‘Aata Majhi Satakli’: the Singham Syndrome
‘Minister log mere peeche aur police log mere jeb mein rehte hai” (Ministers follow me and the police is in my pocket) The Hindi film industry has a unique...
The hypocrisy of India’s secular polity
At an India Today media conclave in early 2018, Sonia Gandhi made a rather candid confession: the BJP, she said, had managed to convince many people that the Congress...
Dilip Sardesai: Stamping his legacy in the joyful islands of sun and sand
The first month in high school can often be unnerving and discomfiting in a new environment. As a six-year-old stepping into Mumbai’s Campion School in January 1971, I was...
50 years of Sunny Days
I am a 70s kid, or like to at least believe I am one. The 70s were India and Indira Gandhi’s decade of socialism and the emergency, which meant...
Opposition-Mukt Bharat?
Long before Puducherry, there was Goa. In 1994, riding on the Ram Janmabhoomi wave, the BJP won four seats for the first time in the 40 member Goa assembly....
From Cinema to Cricket: Copy Paste Celebrities
Long before Akshay Kumar, there was Kishore Kumar. The singer-actor crooned his way into the hearts of millions but his genius was not confined to his melodious voice. In...
Thank you Rahane and Co, in gloomy times we needed a blissful moment like this
It’s pitch dark. It’s cold. Bloody cold. 5.30 am in January in the national capital can be cruel on the body. Wrapped up in a warm blanket, bleary-eyed, you...
The ‘Adani Ambani’ Connection
Remember the Hindi films of the 1960s socialistic era when the villain was often the ‘evil’ exploitative ‘udyogpati’ (industrialist)? Now, decades later, the farmer protests have recreated a familiar...
A prayer for 2021: where the mind is without fear ..
After a traumatic and turbulent 2020, its time to ring in a new year with hope. And since Rabindranath Tagore is being re-discovered by our netas ahead of the...
The Anna and kisan movements
One of the more ironical images during last week’s Bharat Bandh called by farmers groups was that of social activist Anna Hazare on a day long hunger fast in...