Talat Mahmood: The Velvet Voice That Taught Indian Cinema the Poetry of Silence
There are singers who dominate an era through power, range and spectacle. And then there are rare voices that enter the listener’s heart like a whisper and remain there for a lifetime. Talat Mahmood belonged to the second category. Even nearly three decades after his passing, his songs continue to float through India’s collective memory […]
The Architect of Melody: A 107th Anniversary Tribute to Manna Dey
On May 1, as the world celebrates Labour Day, the Indian musical fraternity pauses to honour a different kind of titan—one whose tireless “labour of love” constructed the very skeletal framework of India’s golden age of playback singing. Today marks the *107th birth anniversary* of *Prabodh Chandra Dey*, known to the world as *Manna Dey*, […]
The Architect of Romance: A Tribute to Hasrat Jaipuri’s Golden Verses
In the high noon of Indian cinema’s “Golden Age,” a period defined by sweeping melodies and deep-seated lyricism, one name stood as a pillar of the romantic imagination: *Hasrat Jaipuri*. Born *Iqbal Hussain* on April 15, 1922, in the pink city of Jaipur, the poet who would eventually capture the heartbeat of a nation was […]
Women in Sahir’s Poetry” ,“Log Aurat Ko Faqat Jism Samajh Lete Hain…”Sahir Ludhianvi’s Poetic Protest for Women’s Dignity
“Log aurat ko faqat jism samajh lete hain,Rooh bhi hoti hai us mein ye kahaan sochte hain.”(People see a woman merely as a body;They seldom pause to think that she has a soul.) Every year on 8 March, the world commemorates International Women’s Day, a moment to reflect upon women’s struggles and achievements. Coincidentally, this […]
Jab faagun rang jhamakte hon tab dekh bahaaren Holi ki
Holi cannot be imagined without invoking Nazeer Akbarabadi, the 18th-century poet whose verses capture its unbridled joy. For those who have immersed themselves in the colours of Braj’s Holi, its essence is visceral; outsiders, glimpsing it only through screens, remain forever distant from its spirit. Braj’s Timeless Revelry Over recent decades, Braj has transformed amid […]
SC OFFENDED ON “GHOOSKHOR PANDAT”
NEW DELHI, Feb 2026 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday sent a message to public officials in high constitutional offices – ‘don’t vilify and degenerate any community’. The court stressed that public figures, particularly those holding high constitutional offices, such as ministers, must not target any community on the basis of religion, caste, language, or […]
SALMAN KHAN’S SCREENWRITER FATHER HOSPITALISED IN MUMBAI
NEW DELHI,17 Feb 2026 : Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, 90, father of film actor Salman Khan, has been admitted to a private hospital in Mumbai. The writer’s eldest son and Bollywood superstar Salman Khan left Lilavati Hospital in Bandra an hour ago after visiting him, sources said. According to PTI, Salim Khan was hospitalised in […]
The Eternal Timelessness of Mirza Ghalib
February 15 marked the 157th death anniversary of Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), the crowning jewel of Urdu and Persian literature. A nobleman of the fading Mughal court and a witness to the seismic shifts of 1857, Ghalib was more than a poet; he was a philosopher of the human condition whose relevance has only […]
ACTOR RAJPAL YADAV GETS BAIL IN RS 9-CR CHEQUE BOUNCE CASE
NEW DELHI, 16 Feb 2026 : Actor Rajpal Yadav, who has been in Tihar Jail in connection with a Rs 9-crore cheque bounce case, was granted bail by the Delhi High Court on Monday. The 54-year-old actor, known for his comic timing, had borrowed Rs 5 crore from M/s Murali Projects Pvt Ltd to finance […]
*Pahle naav Ganesh ka, lijiye sees nawae*The Syncretic Echoes of Nazeer’s Mahashivaratri
In the hush of midnight vigils on Mahashivratri, as devotees fast and chant through the lengthening shadows of February, Nazeer Akbarabadi’s verses transport us to a time when faith flowed unbound by rigid divides. This 18th-century Muslim poet, revered as the “People’s Poet,” opens his nazm *Mahadev-ji ka Byaah* with an invocation to Ganesha, seeking […]
