CATEGORIES

‘I am happy about the new phase in my life'

Bobby Deol made a grand entry into Bollywood with Barsaat way back in 1995 and followed it up with major hits like Gupt (1997) and Soldier (1998). The youngest son of Dharmendra, however, failed to hold onto his early successes and had to sit at home without any work for three years in the new millennium. The 51-year-old, who makes his digital debut with Class of ’83, a Shah Rukh Khan-Netflix production on August 21, speaks to Giridhar Jha about his latest film, his 25 years in movies and how he handled his failure. Excepts:

Styled Yours, Mahi

Seen from the perch of his great brand appeal, Dhoni is in the sublime present, and as grounded and undemonstrative as ever .

Bharat Cadre

The IAS isn’t a preserve of the elite any longer. Candidates from the hinterland, often with disadvantaged backgrounds, are laying claim to its hallowed ranks.

Language of politics

More voices from the state demand learning of Hindi

A Rotor Blade

MSD impressed as rookie, champ, skipper in the quest to excel for India

THE GLOBAL DALIT, THE INDIAN BLACK

“We come together as voices, as figures, as persons who are willing to live and to die for that quest for truth, beauty, goodness, and justice.”

Parity in Disparity

Despite differences on how to get there, Ambedkar and the Congress shared a common goal: an egalitarian society

Tried Axone With Paneer Yet?

BEING a Northeasterner in India is not easy—a shadow of suspicion, that oddballish mistrust, tails each one who ventures west of those river valleys and forested highlands of the tourist brochures.

New Guard Against Uneven Bounce

English sports has gracefully acknowledged the Black Lives Matter movement. But cricket, football and all other sectors need to have people from diverse ethnicities in senior management positions.

Noir and Rouge: Getting Under the Skin of Indian Cinema

India, a land fertile in caste and colour racism, readily embraced the bias against ‘Black’ inherent in cinema technology and Western cinema—sometimes nakedly, as in Bollywood, and sometimes mediated through twisted, conflicted desires, as in regional films

PERIYAR Sunset?

Dravidian ideology is in regression. And the Hindu Right is at work trying to render irrelevant the small sites of struggle that may breathe life into it.

Full Citizenship Chai, With Ilaichi

Denial of the right to love still kills young people in India. For LGBT couples, not even the law is on their side.

Muslims and the MIRAJ

The Hindutva upswing since 2014 has catalysed a new Muslim identity. Will it unveil another paradigm of Indian politics?

Harry Them Not

From food to dialect, the jibes, sneers and bias directed at Biharis all over India aim to reduce them culturally

A Quarter Renaissance

Even with its self-deprecating tropes, the acme of ‘the modern Indian’—as seen by the Bengali in the mirror—was built around exclusions of ‘non-Bengalis’ and other marginalised groups

New Flint Knapping

From PPE kits to diagnostics, informatics and ventilators, tech start-ups have repurposed their expertise and preferences for the fight against COVID-19.

‘Our education must be culturally rooted and suit 21st century needs'

Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ tells Prakash Kumar that the National Education Policy 2020 aims to “transform India into a ledge society and global knowledge superpower”. Excerpts from the interview:

Ethnicity Leaking Red

A real-life Bollywood drama is stoking the dormant antipathy between Bengalis and North Indians in West Bengal. Sensing opportunity, politicians are jumping into the fray.

‘An actor is bound to shine under Mira Nair's guidance'

In Mira Nair’s latest offering, A Suitable Boy, based on the novel by Vikram Seth, Ishaan Khatter plays Maan, a prominent politician’s son. He talks to Lachmi Deb Roy about working with Mira Nair, the chemistry between Tabu and him in the show and his choices as an actor.

TURN TO CHAPTER THREE

The national education policy promises ‘large-scale’ changes, but can it complete unfinished lessons

Singam On long leave?

The Sattankulam police violence has cast a shadow on super cop movies in Tamil cinema

Eye from the Shikhara

An SC petition against the Place of Worship Act 1991 sparks fears of a replay of the Ayodhya saga in the temple towns of Kashi and Mathura

Dramatis persona

Ebrahim AlkAzi 1925-2020

Cost of Distrust

How political decisions by two countries hit a livelihood system based on cross-border business

Angels & Demons

Characters from India’s mythological cosmos are the new inspiration for writers in different languages

Shadow Of The Gun

A muscular policy that bulldozed a state and its people

‘Abrogation of Article 370 has strengthened voices of India in the Union Territory'

“Pandits have a right to return to the Valley. We are committed to bring them back with dignity, honour and safety.”

Twilight of the separatists?

Geelani says goodbye to the Hurriyat. Did India prompt it, or is Pakistan shifting its strategy? Either way, it’s a season of bitter goodbyes in Kashmir.

The Cashmere Game

With Kashmir nestled within, Britain and Russia were engaged in an all-terrain, high-stakes tussle over land, empire and perceived threats along the immense arc of India’s northern frontiers

Indefinite ARTICLE

The severe rupture in daily lives, professions and political hopes in Jammu & Kashmir can only be repaired by a democratic engagement with its people