How did how a reluctant, chain-smoking, beer-swigging footballer captain the greatest football nation in the world?
Raja Sen takes stock of the Oscar 2015 nominations.
Fan gives Shah Rukh Khan space to exploit the actor in him and he tries hard, with a nod to his creepy characters in Baazigar and Darr.
Narendra Modi on Friday accused Congress and its chief Sonia Gandhi for resorting to "low-level" politics and raising issues from his personal life to his caste in their bid to prevent him from coming to power.
'The Modi Sultanate -- like the Congress Sultanate -- does not understand local aspirations and politics. It will repeat the same mistakes whenever it takes on powerful regional leaders.'
Hitting back at Nitish Kumar, who on Monday mouthed a limerick set to a film song to attack him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday likened JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance to "three idiots", advised the chief minister to perfect the art of "Mushaira" and practise it at leisure after the Bihar polls.
'Modi has lost a great opportunity to show himself to be a leader, mentor and path-setter, capable of rising above narrow party interests,', says B S Raghavan, the distringuished civil servant.
US presidential aspirants Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on Friday tried to woo minority Latino and African American voters as they sparred over issues like race and their records on immigration during a Democratic debate.
'What we think is being patriotic is quite opposite to what actually is patriotism.' 'You have to do things for your country.' 'You have to add value and participate in actions that are not beneficial only to you.' 'That's when I decided to do a lot as an individual and as an artiste, who has 'x' number of followers on Instagram.' 'What is the point of having so many followers if I cannot use my voice for some good?'
'It doesn't really matter ultimately what individual commentators say or write about Modi. So long as he continues the BJP's march towards greater vote share, a bigger geographic spread and a crushing of the Congress, he is a success,' says Aakar Patel.
The Hundred-Foot Journey treats its Indian characters with respect, discovers Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
An entirely new lexicon of political jibes emerged during the elections
Ten memorable recent transformations where actors show such commitment to the craft that Robert De Niro, who owns this category for his bulked up look in Raging Bull, would be proud.
Fuelling further the bitter quota debate in Bihar polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused his rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad of having come together in July 2005 to demand a review of the policy to provide for religion-based reservation.
Ambassador B S Prakash has fond memories of Vinod Khanna, his minister.
'Nobody laughed during the shooting. There were fights, swearing and what not. Tempers were high but the unit and the actors stayed on, and finally, the film was made. But it was like riding a wild horse!' Kundan Shah's last interview.
'A person who came to take care of Jayalalithaa's personal needs slowly took control of her political life.'
Only the Indian elite would rather not breathe than be ordinary.
The decision to take to the streets and demonstrate support for beleaguered former PM Manmohan Singh could be a turning point for the Congress.
It is an open secret that Manmohan Singh is not a popular figure in the Congress, but Sonia's presence, support and strategy are proving a blessing for the good doctor. When P V Narasimha Rao ran into rough times, Sonia remained indifferent and the Congress had left him to the wolves, says Rasheed Kidwai, author of books on Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party.
Accusing Congress of pursuing vote-bank politics, Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was a perfect example of how the ruling party sowed "seeds of poison".
Nirmala Sitharaman has a God given opportunity to orchestrate a transformation in India's defence capabilities. One hopes she has her own counsel and does not overly let the PMO run her ship, says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
'Get lost from here, you scoundrel. Nobody in this administration will help you,' the CM shouted at me.
India changed its stance towards Britain over Lalit Modi who has ED cases against him, and Vasundhara Raje, who gave the ruling BJP its most triumphant victory in Rajasthan, is in the dock for alleged nepotism.
Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government, accusing it of being against farmers, labourers, students and the poor.
From belonging to an endangered tribe, somewhere along the line I had turned into a dangerous species myself; a lying, scheming traitor, who had let the country down -- in short, an anti-national, says Durba Dhyani.
'I do feel it's a question of your own upbringing, the way your father treats your mother, how the daughters are treated in the house.' 'You learn so much by osmosis. I suppose it's getting better, but it's not gone.' 'It's still a patriarchal society.'
Sanjeev Khanna stepped out of his usual sort of absent-minded personality to actively 'log into' the hearing, following the testimony alertly, at times standing up in the accused box to catch all of what was being said. His co-accused Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea were less attentive, but were not switched off either.
Despite its squandered possibilities, Fan is always engaging, writes Sukanya Verma.
Ira Singhal, the country's first differently-abled UPSC topper shares her secret to success and her big plans for India.
We look at 52 of them, spread over 52 Fridays, in a two-part special. Here's the first part.
'To be good at the heptathlon takes at least seven years; to compete internationally and win medals takes 10 years.' 'Swapna became Asia's best heptathlete in just five years!' 'Nobody would have believed it. but she did it.'
Preetisheel Singh lets us into some star secrets.
In a full-scale offensive, Narendra Modi on Sunday charged that Sonia Gandhi's "blind love" towards her son Rahul Gandhi had left the country in "ruins" and the United Progressive Alliance government was "remote-controlled" by her.
Senior New Delhi-based journalist R Rajagopalan, who has been closely following the Union Budget preparations since 1977, lifts the veil off India's most secretive operation.
'He can do wonders if only he dons the mantle of the leader, mentor and path-setter of the nation and for all its people, instead of remaining content with being a mere PM belonging to one of the many political parties,' says B S Raghavan.
There it lay, a photograph on the desk under a stapler, and later a stamp pad, forgotten, done with, like its subject, a Mumbai Metro One employee who vanished overnight.
San Francisco, nobody calls it Frisco, has its own laid back pace and is absolutely inviting. Ansh M visited the city recently and hopes to return some day...
'I am proud of the many things my country is. At the same time I do not need to turn a blind eye to the (man-made) flaws.'
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