American filmmaker George A Romero (February 4, 1940-July 16, 2017) has died at the age of 77, after fighting a “brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer”, according to his manager Chris Roe. Romero, a stalwart of modern horror filmmaking, directed 16 films in a career spanning four decades. His feather in the cap was the Living Dead series, which created the tropes for and defined the modern zombie film […]

Democracy today is the cult of the bahubali. The 56-inch chest, displays of power, bold flourishes and a roaring presence thrill voters. Indira Gandhi was India’s original sari-clad bahubali who watched over the nation’s borders like a knight astride a charging warhorse, as if ever-ready for battle. Any threat to India? Out to the front she galloped, flying the flags of belligerent patriotism. In December 1971, the Indian army ‘liberated’ […]

Popular mythological writer Devdutt Pattanaik is out with another book, and the widely read Hindu text Hanuman Chalisa is the latest subject of his exploration. Pattanaik, who had earlier penned the much-acclaimed My Gita, has this time chosen Hanuman Chalisa as the theme of his latest book, My Hanuman Chalisa, to understand what the text actually is and what is in it that makes it so popular. “I have always […]

Toronto selected as one of only two cities in North America to present Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017, with special guest Heiward Mak in attendance. The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian), in partnership with Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society with support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto (HKETO), presented Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017, a […]

Mahatma Gandhi is widely thought to have been a calm and composed personality but this highly anecdotal book by one of his grandsons suggests otherwise. Gandhi, the author says, lost his cool all the time and believed that “anger is good”. The much revered leader’s fifth grandson Arun Gandhi’s latest book The Gift of Anger throws light on several important lessons that the author learned from his grandfather and the […]

Sir Roger Moore has passed away at the age of 89. The Bond legend’s family revealed that the actor died after a ‘short but brave’ battle with cancer in Switzerland. A statement from the family posted on the website at finalresting.com said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer. ‘The […]

Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha has won the jury prize gold medal at the10th Moscow Sand Art Championship. Pavel Menikov, the chief organiser of the event presented the prestigious prize at Kolomenskoye, Moscow, Pattnaik said in a statement. The event concluded yesterday. Twenty five sculptors from different countries around the world had participated in the championship on the theme – “World Around Us”. Pattnaik said he had created […]

Born in a Punjabi family to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman in Peshawar, Vinod Khanna’s family moved to Bombay when India was partitioned. A villain, a star, a sanyasi and a politician, Vinod Khanna, also known as “the monk who sold his Mercedes” and Swami Vinod Bharti, today succumbed to cancer at the age of 70. Born in a Punjabi family to Kamla and Kishanchand […]

By Gemini Dhar (Take Charge expert and author) Single women, yes. But by choice or compulsion or fate? Being single or becoming single after years of marriage is a rising trend. The relationships of yesteryears when men and women stuck together through thick and thin or tolerated each other till death is now history. Modern-day girls, women, and even grandmoms are learning and earning. Some of them are doing it […]

The man who started his career writing poetry and has since written two titles in Urdu, ‘Urdu Poetry Book’ and ‘Sarhad Ke Us Paar’, which was a fictional novel. Now, he has come up with ‘The Chronic Mansion’ an English fictional novel. After struggling for many years, the book was published by Blue Rose Publishers and was released worldwide last month. Written by a young man who hails from a […]