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Bold and
bare the new colours of Bollywood
 Sex, the forbidden
three- letter word, has suddenly not just leapt out of the
closet but is there right in your face. It is often graphic,
both visually and verbally
Nonika Singh
"I don't know the question, but sex is definitely the
answer." ? — Woody
Allen
Hard
to know in which
context the Hollywood actor said it but today a whole lot of
Bollywood directors and producers certainly believe in sex lies
the answer to cinema and the key to commercial success. So there
it is in film after film, if not as a leitmotif then certainly
as an add-on to spice things up. The three-letter forbidden word
has suddenly not just leapt out of the closet but is there right
in your face, often graphic both visually and verbally too.
Arts
A
painter & a photographer
Giacobetti’s photographs
of Bacon and his works reveal the man who was imprisoned in his
own mind and situation
B.N.Goswamy
There
was a painting I saw years ago, in some exhibition in London I
think, that made a marked impact on me: the figure of a Pope or
a cardinal, seated majestically in a high chair, wearing the
opulent robes that proclaimed his status, back erect, arms
stretched and gripping that throne-like structure but with his
mouth wide open as if in an unending, unheard cry. The form was
indistinct, the figure hazy; but what one could see clearly was
a series of hastily drawn straight strokes that went all around
it, forming as it were a cage or a witness box. It was as if the
man was imprisoned in his own mind, his situation.
fitness
Kicking the butt, naturally
Some common foods can help smokers in quitting the habit and in curbing the craving for smoking or tobacco
Dr Anjali Mukerjee
No
one can make you smoke, or quit or decide whether you should quit. If
you are reading this article with interest it's possible that a
thought of 'wanting to quit ' has wormed into your mind and you want
to see whether it's possible to quit! It is not that you
don't know about the harmful effects of tobacco but in order to
strengthen your resolve to quit it is important to review its harmful
effects once again.
Society
Love in the autumn years
Relationships which were an absolute taboo and unthinkable in the golden years are no more considered awkward and outlawed
Seerat Toor
Our
cultures have gradually opened and paved way for acceptance of bonds
that were earlier unthinkable. Relationships in mature years solicit
greater role of emotional acknowledgement and satisfaction before
acceptance. When one becomes a singleton by will or by fate, after a
long innings, the meanings of love and relationship change. You no
longer indulge in frivolous feelings and settle for the typical
"be-my-Valentine" affair.
travel
Confluence
of East and West
Kazan is the capital
of Tatarstan, a part of the Russian Republic. Kazan means a cauldron.
Tatars and Russians, Christians and Muslims, all live together in this
1,000-year-old city
Roopinder Singh
Gazing
at the architectural wonder that is the Kul Sharif Mosque, you chance
upon a couple celebrating their marriage, the bride resplendent in the
white bridal dress — typical of a Western setting. The sight is no
more surprising than to see the recently-build mosque sharing space
with an Orthodox Christian church, both in Kremlin, the seat of
government of Tatarstan. Then there are smiling people who ask to be
photographed with you...stereotypes shatter...welcome to the reality
of Russia.
Entertainment
I am not in the rat race
Shoma A. Chatterji
Shahid Kapoor is more
on the news for his extra-cinematic engagements than for his cinematic
repertoire. But he begs to differ. Bubbling over with enthusiasm over
his first cinematic interaction with Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Phata
Poster Nikla Hero, he holds forth on his upcoming films.
An irrational act
The assassination of rationalist activist Dr Narendra Dabolkar reminisces of Amrit
Manthan, a film that was a caustic critique of god men and prevailing conformist edifices
Rahul Sahgal
The shocking
cold-blooded assassination of rationalist activist Dr Narendra
Dabolkar draws a parallel with pre-Independence progressive
Maharashtra and how far it has regressed since then. In 1934,
two of Maharashtra’s favourite sons got together to
collaborate to address the specifically archaic issue of
exploitation of religion in the garb of blind faith.
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