Culture & Heritage
7 min read
394

In Mumbai, An Exhibition of Atul Dodiya’s Paintings Revives the Golden Era of Hindi Cinema

January 27, 2025
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In the 1949 film Dulari, India’s beloved playback artist Mohammed Rafi sang: “Suhani raat dhal chuki, na jaane tum kab aaoge” (The golden night has faded, who knows when you will arrive). While a salve for the pining heart might not have been found as yet, the artist Atul Dodiya has

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Culture & Heritage
9 min read
395

Interview with Srikar Raghavan: Exploring Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka in Rama Bhima Soma

January 27, 2025
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Author Srikar Raghavan reveals that the book is a personal journey more than a comprehensive survey. | Photo Credit: Faisal Ahmed Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan is a work of astounding audacity as it delves into the complicated cultural world of modern Karnataka, using a

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Culture & Heritage
5 min read
385

BOOK REVIEW | A Dark Tale from Cottonwood Grove is a Story of Love and Betrayal

January 27, 2025
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As in Indonesian folktales, moments of beauty and darkness are woven together in the novel. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStock The silky filaments of cottonwood seeds float across the dark Javanese landscape of Mahfud Ikhwan’s mysterious account of a murder foretold with teasing tenderness and underlying savagery. It is a

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Culture & Heritage
4 min read
409

Republic Day: How Does the Nicobarese Community Celebrate It? All You Need to Know

January 25, 2025
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Removing fibres by running a thread through the dough made from pandanus pulp. | Photo Credit: Rishika Pardikar “Can you video call me? Mummy is making pandanus. I will show it to you,” Solomie Joora (38) tells me over a phone call. “I’ll come there?” “Yes, come.” Joora is a

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Culture & Heritage
6 min read
415

Game Changer Review: Is the 2-Hour Film Starring Ram Charan for the Instagram-Reel Generation?

January 24, 2025
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To watch films like these is to see cinema emerge not from the scene but as some haphazard, cumulative, misshapen thing. In picture, director Shankar and actor Ram Charan from the sets of the film. | Photo Credit: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Riddle me this. You say you are making a

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Culture & Heritage
1 min read
417

INTERVIEW | We Wanted to Understand the Civilisation we Come from: Minister Thangam Thennarasu

January 20, 2025
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WATCH | R.K. Radhakrishnan in conversation with Minister Thangam Thennarasu Minister Thennarasu says the younger generations of Tamil Nadu are keen to know about their history. | Video Credit: Interview by R.K. Radhakrishnan; Camera: Mridula V and Samson Ronald K.; Editing by Samson Ronald K.; Produced by Saatvika Radhakrishna On

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Culture & Heritage
7 min read
121

The Disposable Woman: How Indian Cinema Uses Sexual Violence to Build Male Heroes

January 13, 2025
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A girl gets raped in Baby John, the Hindi remake of the Tamil film Theri, a crime that is repeated in Bagheera, Kannada cinema’s most successful film this past year, as also in Maharaja, starring Vijay Sethupathi, another Tamil blockbuster. In the Rajinikanth-starrer Vettaiyan, again, it is a woman who is assaulted, raped, and murdered. In Pushpa

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Culture & Heritage
5 min read
110

PHOTO ESSAY | A Tribute to Malayalam Writer and Scenarist, M.T. Vasudevan Nair

January 12, 2025
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MT was a man of many parts. A doyen of Malayalam literature who mentored many people with his trademark kindness, warmth, and genuine concern. M.T. Vasudevan Nair was an iconic figure in Kerala during my childhood. His versatility and creativity in literature, cinema, and journalism, combined with his star-like fame,

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Culture & Heritage
5 min read
107

TRIBUTE | P. Jayachandran (1944-2025): Soulful Voice of Indian Playback Music, Passes Away

January 10, 2025
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Jayachandran recorded over 16,000 songs in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi, was widely recognised for his contribution to Indian music, having won several awards for best playback singer. | Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA Renowned playback singer P. Jayachandran, popular across South India and affectionately called “Bhava Gayakan” for his

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Culture & Heritage
8 min read
116

How Kashmir’s Sufi Shrines are a Reminder of an Accommodative Islam That Once Existed in the Valley

January 8, 2025
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Kashmir has a rich Sufi heritage, which is enshrined in the ancient tombs and hermitages (or khanqahs) that dot its landscape. Its encounter with Sufism started in the 14th century, when wave upon wave of Sufi theologians from former Mongol and Timurid territories migrated to Kashmir. Historically, six Sufi monastic

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