Spanking Sonu Nigam

In an unfortunate choice of words, Sonu Nigam wrote in to The Times of India to complain about filmi journo Subhash K. Jha’s relentless “Sonu-spanking”. It’s hard to tear myself away from the beautiful vision conjured up by those words, but I’ll try.
In the letter, Sonu not only outed Jha’s sexual orientation but [...]

Harry Potter, Mohammad Haneef, John McCain

Am I the only one who didn’t make the trip out to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?
Yeah, sorry, I know - the world’s going to hell in a handbasket and I really ought to drum up some concern but my mind’s still reeling from news of all the Pottermania. I still [...]

Tintin in the Congo

 

First published in book form in 1931, Tintin in the Congo is a collector’s item that comes with a foreword warning all would-be readers that this is a book true to its time.

[Herge] himself admitted that he depicted the African people according to the bourgeois, paternalistic stereotypes of the period – an interpretation that some [...]

al-Zawahiri x Sir Salman = Gandhigiri

They just can’t leave ol’ Sallu alone.In the wake of the Glasgow attacks, comes news from al Qaeda Number Two, the ever jolly Mr. Ayman al-Zawahiri. Addressed to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who’s currently experiencing the most exciting first month ever on a job, al-Zawahiri’s message comes complete with title: Malicious Britain and its [...]

Santosh Sivan’s Before the Rains

There is no denying his talent behind the camera but Santosh Sivan is one of those directors whose work always intrigues me while leaving me faintly dissatisfied. I can’t help but suspect that at time he relies on his undoubted technical brilliance to do most of the heavy lifting when directing a movie, at the [...]

Bipasha Basu Has Great Taste

Quick, where did you put your effigy making materials?
The Indian media is in a tizzy all over again - this time over a kiss between Bipasha Basu and soccer sensation Ronaldo Cristiano.  There’s no word yet if any religious/moral/cultural sensibilities have been hurt so far but let’s give them time. Maybe the pain is muted [...]

Doctors & Suicide Bombers

This probably isn’t what most people mean when they say their doctor is a real pain.
News of the failed terror plot in the United Kingdom has by now passed its shock value stage and entered the reflective one. Almost six years after 9/11 brought home the message that violence and terrorism knows no boundaries, we’re [...]

Sex and the City: the Movie

Good news for all those who went into mourning when HBO finally gave Carrie and Mr. Big their happy ending: three years after the end of the series, all four principals (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon) have finally thrashed out an agreement that will see them starring in the loo-oo-oo-ooo-ng [...]

Ad Break

With all the iPhone madness going on, I thought the time was ripe to go back - all the way to 1984 when it all began. Above is the iconic 1984 ad that ran during the Super Bowl. I didn’t see it and if I had, I wouldn’t remember it because I was a toddler. [...]

Alan Johnston, A Free Man

All the annoying talking heads who clutter up our TV screens can sometimes make us forget that “journalism” isn’t just sitting in a studio talking about Paris Hilton. Sometimes, delivering news to your home can kill the person who’s doing it.
The International News Safety Institute calculates that “[o]ne thousand news media personnel around the world [...]