The concerted attacks on Hindi cinema show how vital it is for totalitarian forces to control the narrative of popular culture.

In this issue

07-10-202242 STORIES

Jean-Luc Godard crested the French New Wave

Even in his final years, Godard (1931-2022) never ceased to interrogate the world through images.

Srikanth Srinivasan

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Is Telugu cinema replacing Hindi as India’s favourite film industry?

It is being built up as the socially and politically desirable alternative to Bollywood.

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Editor’s Note

It is the offer of the possibility of a pan-religion Indianness that makes Bollywood such a threat.

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Lights, camera, right turn

Boycott calls and ultra-nationalist films show the project of weaponising Bollywood is complete.

Ramesh Chakrapani

Resident evil: Calls to boycott films are anti-cinema

These calls mimic the power of the state to suppress films, but with no set legal limits.

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Bollywood legacy of utopian equality under siege

This legacy poses a threat to socially divisive projects, making it the new cultural battleground.

Ranjani Mazumdar

Something is rotten: Understanding the Bollywood boycott phenomenon

Despite limited impact on the box office so far, the danger to livelihoods cannot be downplayed.

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Swara Bhaskar: ‘Boycott calls are purely agenda-driven’

The outspoken actor says the narrative around ‘Boycott Bollywood’ is a bit skewed and exaggerated.

Aditya Mani Jha

BJP-ruled Assam orders private madrassas to register on government portal

This comes days after three of them were demolished for various reasons.

Sushanta Talukdar

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‘BJP is addressing livelihood issues’: Kavinder Gupta

In conversation with the BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

A yatra to the silent Valley

Kashmiris now do not express political opinions, not even in private gatherings.

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Emerging cracks in Gupkar alliance point towards uncertainty in Kashmir

Furthermore, many believe Ghulam Nabi Azad’s energetic political activity can only benefit the BJP.

Supreme Court judge remarks on bonded labour unsavoury and out of place

Article 23 is not just an expression of faith, but a potential weapon to be used against violators.

Tribal panchayats in protected areas being illegally converted to municipalities

The story of Manuguru in eastern Telangana tells us how this sleight of hand is worked.

Anmol Gupta,Jeff Joseph

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Mikhail Gorbachev: An appraisal

Gorbachev was an innovative statesman who accepted compromise in order to end the Cold War.

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Liz Truss faces uphill task as new UK Prime Minister and Tory leader

The question is how long she will be able to keep her job given the serious problems the UK faces.

Daniel York Loh

Noshir H. Dadrawala: ‘NGOs are easy targets’

The CEO of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy, Mumbai, spoke about the recent “surveys”.

Anupama Katakam

NCRB 2021 report: Dying young and jobless in India

Daily wagers, the unemployed, and the self-employed accounted for the most deaths by suicide.

Madhya Pradesh: Large-scale swindle uncovered in Take Home Ration scheme

Irregularities have been pointed out in the scheme meant for midday meals for adolescent girls.

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Monsoon flooding pushes floundering Pakistan economy to the brink

Meanwhile, the political slugfest between the government and the opposition continues unabated.

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Ukrainian forces recapture the strategic city of Izium in Kharkiv province

Their lightning advance showed up the tactical failure of Russian intelligence.

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Changpas in Ladakh see life disrupted by climate change

The Changpas of Ladakh have been living in the inhospitable cold desert for generations.

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Science & Technology

Ice on planet Mercury? MESSENGER spacecraft finds evidence

The ice was found in the permanently shadowed north polar crater of Mercury named Prokofiev.

R. Ramachandran

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Science & Technology

Supernova confirmed as source of high-energy protons in the Milky Way

The discovery by the Fermi telescope solves a decade-long cosmic mystery.

R. Ramachandran

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Science & Technology

Researchers convert 100 per cent of CO2 industrial exhaust into ethylene

As the UIC system runs on electricity, using renewable energy can make the process carbon negative.

R. Ramachandran

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‘Forging solidarities across differences’: Nancy Adajania

The art critic says kinetic impulses guide the works assembled in ‘Woman is as Woman does’ at CSMVS.

Anupama Katakam

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‘Woman is as Woman Does’: An ode to womanpower

An exhibition at the CSMVS in Mumbai goes beyond art to become a celebration of femininity.

Anupama Katakam

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Loktak Lake in Manipur: A Ramsar Site in danger of decline

There are several reasons for this, many of them unconnected to the people who inhabit it.

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Sushil Majumdar: Forgotten legend

A new book and a documentary hope to reacquaint filmgoers with this doyen of Bengali cinema.

Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay

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Bengaluru floods: When lakes overflowed

Unplanned urban development is behind the recent floods in Bengaluru.

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

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A rereading of Kerala modernity

The monograph revisits the all-encompassing influence of the Left but also lays bare its weaknesses.

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Letters

Readers give their feedback.

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Old plot, new yarn

The author has chosen to revive the century-old Bhawal case, interweaving facts with fiction.

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A passage to Japan

The author’s gift is to walk through the doors of other people’s homes and discover their inner lives.

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Books on the shelves

Joyce, Noyontara flowers, and the new normal.

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FLQ - The Frontline Quiz

Byzantine structures, anxiety marketing, and investigative tools.

An institute of Bodology to investigate the past

The Bodos are constructing a comprehensive picture of the Brahmaputra civilisation.

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The fragment in history

It seeks to foreground the unextraordinary, neglected pieces of evidence in the history writing of early India.

Shonaleeka Kaul

Natchathiram Nagargiradhu: A cinematic experiment gone sour

Pa. Ranjith’s latest film is as dull, as self-congratulating and as long as a manifesto.

Prathyush Parasuraman

‘Surly face’: A Tamil story in translation

‘Sudumoonji’, translated from Tamil by V. Ramakrishnan.

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‘The corrupt gnawed into every open space ... and somehow managed to get building permits’

Environment activist Leo F. Saldanha on why many parts of Bengaluru are experiencing floods.

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

Shehan Karunatilaka: ‘The state will come after the defenceless’

‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ has won the Booker Prize 2022.

Pasan Jayasinghe

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