A peek into the Big B's life.
Rediff.com presents India's Olympic wonder-women...
Despite putting unprecedented security measures in place for Euro 2016, France remains deeply concerned over the jihadists' ability to strike a soft target. Millions of foreign visitors and the world's press are set to descend on the country for a month of sporting action from Friday -- creating endless nightmares for its overstretched security services. "From the point of view of preparation, we have done as much as possible. Everyone has been mobilised: police, paramilitaries, many soldiers," a senior counter-terrorism official told AFP, on condition of anonymity. But, he said, "to be totally honest, I'm worried." President Francois Hollande acknowledged the threat on Sunday, though he tried to put a brave face on it. "This threat will last for a long time, unfortunately, so we must do everything to ensure that the Euro 2016 is a success," he told France Inter radio. Hollande's government introduced a state of emergency in the wake of last year's jihadist attacks in Paris, allowing police to raid homes and place people under house arrest with minimal oversight.
'Who is a superstar? What is a superstar?' 'It's all bullsh*t, there's nothing to it.' 'If you start taking all the sh*t seriously, it's going to go to your head and you will go cuckoo there.'
The ruling party has indicated willingness to discuss opposition-sponsored motions on 'intolerance'; Jaitley has also shown willingness to accommodate concerns on GST
When TV stars take on the big screen...
'What would a composite of Dawood, Rajan, and Arun Gawli be like?' 'What if an absconding mafia boss were to land in Mumbai tomorrow, tired from all the running, and tender his final apology to the city by narrating his story and narrating it with brutal honesty?' Sreehari Nair watches Sacred Games.
'He has not done any harm to anyone. Yet you give him life imprisonment.' 'We were told to respect the Constitution. That is what Sai is doing; he is not doing anything beyond the Constitution.'
When Jaws released in June 1975, it changed the way Americans watch movies, says Aseem Chhabra.
How old was Ajmal Kasab when he was recruited into the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to carry out the 26/11 attacks? Going by an interrogation report prepared by the Bangalore Police, Kasab was 16 when he was roped into the LeT.
The American media, which demanded action by the Obama administration when a junior consular staff was detained in Lahore for killing two men, has attacked the Indian government for siding with its diplomat after her arrest and ill-treatment.
'I toh don't even understand making crores because I have never done such a commercially hit film in my life.' 'It's unbelievable for me.'
No matter how much the likes of Modi brag about cleaning up politics, the goondas and the godfathers will flourish until India can deliver justice to its poor and the system can work to the benefit of ordinary Indians, says Vir Sanghvi.
'Kaala's sin is not that it is presented as a mouthpiece for its director Pa Ranjith's political viewpoints, but that it makes a travesty of them.' 'Ranjith turns Marx into merchandise, all the while functioning as a hired hand for Brand Rajinikanth,' points out Sreehari Nair.
The military continues to battle difficult circumstances in Kashmir. Let's not add to their woes by spreading half-baked stories, factually incorrect posts and inaccurate articles.
The JNU student leader said, "There is an atmosphere of fear in the country and anybody who speaks against the government is threatened."
In a career spanning two decades, Begali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh directed movies that spoke volumes of his deep understanding of human emotions and relationships. Hailed as one of the most important Indian directors of his time, Ghosh's journey to cinematic greatness was abruptly cut short when he passed away in his sleep early Thursday morning. Raja Sen remembers the late maverick.
India's dominance went uncontested for the fifth successive day at the 12th South Asian Games, as its shooters, wushu players and track-and-field athletes annihilated competition to sweep most of the gold medals up for grabs, in Guwahati, on Wednesday.
'If there is any industry that is unfit for modern corporate form it is the diamond trade.' 'But no one was asking the right questions.' 'The music was playing and so the game was on,' says S Murlidharan, former MD, BNP Paribas.
Why, centuries after the French Revolution promised an end to feudalism, do political dynasties persist -- even in democracies, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
President Pranab Mukherjee talked extensively about the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and the role of lawmakers during his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day.
There is no time limit on resolving the "extraordinary mystery" of the missing Malaysian jet, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said today, even as the latest leads on possible plane debris turned out to be false alarms.
Watch the trailers and predict the winner at the end.
'Outsiders are the ones who have to make the biggest journey to realise themselves, to come back to some sense of normality.' Director Jacques Audiard and actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan discuss the human landscape behind the award-winning film, Dheepan, with Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
The prime minister has followed a dual strategy. He is invoking Gandhi to project himself as a statesman and yet, because he is essentially a politician, he has to take the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh along as well
'Talent has no religion. There will be people who will criticise me, but if I take them seriously, I won't be able to do a lot of things in my career.' Pakistani actress Humaima Malick gets ready for Bollywood success.
Badlapur is all fury and fog, a revenge saga that plays out with great eyebrow-singeing intensity, says Raja S
Not Mekhail. Not Rahul. Not anyone. 'Wouldn't someone have asked?' Indrani asked.
There is no chance of the case against Devyani Khobaragade being dropped, but a plea deal is possible, which could avoid a jail term for the Indian diplomat, sources in the US government tell Rediff.com's George Joseph in New York.
US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, newly elected co-chair of the influential Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, discusses her vision for US-India ties with Rediff.com's Monali Sarkar.
'You don't want to admit that it is your wife in the video because she said you were arrested on Wednesday (August 19; Shyamvar Rai states he was arrested on August 21, a Friday).'
'Smita had it all planned out. She was pregnant then and planning to leave Raj Babbar after the baby was born. In an enthralling new book Smita Patil, A Brief Incandescence (HarperCollins), Maithili Rao reveals the many fascinating facets of the incomparable actress whom we lost too young.
'There is nothing wrong in accepting Rama as a God.' 'You will not get to read a story as deep as Valmiki's Ramayana in which he talks about complex relations, strong emotions, pain, desertion and unconditional love. Whether you depict Rama as a human being or a divine person, the Ramayana is an epic with a great human story.' 'It is not religious intolerance at all; this is part of political power and polarisation. A religious person will never act intolerant towards another religion.'
Dani Alves has blamed the media for Brazil's unsuccessful World Cup campaign but conceded that the team did not prepare properly ahead of the humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-final.
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It's perverse to rationalise 'controlled' killings or torture -- without going down a slippery moral slope. Once the state stoops to torture, it's liable to sink into tyranny, says Praful Bidwai.
Don't catch falling knives or chase bear rallies no matter how enticing those eight pc green blips look. They may be mouse traps, warns Sonali Ranade
