Deepa Gahlot lists some 2023 movies that you need to watch if you haven't already.
Jawan springs a real surprise when it boldly and directly points fingers at the ineffective government and appeals to recognise the power of the finger and vote. Six months before the next general Indian election, this is no coincidence, observes Sukanya Verma.
Laapataa Ladies is gentle yet firm in calling out the hypocrisies colouring everyday mindsets and prejudices without acquiring the high-handedness of a crusader, observes Sukanya Verma.
From moments that felt long time in the coming to swashbuckling statements that could be interpreted in more ways than one, there are some that fanned our nostalgia, some made our jaws drop (or stomachs churn), some hit too close home, still others left us with a lingering sense of guilt. Sukanya Verma picks cinematic imagery that stood out in 2023.
'These crimes have left a dark mark on my thoughts and conscience.'
Here are eight images that prove we live in a odd, odd world.
If you are looking for a fluffy rom-com without much pravachan, Kushi is worth a watch, recommends Divya Nair.
Meet the youngsters who rule India's social media.
Sukanya Verma recaps all those events from 25 years ago.
Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
Sam Bahadur is a mechanical summary of his life, ticking off one chapter after another without bothering to pause or ponder over their significance and influences, observes Sukanya Verma.
'If you are dark, you can't be a hero.' 'If you have curly hair, you can't be a hero.' 'If you were muscular, you had to become a fighter.' 'Today if you are muscular, you can be a hero.' 'Salman Khan made being muscular fashionable.'
'Whatever else may or may not happen, China and its people are likely to pay a very heavy price for the lack of transparency of its Communist regime,' predicts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
There were close matches, acrobatic fielding, some sharp bowling and big runs scored in the round-robin phase. Here are some memorable moments from the World Cup so far
Animal's violence isn't for the fainted-hearted unless you have an appetite for Korean style mayhem, like Sukanya Verma.
'The only film comparable with Archies would be Dil Chahta Hai.'
'While assisting on Made In Heaven, Ritesh Sidhwani asked me if I had anything I wanted to make.' 'Luckily, I had this script. I was working on the script of Eternally Confused And Eager For Love for four years.' 'Excel pitched the show to Netflix, and that was it!
The news of his passing is sad and sudden but the body of work he leaves behind will neither fade nor be forgotten.
'The pride of the devoted Seinfeld fan is that he happens to love a show that doesn't take his love for granted, so that even on repeat viewings he is never really sure what directions an episode might take,' observes Sreehari Nair.
Both films have occupied the top spot in the world and US box office respectively.
The world's most popular source for movie content, IMDB, has released its list of the Top 10 Most Popular Indian Stars of 2022.
Google on Wednesday launched its global 'Be Internet Awesome' programme for children in India in partnership with Indian comic book publisher Amar Chitra Katha to interweave critical internet safety lessons across eight Indian languages. The tech giant has also launched an enhanced Google Safety Centre in eight Indic languages as part of its efforts to step up safety of users on the internet. Google has significantly increased its resources dedicated to India's Trust Safety teams, including product policy analysts, security specialists, and user trust experts that support over 10 vernacular Indian languages, enabling its central teams to benefit from the local nuance and inputs.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled a Rs 39.45 lakh crore Budget with a view to fire up the key engines of the economy to sustain a world-beating recovery from the pandemic. This was Sitharaman's fourth Budget. While the taxpayers were left in the lurch, once again, was she able to cheer Corporate India?
Indians supposedly have the right to freedom, and the right to equality, which cuts across gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc, observes Devangshu Datta.
Ayushmann Khurrana is ready to repeat the flirtatious woman deed second time around in Dream Girl 2.
Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, besides looking at opportunities to expand his vast empire, is hooked on ChatGPT - the programme that trawls vast amount of information to generate natural-sounding text on virtually anything - from crafting jokes to writing ad copy, debugging computer code, to even generating poems and essays. Adani, whose conglomerate has in recent years diversified from mines, ports and power plants into airports, data centres and defence, penned musing from his visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting. "From a meetings perspective, this was perhaps my busiest WEF as I met over a dozen heads of states and several business leaders," he wrote on LinkedIn, talking of new geopolitical couplings, climate change and tight-lipped evangelists and AI.
His songs were the anchor, the substratum, if you will, upon which life unfolded day after day, decade after decade -- across villages, towns, cities, and regions. Siva Sankar pays tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam, the legendary singer who passed into the ages on Friday.
As much as we enjoy and write reams and reams about our amazement at the Kantara climax, 30 years on from now, will we remember these portions more fondly or the ones where Shiva is simply hanging out with his friends, mulls Rohit Sathish Nair.
'He made the whole country laugh. It's sad today that he has gone.'
As the second season of The Night Manager hits the OTT screen, Deepa Gahlot looks back at the top spy thrillers on streaming platforms.
The well-known satirist, who has issued a statement saying his comments weren't intended to insult the country, found backing from Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra as well as Congress leaders Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor.
After all, MSD is CSK and CSK is MSD.
Shiksha Mandal falters because of too many subplots and characters, observes Deepa Gahlot.
What is noticeable in both movies is the willingness with which both the ageing stars -- Kamal is 68 and Rajini, four years older at 72 with a kidney transplant that he has not shied away from acknowledging -- have learnt to respect their age and bodies, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
These images from across the globe tell that it is a crazy world out there.
He said he failed to understand the "process of judgement" of the crowning of the Miss World contest in 1997, in which Diana Hayden had got the award.
Desi sightings in Western fare are no longer a rarity.
'The young generation doesn't want to work with old hats like me.' 'They don't understand that we are brighter and wiser because of our experience.' 'We can take them on the right path, but they should keep their ears open.'
John Abraham is impressive in Attack. Sadly, the story is not, notes Namrata Thakker.
Full credit to Ayan Mukerji for venturing into the 'Astraverse', says Deepa Gahlot.
