Mining collective history

Published on 13 February, 2016 in The Hindu Business Line - BLink A Sri Lankan play delves into the common, conflicted past of two very different nations at the 18th edition of the Bharat Rang Mahotsav Conflict doesn’t know race or region. The nature of war is such that it spares no one. Cities burn,…

OTT and loving it

Published on 12 December, 2015 in BLink - The Hindu Business Line The fifth edition of the Delhi Comic Con brought with it fans, TV stars, socially-conscientious comics and plenty of good vibes A sunny winter weekend, plenty of excited (and painted) faces, and a zone full of superheroes: Comic Con India returned to the…

Men dance on deathless feet

Published on 5 December 2015 in BLink - The Hindu Business Line Celebrating the relevance and genius of WB Yeats, who would have turned 150 this year Born in the summer of 1865 in Dublin, Ireland, William Butler Yeats, who died at age 73, was a man of many interests, many aspirations, and of many…

With Colombia, cocaine and chaos, ‘Narcos’ leaves you trippy

Published on 19 October, 2015 in Scroll.in It’s not arrived on your TV sets yet, but we hope it will. It will have you at Colombia, the mention of Narcos. Pure, unadulterated love for all things that Colombia is known for, along with a special affinity for magic realism. So when the American crime-drama television…

Forget fiction and non-fiction, adults are turning to colouring books

Published on 10 October, 2015 in Scroll.in The unlikely pursuit of filling intricate drawings with colours has become a publishing opportunity. Three years ago, when artist and illustrator Indu Harikumar designed a few colouring panels for a non-profit organisation which works with under-trial prisoners at the Byculla jail in Mumbai, she was told that colouring…

To Lucknow, post-haste

Published on 3 October, 2015 in BLink - The Hindu Business Line A dramatised reading of old letters conjures up a cosmopolitan city that once was Most people no longer take the time to sit and write a letter. Not when modernity, more specifically technology, is rife with alluring alternatives. That hasn’t deterred the duo of…

Raising an illusion

Published on 4 September, 2015 in The Hindu Business Line - BLink German mentalist Nicolai Friedrich on how magic uses logic and creative thinking to accomplish what appears impossible Anything that’s pleasantly out of the ordinary is magic. It’s often overwhelming and even freaky. For Nicolai Friedrich, it is a metaphor for the human ability…

Role less taken

Published on 6 June, 2015 in BLink - The Hindu Business Line Actor Shilpa Shukla chose to pave her way into film industry with less-known, but critically acclaimed productions Actor Shilpa Shukla’s choice of films has been unusual. When others preferred to play safe by debuting with a famous director or a superstar co-actor, Shukla…

The Mad Men are gone from your screens, but what of the mad women?

Published on 23 May, 2015 in Scroll.in Struggling to claim their rightful place in a world dominated by males, the women of the iconic TV show had their own unique stories too. The landmark television show Mad Men has just come to an end, closing seven splendid seasons of honest, unadulterated drama that made every…

Kin in the crossshairs

Published on 16 May, 2015 in BLink  Veteran director Feisal Alkazi’s stage adaptation of the Nanavati murder case turns the spotlight on factors that make or break present-day families Sensational court cases are rarely forgotten in a hurry. The many twists and turns scream out from newspaper headlines and the common man stays riveted. Myriad…