India’s first interesting take on urban India’s crumbling marriages is probably a true story of most upper-class households these days. In this eight-part series written by journalist Manu Sharma, the former editor of Open magazine known for his sardonic humour, Shruti and Arya (Surveen Chawla and R. Madhavan) play the estranged couple who want to break up. But it’s not so simple! They are mostly puzzled about about how to uncouple, given the fact that they are looking for a dignified way to end the marriage and also not hurt or traumatise their school-going daughter, who is apparently too you ..read more

You know what’s the best thing about this highly anticipated, much publicised film that’s on every movie buffs mind right now? Predictably, its lead actress Deepika Padukone. Shes the only reason you will watch the film and the only actor that will prevent this ship from sinking. Gehraiyaan the film While the curiosity factor is a big element in driving the business of the much hyped Gehraiyaan, helmed by director Shakun Batra, who is also co writer along with three others, not much can be said for its emotionless, lack lustre actors like Ananya Pandey and Dhairya Karwa and surprisingly, even ..read more

S2 is a cracker of a show The Family Man S2 is a page turner alright. That is, if it was a book. Well, it’s not so all I can say is, its gripping, nail biting and binge watching happens, even to the best of us who are not usually guilty of this crime. True to expectations, this one is not just as good as S1, but far more better. What really helps this time is that the series is even more slickly shot with every scene and action stunt, being deftly placed, by Cameron Eric Bryson, known for his work in X Men, The Day After Tomorrow among others. Former secret service (TASC) agent  Shri ..read more

India is burning. You can take this sentence to mean many things. India is raging under a fire of the worst crisis to hit it in recent times. You could also talk about it, picturing the fire burning in the crematoriums currently. And it is but only the Corona Virus crisis that has reduced this country to the imagery of burning pyres at crematoriums and overcrowded burial grounds and thereafter, unfolding of a disaster of epic proportions. It is a world fraught with sickness and death and morbid thoughts and a feeling of ‘when is our turn coming,’ as human lives mean nothing and people die, lik ..read more

Ninad Vijay Pawar, aged 25, is quite the talker. In fact, it is so interesting to discuss anything with him that you kind of lose track of time when he starts chatting. This graduate of Wilson College, Mumbai is like any other young man you would meet, except that he is visually impaired. However when you see how independent he is, with all his day to day activities, you feel nothing but admiration for this gutsy young man. But then, as it is with most people with a disability, life can be very difficult sometimes. Like everybody else, he too wishes to travel and visit places of interest but h ..read more

There are dreams and then there are disabilities. Most of us would think that the twain would never meet. That’s for the average person like you or me; but not for somebody like a 48-year-old Trivandrum based biker who doubles up as an accountant, in his day job. This man is not ordinary by any standards and neither does he wish to live a life less ordinary. Nishad Madanan did not let his disability deter him from pursuing his dream: of biking solo from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. He was in his mid-thirties when he lost one of his legs to a freak accident, being hit by a truck while driving in the ..read more

It’s 10 pm and though I’m half sleepy, half awake on a cold winter night, I decide to soothe my troubled Covidoxic mind by listening to a bit of meditation music as recommended by a friend. But three minutes into the sounds of waves crashing and droplets of rain, making a cling clang noise, supposedly to help me relax, I give up. Not because these things dont work; I’m sure they do, for a host of people but perhaps not when you’re feeling impatient and sleepy and would instead prefer some human element to it all. Next option? To plug on my earphones and listen to some nuggets of wisdom from a ..read more

There may be a lot of hype about this Saif Ali Khan web series, that is currently streaming on Amazon Prime; but the first episode itself sinks into a no-show. I love political dramas and am quite into the fourth, less famous Mr Khan too, when I think of his stellar performances in some films, but this particular series which had me waiting with bated breath, turned into a huge disappointment. Slow. Rasping. Tedious. Tandav moves at the pace of a snail, with heavy laboured, scenes that remind one more of a theater act than a slick web series that it is supposed to be. Creator Ali Abbas Zafar ..read more

2020. The year of so many firsts. The first time we learnt to like a lot of things we hated. The first time we realised everybody on earth is an equal. The first time families stuck to each other like glue, 24/7 for almost a full year, locked up in the house, with nowhere to go. The first time we were all worried sick about contracting the Corona Virus and dropping dead or being grateful we were/are alive. The first time we realised that cohabiting with the spouse/partner/kids/parents for months on end, is not that bad a thing. The first time we actually felt grateful for having all that we d ..read more

Two years and 69 poems later, I have in my hand, a creation that can at best be called my flow of thoughts in the form of  stories penned over this period. A year back, they were published and though I keep writing poetry and publishing it too (I started when I was ten years old); this particular volume is special for so many reasons. They reflect my cryptic musings, they mirror my increasing simplistic and a tad cynical approach towards life and are forming me into the person I am today, at 43. Writing is satisfying.  It has nothing to do with money. Nothing at all with impressing ..read more