#Raees – A Brief Review
January 26, 2017Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui sparkle in this tightly paced, masala mix.
Category: India
DNA Column : Jallikattu Protests- Reading the subtext
January 23, 2017I Write for the DNA today To understand the issues surrounding Jallikattu, it helps to look at a changing India and the fault lines that arise from it. The first thing we need to understand is that Urban India is made up…
News : The Future
January 19, 2017The nature of truth has changed. From an era, where one looked at proof and evidence to discuss what was right and wrong, it moved almost seamlessly to one, where we look for news content that confirms our biases. From a world…
2016 Retrospective : The Dystopian Present is here, is it ?
December 31, 2016Was there ever a year like this ? Every literary cliche you can think of, can be brought into play year. And yet, as 2016 makes way for 2017, a question remains – will 2017 be better than 2016 ? And there…
Short Review : Dear Zindagi
December 1, 2016I finally got to see Dear Zindagi. A story about a young woman – a cinematographer – who has everything going for her. She is confident, talented, good looking – and yet feeling completely out of sorts. Nightmares. Insomnia. A sense of…
Bhimsen Joshi – Miyan Ki Todi
November 27, 2016My absolutely favourite piece of music. Bhimsen Joshi the most masterful rendition of Miyan Ki Todi. The bada khayal is the single most enticing piece of music I have heard. Change Nainon Waali… It is almost as though he is enticing the…
The Department of Offended Feelings … a proposal
November 6, 2016From yesterday’s news, this Police at Kankroli in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan have registered a first information report against Hindi film actress Rakhi Sawant on charges of indulging in obscenity by wearing a dress with the pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi…
The New Yorker endorses Clinton …..
October 23, 2016…. but, it is one of the sharpest pieces of writing on what ails America, and the Trump phenomenon. Such precision is devastating. If the prospect of a female President represents a departure in the history of American politics, the candidacy of…
Documentary : Bhimsen Joshi by Gulzar
October 9, 2016A lovely little documentary (about an hour), on Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, by Gulzar. One lovely bit, where Panditji says, just call me Bhimsen. Mujhe Pandit se nafrat hai, aaj koi bhi pandit ban jaata hai. He is referring to the tradition, where a…
India and Pakistan — time to forget we were one.
October 2, 2016When I was growing up, I was often told, by my father’s friends – India and Pakistan, we are brothers. we have the same language, culture, etc etc etc. This was when we lived in Delhi. i later realised that the fact…