The world awaits a creative breakthrough for mobile phone ads, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Skip Fifty Shades of Grey. Watch these well-made films recommended by Aseem Chhabra.
Ahmedabad's cultural scene would not have gone beyond the garba, but for Mrinalini Sarabhai's pioneering efforts.
In Muthuvel Karunanidhi's passing, Tamil Nadu has lost the last of its Titans.
There is nothing the young Purvanchali wants more desperately than to escape to a place with less hopelessness, and some opportunity, discovers Shekhar Gupta.
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...
'Will anything change for you after the election?' And the man said 'Kuch nahin badlega.' And he had a smile on his face. He knew nothing was going to change.
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
'What is surprising is the scale and spontaneity of the mobilisation and the social profile of the mobilisation.' 'Not just the youth, but women, children and families are part of this now.' 'This is completely unprecedented.'
Intensive training and meticulous planning have gone into the making of Dangal.
'It was impossible to please everyone with Amy Winehouse's story because it is complicated and dark. Everyone has his or her own version of what was going on and I found myself caught in the middle of it.'
P Rajendran looks back on the 11 plus years he worked with Arthur J Pais, the India Abroad and Rediff.com editor, who passed into the ages on January 8.
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
Watching a Rajnikanth film in Mumbai's Aurora Theatre can only be compared to watching a Salman Khan film in Bandra's Gaiety-Galaxy, but multiplied 100 times over, feels Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Aseem Chhabra's take on the highlights of Indian cinema this year.
'I miss Tabu's beauty, her graceful presence, her delicate smile and the texture of her voice, with which she can convey so many things -- the lonely mother, the lover, the seductress, the wronged woman, or a young woman charmed by an older man,' says Aseem Chhabra.
'You may show at the end of December how much money has come into the system, but none would be the wiser because most of see only what we want to see and believe.' 'Some of us will see through it and you will make your proxies call us enemies of the State.' 'I was somewhat with you till here. But we diverge from here on until you can do something which will veer through my cynicism brought about by your policy,' says Harsh N Gokhale.
Upstaged by the swanky malls in town, both M G Road and Brigade Road have lost their "happening" status
'I like the thought that I am competing successfully with writers much younger than me,' says Ruskin Bond.
'We look and say their life is so tragic.' 'But there are hundreds of millions of people in these circumstances and what can they do but to carry on.'
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
'It's very tough for someone, who doesn't have a filmi background, to get work in Bollywood. It's not a smooth ride unless you are really lucky. But I think one has to be prepared for that. I must have given 30 auditions for films alone.' Rajkummar Rao survived the struggle to give us some brilliant films.
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Barring a Shah Rukh Khan, an Akshay Kumar or a Preity Zinta, it is near impossible for most Indians to break into Bollywood's exclusive club of star children. Hearteningly, it is still possible for Indians born in middle class homes to become star technicians like 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani. Patcy N and photographer N V Reuben traveled to Raju Hirani's home town Nagpur last week to discover how his journey to directorial superstardom began.
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