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Understanding the extraordinary success of an ordinary film.

In this issue

02-12-202241 STORIES

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Karthik Gowda: ‘The script is everything’

Interview with the creative producer, Hombale Films.

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

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Rishab Shetty: ‘I believe in the practice and I have portrayed it’

Interview with the actor and writer-director of ‘Kantara’.

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed

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‘Kantara’ a symptom of our times because of the culture wars it provokes

The film has been embraced fiercely by conservatives while dismissed by detractors as regressive.

Srikanth Srinivasan

Bhoota Kola: Anchor for people in Dakshina Kannada and North Malabar

People in these regions return periodically to a sure and familiar world through such rituals.

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Vocally local: ‘Kantara’ is new cinema with moorings in local culture

Among the recent blockbuster southern films, it is unique for not being “regional cinema”.

M.K. Raghavendra

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Editor’s Note

Despite the spectacular success of ‘Kantara’, the movie disappoints.

Kannada cinema: New kid on the block

After ‘KGF’ and ‘Kantara’, audiences nationwide have suddenly woken up to the Kannada film industry.

Ramesh Chakrapani

West Bengal left high and dry after Centre freezes MGNREGS funds for State

The Mamata government is at its wits’ end trying to handle growing discontent among the people.

Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay

Rural Development Ministry report highlights gaps in poverty alleviation

The Ministry’s sixth Common Review Mission Report delves into States’ implementation of schemes.

T.K. Rajalakshmi

BJP hopes to overcome anti-incumbency in Gujarat Assembly election

The saffron party locks horns with newcomer AAP in a high-stakes electoral contest.

Anupama Katakam

Tamil Nadu cops walk extra mile to help child sexual abuse survivors

Ensuring legal help, counselling, protection, and compensation is part of a new police initiative.

Ilangovan Rajasekaran

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RTI Act losing its sheen with weakened machinery for its implementation

In the 17 years since it came into existence, its users have been attacked, harassed, even murdered.

Ashutosh Sharma

Victory for Lula in Brazil elections bodes well for Amazon rainforests

Corruption, discrimination, and rising inequality in a deeply polarised Brazil are major challenges.

Benjamin Netanyahu set to become Prime Minister of Israel once again

The new government is going to be the most extreme and xenophobic one Israel has had.

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Fears in Sri Lanka over Tamil Nadu decision to scrap Tantea plantations

The tea gardens employ lakhs of plantation Tamils rehabilitated from the 1960s on.

R.K. Radhakrishnan

Poor, low-emitting regions bear brunt of economic burden of extreme heat

High-income countries that emit more greenhouse gases have lost relatively little, say scientists.

R. Ramachandran

Science & Technology

Superconductivity of mercury explained 111 years after its discovery

The work has provided insights relevant to searches for room-temperature superconductors.

R. Ramachandran

Season of smog: Not just Delhi, many north Indian cities are suffering

Air pollution respects no geographical boundaries. An inter-State solution should be worked out.

Lesser gods: Theyyam performers among ST communities face discrimination

The ritual dance form is performed in northern Kerala and parts of southern Karnataka.

Science & Technology

Predicting how soap molecules spread over water

A time-dependent solution to predict this spread revealed how complex this everyday phenomenon is.

R. Ramachandran

Science & Technology

Personal care products advertised as ‘natural’ may contain allergens: study

Of the 1,651 products studied, 94 per cent had at least one contact allergen.

R. Ramachandran

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Science & Technology

Recent study assesses carbon footprint of particle colliders

It found the Future Circular Collider of CERN to be the least polluting.

R. Ramachandran

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Beyond the story of India’s Oscar entry ‘Chhello Show’

It reminds one how digital technology has cut cinema from the physical labour once intrinsic to it.

Prathyush Parasuraman

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Does the EWS verdict represent the revenge of the ruling classes?

Poverty can be tackled by simpler policy instruments such as MGNREGA, which the verdict misses.

Peter Ronald deSouza

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Judiciary needs a proper orientation to overcome technological illiteracy

Technology has presented new challenges even as laws are constantly being expanded.

The Asian village: Fragile but resilient, holding on to its place

It has an instinct for survival that surpasses the existential desire of other social organisations.

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Dalhousie Square in a shambles as its grand old buildings fall apart

Nothing has been done to preserve the legacy of Kolkata’s one-time hub of commerce and industry.

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Letters

Feedback from readers.

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‘Congratulations’: A Gujarati story in translation

Translated by Rita Kothari.

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FLQ - The Frontline Quiz

Games, comic book heroes, gold dinars, and Quadball.

Sumant Srivathsan

Of cricket, cliches, and lost souls in Australia

Looking beyond the recent ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup while on a visit Down Under.

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

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A walk by the sea

Orhan Pamuk’s new book is something of a crime mystery as well as a historical novel.

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New books on the shelves

Retellings, the Kisan Long March, verdicts that shaped India’s financial landscape, and more.

Amit Chaudhuri: ‘I want to blur the distinction between writing and living’

The writer and Hindustani classical singer’s memoir won the James Tait Black Prize for Biography.

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A life in many cells

This book takes the reader on a guided tour of the most basic unit of life—the cell.

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The other half

The novel portrays how patriarchal social norms wield an inordinate amount of power over women.

Questions loom large over Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat

Why was the clock-manufacturing company Oreva put in charge of maintaining the heritage bridge?

Anupama Katakam

Coimbatore blast unleashes fierce political slugfest in Tamil Nadu

The incident on October 23 has left in its wake a demoralised police force.

Ilangovan Rajasekaran

A new low for media freedom in India

Criminalising journalism for investigative missteps is the thin end of the wedge for the profession.

Ela Bhatt (1933-2022): A gentle revolutionary for women workers’ rights

‘Elaben’ will be remembered not just for SEWA but also for the quality of her leadership.

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Do you hear the people sing?

People seek solace in revolutionary songs time and again when they fight oppressive regimes.

Vijayta Mahendru

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