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Wednesday, April 8, 2026

PoV

Where did Ramayana spend Rs 4000 cr budget? Ranbir Kapoor’s de-ageing or copycat rakshasas

The VFX effects are what you’d expect from a run-of-the-mill video game or a mediocre fantasy show. But a film that supposedly cost thousands of crores? The audience deserves more.

Heartbreak did what marketing couldn’t for MTV Splitsvilla—more viewers

A love triangle, a heartbreak, and some jaw-dropping drama have brought the show straight into social media chatter, memes, and even X’s trending list.

The big fat IPS wedding people just can’t stop talking about

IPS KK Bishnoi and IPS Anshika Verma’s palatial Jodhpur wedding missed a key truth—power complicates tradition and personal joy.

Chiraiya shows marital rape is structural—it is embedded in India’s legal framework

Chiraiya, streaming on JioHostar, confronts consent within marriage. It stars Divya Dutta, Siddharth Shaw and Prasanna Bisht.

HBO’s Harry Potter reboot misses the point—magic isn’t meant to be remade

A Harry Potter reboot coming barely a decade and a half after the original films ended risks flattening our emotional history.

Theatre is dying in India. We need our own Broadway

America's Broadway works because of infrastructure, not just talent. India has never offered that.

New Harry Potter series is a shameless cash grab for JK Rowling, HBO

The recent trailer for the upcoming Harry Potter series fails to ignite a flame of nostalgia in the generation that witnessed denim-on-denim fashions and a pre-social media climate.

Hannah Montana deserves a reunion of its characters, not actors

As much as I loved seeing Miley Cyrus walk into the closet of my dreams in the Hannah Montana reunion, I hate that the anniversary special didn’t tell me what my favourite pop star is doing 20 years later.

Mo Salah changed Liverpool beyond football. Hate crimes dropped by 19% after he joined

In a city like Liverpool, Salah became something more than a footballer. 'Salah became so popular that most of the babies born in Merseyside were named after him.'

In this Women’s History Month, Dhurandhar 2 is the biggest hit. Let that sink in

Kiran Rao’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ was the talk of the town in March 2024. In Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’, women serve as mere victims and plot devices.

On Camera

Rahul Gandhi wants to jail Himanta Sarma but Congress has a Bihar-sized problem in Assam

The Congress has promised Rs 50,000 assistance to each woman but as we've seen in many recent elections, voters seem to be conscious of the proverb: 'A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.'

Stocks fall, oil prices climb as Trump issues fresh threat to Iran ahead of his deadline

Fears that an escalation of the conflict could heighten a fuel squeeze & endanger the economy unnerved traders, with NYT reporting Iran stopped negotiating a truce with the US.

UAE walks away from financing Rafale F5 due to restricted access to technology, reports French media

French newspaper La Tribune earlier last week indicated that UAE withdrew from deal to fund EUR 3.5 billion. India is looking to order 114 new Rafales, which could include the F5.

China insulated itself against energy shocks. India is ‘all talk, no walk’

China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.