Articles

Friendship Cancel with Humans. AI Bots Are My New Best Friends

In the web series A.I.SHA, the programmer Sam develops a self-learning AI for the purpose of being a virtual assistant and companion – a scenario not far from reality. Most of us spend more time interacting with electronics than with people. New-age chatbots double up as friends and therapists.

Kahini Iyer April 13, 2016

Bollywood

What Kapoor & Sons Teaches Bollywood About Coming Out of the Closet

Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons, was a brilliantly observed family drama. It also stood out from a sea of Bollywood offerings that stereotyped homosexuality, by having a gay character in the lead whose orientation is almost incidental to the plot.

Poulomi Das April 13, 2016

Gender

Have You Ever Shut a Boy Who Made a Sexist Joke? I Haven’t. And That’s The Problem

We’ve been outraging about Delhi’s “bois locker room” and telling ourselves that we were nothing like the kids of today. But are we really guilt-free?

Hardik Rajgor April 13, 2016

Pop Culture

Game of Thrones is Dead, Long Live Lord of the Rings

Nearly 20 years after the first film, and half a century after the book’s release, JRR Tolkien’s LoTR is returning to Amazon. It proves that tits, blood, and swear words do not a fantasy epic make.

Dushyant Shekhawat April 13, 2016

Features

The Boys 2: Five Most Underrated Characters To Watch Out For

The Boys introduced the world to “The Seven”, a group of “supes” we love to hate. But behind the scenes, a stellar cast of more underrated characters helps us understand what exactly could go wrong when superhumans are more revered than Gods themselves.

Aditya Bhalla April 13, 2016

Bollywood

Why Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Fails as a Queer Movie

Many mainstream Bollywood movies have relied on the “gay twist”, but none of those were interested in selling themselves as a progressive empowerment fable like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. Worse, its lead protagonist is a cipher, who isn’t defined by anything other than her repressed homosexuality.

Karthik Shankar April 12, 2016

POV

“Meri Parvarish Mein Kya Kami Reh Gayi Thi?” How to Talk About Therapy With Your Very Desi Family

When I told my parents I needed therapy for my anxiety, I only managed to get an “okay” out of my otherwise very opinionated father. And if “meri parvarish mein kya kami reh gayi thi” had a face, it was my mother’s. In our desi households, hiding the fact that you go to therapy is more important than hiding your bra straps.

Ritu Chandiramani April 12, 2016

Bollywood

Parineeti Chopra: The Girl on the Train to Nowhere

Parineeti Chopra arrived in Hindi cinema with a fair share of anticipation. To be fair, her cameo in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and her sprightly turn in an over-the-top Ishaqzaade, weren’t that poor considering the bar for Bollywood insiders is so low. But who knew, that that would be as far as the story would go.

Manik Sharma April 12, 2016

People

Singing Sensation Ranu Mondal Gives Us Hope in a News Cycle Filled with Slowdown & Suffering

How has singing sensation Ranu Mondal managed to defy the churn of news cycles and stay in the news? Her story endures because we want to believe in it, as much for ourselves as for the singer. Even in the bleakest situations, we think there is hope and beauty to be found. It is a welcome respite from the cynicism of our age, a straw to hold on to in the ceaseless cycle of bad news.

Kahini Iyer April 12, 2016

Love and Sex

Unlucky in Love: Your Tinder and Hinge Dates Are My Comedy Show

Watching people navigate an ocean of bad choices using tools like Tinder and Hinge is as entertaining as watching an episode of Takeshi’s Castle. For couples in relationships, nothing is more amusing than other people’s misadventures in love.

Dushyant Shekhawat April 12, 2016