are encountered by people in India.'
Asokan said Ramdev went against the medical profession by saying "modern medicine is a stupid and bankrupt science".
The government is planning new regulations that may impose penalties on both the creator and the platform hosting deepfakes, as it looks to clamp down on what IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishaw described as "a threat to democracy".
Some like Panasonic, Honda, Coca-Cola will turn to their agencies for help, others like Dabur would look at brand tracks.
Beyond a point, competition is boring. The fun is in the doing, irrespective of outcome. By the time I was in college, I knew I valued awareness more than success, notes Shyam G Menon.
'Those of us who have seen the Indian military from close quarters for decades now are outraged at Admiral Sushil Kumar's irresponsible and in my view flippant remark,' says Nitin A Gokhale. 'What makes people like Julio Riberio and Admiral Sushil Kumar, who rose to the highest positions in their respective professions, play the victim? Especially when it is not clear if all the attacks on Christians and Christian establishments had their roots in religious intolerance.'
Toomey said he has personally witnessed the spirit of Sikhs and has come to better understand the Sikh tradition that is founded on equality, respect, and peace.
On the 25th anniversary of the battle that made his war cry 'Dil Maange More' part of national lore, we republish that feature to salute Captain Batra's ultimate sacrifice for the nation.
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