Tamil weddings are often chaotic family affairs but the Vignesh Shivan, Nayan wedding was a carefully orchestrated and controlled media event where the media wasn’t invited. Top stars were in attendance. From Rajinikanth through Shah Rukh Khan and Mani Ratnam, all the fellow celebrities were...
It didn’t for me! But, let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Pride month is here, and apparently the Tamil Rajamouli movie, RRR has captured the attention of the American audience! Yes, in a very “pride-like” fashion! It seems the chemistry between the two male leads of the movie; Jr. NTR...
It has been a year since the DMK party assumed power in Tamil Nadu after a decade of being in the opposition. Ads in major newspapers and digital platforms recently projected the one year of DMK rule as one of glory. Some of the terms used in the publicity were "the driving force", "maintaining...
Rolling power cuts are what many recall about the 2006-11 DMK regime. Eighteen-hour power cuts were not too unusual at that time. Power cuts of April of this year only served to bring back those memories. What happened last month owes to legacy issues in the state but the state government has...
As the Sri Lanka crisis intensifies, the agitation against the Rajapaksas has started yielding results. The Rajapaksas are unable to digest that the people who backed them have lost faith in them. Dictators and those who don’t go by democratic norms use violence to retain power. But this is not...
Noted film director Pa Ranjith has been talked about a bit in the Tamil social media – context, his hosting a conference in Madurai recently to celebrate the Dalit identity. A few claimed that he was cutting across sectarian identities and hence could indeed provide a refreshingly new...
The DMK has sought to project its ideology in Delhi. The DMK has sought a national profile and opened its Delhi office recently. But the practical side is that the DMK has little heft in the Delhi establishment. Some DMK leaders have personal equations in Delhi but they don't benefit the state....
Who is Dravidian is a perennial question in Tamil public life. Even the Ilaiyaraja controversy has meandered to that question. The Ilaiyaraja row is not a naturally occurring event that is the job of journalists to uncover and write about. It is a staged event orchestrated to create hype,...
Vijay's Beast, produced by Sun Pictures and distributed by Red Giant Movies, has created a very audible buzz among people. Fans and others are eager to see what the latest movie has to offer. Brisk sales of tickets are being reported. Vijay fans are hoping Beast will get past Valimai’s ticket...
Sri Lanka is a pace-setter for the world, but not in a good way. Food prices are rising worldwide. Unrest seems sure to follow. Food prices there have been outpacing general inflation, but the growth of food costs, which was roughly double the general inflation rate for most of 2021,...
