Wanted to save lives; also wanted to do our country proud
AS WE WERE the main agency initially guiding the nation during the pandemic, I had a
By Dr Balram Bhargava December 19, 2021
Meet ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava, THE WEEK'S Man of the Year 2021
By Pooja Biraia Jaiswal/ Photos: Sanjay Ahlawat
How ICMR helped India fight COVID-19
By Pooja Biraia Jaiswal
Let leadership of anti-BJP front be decided after 2024 polls: Mani Shankar Aiyar
Mani Shankar Aiyar
Sachidananda Murthy on BJP, temples and divine rollbacks
Sachidananda Murthy
A pulse-protein revolution is not a bad idea, says R. Prasannan
R Prasannan
Swara Bhasker on how adoption marries desire for family, concern for orphans
Vaccine certificate should be given Aadhaar card-like status, says Barkha Dutt
Barkha Dutt
Telangana farmers in a lurch as Centre and state refuse to buy paddy
By Rahul Devulapalli
Vladimir Putin's Delhi visit shows India a key priority for Russia
By Pradip R Sagar
After Mon massacre, BJP has an AFSPA dilemma
By Namrata Biji Ahuja
The Centre has no foresight
Joe Biden's diplomatic appointments hit a roadblock
By Rekha Dixit
US-China tussle on ideology, technology and geopolitics
By Ajish P Joy
Tibetan President Penpa Tsering: Priority is to restart talks with China
Tahira Kashyap Khurrana has left nothing unsaid in her latest book
By Anjuly Mathai
Mods must be crazy
By Varun Ramesh Balan
'The Utterly Butterly Milkman', a great tribute to Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution
By Nirmal Jovial
The Storyteller: Dave Grohl's memoir is a warm, affable dissection of an eventful life
By Vaisakh E Hari
Bharti Kher weaves a bolder exploration of the body that is human, magical and animal
By Sneha Bhura
Rapper Raftaar admits mistakes; says he will mend them
By Karthik Ravindranath
General Rawat will be remembered for initiating India's biggest military reform
My aim is to create a more proactive approach
Fateful flight
Magazines Archives
Watching China closely
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in all likelihood, is the most powerful president China has ever had. He has no challenger. Xi's intentions were clear when, in 2018, he scrapped the two-term limit on the presidency. This is neither ...
My daughter still hasn't grasped the concept of five-day cricket. When I got out the other day, she said, 'Come on, dad, let's go home.'
New Zealand cricketer, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of the game
Habits of reading are changing irreversibly. Young people today do much of their reading digitally, which means that they interact with the written word in a manner that is very different from how people of my generation do. They are more accustomed to seeing images in the same space as the text, for instance.
Amitav Ghosh
After dodging Covid-19 for two years, in the third year of 2022, the stubborn Omicron variant has finally infiltrated my immune system. I tested positive last night. Please be safe and take care of yourselves diligently. This is a very contagious one.
interior designer and former wife of actor Hrithik Roshan, on Instagram
I think there are many silver linings to this cloud. The atmosphere and environment are cleaner than before. The ozone layer is a bit more repaired. People have got conscious of the fact that no matter how mighty man may think he is, he is just a speck in the scheme of nature and so if you mess around with nature too much, it will have its corrective ways and that would put humanity at great risk.
filmmaker, on Covid-19 and lockdowns
Honestly, as an actor, I feel age has liberated me…. I feel coming in my 40s is the best time for me as an actor. Now, people are looking at my capabilities and talent. The kind of roles I am playing has depth. I will admit that the industry is not kind to you and it doesn't allow women to age gracefully.
CRISIS-TIME UPGRADE
Sun-soaked speciality
Fisherfolk at Mumbai's Versova Beach sun-drying Bombay duck, an eel-like fish popular across Maharashtra, on December 29, 2021 | AFP
Party Snacks: January 23, 2022
Thoughts and prayers: The Telangana BJP had a hectic day on January 10 as party leaders and cadres flocked to their nearest temples and immersed themselves in prayer. The reason? The safety of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Given that he had a recent security scare in Punjab, his party men in Telangana conducted mrutyunjaya homam (a ritual dedicated to Lord Shiva to prevent untimely deaths) across the state. State party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar was at the forefront of the proceedings and appealed to party workers to pray for Modi's wellbeing | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.
Mother tongue-lashing: Mallikarjun Kharge might be at ease with English or Hindi in Parliament, but back home in Karnataka, the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha bats for Kannada. During a recent news conference in Bengaluru, national media reporters asked him to brief them in English. An annoyed Kharge told them to learn Kannada, and added: "Would you expect [Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.] Stalin or [Maharashtra Chief Minister] Uddhav Thackeray to brief you in English?"
People: January 23, 2022
Woman on top: Nushrratt Bharuccha will reprise her role as Sakshi in the sequel of Vishal Furia's supernatural thriller Chhorii. "Nushrratt Bharuchha is one of the most underrated actors of our industry," said Furia. "When I had the idea of continuing the story, I could not imagine doing it with any other actor. For me, Nushrratt had imprinted the character of 'Sakshi', and only she could have taken the journey ahead on the big screen." The film, which released in November 2021, was about a pregnant woman and her partner moving into a haunted house | Getty Images
Dr Love: Pakistani actor Humayun Saeed has been roped in to play Princess Diana's ex-lover, Dr Hasnat Khan, in season five of The Crown. Saeed debuted with the Urdu film, Inteha, in 1999 and has since acted in several high-profile films in Pakistan. He won the ARY award for best actor for his role in Jawani Phir Nahi Ani and its sequel. Tenet star Elizabeth Debicki replaces Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in this season and Khalid Abdalla plays Dodi Fayed. Meanwhile, The Crown fans can look forward to two more seasons of royal escapades and turbulent love affairs before the series finally winds up | photo courtesy instagram
Vintage style: The makers of Death on the Nile have revealed the first character poster of Ali Fazal, who will be playing the role of Cousin Andrew Katchadourian. Suited and mustachioed, Fazal channels his inner vintage Hollywood hero in the poster. The film, based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, is directed by Kenneth Branagh and features a stellar cast that includes Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey, Rose Leslie and Jennifer Saunders. Branagh himself will be reprising the role of the dashing Hercule Poirot. The film is set to release on February 11.
Hot star: Tahir Raj Bhasin might be the next big breakout star to look out for. Last seen in Kabir Khan's 83 as Sunil Gavaskar, he has three OTT releases in the next few weeks. In Voot's Ranjish hi Sahi, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, he plays a married filmmaker who has an affair with a superstar. The series fictionalises the 1970s love affair between Parveen Babi and Bhatt himself. In Netflix's Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, his love affair with a girl is interrupted by a politician's daughter's obsession with him. In Loop Lapeta, again on Netflix, the actor will be romancing Taapsee Pannu in a Hindi remake of the German cult thriller, Run Lola Run. Watch this space for more | AFP
Season's greetings: Dr Meredith Grey and her entourage will be returning for season 19 of Grey's Anatomy, the longest-running primetime medical drama. Ellen Pompeo will be reprising her role as Meredith. "I couldn't be more excited that we get to keep telling the stories of Meredith, Bailey, Richard and all of the other doctors at Grey Sloan Memorial for another season," said the show's creator Shonda Rhimes. The current season sees Meredith's relationship with new love interest Nick (Scott Speedman) evolving. Guess she has come a long way since her sizzling romance with "McDreamy" | Shutterstock