Shashi Tharoor categorically stated that he would not accept an award named after VD Savarkar, nor attend a related event, even as a senior party colleague wanted the Congress MP to not accept any honour named after the ideologue whom he claimed "bowed before the British."
'The software vendor had a black mark against him and yet they went ahead with him. Why was this company shortlisted? Who is responsible for signing off this software?'
From Bandit Queen to Dhurandhar, these Indian films pushed cinematic violence to shocking, stomach-churning extremes.
'(Mahesh) Bhattsaab had wisely recommended him for the lead role, but I was young and stubborn then, and would instinctively push back against a producer's suggestion. I insisted on casting Shiney Ahuja as Daya Shankar. While he was excellent, in retrospect, I realise Irrfan would have taken the character to a different level altogether.'
Explore the enduring appeal of Akshaye Khanna, the actor who, despite a quiet persona and unconventional career choices, continues to captivate audiences and critics alike, recently gaining viral recognition for his role in Dhurandhar.
'Sometimes it can get a little difficult to assert yourself, whether it's an opinion or your presence. It gets really exhausting.' 'They're still not able to accept that an intelligent woman can also really love wearing red lipstick!'
'Just because I am famous and have body of work in one country does not translate into every country in the world.'
Arundhati Roy's 1989 film, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, which won two National Awards for Best Screenplay for Roy and Best Feature Film in English, is among the line-up of 10 films for the Berlinale Classics segment.
The Muslim Students Federation (MSF) is calling for a boycott of 'Kerala Story 2' and questioning the Students Federation of India's (SFI) planned beef fest as a form of protest against the film, citing concerns about hurting religious sentiments.
Following the successful release of the CSIR-NET results on January 30, lakhs of candidates can now check their scores to determine eligibility for assistant professorship, junior research fellowship (JRF) and PhD admissions.
More and more celebs are rewinding time and posting memories from 2016 on social media. That was certainly an interesting year, going by the many milestones these celebs are posting.
US Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, introduced the 'Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions Act or EXILE Act', a bill that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by ending the H-1B visa programme.
Senegal stormed off the field in protest at a penalty awarded against them before returning to beat hosts Morocco 1-0 after extra time and win the Africa Cup of Nations.
Having grossed nearly $370 worldwide, Sinners filled up Warner Bros coffers when many of the studio's key 2025 films lost money, and deserves its many Oscar nominations.
'There will be no Malayali who does not recall, at least once a day, what Sreenivasan wrote, spoke or showed on screen.'
'Once when he was on a flight, the plane hit an air-pocket.' 'The turbulence outside caused it to see-saw violently which caused a lot of panic inside. While his co-passengers were crying and praying for their lives, Salil kaku was writing a song in his head.'
I am inclined to believe that the Venezuela adventure is not an indication of American strength, alas, but rather of American weakness, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
Kamini Kaushal, who began her career with the 1946 classic Neecha Nagar and went on to act in a host of films right till 2022, passed away in her Mumbai home on Thursday night.
Where Dhurandhar leaned into aggressive bloodlust through its acerbic storytelling, Ikkis moves in the opposite direction, asking us to see people beyond uniforms, slogans, or sides, observes Mayur Sanap.
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
I once asked him why he hadn't written scripts for his sons Vineeth and Dhyan. 'I made some suggestions about their scripts, and they haven't discussed their scripts with me after that,' he said with his trademark laugh.
US President Donald Trump, who has campaigned aggressively this year for a Nobel Peace Prize, was given FIFA's inaugural peace prize for his efforts to promote dialogue and de-escalation in some of the world's biggest hotspots.
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
Lieutenant Colonel C Dwarakesh is the only completely blind officer to continue in the Indian Army after losing his eyesight while in service. In his remarkable journey after disability, he enhanced his education qualification, scaled the Siachen Glacier and found purpose in sport.
Karan Johar had an extra special Friendship Day. His friends Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji won their first ever National Awards (Jawan and Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway respectively).
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
'He's been doing something we don't talk about much, working with acid attack survivors.' 'He supports them not just emotionally, but also financially.' 'His Mir Foundation helps them with the surgeries they have to go through to step out again and get back their lives.' 'He doesn't talk about it and I only learnt about this when we were in Kolkata once and some of the girls had come to meet him at the hotel.'
'Editor M S Shinde deserves full credit because, I'm told, Ramesh Sippy had shot 300,000 feet of footage, which was brought down to 18,000. 'He died in 2012, in a 126 square foot flat in Dharavi, penniless, a forgotten hero.'
Sreenivasan could so willingly be 'our little man' because in his heart of hearts he never felt trivial or inconsequential. And to the very end he stayed that way, the shrimp who knew he was a giant. Sreehari Nair doffs his hat to the late legend.
'...and say that if I don't wear a sari, they will unfollow me.' 'Today, if I have 2.9 million followers on Instagram, out of that, the majority is from the South.' 'Telugu has given me the most fame and money.'
On Sunday, Goud repaid the faith shown in her with a telling spell of 3 for 20, that included three maidens, to derail Pakistan's chase of 247.
Meet the dreamers of Bollywood, who come together for Chidiya.
At 8,700 screens, India, the world's largest film producing country, has just six screens for every million of its people, compared to 125 in the US and 30 in China. With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan hopes to expand the market for Indian cinema.
'I don't know how long cinema will survive.'
Chidananda S Naik's Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know... won the first prize and Mansi Maheshwari's animation film Bunnyhood won the third prize in the La Cinef competition in Cannes.
'It is daunting, for sure, because you're rowing upstream.'
'I had not even realised I had done almost 100 films.'
'We are thinking on something like the 'Irrfan Memorial Award' given to the most promising new actor.'
After comedies like Bhool Chuk Maaf and Stree, National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao tries hard core action in the gangster film, Maalik.
'Shah Rukh is such a generous person, such a giver, that I can only wish for life to give him all the love and happiness he deserves.'
