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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

PoV

‘Pushpa 2’ suffers from lame villain syndrome—a waste of Faasil’s talent

After his stellar introduction, Faasil’s Shekhawat just tanks. The so-called IPS officer is reduced to a clown, with none of his moves landing the punch they’re supposed to.

Pushpa is a flower too. He sheds tears before women, is vulnerable

Pushpa shows that ‘fire' or 'wildfire’ he may be for his haters, but vulnerability is also equally important.

Pushpa 2 choreography is a tragic mashup of yoga and intimate poses. No Antava

There’s no dance in Pushpa 2’s 'Kissik' & 'Peelings'. If director Sukumar aimed to recreate the magic of Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s Oo Antava, then he lost the plot miserably.

‘Manifest’ is the Gen Z abracadabra. Now it has Cambridge dictionary’s approval

It’s not just manifestation that has got the dictionary nod of approval. Gen Z language gets a boost of legitimacy with ‘word of the year’ honours from various reputed dictionaries.

Dhanush is teaching Nayanthara a lesson—upset male stars at your own risk

Dhanush clearly has an upper hand as he drags Nayanthara into a legal battle over the use of a 3-second clip in her Netflix documentary. How dare she decide to monetise her stardom?

Child influencers on Instagram aren’t cute. The race for likes robs them of innocence

In Australia, PM Anthony Albanese is facing pushback from academics and child rights organisations for his blanket ban on social media for kids under 16.

Sharda Sinha’s ‘Kahe Tose Sajna’ was my coming of age. Bhojpuri music wasn’t all bawdy

Sharda Sinha was truly the guardian of Bihar’s rich cultural music heritage.

Dalgona coffee craze disappeared from vocabulary. And nobody is missing it

People want to drink coffee, not eat some sugar-loaded foam.

India gets unfairly bashed for unhygienic street food. Bangkok, New York are no different

Indian cuisine is rooted in fresh ingredients, rich spices with antimicrobial properties, and time-tested cooking methods. We are not a freeze-and-serve fast food nation.

Govt offices just can’t handle my South Indian name. A saga of dots and initials

This isn’t a rant. It’s a major issue faced by lakhs of people — predominantly from South India — when they try to navigate the myriad of government IDs and their differing rules.

On Camera

Bihar mimics 19th-century American South. Citizenship is now weaponised to exclude voters

Disenfranchisement by institutional fiat is profoundly undemocratic. The effect of the ECI's new documentary process in Bihar will tilt the scales in favour of the BJP.

India-US set to ink mini trade deal soon, reach understanding on agricultural & dairy products

Mini deal will likely see no cut in 10% baseline tariff on Indian exports announced by Trump on 2 April, it is learnt, but additional 26% tariffs are set to be reduced.

Not just AK-203, India & Russia to jointly manufacture AK-19 and PPK-20 for domestic use and export 

India-Russia JV is also racing to deliver 7,000 more AK-203 assault rifles by 15 Aug. These are currently being made with 50% indigenisation and this will surge to 100% by 31 December.

Strategic partner one day, tactical nightmare the next: India’s learning Trumplomacy the hard way

Public, loud, upfront, filled with impropriety and high praise sometimes laced with insults. This is what we call Trumplomacy. But the larger objective is the same: American supremacy.