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Brothers in arms
If you ever wondered why they refer to themselves as the Indian Film Fraternity, the Vishwaroopam controversy can be a case in point — a lesson in how the brotherhood watches each others’ back. As soon as Salman bhai heard about Kamal bhai’s film getting the short end of the stick in Tamil Nadu, he called on his legion of fans to lend their support to Vishwaroopam. The mission, boycott the boycott. Not one willing to be left out of a group hug, Akshay bhai also made sure he sprinkled all promo material for his latest film Special 26 with references to his own battles with “cultural terrorism”.
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Political Drive
Pimp My Ride
Looks like Indian politicians aren’t the only ones to love their flashy four-wheel drives. Everyone knows the US President only travels in the Beast (the armoured presidential limousine) when abroad. But recently, the Canadian Prime Minister had an embarrassing time justifying his expenses in India. Stephen Harper’s staff explained that it was necessary to ferry the PM in an SUV and a Cadillac because “there were no appropriate vehicles in India”. Ouch.
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Going Down The Drain
At the recent Kolkata Literary Meet, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen refused to bite the bait and offer his opinion on everybody’s favourite subject — freedom of speech. He did, however, get the gathered bhadralok squirming when he said India was “an oddly backward country”. His reasons: only one percent of China, and nine to ten percent of Bangladesh are without toilets — compare that to India’s 48 percent, and you know why it’s about to hit the fan.
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‘I have never seen this much money’
Chris Morris (IPL auction watchers were asking “Morris who?”)
