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Saturday, December 20, 2025

Brandma

Marbels – fruity candies everyone loved in the early 2000s which mysteriously disappeared

The chewy, sweet-sour Marbels were all the rage in the early years of the last decade. But despite its popularity, the candies disappeared from the counters in India.

From frosty reception to now making upma, how Kellogg’s found a place on Indian breakfast table

In 1994, Kellogg's opened a plant in Mumbai & launched its premier cornflakes, as well as products like basmati rice flakes & wheat flakes, but struggled to suit Indian palates.

The fake ‘Rohan Rathore’ rumours around ‘Emptiness’, millennials’ go-to breakup song

It wasn't only the cheesy lyrics of the ballad that struck a chord with listeners. The popular legend of one Rohan Rathore gave the song a human touch, making the video an instant hit. 

Before Bollywood entry, Salman Khan did a Hero Honda ad. But CD100 bike was its star

Launched in 1985, Hero Honda CD100 took India’s two-wheeler market by storm & ruled the roads for at least 2 decades, because of its affordability & mileage. Many remember it as their first bike.

More than cricket, Vodafone ZooZoos are what most Indians remember of the 2009 IPL season

The cute, little, egg-shaped white characters, who spoke a tongue no one understood, were launched in Vodafone commercials of 2009, during the 2nd IPL season, and fast became a popular icon.

Poet Kaka Hathrasi’s music magazine, Sangeet, struggling, not in tune with times

Started in 1935 by poet Prabhu Lal Garg, Sangeet is the first music magazine of its kind in India. But from a monthly print of a few thousand copies, subscriptions are down to 650 today.

Flop Show — Jaspal Bhatti’s 1989 satire spared no one, and the common Indian loved it

The satire in Jaspal Bhatti’s Flop Show, which made a comeback during the lockdown last year, remains relevant three decades later. And its comedy is still (largely) just as funny.

Health food or not? Hippo toasties, the baked snack that died of an identity crisis

Launched in 2009 and discontinued in 2014 by Parle Agro, Hippo munchies attracted a loyal fan following but failed to continue in the market.

Zaika India Ka: Vinod Dua’s iconic food show was a search for Indian flavours, culture & people

In the late 2000s, Dua's hugely popular programme 'Zaika India Ka' gave viewers a feel of street food first-hand — way before food blogging or vlogging took off in India.  

Hatim, a low-budget epic about an Arabian prince, gripped Indian viewers in the early 2000s

The series was only on air for a year, but stood out from saas-bahu staples with its unapologetic fantasy storytelling and novel CGI to become cult classic

On Camera

Henry George’s Single Tax offers a democratic alternative to communist remedies: DM Kulkarni

The immediate benefit of Single Tax would be to reduce the sale prices of land to nominal ones. Landowners would no longer find it profitable to keep idle lands, wrote DM Kulkarni in 1960.

China is taking India to WTO over subsidies, again. Here’s what it’s arguing before trade body

Dispute will now move to consultative process, which allows the two sides to come to an amicable agreement within 60 days.

Israel has ‘realised who its real friend is’, eyes defence expansion in India amid arms curbs by others

It is argued that India-Israel ties are moving from buyer–seller dynamic to one focused on joint development & manufacturing partnership, a shift 'more durable' than traditional arms sales.

Dhurandhar shows hard cinema is soft power and Pakistan is unapologetically the target

If Pathaan gave both conservatives and liberals room to hide, Dhurandhar extends no such courtesy. Aditya Dhar ripped open that tent of hypocrisy and turned the knife.