Famous film stars have a penchant for unique collectibles. Rare cars, precious watches, famous wardrobe memorabilia and many more. Imagine having boasting rights for Judy Garland’s Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Marilyn Monroe’s white subway dream that swept up many a fantasy, Daniel Radcliffe and his Magic wand and glasses from the Harry Potter winner and a host of collectibles. Ah, we overlooked endangered animal species too. Recently a viral video of actor popular Tamil star Vikram cuddling and imitating a baby Lar Gibbon ape went viral; it woke up the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s attention. Hey isn’t that a Lar Gibbon cuddly ape baby? How did it land in Vikram’s lap and other such questions flew in the media? Not that such earlier incidents were swept under the rain forest carpet…remember Salman Khan and the Black Buck controversy? Vikram was quickly issued a notice: Where did he procure this Lar Gibbon? These unique apes (they are not monkeys) have suffered and slipped into that coveted status …endangered due to lack of suitable forest habitat and illegal poaching to feed just such an illegal pet trade. The investigation led the law to an animal farm in Perundurai, Erode, alleged to be owned by Kesavanathan who had brought this Gibbon from Manipur without the required papers. The Forest Dept found that another baby Gibbon had died in the farm and it was not reported. Vikram has been issued notice ..that he should present himself at the investigating office no later than three days or else. Endangered animal collectibles…they draw the Rich and Famous like magnets.

Kangana Ranaut once again allowed her rage to override restraint. Reacting to the CJP student protests, the BJP MP and actor branded young protesters the “gutter generation.” She called their reels “puke-inducing,” their language “crass and jarring,” and questioned “who is birthing and raising them.” Young women were singled out as “ugly and corrupt” for allegedly flaunting drugs, drinks and “endless body counts.” An FIR has now been registered against her in Agra for insulting an entire generation of students and their parents. The political and commercial cost is enormous. This same generation will decide the box office of every film she makes and the fate of every election she contests. They are the future audience of Indian cinema and the decisive voters of the next three decades. To dismiss them as “gutter” merely because some used raw language is not just arrogant—it is strategically suicidal. Kangana’s history is littered with such self-damaging outbursts. In cinema she declared war on the “nepotism mafia,” clashed publicly over ‘Manikarnika’, and watched ‘Emergency’ sink under controversy and poor returns. In politics she has compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, labelled farmers’ protesters terrorists, and declared 1947 freedom “bheekh”—remarks that forced even her own party to distance itself. A boisterous, hyper personality can generate headlines, but it also burns bridges that never rebuild. Language alone does not define a generation’s worth. The very people she called “gutter” will remain a bitter pill she is forced to swallow every time her film releases or she seeks votes. In both politics and cinema, words spoken in fury have a long memory and this one may outlast her career.

A political controversy over Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has intensified in West Bengal following remarks by BJP leaders, giving the Trinamool Congress an opportunity to counter the BJP after its rout in this year’s Assembly elections. The controversy began after Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya alleged that Forward Bloc activists, the party founded by Netaji,had attacked Syama Prasad Mukherjee, then a Hindu Mahasabha leader, with stones and injured him. He also claimed Netaji had declined Mukherjee’s request to condemn atrocities against Hindus in the late 1930s. Bhattacharya later refrained from further remarks. The controversy widened after BJP Rajya Sabha member Ananta Maharaj, questioned Netaji’s ability to raise the Azad Hind Fauj and claimed it was actually a unit of British soldiers. In subsequent remarks, Maharaj allegedly questioned Netaji’s contribution to the freedom struggle, called him a “war criminal” and questioned the INA’s role. TMC supremo and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee joined a Kolkata protest accusing the BJP of insulting Netaji, questioned its failure to act against Roy, and said Tagore, Netaji, Vivekananda and Khudiram were global icons. The All-India Forward Bloc demanded action against Maharaj and revocation of his Rajya Sabha membership. A separate row erupted in Rampurhat after a Netaji-named road was allegedly renamed after Syama Prasad Mukherjee. The dispute has revived debates over Netaji’s relationship with Mukherjee, the Hindu Mahasabha and INA, while intersecting with the BJP’s Bengali outreach and competing claims over Netaji’s legacy. Amid the row, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari directed BJP MLAs to establish “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Seva Kendra” in constituencies for welfare work, eligible centres can receive Rs 30,000 monthly government assistance.

The Odisha government seems to be in a quandary over the appointment of a new Director General of Police as the incumbent DGP Y B Khurania retires on August 16,2026. A PIL has been filed by P Chidambaram in the Supreme Court challenging the Odisha government’s appointment process. However, the Apex court decided not to list the matter. What seems clear is that the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana wanted to delay immediate judicial intervention. Given this scenario, the State government may appoint an in-charge/officiating DGP temporarily pending the Supreme Court final hearing. Amid growing speculation over the appointment of Odisha’s next DGP, senior IPS officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa were promoted to the Director General (DG) of Police rank few days ago. According to former Mumbai top cop Arup Patnaik, who hails from Odisha the said empanelment of police candidate falls under the purview of Home Minister Amit Shah. Patnaik noted that when Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM, he did not appoint a permanent DG for 15 years. Adding further, he says, it is a political decision as DG is also responsible to control the election process in the state.

