Ahead of the UEFA Champions League proper, which kicks-off next month, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com tells football fans what to expect in this year's competition.
If I were to review it in one word, I'd say Ek Villain is... Unnecessary, writes Raja Sen.
For starters, Mad Max: Fury Road is gloriously nuts, says Raja Sen.
'The issue of the larger homeland of Nagalim, the dream of the Nagas to hold sway over swathes of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, is just that, a dream.' 'The NSCN has been told categorically that the government is not going to concede on this issue.'
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Ram Leela is a lavish visual spread and is filled with moments of thrill, ingenuity and splendour.
Policy of continuity won't help India earn business or respect, says Pramod Kumar Buravalli.
Before finding their 'happily-ever-after', some Kapoors have endured and inflicted heartbreak.
If Narendra Modi wants to become prime minister, he needs to do better, argues Amberish K Diwanji.
'It is impossible to pin down the genius of David Bowie, to distill any kind of essence of that singer-songwriter-visionary-buccaneer-icon into a line or several.'
62 mass murders carried out with firearms across 30 US states. Of these, 12 were in schools, 19 at workplaces, the other 31 cases took place in shopping malls, restaurants, government buildings and military bases. The average age of the killers was 35, with the youngest only 11 years old. B S Raghavan on how the killings will continue until America confronts the urgent need for gun control.
'One lesson to emerge out of the Modi-Putin summit is that India can be more self-confident that it possesses inherent strengths to leverage its interlocutors to influence Pakistani policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
By speaking out against Manmohan Singh, by constantly bashing the UPA/Congress, Modi by 2014 will be like a television show in replay mode. In winning the intra-BJP battle, he runs losing the war with the UPA, feels Amberish K Diwanji.
Love In Bombay is a piece of history, a fragment of a time that was. Letting us gaze at it is a great idea. Expecting it to compete with films shot six months ago, on the other hand, is dead wrong, writes Raja Sen.
If India toyed with the South Africans, it was mainly because of awesome performances from spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Yudh has really rubbished my expectations, rants Raja Sen.
Are the lions tourists see in Gir forest really wild and free? Prasanna D Zore doesn't feel so.
'No, you don't require tantrums, or beating a tattoo on the helmet or rude and hostile gestures to make a point.' 'A true fast bowler lets the ball do the talking as it crashes into the stumps,' says veteran sports commentator Kishore Bhimani.
'Laxman will be remembered for years to come as the person whom everybody turned to the first thing in the morning and drew a smile, however depressing the situation. It will be impossible to replace him...'
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
There is no doubt: Manmohan Singh must resign. Not merely because he has been humiliated, but because the persona of the PM has been sullied beyond measure, says Amberish K Diwanji
What the ordinance overturning the Supreme Court order debarring jailed MPs and MLAs from contesting elections reveals is that Sonia Gandhi is not a leader; rather, she is being led, says Amberish K Diwanji.
'As we were setting up our base camp, one of the women with professionally used brooms squatting in a corner and having chai approached us, with a grin. "Namaste Saheb, Acche Din to aahi gaye. From which party?"' Ambassador B S Prakash and a group of retired bureaucrats join the Swach Bharat Abhiyan.
Generations of Indian Americans have had Arthur first note their feats and recount it to the world. And that is why so many desis across America have been saddened by his passing.
Raja Sen's favourite bits from what was, overall, a glitzy but forgettable awards show.
Impressive says Adriana Lima who wore the Fantasy Bra for the latest Victoria's Secret Show.
Rediff Reader Ansh M visited Udaipur recently and came back with a bagful of memories!
It's election season in Tamil Nadu and all political parties are tying themselves in knots over the banned jallikattu but none more than the BJP, says R Ramasubramanian.
'According national security and higher defence management empathetic political attention they warrant is critical. Will Prime Minister Modi pick up this gauntlet?' asks C Uday Bhaskar.
Model Kate Moss believes she was a stripper in her past life and more fashion news
'If some Europeans do not allow Muslims to assimilate into European national cultures, some Muslims also refuse to try and adopt and assimilate.'
When an accused gets attacked on the way to court, and again within the court premises, with no intervention by a judicial officer, which space is safe, asks Jyoti Punwani.
The consistency of India's bowlers throughout the tournament disguised the team's batting problems till they were exposed in the semi-final against Australia.
'Murders happen every day. Some get correctly solved, some get incorrectly solved and some never get solved. Most of the time, nobody bothers. But if the murdered person is someone big or related to someone big, then it becomes a problem...'
One cannot but infer that this brouhaha is a crafty ploy to create an issue out of a non-issue. An overview of post-independent India's history reveals that it is not the BJP or the Sangh Parivar but Marxist historians who have been guilty of debasing history to suit their vested interests, says Vivek Gumaste.
Raja Sen feels Apoorva Lakhia's Zanjeer is an unwarranted, atrocious remake.
'For Aamir Khan, the producer of Delhi Belly, to shame these boys -- and the celebrities involved -- for swearwords and insults, is the most hypocritical thing in the world. Raja Sen calls out Aamir Khan on his criticism of the controversial AIB Roast.
Shah Rukh Khan yelps and squeaks and shrieks and bares fangs and pouts and, well, exhausts himself overcompensating at every step, despite nobody else in the film following this template.
With what joyous expectations I welcomed you! You have tumbled me into a cauldron of gloomy forebodings, says B S Raghavan.
'Of all the Superstar Khans, I still believe that Shah Rukh Khan is the one most capable of surprising me,' says Sreehari Nair. 'I always have this feeling that that great Shah Rukh Khan turn that would somehow hold all his vaporously brilliant elements together is just around the corner.'
