avinash.godbole

Raanjhanaa had the kind of promos that would attract you to theatre based on the promise that it claims to carry; an inter-faith lover story, political setup, good music all together could potentially lead to a blockbuster. However, the movie fails to live up to this promise as it loses its steam after the interval as the movie labours hard to create new logics and turns that the characters and the storyline take. Sadly enough, all this is done while leaving the central characters underdeveloped and letting the storyline meander along. The first half of Raanjhanaaaa is a treat with visually rich display of Banaras, its colours, traditions and people. It is richly aided by A R Rahman's music as it brings it all together. However, its other central location, JNU, is used either symbolically or sadly as a caricature. Dhanush excels in his first Hindi role, Sonam Kapur promises, much like the movie, but her role is lost between glamour and reality. Swara Bhaskar and Mohammed Z...

Optimism must translate into action Li Keqiang, Premier of People’s Republic of China’s State Council visited India during 19-22 May 2013. This was the first step in Premier Li’s first foreign tour after assuming the office in March this year and the Chinese media and officials, among others, highlighted the fact that he chose India as his first stop. Many are willing to consider this alongside Preside Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Moscow after becoming the President to treat as a decided shift in China’s global priorities or at least as a rise of a new perspective in Chinese foreign policy. In undertaking this visit, the Chinese Premier has also overlooked the protocol as it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s turn to visit China after Wen Jiabao had visited India in December 2010 to commemorate the 60 th Anniversary of the diplomatic contact between the two countries.  However, this kind of attention to India does little to improve the bilateral relationship as littl...