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Tuesday, September 30, 2025

PoV

Women’s pleasure not precaution — Indian condom ads have become better over the years

They started with family planning and gradually evolved to show safe sex and now talk about female pleasure. Good to see ads where the woman is not a placeholder or overly sexualised.

Bollywood doesn’t know how to make biopics of ‘bold’ actors. Zeenat Aman right to worry

Movies about Praveen Babi, Silk Smitha have treated them as victims, and emotional trainwrecks. The missing ingredient in both cases was input from the actor or those close to them.

Jay Shetty’s fake origins don’t matter to his Instagram cult. They just want ‘meaning’

Most influencers are modern-day godmen and snake-oil salesmen riding on our insecurity and peddling fake dreams. Jay Shetty is just the latest to be called out.

Online creeps are ‘crushing’ on Aaradhya Bachchan. It’s bordering on paedophilia

The comments on social media show how it’s become normal to sexualise children. Comments like ‘maa se beti crush updated’ to another asking why she didn’t dress like this before.

Laapataa Ladies is gentle feminism but a strong reply to films like Animal

The revolution in Laapataa Ladies isn’t over-the-top. It unfolds in the realm of the ordinary and is even flawed at times.

K-pop industry needs a Taylor Swift revolution—openness on failed romances, mental health

An NYT article on singer Goo Hara’s life cut short by suicide angered K-pop fans. But it has reignited a necessary conversation that otherwise surfaces only when a K-pop star takes the extreme step.

Stray dogs don’t ‘charge to kill’, ‘plot to poop’. So-called menace is a human-made problem

Hate to mention the obvious, but stray dogs are animals. They do not think like humans, they don’t know logic, they aren’t operating with a conscience. They are simply trying to survive.

Pankaj Udhas made the ghazal relatable, away from its high-culture Urdu citadel

Pankaj Udhas’ melancholic voice resonated with the grief-filled hearts of many North Indians. With a drink and chakhna in hand, or at a Mughlai food restaurant, his ghazals provided comfort and solace.

Suspending IFS officer for Akbar-Sita naming controversy shows how vulnerable Forest Service is

It sends the message to every forest official that their jobs no longer depend just on addressing environmental concerns, health of wildlife; it also depends on naming of animals.

‘Everything happening now has roots in 90s’—Why Varun Grover chose it for ‘All India Rank’

Varun Grover’s central character in ‘All India Rank’ is not the underdog. He is nearly an outsider figure in Kota’s IIT race who experiences the urgency and pressure but isn’t compelled to participate in it.

On Camera

Jana Sangh leader VK Malhotra brought Advani to Delhi, kept the party afloat after 1984 setback

Unlike his colleagues from the time of the BJS, several of whom became governors and held other constitutional posts, Malhotra chose to lead a quiet and simple retired life after the massive 2014 victory of the BJP.

Market regulator SEBI clears Adani Group of impropriety alleged by Hindenburg Research

SEBI probe concluded that purported loans and fund transfers were paid back in full and did not amount to deceptive market practices or unreported related party transactions.

In Nepal, young dreams of serving in Indian Army crash as Agnipath halts a centuries-old tradition

Since 1815, Nepali Gorkhas have served in Indian & British Armies, as well as in Bihar, Bengal & Assam Police. Since Agnipath scheme came in, no Nepal-domiciled Gorkha has enlisted.

Something’s hidden in the Oval Office photo of Trump, Munir, Sharif. India must look closely

What Munir has achieved with Trump is a return to normal, ironing out the post-Abbottabad crease. The White House picture gives us insight into how Pakistan survives, occasionally thrives and thinks.