Researching Japan was like going down a rabbit hole. There is just so much to see and do, but I finally decided we would stick to the 'Golden Route' of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, notes Radhika Mittal.
A viral Rs 2.5 lakh school trip to Japan has exposed the soaring, extraneous costs of modern Indian education. From textbook monopolies to elite excursions, these hidden fees create intense classroom peer pressure even as parents face a financial spiral. We ask you, Dear Reader, to share your experience with us.
England captain Harry Brook acknowledges underestimating opponents in the group stage of the T20 World Cup and anticipates a stronger showing in the Super 8s, starting with their match against Sri Lanka.
While we wait for the official list, here's Rediff's Aseem Chhabra's list of nominee predictions.
'If you look around the world at people of colour, religion, caste, sexuality or any of the marginalised communities, we are always talking in numbers.' 'We are always assigning them a statistic.' 'That is an easy way to assuage your urban guilt. Because you hide your apathy with hollow sympathy.' 'We are, in a way, making them invisible.'
Raja Sen analyses the contenders for the Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars.
The funniest moments captured for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
If the television remote clicks on Stories On The Next Page, it's perhaps worth a look. But it does not merit active seeking in the hunt for watchable content, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'I don't think I ever lost the confidence as an actor.'
'Cinema or the sentiment of a people, disgusted by contemporary politics and wanting to feel whole by collectively recalling a moment of great difficulty that was also a cause for togetherness?', asks Shyam G Menon.
'There will be other innovations coming, but, at the moment, this combination of the mobile phone and the Internet is such a disruptive way to deliver content.'
'The way the daredevil feats are set up, they don't have the maniacal feeling of actual gun battles, or good jazz, or a whacked-out dance performance -- they just don't provide you that giddy tingle you go looking for in such films,' feels Sreehari Nair.
Happy Birthday, Nicole Kidman!
'They (the characters) are not bad people; they are good people, who make bad choices.' 'The idea was to show that when people are put in a situation, which side of the moral spectrum do they fall on?'
The long-awaited book is frank, funny, self-lacerating and full of gossip worthy anecdotes. What else could we ask of the Rocketman?
...A hate letter to our system, feels Sreehari Nair.
'When I used to shoot my friends or cousins, I used to tell myself: I want to make them look a better version of themselves.' 'That's how I started: "I don't care who you are or who you think you are. When you are in front of my camera, I'll make you look better than what you think you are".'
Indu Sarkar is an effective propaganda movie only to the extent that it knows its mission-statement and knows whom to shame and whom to take in its stride, feels Sreehari Nair.
'I always wanted to play a negative character, so I was like why not play it with Mr Bhansali?' 'As they say, be careful what you wish for.' 'I wanted to play an antagonist and I got the most evil one ever.'
Have a look at these photos taken from the incredible world we live in. These are the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition 2020.
'Any Muslim who shows even the slightest hint of revolutionary thought is marked as 'infected'.' 'At that point, he is taken to the nearest Detention Centre where a procedure called Reconditioning awaits him.' 'Areas with a high Muslim population have been designated as Scheduled Religion Zones.' 'To be an active participant in this social cleansing ritual, there is only one prerequisite: You have to be an undying patriot whose friend and family is his country.'
From Boyhood to The Grand Budapest Hotel, we've seen some brilliant cinema this year.
They are shaken by the mass molestation in the city on New Year's Eve. But they are not waiting to be rescued. Nikita Puri reports.
