It is to Vajpayee's credit that he told Dilip Kumar to ignore Thackeray and to follow his own conscience. But the episode -- as indeed, the manner in which Dilip Kumar has been made to pay for being a Muslim throughout his life -- shames us all as Indians, says Vir Sanghvi.
As Fahadh Faasil turns 39 on August 8, Subhash K Jha looks back at his favourite films featuring the brilliant actor.
Fahadh Faasil is in top form in Maheshinte Prathikaaram, feels Paresh C Palicha.
Abhijith Gopinath aka A.B.I was mocked through school and college. He found solace in hip-hop and chose love over hate.
'The Communist rule in Tripura was exceptional while it lasted for a quarter century in giving good governance.' 'The chief minister himself was the paragon of virtues in his dedication in public life.' 'But all that still didn't add up when the BJP's dream merchants came up with their famous 'development agenda'.' 'One thing that emerges indisputably in the Tripura election results is that needs and aspirations more or less narrow down to one little word -- jobs,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
Naku Penta Naku Taka is a disappointment considering the promise it carried.
'We say we are proud to be Indian. Can we be proud of such an India where its people are hungry and on the streets?'
To an award show that's famous for honouring artists belatedly, we have sent as our official entry one of our major film-makers's weakest work yet, feels Sreehari Nair.
All through Moothon, you can sense Mohandas trying hard to empathise with her characters; I just wish she was interested in them, declares Sreehari Nair.
'To this day, not a year passes when Bollywood does not head to Kolkata to train its cameras on the magnificence of the bridge and the flow of life that pulses along the river across which it spans,' says Saibal Chatterjee.
'I am a human being, I was surely nervous, I am competing against a lot of people, but even when I played cricket there is not a single match where I was not nervous.' 'Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.' 'I will go to any length to help people.' 'If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die.'
'Modi should have trust in us and the minorities should also have trust in him.'
President Pranab Mukherjee -- rewarded as president yet not trusted enough to be prime minister.
R K Laxman immortalised the passive, hapless common man with an uncanny perception
'In my personal life, I honestly find it very difficult to express my anger.' 'And then, when you are a public figure, you feel watched that much more and then you are all the more careful.' 'Begum Jaan, therefore, was the answer to my angst.'
'We could not sleep for many days. We kept hearing gunshots and blasts throughout the night.' 'To live in a war-torn city is terrifying.' 'Our journey from the hospital to the port was the scariest.' 'We were taken care of so well by government officials. They did not leave a single person behind.'
'In 1981 when I had a project in Qatar, those in charge told me they would not like Indians in high positions; they felt Indians could work only as drivers, cleaners and labourers.' 'I challenged them and showed that Indians could do great work in all areas.' 'Today, in the Middle East, they insist on having Indians in all fields. Everybody believes Indians are capable, hard working and trustworthy,' Ravi Pillai, one of the most influential businessmen in the Middle East, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'In Angamaly Diaries, dreams, kinks, small corruptions, cheap lives, and hopes are all given their due and that attitude frees us up to believe that perhaps there is more good than bad in the sum total of us.' 'This is a coming-of-age tale taken straight out of a diary written in blood,' says Sreehari Nair.
