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Sunday, August 31, 2025

PoV

Big K-pop stars aren’t coming to India and it’s because fans aren’t rich enough

Everyone in showbiz wants to tap into and capitalise on the fan base in India, but it’s insulting to think that we are so obsessed with K-pop that we mindlessly consume all things Korean.

The Devil Wears Prada is going to Broadway. But it makes no sense without Meryl Streep

No actor can replace Streep as the iconic Miranda Priestly. And it is not a comment on Vanessa Williams’ acting prowess, but rather on the fact that no one can recreate perfection

UK’s TikTok army to stop immigrants—influencer envoy is the new era in diplomacy

For the Rishi Sunak govt, the key to solving the migrant issue lies not in careful policy-making or international cooperation but in using the TikTok algorithm for ‘dystopian sponcon’.

Airports in India are posh and plush. So why are they stingy with basics like wheelchairs?

Airlines can take seat cushions out to run budget carriers, not critical support. Wheelchairs are critical.

Aditya Narayan’s sur training doesn’t include grace. He owes Bhilai gratitude

Why did Bhilai even invite him? I guess out of their own goodness. Because ‘Chhattisgarhiya sabse badhiya’.

Ranveer Singh-Johnny Sins ad has an unlikely hero—women’s pleasure

The tone of the ad marks a departure from the conventional landscape of sexual wellness advertisements. To watch a woman talking about sexual dissatisfaction is new.

Taylor Swift is the victim in every public controversy. Even when suing a college student

Just like her songs, there is a ‘Taylor’s version’ for everything that happens in the world. Maybe we should listen to her when she says—“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me”.

Uttarakhand govt is now ‘Mummy-Daddy’ state. Live-in is the new marriage

The BJP government's Uniform Civil Code Bill, passed by the Uttarakhand assembly, arms an already judgemental society with more weapons to make life difficult for a couple seeking to live together.

Pandit Ravi Shankar’s insecurity robbed India of a musical genius—Annapurna Devi, his wife

Nirmal Chander traced the life of Annapurna Devi in his documentary, 6-A Akash Ganga—named after the Mumbai residence where she retreated to and coached her students.

Indian music isn’t a one-trick pony. Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain Grammy proves it

Apart from 'The Moment', Zakir Hussain also bagged an award for 'Pashto', a song made in collaboration with Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia.

On Camera

From Vedanta, India turned to Nehruvian socialism and buried its liberal roots: Sharad Joshi

An Indian Hitler will have to be exceptionally lucky to survive for any length of time. This much hope ought to be enough for seekers of liberty and equality, wrote Sharad Anantrao Joshi, president of Swatantra Bharat Paksh party, in 1995.

Easy loans, uneasy ‘debt traps’. Women harassed by private lenders ask ‘who will restore lost dignity?’

A public meeting, where the women voiced their protest, took place this month in Delhi, grounded on the findings of an AIDWA survey, covering 9,000 women borrowers.

Ahead of SCO meet, Russia & China stage maiden joint submarine patrol in Sea of Japan, East China Sea

Joint submarine patrol ‘covered more than 2,000 nautical miles’ and was joined by Russian support vessels. Beijing maintains exercise ‘not directed against any third party’.

For Indian Mercedes, Asim Munir’s dumper truck in mirror is closer than it appears

From Munir’s point of view, a few bumps here and there is par for the course. He isn’t going to drive his dumper truck to its doom. He wants to use it as a weapon.