'it looks like India wants to follow Pakistan on the slippery slope of stupidity masquerading as religion.'
Half of the screenplay's job is done the minute Dilip Kumar's hypnotising gaze falls on Nargis. The screen bubbles with intense chemistry and sexual tension every time this incredibly handsome pair converse from a distance. Revisiting Kidar Sharma's 1950 classic, Jogan.
Akbar is rumoured to have once asked the navratnas of his court what the greatest pleasure in the world was. The stock answers came back: wealth, power, women, food, wine and so on, with the emperor's own contribution being hunting. Birbal was the outlier; he asserted that the greatest pleasure in the world was surely a good bowel movement.
Cows are required for milk and as producer goods for breeding cows and bulls for the future.
There are constituencies in the remote, far-flung corners of certain parts of Gujarat with only a handful of registered voters. Why, there is just one voter, who lives amid the lions and leopards in the Gir forest. But the Election Commission of India ensures that every eligible citizen gets to participate in the country's five-yearly democratic rite.
'The BJP had no traction in Karnataka and Siddaramaiah would have scraped through if he had not done all that he did.' 'When you pander to one community, the other community gets irritated.' 'Then, when you make fun of the cow and the treating of the cow as sacred, in your effort to belittle the Sangh Parivar and its obscurantism, you are hurting your normal voters too.' 'It is okay to make fun of the Sangh Parivar, but it is not okay to make fun of all Hindus.'
'The film industry will remain soft targets and continue to be picked upon with no respite, with no choice but to give in due to personal safety and financial compulsions,' says director Suparn Verma.
It's never too late to start your career in Bollywood.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera shares his impressions from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's landmark artistic extravaganza.
'The people of the state can be won over by love, and not by swords.'
We look at 52 of them, spread over 52 Fridays, in a two-part special. Here's the first part.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the coalition partner on issues like Pakistan, beef, Ram temple and inflation but ruled out walking out of the Maharashtra government any time soon.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj is a fighter who follows her own code. Those who think she's a pushover are making a mistake, says Aditi Phadnis
Its quiet, whitewashed elegance and colourful vibrancy make the erstwhile colonial town of Puducherry an ambler's delight.
Formidable challenges including funds for the farm loan-waiver, and law and order stare him at his face, with the opposition claiming the misses have outnumbered the hits.
'Pornography is available on every phone today. Even children are watching it' 'If there is no pornography in India, good things will happen in the country.'
Dum Laga Ke Haisha is a series of riveting moments that make you moist in the eye and chuckle with joy, says Sukanya Verma.
'With Tanu Weds Manu, I discovered myself.'
'I can tell you the case that hurts me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over.' 'You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, you tell him he must sign this over or else...'
'The Congress, all these decades, worked on a slow Hindi-isation and Indianisation of Arunachal tribes. The RSS wants rapid Hinduisation,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Without destroying idol worship, you cannot destroy caste because idol worship keeps religious communities in its religious ideology. The RSS is a big promoter of idol worship.' 'They may have an OBC PM, but neither the RSS or the VHP talk about an OBC becoming a priest. The equation is: Business in Baniya hands. Religion in Brahmin hands. OBC votes for the BJP.'
Fresh tremors were on Sunday felt in various parts of India, including the national capital Delhi, even as the death toll in Saturday's earthquake climbed to 62.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit is an attempt to move the Indo-Singapore relationship to the 'next level'. Singapore has been one of the top investors in India. India-Singapore bilateral trade has already crossed the $15 billion mark. As per the official records, Singapore has emerged as the second largest source of Foreign Direct Investment in India, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
Having even taken recourse to changing their faith to save their houses from being razed, the residents of Rampur's Valmiki Basti now hope better political sense prevails. Dhruv Munjal reports
'My parents once went to watch Rajkumar Kohli's Insaniyat Ke Dushman. In the film, I "rape" Anita Raaj. My father was very upset. My mother left the theatre. Years later, my father asked me to do a positive role with a heroine like Hema Malini. Unfortunately, I never got to do that. I played her brother-in-law in Satte Pe Satta. Now in Ramesh Sippy's Shimla Mirch, I am romancing her but my father is not alive to see it.' Shakti Kapoor, straight from the heart.
The charm of Kolkata is still alive says Sumit Ganguli.
'As a governor, I have every right to speak my mind if I feel the security of my country is at stake.' 'Why is it that we would have to shed tears when Muslims are killed or tortured, but have to keep mum when the Hindus receive the same treatment?'
There is no alternative for the party and the state to wait for CM Jaya to return home as CM Jaya, and make her call, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
On the occasion of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 125th birth anniversary, Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com visits his residence of 16 years, and comes away marvelling at his enduring legacy.
'I remember Madhuri Dixit was very scared to do a rape scene with me in Prem Pratigyaa. After the shot, she said she couldn't even feel me touching her.' Ranjeet gets candid about his 'villainous' career.
'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.' 'The prime minister speaks about Make in India. Let's remind ourselves also of Made in India. What made India great. What are the great things of the past which will help us make India even greater.' 'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.'
'Human beings are voyeuristic by nature. We love to imagine some things. Like Salman and Katrina were ex-lovers, and are now working in Ek Tha Tiger. Oh my God, what must be going on between them...? We, as an audience -- and I include myself in that -- talk like that. If Salman and I announce a film tomorrow, I'm presumptuous enough to say there will be interest in it.' Katrina Kaif on life and love.
Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad believes governance finally on track. An exclusive chat with Rashme Sehgal.
Pavan Malhotra, one of our finest actors, shows us another side of Bollywood.
It is not in the Lok Sabha, where the BJP has a clear majority, but the Rajya Sabha that the Opposition has ganged up to checkmate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plans.
Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom led the charge as Indian women boxers packed a powerful punch by assuring themselves of medals in each of the three weight categories at the 17th Asian Games, in Incheon on Sunday.
'According to a powerful section of the Congress the vote was anti-Congress, anti-dynasty and pro-Modi, in that order. They say Modi won because he represented and completely played upon "Bhartiyata".' 'Sonia is being accused, privately, of protecting her son at the cost of the party's interest.' 'For the first time ever, 24 Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters, is assessing the "neeyat (intent)" of the Gandhi Parivar, which has never happened before.' A Rediff Correspondent lifts the veil off the churning within the Congress party in the wake of the party's rout in the election.
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