Narendra Modi's engagement at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Brazil will be keenly watched as the prime minister will interact with some of the world's most powerful leaders. The summit to be held in Fortaleza will also see the launch of the significant BRICS bank whose idea was mooted by India. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt gives a lowdown on Modi's first major international rendezvous.
Aseem Chhabra salutes the late Italian Master and his cinema.
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted, 'Prime Minister Imran Khan will break ground at Kartarpura facilities on 28 November.'
Jawahar Sircar says his earnest request to ministry was to help strengthen public institutions.
Vanita Kohli-Khandekar on why Indian media and entertainment quality will remain a national gripe and why we, the viewers, are not blame free.
'It is a travesty that I have to prove my commitment to Gandhi and to this country.'
'India's real concern is that cash-strapped Pakistan is keeping its military hardware well oiled on American money,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'The honest truth is, after Tiger Zinda Hai released, the next time I was in contact with Salman again was on the sets of Bharat.'
'Asked which Dilip Kumar films were among her favourites, she said she had seen not a single movie of his until that time. This became a sensational issue. She did not mean to offend Dilip Kumar. There was not a bone of diplomacy in her and she never acquired that calculating attitude even at the cost of some of the roles that she would eventually lose.'
'There is no one who can fill the vacuum created by the passing of Girija Devi,' mourns Sunita Budhiraja.
With voter-verified paper audit trail being used on a large-scale for the first time in the country in the Mizoram Assembly polls, the Elections Commission is leaving no stone unturned to make it easily accessible to voters.
'I was in awe of how committed Kareena was, even at this stage of her career.' 'She is so motivated, giving it her all. 'It was very inspiring and motivating, not just for me, but for everyone else to pull up their socks and give it their all.'
Gandhi also took a potshot at the RSS, saying it was bent on changing the country's Constitution.
'Can he remain ignorant by saying he was 13 years old?' 'That means Rahul Gandhi must not talk on any subject in this country that precedes his adulthood.' 'He should remain unaware of history and knowledge of anything that has happened.'
The growth of a credible, objective news media business in India requires political will and a belief in free speech.
Prepping for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, remembering Rajesh Khanna and Raaj Kumar's exclusive tramp club and picking Ranbir Kapoor's best performance in my Super Filmi Week.
Among the finest Indian actors, voices and smiles to grace the stage and screen, Om Puri's uniqueness, always so fluid and natural, cannot be summed up in a few words, feels Sukanya Verma.
Tim Pigott-Smith hated the natives in The Jewel in the Crown, but went back a lover of India at the end of the four-month shoot. India not only gave him a career-defining role but touched him in many different ways. Documentary filmmaker Siddharth Kak -- who acted with the classy actor in the beloved television series -- shares his memories with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
'Here was a man who played a major part in helping the Bengalis of East Pakistan create a new nation, secured the merger of Sikkim into the Indian dominion and built R&AW into a formidable outfit, comparable to the best in the world.' Rameshwar Nath Kao shunned the limelight, hated to be photographed and preferred to work behind the scenes. A revealing excerpt from Nitin A Gokhale's much awaited book, R N Kao: Gentleman Spymaster.
Fighting sex trafficking and forced labour became Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat's life mission. The winner of the US State Department's 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report Heroes Award speaks to Rediff.com
'Designing the Bigg Boss sets is total dhamaal!' 'They are so happy with the way I design the sets that no questions are asked.' 'Contestants live there for three months, and so, the sets also become a character.'
After the Supreme Court ruling on playing the national anthem in all movie halls, Veenu Sandhu misses the innocent days when patriotism was part of our being, not a prescribed potion to bring all our problems to an end. And no one told us to 'leave', 'get out' or 'go to Pakistan' if we differed.
"Heart breaking & worrying in equal measure. At what point will the Centre (read Hon PM) wake up to the crisis here?" Omar wrote on Twitter.
AAP's campaign against me was unethical and false, says Kiran Bedi
'A bit of foresight would have helped.' 'Isn't it common sense that this is sowing and wedding season?' 'The plan is indeed unquestionably revolutionary, but better preparedness could have avoided such teething troubles.'
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
Top Union ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office.
Sarbjit does indeed deal with a story worth telling, but does so in the most obvious and uninspired fashion, writes Raja Sen
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
A 1990s Bollywood album. Ranbir Kapoor as Balraj Sahni. Dimple Kapadia's Crowning Glory days. Agha-Mukri-Kesto's fun, fabulous, forgotten friendship. Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week was a complete blast from the past.
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Launching a counter offensive against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for giving the Modi government "zero out of 10" for handling farmers' issues, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that "zeroes cannot see beyond zero".
'The film industry could never exploit his versatile range as actively as it should have. To not have delivered a *single* bad performance in one's career is an exceptional feat.' Sukanya Verma retraces her steps to the time she became a dedicated fan of Farooque Sheikh's work for life.
It is a fight for survival for the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, which has been its citadel. In an interview party President Sharad Pawar speaks on the NCP's prospects and how the Bharatiya Janata Party is exploiting Narendra Modi's popularity in the state assembly elections.
Star Trek is middle-aged and a bit tired but it's definitely here to stay, feels Shuma Raha.
With Dadri-like incidents triggering outrage, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said "small episodes" cannot damage "Hindu culture" and praised the Modi government for ushering in hope and confidence in the country and enhancing India's standing abroad.
Yet another round of talks on Tuesday failed to end the standoff between the government and FTII students over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its Chairman, with the students alleging "unwillingness or inability" of the authorities to act upon their core concerns.
Savouring Spielberg's fierce, fine movie; salivating over MAMI's line-up; gobbling a Shrek cake; visualising a desi Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants with Alia, Bhumi and more in Sukanya Verma's Super Filmi Week.
