From the first woman adjutant to lead Republic Day processions, to the first to join the Daredevils Motorcycle Team, tomorrow’s parade will feature dozens of Army women who have shattered the glass ceiling with their achievements. Here are a few names to look out for.

In the White House we have a president who attends anti-abortion rallies and mocks dead veterans. UK’s Boris Johnson and Australia’s Scott Morisson have fallen from the Trump Tree. And our this year’s Republic Day Chief Guest, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro is a climate change denier and a misogynist.

What does patriotism mean today? Does it lie in adhering to the Constitution? Does it lie in fixing “anti-nationals” with a ticket to Pakistan for differing with the government? This Republic Day we revisit a few films that uphold the idea of democracy and the role we all play in its functioning.

Now that our favourite doctor, speaker, yoga teacher, friend of Gordon Ramsey, and in-house Tata Sky spiritual leader Sadhguru has moved on to political and economic analysis, who will we look to for guidance as we explore the full depth of our potential? Whose advice will we seek when it’s time to traverse our inner dimensions and emerge on the other side with purpose?

Kabir Khan’s Amazon show The Forgotten Army is a welcome departure from hyper-jingoistic historical epics that have become par for the course today. But Khan never quite gets a grip on the complexities of the Indian National Army, which often clashed with its own countrymen who were part of the British army.

Only if Street Dancer 3D, starring Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Prabhudeva, focussed more on the dancing and less on trying to solve the refugee crisis, we would’ve had ourselves an entertaining movie.

Kangana Ranaut’s latest release Panga stands overshadowed by the theatrics on display during her film promotion on Thursday. Ranaut said that senior lawyer Indiria Jaising should be thrown in jail along with the 2012 Delhi gang rape convicts for suggesting that they be pardoned. For an actor who has carefully pitched herself as the champion of feminism, her comments against Jaising are deeply misogynistic.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's Panga stars Kangana Ranaut as Jaya Nigam, a 32-year-old former kabaddi champion readying for a comeback after seven years. It's an effective crowd-pleaser that works better as a quiet ode to the self-sustaining nature of sisterhood.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused former Congress governments of downplaying the role played by Bose in the freedom struggle. However, if Bose were alive today, would the current establishment still feel so warmly about him? As a democratic socialist, Bose stood for everything that is considered anti-national today.

Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah-Mohammed Shami, who will be India’s Sakht Jodi in the T20 series against New Zealand?

With raging bushfires, melting glaciers, and toxic air pollution, our immediate future is looking a lot less like Rivendell and a lot more like Mad Max Fury Road. But along with activists like Greta Thunberg, we need companies to comply. Until someone finds a great way to profit from climate change, it’s unlikely to have the kind of impact we are desperate for.

The reason I’m so addicted to celebrity airport looks is the same reason why I have sat through every Roadies audition ever: There’s nothing more fun than witnessing a group of people go out of their way to make themselves uncomfortable.

The Wuhan Coronavirus, which has claimed nine lives in China and affected over 400 people, is the first global health scare of the new decade. It has now been detected in individuals in Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and the US. Should India be worried?

Disco Dancer gave us a hero who picked up the guitar instead of the gun. It ushered in an era of Bollywood dance films, which peaked in the ’80s and early ’90s. However, few have earned the cult status as the Mithun Chakraborty film. Does Street Dancer 3D stand a chance?

Zomato acquired UberEats in a huge corporate merger this week. A company shut down, and people are potentially going to lose jobs, but the internet was more worried about having to pay full price for a plate of biryani.

From the cool kid Spotify to the try-hard JioSaavn, we’ve done a character study of the most-popular music streaming apps out there, so that you can decide which one will strike the right chord.

Apart from their common love for cricket, there are some pretty disturbing parallels between India and Australia. Political as well as public denial of climate change in both countries means a climate disaster like the Australian bushfires could easily happen in India.

Twenty years ago, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani that starred Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, featured a news channel that toed the government’s narrative and paid goons hired by a politician to orchestrate riots. It ends on a positive note where codes of democracy are honoured and protestors usher in a change. Today, as the entire country protests against the CAA-NRC, the film’s subtext has never been more relevant.

If there’s one piece of advice I could pass on to you in 2020, it’s this — don’t break your head on Swiggy and Zomato over where to eat. If you pass by a restaurant that has a table full of elderly ladies, step in. If you can get past the talk of potential marriages, I guarantee you’ll have a meal that will fill your soul.

Almost a year ago, I made a decision that my essentials will no longer involve 50 first dates with plastic. Thanks to the winding rabbit hole of the zero waste YouTube universe, I figured out ways to ensure that my skin was plastic-free. Now I make my own shampoo, soap, and face-wash. You can too.

Despite our best efforts, bullying has stood the test of time. Psychologists are hinting that teenagers are now beginning to show signs of “Digital Self-Harm”, where they post anonymous hurtful content about oneself. This form of bullying is so bizarre and counter-intuitive, we’re unlikely to have any real solutions soon.

A hard day at work? A special birthday meal request every year? A cure for a broken heart? It's always the same answer. Irish stew — despite comprising none of the spices and masalas Indian food is so famous for — is a cure for all ills.

After the success of Aankhen in 1993, Chunky Pandey practically had no work. That’s when directors from Dhallywood, the Bangladesh film industry, came knocking on his door. Pandey dived right in and became an instant superstar.

The attention to detail in 1917 is startlingly impressive, largely courtesy the seamless coalescing of the film’s technical departments. As the action moves from one hellish landscape to another, the audience has no option but to find itself in the midst of chaos.

In the age of CAA, words are the weapons on the tongues of wounded artistes. I witnessed the power of poetry first-hand at Mumbai’s Spoken Fest, where Varun Grover reiterated, “Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge” and Faye D’Souza asked, “Is the government reading the Constitution?”

In A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, Marielle Heller isn’t fixated with viewing Fred Rogers as a mystery that needs to be solved. Instead, Heller, complemented by a pitch perfect Tom Hanks performance, is invested in mapping the extent of his influence through a tender tale of redemption.

Navjot Gulati’s Jai Mummy Di revolves around two love-birds trying to convince their warring mothers to resolve their issues with each other. It stretches a one-line premise until it’s devoid of any humour. The last thing Bollywood needs is yet another film that treats Punjabis as a punchline.

A couple of weeks ago, as the CAA protests started gathering steam, I tweeted a video from a gathering in Bandra’s Carter Road. It prompted a gentleman on Twitter to label me a “bloody Khalistani”. My name was enough for him to sum up my entire existence. This is what happens when communities are othered and demonised.

Between pleasing ourselves and the people around us, we women lose sense of our ambitions. I crushed my competitive side to come across as less aggressive and more agreeable. I smiled more when asked to. I conform, but then I keep asking myself, “Did I settle?” “Don’t I deserve more?”

The award-winning filmmaker, Neeraj Ghaywan, quit a cushy corporate life and charted his own course at 30. The result is sensitive films like Masaan, that drew accolades at home and abroad, and the second season of Sacred Games.