Galle is all set for a milestone 50th Test, between Sri Lanka and India. It is admired as one of the prettiest venues in the cricketing world. The Fort Ramparts and the Indian Ocean surrounding it make it even more famous. The home team — Sri Lanka began playing Test cricket there in June 1998 and has won 27 of the 49 matches so far — considers the venue lucky, despite losing 15. Only seven Tests have ended in a draw, including the 49th against Bangladesh last June. This was the first stalemate match in over 13 years. Sri Lanka has defeated India there three times, while India has won twice — once in 2008 by 170 runs and again in 2017 by 304 runs. The team compositions have changed significantly since 2017, and both teams, with their spin bowling weapons, will fancy their chances. Australia played two Tests at Galle early in 2025, winning both — by an innings and 204 runs and by 9 wickets — fielding one fast bowler, Mitchell Starc, and three specialist spinners, mainly off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann. These two took 30 wickets. Will India be tempted to select a spin-heavy attack with just one seamer? The Lankan spinners have taken 221 wickets there at an average of 30.18 over six and a half years, while the visiting team’s spinners have taken 172 at an average of 35.12. Clearly, Sri Lanka would look up to left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya (81 wickets at 26.63) and off-spinner Ramesh Mendis (64 wickets at 26.63) to deliver. The two have 14 five-wicket hauls at Galle and three 10-wicket hauls. Left-arm slow Ravindra Jadeja has taken six wickets in one Test; none of the other Indian bowlers has played at Galle.

In the age of instant outrage, a single technical slip can threaten to derail an entire tribute to our war heroes. Netflix’s Operation Safed Sagar has been rightly praised for bringing the 1999 Kargil air campaign and the sacrifice of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja to life. Yet an Indian Army veteran has flagged the incorrect draping of the Tricolour on Ahuja’s coffin; green visible instead of saffron towards the head, as mandated by the Flag Code. He has gone further, demanding the series be suspended until digitally corrected and an apology issued. Yes, the producers and military advisors missed it. That is an oversight, a technical glitch in an otherwise sincere production. It is not deliberate disrespect. Flags, protocols and symbols matter. But demanding the entire show be yanked offline turns a correctable error into a national crisis. Creative works are not military manuals. Digital fixes exist. An apology can be issued. Pulling a series that honours fallen air warriors does not. We have seen this script before. Just last month, Satluj vanished from Zee5 within 48 hours amid security concerns and political heat. One side saw threat; another saw overreach. The pattern is familiar: a portrayal of history, identity or national symbols triggers instant mobilisation, hashtags, and calls for bans. OTT has become a pressure cooker where every uniform, every dialogue, every historical detail is scrutinised for offence. Respect for the Tricolour and our armed forces is non-negotiable. Mistakes should be pointed out and fixed. But mistaking every error for malice, and every oversight for an insult requiring cancellation, only weakens the culture of storytelling we claim to protect. Operation Safed Sagar is a tribute, not a textbook. Let the correction happen. Let the series continue. And let us stop treating every glitch as grounds for a cultural emergency. Thicker skins make stronger nations; and better cinema.

Walk into any Mumbai restaurant, club or bar these days and ask for an Old Monk. The waiter’s face will tell you the story before the words do. The iconic dark rum that once defined monsoon evenings, army canteens and late-night addas has quietly vanished from many shelves. The reason is not a supply-chain glitch. It is Tukaram Mundhe. The 2005-batch IAS officer, Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration Commissioner and the man the public now calls “Singham,” has been busy. After more than two decades and 25 transfers that never managed to dilute his spine, Mundhe took charge of the FDA in May and decided public health would no longer be negotiable. Elite clubs that once felt untouchable; Cricket Club of India, MIG Cricket Club in Bandra, Willingdon Sports Club and several other high-end and government-linked establishments, suddenly found their food license suspended. Besides, adulterated milk and synthetic paneer has also come under his glare. Now the net has tightened around liquor standards as well. Certain Old Monk variants, along with a few other popular spirits, ran into FSSAI rules on artificial flavouring and misleading age claims. Maharashtra FDA, under Mundhe, is enforcing those rules without apology. The result is visible on every bar counter: the monk is missing. Mundhe’s style is blunt, consistent and free of the usual bureaucratic theatre. He has made food safety a public conversation instead of a file note. In a city that thrives on shortcuts, an officer who refuses to look away is rare. The empty Old Monk shelf is not a crisis. It is a sign that, for once, someone is actually doing the job. Mumbai is eating and drinking a little more carefully. That is a wonderful start.

