Dad always says, “Murda-parasto ki duniya” (the world only appreciates the dead).India mourned a very significant loss sometime back, that of Dr. Abdul Kalaam Azad (APJ), scientist, former President and a great teacher. I read the news while I was scrolling through my phone in a movie (I do that to escape the boring […]
Now before you start judging a book by its cover, no this piece has got nothing to do with staying fit and healthy. Not in the physical sense of the word at least. Its got to do with mental health or peace; with fitting-in, be it with a group of friends or in an organisation. Somehow […]
Remember when the two of you used to be best friends, and couldn’t wait to tell each other stuff. Maybe not everything, but the important stuff or the funny stuff or the heart breaking stuff. And now, you see each other, node politely, exchange a kind word or two, promise to catch up and […]
Many years ago, actor Matt Damon ‘dumped’ (yes, that is the word that was bandied around) Minnie Driver, his co-star in Good Will Hunting and then girlfriend, on The Oprah Winfrey Show and even though those were relatively innocent times (and private relationships were not managed or mismanaged in full public view to the extent […]
We cannot let go of her. Of her parents. Or their tragedy. Or the speculations about what could have happened on the night of 15-16 May, 2008 in an upper-middle class Noida home. And so (they changed the ‘w’ in the title to ‘v,’ just in case) a film about her death will hit the […]
Recently, when the story of a child abuse scandal in Pakistan was broken, 400 video recordings of more than 280 children being forced to have sex, were discovered. Just another form of porn, that is also distributed and consumed. In 2013, according to reports, the Shakti Mills rapists made the survivor watch clippings of […]
Rebecca Ferguson in a gold gown, climbing towards a precarious vantage point so that she can disrupt an opera with a stray bullet. Yes, the camera lingers on those sculpted legs, the sinewy shoulders but it is to drive home the fact that this woman is liquid steel. When someone calls Tom Cruise the manifestation […]
He is Farhad, cutting through a taciturn mountain with clenched tenacity. And Forrest Gump fuelled by an impossible to bear grief, traversing long distances like a messiah and being followed by agenda seekers. Or Gandhi who will be the change he wants to see in the world. And Aron Ralston, trapped between a rock and […]
About a week ago, I visited Charminar in Hyderabad. My friends and I had been quite excited about the trip and couldn’t wait to shop for trinkets and try the much talked about biryani and kababs. However,the minute we stepped out of the cab, it started pouring, and the harassment began. It’s not like I […]
How do you sum up a success story that goes beyond individual achievement? How do you sum up Elattuvalapil Sreedharan in a few stock phrases like the Metro Man and the Karmyogi? The fact that he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005 and named […]
George Calombaris is a diminutive man but you would never know it. He is someone who could always see the big picture and the story goes that when he was an apprentice, he used to work with a really tall chef. But George would be too busy running the ship to notice that. He […]
During one of the many special screenings of Masaan in Mumbai, Shabana Azmi came up to Vicky Kaushal and said incredulously, “Tum kaun ho? Kya kaam kiya hai tumne! (Who are you? What an amazing job!) Come, you must meet Javed saab!’’ Javed Akhtar who was coming out of the theatre just at that […]