The monsoon session of Parliament will set the tone for how the Hindu community feels about what happened at the Ram Mandir. Whether emotions will be stirred within the voters of India lies solely at the oratory skills of the Congressis and Samajwadis, notes Zainab Sikander.
'What's currently underway is not a 'reset'.' 'What needs to be arrived at is a new balance.'
Rajkumar Gupta's hammy treatment and bombastic score strips the realism to turn Raid 2 into another hail the hero exercise, observes Sukanya Verma.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'I have not forgotten all the horrible things that you said about the film that was one of your biggest hits as a producer and a film that is loved by all even today.' 'I learnt through film circles that your ego was supremely hurt after the film became a blockbuster.'
The chemistry between the motley bunch of actors works in fits and starts but Akshay Kumar's gift of the gab, Taapsee's bumbling comedienne and Fardeen Khan's dry wit come out tops, notes Sukanya Verma.
If Indrani Mukerjea wanted to whitewash her image, this docu series was not the right platform, asserts Deepa Gahlot.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
What follows is essentially a long scene set in a single location, and you watch in amazement as the scene grows into one of Indian cinema's funniest and most spectacular pieces of sustained craftsmanship, accumulating emotional power and subtext, growing wings and claws, becoming its own beast, applauds Sreehari Nair.
Instead of feeling her desperation, despair or extreme acts stemming from a mother's primal need to protect her brood, what comes through is hollow theatrics, feels Sukanya Verma.
'Succession is a great show that inspires me to push the boundaries of creativity.'
Pakistan still has to acquire the patience you need in a democracy. The patience to accept that even if I do not like the government I have, I must wait till the next election to change it, explains Shekhar Gupta.
More people are using the search engine on their mobiles leading to a fall in its average cost-per-click.
'That would be ridiculous and uncharacteristic of the PM.' 'It is also not how things happen in illiberal States.' 'In such places, lower-level functionaries of every rank and hue seek to ingratiate themselves with the highest authority by going pell-mell after dissenters and outsiders,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Austria will look to repeat the historic feat at the 1978 World Cup when they meet Germany in the crucial Group B match on Monday.
A feature of 'Third World-ism' is lack of accountability. Whether and how the Modi government is held to account politically is a matter for the future, observes T N Ninan.
The thin pool of goalkeeping talent in the birthplace of the game leaves little room for such schadenfreude on the part of Englishmen
'The 2019 battle is a battle for the kind of India that we want to live in.' The Congress's long history is pockmarked with sins great and small, but Mr Gandhi has the advantage of representing a new generation with a relatively clean slate, and a chance to redefine contemporary perception,' says Mitali Saran.
Every option before the finance minister comes with a price tag, observes T N Ninan.
The US is not in a forgiving mood for being humiliated in such a manner by an insurgent force and made to look 'loser' internationally, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'When growth drops precipitously from 7% to 4.5% in four quarters, it is for all practical purposes a recession' notes T N Ninan.
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has no sympathy for Australia's banned cricketers and finds the whole team "rude".
China should move toward the upper reaches of the global chain.
A European nation is set to win the World Cup for the fourth time in a row this Sunday and in doing so confirm an unprecedented dominance for the Old World over their once mighty rivals in South America.
Cricket Australia termed 'arrogant' and 'controlling' in stinging review report
Who is to take their place? Will a new generation of entrepreneurs start up with better business sense, or at least better luck? But the so-called unicorns are mostly copy-cat entrepreneurs whose cash flow is funded by overseas (including Chinese) money, notes T N Ninan.
'As he goes down, he will almost certainly drag a few others down with him.' 'Once the mutual mudslinging has died down, collateral damage will probably include more bankers than politicians, given the nature of how things work in India,' says T N Ninan.
'The outrage that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid was an inability to see the event for what it was: The rectification of a grave historical wrong, the restitution of a hurt of a people and the countering of moral injustice,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
'A very vast majority of us will catch it at some point, about 8 out of 10 won't feel much worse than a common cold's nuisance, if at all, but some will die.' 'A very, very vast majority, at least about 98 per cent of those infected, if not more, under any circumstances, will live through it,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
The anti-CAA protest was an ugly rant more consistent with the violent chaos of anarchy, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'His portrayal of Income Tax Commissioner Amay Patnaik relies on his firm footing as a man of consequence to pitch itself as a tribute to the IT department's unsung heroes.' 'It's the most I've enjoyed watching Ajay Devgn in a while,' says Sukanya Verma.
'The Nagas want a flag of their own, to share the Kohima skyline with the national tricolour.' 'The the government says you can have a flag for cultural and ethnic occasions.' 'The Nagas say that will be a bit like an NGO having its own flag,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'Russian diplomacy is presumably at work.' 'The ground is slippery, because "territorial sovereignty" is a hugely sensitive issue,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's salvation lies in job creation by entrepreneurs, say Manish Sabharwal and Ashok Reddy.
'Modi followed a prime minister whose second term was marked by such tragic passivity that Indians, it would seem, are willing to go to great pains to help this one realise his ambitions for them.'
Whatever Mr Modi's other shortcomings be, his consistent efforts to motivate have created an aura of positivity, hopefully stable. He has also shown that he is not averse to taking decisions with possibly negative implications for him, says Shreekant Sambrani.
In the crazily complex cauldron that is India, where caste, community, class and cash are just the primary ingredients, no one has yet come up with a fool-proof method to ascertain how voters make up their minds, on which button to press, in the privacy of their 'confessional' booths, notes Krishna Prasad.
Rajeev Srinivasan on why there is the strong possibility that this whole thing is an elaborate charade and how the mainstream might have just played into Trump's showman hands.
