Commentary

‘Jawan’ treads with caution in an India on edge

Shah Rukh Khan and the director Atlee’s tedious blockbuster has a veneer of being political even as it bends to prevailing winds – and its gender bias does not help

| Sep 12, 2023

‘Joyland’ crosses the barbed wire between India and Pakistan

Indian audiences are connecting with director Saim Sadiq’s acclaimed, queer-affirming Pakistani film, briefly banned in its home country

| Jul 14, 2023

Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka defies state repression

Post-war memorialisation events serve as resilient expressions of Tamil nationalism despite crackdowns by the Sri Lankan state

| Jul 07, 2023

Queer literature for children is changing minds in India

Indian parents and community libraries are turning to queer literature for children to help them be sensitive to varied sexual and gender identities

| Jun 06, 2023

Patronage politics and the economic crisis in Sri Lanka’s North and East

The North and East saw fewer protests amid Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, but disillusionment with mainstream parties is changing the region’s electoral politics.

| May 15, 2023

Making Prothom Alo “the enemy” in Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League government have gone after Bangladesh’s top newspaper – the last one standing in the country’s media

| May 12, 2023

Canadian-Tamil comedian Sunthar V navigates queerness and Tamil identity

Sunthar V, founder of the Tamil Comedy Club in central London, attempts to push social boundaries with his comedy in Chennai

| Mar 27, 2023

Delhi’s longest-running play reflects the changing city

The shape-shifting ‘Ghalib in New Delhi’ captures 26 years of sociopolitical change in Delhi and beyond

| Mar 24, 2023

Punjab’s battles over Bhagat Singh

Controversies over the anti-colonial revolutionary expose Punjab’s political fissures, with the farmers’ protest movement, Communists, Khalistanis, the AAP and other parties all having staked their own claims

| Mar 16, 2023

The secrets of ‘All That Breathes’

Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary looks at Muslim brothers caring for kites in Delhi, but also carries a veiled message on religious hatred in Modi’s India

| Mar 11, 2023

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