Merchant of dreams

Buddhadeb Dasgupta was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the Spain International Film Festival in Madrid on May 27.
Shoma A. Chatterji traces the journey of this poet-director whose films have moved audiences the world over

MANY people dream but only a few have the courage and drive to follow their dreams with conviction and turn them into reality. Dreams of ordinary men and women— that is the stuff Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s films are made of and that is what gives them their global appeal. A distinguished director I HAVE A DREAM The Trilogy

Brand power
From hair oil to luxury cars, they have endorsed everything. Chitra Padmanabhan on how Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, mascots of the corporate world, keep their brand value alive
WHEN a superstar-turned-national figure like Amitabh Bachchan starts totting graphs and pie charts to show that he is far ahead in television show ratings than a much younger colleague, Shah Rukh Khan, it reveals a great deal about the icon.

Scrabble turns 60
IT’S no Xbox or PlayStation, but boardgame Scrabble has something to boast about that the other two don’t — 60 years of entertaining kids and adults. The beauty of Scrabble, says Nipan Maniar, a games expert, is that unlike computer games, all people need for a game of scrabble is a pen and paper.