Thought Box

Grannies, Groins & Growing up: Sonnets from Early Memories

The experiences in Farrukh Dhondy's childhood that formed the man are worked into a collection of sonnets that are fun, charming, full of scabrous humor, exciting and above al...

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Yesterday’s Agent Vinod: Why he quit Bollywood

Film historian, Dhruv Somani, tracks down Mahendra Sandhu, to his farmhouse in Chandigarh for a freewheeling interview.  He’s Sandhu, Mahendra Sandhu. Now 73, this...

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Question of Age: The believe-it-or-not pluck of Chunibala Devi

Khalid Mohamed writes on the uncanny story of Chunibala Devi, who at the age of 80 portrayed the tetchy yet lovable village grandma brilliantly in Satyajit Ray’s Pather ...

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Undekhi: Plain Vanilla, Distasteful Hype

Dr Sandeep Goyal says that SonyLiv's latest thriller offering Undekhi, has landed itself in an unenviable soup of its own making. A promotional gimmick that the streaming pla...

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Lost Melodies: Bollywood’s vast film music heritage

Anil Dixit, walks down melody lane, to select five vastly underrated music scores My go-to metaphor for Hindi film music is that it’s a rich tapestry woven by generatio...

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Wonder Animals: The Untold Story

Khalid Mohamed rewinds to the coached dogs, chimpanzees and elephants that would often steal the show in Bollywood blockbusters.  They’ve been missing from the sce...

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Indian Media: Delete, Copy, Paste & Repeat

Amit Khanna writes that a simple definition of news is organized information about a changed situation, events, happenings and people. There was a hierarchy of news, which wa...

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The Standoff: Pataal Lok and Contagion

Vinta Nanda writes about how we process these times when the movies are advancing our future. Now, stories tell you what to expect from the future. We’re living in an a...

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Of Silent Havelis

Ashok Sood’s photo-feature on the gorgeous havelis of Nawalgarh, Rajasthan, which like other tourist hubs of India, will be deprived this year of its regular stream of v...

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The End of a New Beginning

Sandeep Goyal says that the one thing he has never understood about TikTok is – why does its millions of followers not convert to larger earnings for its influencers?&nb...

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THE STING BEHIND BOLLYWOOD PAPARAZZI

Khalid Mohamed, without being judgmental, reports on the love-hate relationship of the c...

May 12 2026

MAHOGATHA REVIVES MAHASHWETA DEVI’S LEGACY

Prof Dr Avinash Kolhe reviews Mahogatha, a powerful Marathi theatrical adaptation of thr...

May 11 2026

DAADI KI SHADI REVIEW ANALYSIS

Arnab Banerjee reviews Daadi Ki Shadi, examining its progressive premise, hesitant story...

May 10 2026