As the search continues to find an actress to play the role of Olympian Mary Kom for the upcoming biopic on her life produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and as pictures of Ashton Kutcher strolling through Delhi while reprising the role of Steve Jobs for the biopic on the late technocrat go viral, the focus is on the biopic. And, on the particular fascination that audiences all over the world have for this genre of filming.

Whose life is it anyway?

Business Standard

As someone hugely interested in the art of communication and how it aids or mars human interaction, I was naturally very interested in observing how Bill Clinton, often known as “The Great Communicator”, would handle the 2012 Democratic Convention speech.

How Bill won them all

When supermodel Heidi Klum admitted to being close to her bodyguard Martin Kristen, weeks after her singer celebrity husband Seal had caused a stir when he used unparliamentary language to describe the reasons for their breakup, it once again put the spotlight on the power of proximity and how it influences relationships.

In love with the help

In a country where fasts unto death, jail bharos and other forms of self-flagellation as acts of protest are given legitimacy, the latest form of pressure protest — “jal satyagraha” (insistence on truth by water) — should come as no surprise. The key to all these acts is essentially their non-violence quotient: “I will not attack you whom I see as my aggressor. I am prepared to harm myself to protest your misdeeds.

Muddying the waters

Increasingly I have begun to get the feeling that we are living in a cosmic joke. That matters are being so designed as to befuddle and perplex the most clear-headed amongst us, and that someone up there is having a good ol’ giggle on our account.

No easy answers

A social anthropologist eager to understand Indian society would do well to look at its commercial cinema. Few creative expressions mirror its social mores more accurately. While theatre, art, poetry and literature make for interesting commentary, they are still too niche. For what the masses think, feel, dream and lust for, there is no better than the canny Bollywood director.

Cinema as critique

For all those like me who are fascinated by the rapidity with which new technologies are impacting our lives, here’s some fodder. An acquaintance from a decade ago, who befriended me on Facebook recently and whose life has now become a part of my daily consciousness by way of photographs and status updates, messaged me last week on the social networking site: “Need to speak.

Beware the writing on the Wall

Last week as news of the tragic suicide of singer Asha Bhosle’s 56-year-old daughter Varsha hit the headlines, it once again turned the focus on the collateral damage that can befall those related to the rich and famous.

The price of fame

One of the most newsworthy things I heard this week in "breaking news" (Fires! Party In-fighting! Tennis Imbroglio! Bar Raids!) is that Anurag Kashyap has finally earned enough money to buy his first car.

Malavika Sangghvi: Anurag ki sawari

Is the narrative for female sexuality being driven by women for the first time? Popular culture seems to suggest so.

Not a subject worth dwelling on

Call it the Mary Kom effect, but when both Sonia Gandhi and Jaya Bachchan lost their cool over two consecutive days in the lower and upper house, respectively, it was a thumbs up for irascible women the world over.

The Mary Kom effect

Barf bags out, earplugs in. We are listening in to an august debate on a vital national issue as we write this.

Hot and sour politics

Last night I happened to catch an old episode of the Karan Johar Koffee with Karan (Season Two) show featuring Raj Kapoor&rsquo;s three sons, Randhir Rishi, and Rajiv Kapoor and his daughter-in-law Neetu and daughter Rima Jain.

My family and other animals

At first it was a thought, then I began seeing patterns emerge, and finally with some very unreliable and dodgy methodology I came to the conclusion that I was not imagining things: the combination of distance and time gave people the luxury of a witty response, a memorable repartee, a well-constructed reply that encounters in real life just couldn't match up to.

Importance of being earnest

The only thing that matters is the fact that such exercises make us think, question our value systems and our priorities in life.

The 'Greatest' question

For the past few months I have been spending time at one of Mumbai&rsquo;s most notorious red light areas, assisting a photographer friend on his book project.

Mumbai's grey area

At his peak, Rajesh Khanna was a phenomenon unlike anything Indian cinema had seen. Malavika Sangghvi on the man, the mystique and the hubris that led to his downfall.

Original superstar

Let&rsquo;s face it, when Mallya embarked on his epic journey of conspicuous consumption, he was something of a role model and a pioneer.

Masking vodkas in orange juice

Two 47-year-old men &mdash; both in need of anger management therapy. Now that Shah Rukh Khan&rsquo;s meltdown has reached sports-stadium proportions, it might be prudent to take a look at some of Charlie Sheen&rsquo;s more extreme interviews on YouTube.

Angry stars

A joke in bad taste about Hollywood and its alleged lax morals goes something like this: &ldquo;Ques: What&rsquo;s the definition of a Hollywood virgin? Ans: An ugly fourteen year old.&rdquo; A sly reference to its Polanski notoriety.

Society's last taboo

I write this on the eve of the Aarushi and Hemraj murder trial. Like most of urban middle-class India, I am going to be watching with a sense of horror and dread. The thing about this case is that whatever the outcome, it&rsquo;s a lose-lose situation. Social commentators and many in the media have tried to draw parallels between this case and the Jessica Lal and Nitish Kataria cases, where the media and the middle-class rallied around the family of the murdered victim.

Malavika Sangghvi

Malavika Sangghvi

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