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Thursday, April 18, 2024

PoV

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.

Aditya Dhar’s ‘Article 370’ wins over Kashmir Files, Kerala Story. Focuses on entertainment

Where 'The Kashmir Files' and 'The Kerala Story' fell flat by relentlessly pushing propaganda, Article 370 scores by striving for entertainment alongside its message.

On Camera

Modi’s Newsweek Q&A was without questions—and how ANI interviews in 2019 and 2024 compare

The widely accepted belief that the BJP and its allies will win the 2024 Lok Sabha election comfortably informs Smita Prakash’s questions to PM Modi.

Cash-guzzling ops, delayed filings, investor scorn — how Byju’s flew too close to the sun & got burnt

Fighting fires on all fronts — from inability to pay salaries to mismanagement allegations, cases in NCLT & ED probe — Byju's valuation has dropped to $250 mn from $22 bn in 2022.

Iron Dome, David’s Sling & the Arrow — what makes up Israel’s mega multi-layered air defence system

On 6 May 1985, Israel and the United States signed an MoU on the development of a missile defence system against long-range threats, which is the genesis of Tel Aviv’s air defence umbrella.

44 years on, two things that have changed in Modi’s BJP, and one that hasn’t

As the BJP heads for a likely third successive term in power, it's fascinating to debate how true it looks to the original proposition: a party with a difference.