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Friday, September 19, 2025
TopicBeyond the Reel

Topic: Beyond the Reel

Long before Mahsa Amini, Iranian cinema has fought hijab in small rebellions

From Abbas Kiarostami to Rakshan Bani-Etemad and Mania Akbari, for Iranian filmmakers it has been a carefully choreographed waltz of rebellion against stifling hijab rules.

India has no TV, OTT content for its nearly 50 crore GenZs. It’s still a millennial machine

From Rang De Basanti to TVF, millenials saw entire industries represent them in pop culture. For Gen Z, we have only scratched the surface.

The eyes, chico, they never lie — It’s Shefali Shah’s era and we are just living it

In a world of male character actors in OTT, be it Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi or Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shefali Shah has quietly blazed her way to the top.

If Tolkien’s work is the Bible, then Amazon Prime’s ‘Rings of Power’ is a litany of sins

Rings of Power is glorified fan fiction with a multi-million dollar budget.

Rajinikanth to Dhanush, how Tamil stars have portrayed politics of ‘freebies’

In his 1993 film Valli, 'Superstar' Rajinikanth urged crowds to diss freebies and ask for employment.

R. Madhavan is slowly fashioning himself as the Akshay Kumar of the south

Madhavan is fast walking into a political hall of fame inhabited by stars such as Kangana Ranaut and Akshay Kumar.

Modi, Ajit Doval are firing up movie and show plots too – FIR, Uri, Shoorveer

FIR is an example of getting things right in a national security-based thriller. The PM and NSA are not cardboard cutouts.

After Mammootty and Mohanlal, who? Fahadh Faasil is the new poster boy of Malayalam cinema

Fahadh Faasil won’t play your garden-variety hero. He’s bending the norms, creating his own multiverse and getting pan-Indian acclaim.

Gangs of Wasseypur ended plastic NRI dramas. Gritty small towns have ruled Bollywood since

Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur introduced audiences to masterful storytelling in small-town India and foreshadowed the raw creative OTT boom.

‘People’s man’ of Tamil cinema Vijay Sethupathi never plays a character. He becomes them

In Sethupathi's latest film 19(1)(a), his character is silenced by a bullet. But the actor is much like the film—he speaks only through his performances.

On Camera

Terror and talks, no. Terror and cricket, yes?

Have the totally avoidable overs in the Asia Cup sent mixed signals about our resolve to fight terrorism coming from Pakistan’s soil? Govt needs to explain reasons for this sudden ‘olive branch’.

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.

‘Attack on one is attack on both’—As Pakistan & Saudi Arabia sign pact, a look at their ties since 1967

Building on long-standing ties & Islamic solidarity, Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement comes at a time of heightened regional tensions especially after Israeli attack on Doha.

Gen Zs have taken down the Nepal regime. Here’s why this will never happen in India

To be truly functional and durable, even eternal, a state doesn’t just need a leader, a party or an ideology. It needs functional and robust institutions.