West Bengal’s political landscape is beginning to reveal a curious contradiction. The recent appearance of three MLAs associated with Opposition leader Ritabrata Banerjee’s faction at a protest organised by the Mamata Banerjee camp against the alleged attack on Didi recently is one such indication. The developments involving the three NCPI MPs point to a similar dilemma at the national level. Their reluctance to be seen as unequivocally aligned with the NDA, while simultaneously engaging with the government on constituency issues, reflects the pressures of electoral politics. Abdul Khaleque Molla, Mohammad Tausif-ur-Rahman and Bibhas Sardar of the Ritabrata Banerjee-aligned faction appeared alongside senior Trinamool leaders Sovandeb Chattopadhyay and Kunal Ghosh at the Assembly premises. Their presence has triggered speculation about whether some legislators are moving back to Didi’s fold. Tausif reaffirmed his loyalty to Mamata, while Sardar stressed that the MLAs had won on the Trinamool’s symbol. Molla, however, said he continued to align with the Ritabrata faction but had joined the protest over the alleged attack. Ritabrata sought to play down the speculation but maintained that his group still had 65 MLAs. Meanwhile, three Muslim MPs of the breakaway Nationalist Citizens Party of India—Abu Taher Khan, Khalilur Rahaman and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan—have again stayed away from NDA meetings, yet attended the breakfast organised by PM Narendra Modi. They also attended a meeting with West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. Khan said the MPs would remain with NCPI and would not join or support the BJP, stressing that they had “voters to answer to”. Pathan said he raised the issue of voter-list deletions and constituency concerns at the meeting with Adhikari. This is perhaps the larger lesson from both episodes. Bengal’s emerging political realignment cannot be understood simply through the language of defections, camps and alliances. The more consequential...

Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin’s six-day return to Kolkata, nearly two decades after she was forced out amid violence in autumn 2007, has become a political statement for the BJP government as much as a homecoming. Posters welcomed Nasrin, while chief minister Suvendu Adhikari shared the dais with her. Her return offered the BJP an opportunity to draw a line between its approach and that of the Left Front and Trinamool Congress governments, which Nasrin said had forced her out or prevented her return. Adhikari said the change in West Bengal was not limited to the government’s face but extended to the system, and assured Nasrin of security while inviting her to return whenever she wished. Nasrin, who arrived in late July, thanked the BJP leadership for facilitating her return. She said Kolkata was the closest place to her home in Bangladesh, which she fled in 1994. She contrasted the three political regimes, saying the first had forced her out, the second had prevented her return and the BJP government had facilitated it. She backed implementation of the Uniform Civil Code and a ban on madrasas, both pursued by the BJP government. The BJP presented her return as evidence that it will not allow Muslim fundamentalist groups to dictate terms. The Left and TMC face criticism for placing minority support and electoral calculations above free expression and dissent in the State. During her stay, Nasrin warned that governments yielding to religious fanatics may temporarily avert violence but cannot sustain peace. Her visit comes amid strained India-Bangladesh ties since Sheikh Hasina’s fall in August 2024, and highlights a contradiction: the Adhikari government has spoken of removing suspected Bangladeshi foreigners while welcoming an exiled Bangladeshi writer.

In the grand circus of Bollywood, where originality is a rare guest and recycling is the house specialty, Ram Gopal Varma has once again decided that the Mumbai underworld still has unpaid rent in his imagination. T-Series and RGV have joined hands for Police Company, with Harshavardhan Rane stepping into the shoes of legendary encounter specialist Daya Nayak. Because clearly, the world was starving for yet another film about the man who has already inspired Ab Tak Chhappan, Aan: Men at Work, Risk – a Kannada biopic. RGV has drunk from the underworld so many times that the water must taste like leftover Satya, Company, D, Sarkar, Rakta Charitra and whatever else he poured into the same glass over three decades. The man once made Shiva in Telugu, remade it in Hindi, and then, years later, decided the world needed Shiva again in 2006, purely out of artistic restlessness, or so the legend of his arrogance goes. That third attempt did not exactly set the box office on fire. Yet here we are, watching the same director circle back to the same blood-soaked alleys, this time with the same encounter-cop template he already helped popularise. Recent years have not exactly been kind to the once-feared RGV brand. A string of flops, legal headaches, public spats and the general air of a man still fighting yesterday’s battles have followed him. The same man who once bent the crime film to his will now seems determined to prove that repetition, when done with enough swagger, can pass for reinvention. Whether Police Company will feel like a fresh bullet or just another spent casing remains to be seen. The underworld keeps dying on screen, and somehow Ram Gopal Varma keeps bringing it back to life.