Reeling Tales

Homi Adajania's 'Cocktail 2', featuring Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Rashmika Mandanna, has maintained a solid run at the box office. Entering its ninth day in theatres, the romantic drama is now on course to cross the Rs 120 crore mark globally. However, the arrival of Akshay Kumar's ensemble entertainer 'Welcome to the Jungle' has intensified competition at the ticket windows. 'Cocktail 2' Day 1–8 box office performance The film opened on a strong note with a domestic net collection of Rs 13.50 crore on Day 1. Collections witnessed a healthy jump of nearly 20.4 per cent on Day 2, reaching Rs 16.25 crore, before touching a weekend high of Rs 17.75 crore on Day 3. The opening weekend concluded with a domestic net total of Rs 47.50 crore. As weekdays began, collections slowed. The film earned Rs 6.75 crore each on Day 4 and Day 5. On Day 6, the figure declined to Rs 5.25 crore, followed by Rs 4.25 crore on Day 7. Another Rs 4.25 crore on Day 8, across 5...

On one hand, some Indians abroad are creating so much noise and pandemonium that even the natives are getting annoyed. Because of dance, loud music, and various other antics, many foreigners end up asking, “Do you even have something called manners and civic sense?” And why they should not? That is why, whether it's matter of taking out wedding processions on the streets of London or Canada and blocking traffic, doing garba anywhere and everywhere, or talking loudly and creating a ruckus inside airline cabins -- we are rarely left behind. And all this end up creating quite a negative impression. But in spite of all this, two videos from Canada are showing a completely different picture. In one video, In one video, an Indian man in Canada is being told, “Go Back!” And the most shocking part is that he had not created any chaos, had not blocked any road, had not misbehaved with anyone, and had not done anything that could justify such humiliation. Yet, simply because of his identity,...

This country is roughly the size of Telangana, and its population is almost equal to India’s Himachal Pradesh. But this country has done something that neither India nor any other state has been able to do, or rather, something that is not even on anyone’s agenda. Now, it sounds quite surprising, but the MPs of this country, keeping public interest in mind, voted to freeze their own salaries instead of increasing them. With this decision, the system came to an end under which the salaries of MPs there used to be recalculated every three months. And the country that has done all this is Bulgaria. Under the new agreement, 193 MPs in Bulgaria’s Parliament recently unanimously voted in favor of freezing their salaries, and now the basic salary of MPs will remain fixed at three times the average public sector wage of March 2026. But here is one very interesting point -- population of Bulgaria is equal to Himachal Pradesh and MPs of Bulgaria voted to freeze their own salaries. On the other h...

Now feminism or women empowerment was so far limited only to the point of denigrating Hinduism and calling certain Hindu practices wrong or outdated. In the name of being intellectual, if you call certain Hindu beliefs or customs wrong, then you are considered a feminist.  And for this, so-called intellectuals like Dia Mirza were active and so you get statements or advertisements from these celebrities which highlight their perspective of wrongdoings only in Hinduism. For example, in one interview, Dia Mirza explained why her family stopped the practice of Kanyadaan.  Even Alia Bhatt was once a part of an advertisement which tried to demean the practice of Kanyadaan. But recently, Radhika Merchant Ambani has shown them a mirror by highlighting how, in Hindu tradition, even some gods are popularly identified through the names of their mothers, reflecting the respect shown to motherhood and women. And this is quite true.  Even the countless names like Sita-Ram and Radha-Kri...

On International Yoga Day, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  senior Union ministers, and leaders across various states were performing yoga and taking deep breaths in and out, there was perhaps one minister in the Modi cabinet who, despite his best efforts, could not breathe easy at all. On 21 June, as ministers across the country used yoga to relax their bodies and calm their minds, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was likely dealing with an entirely different kind of pressure. The reason is simple. Following the massive controversy surrounding the alleged NEET paper leak in 2024, both the Education Minister and his ministry came under intense scrutiny. As a result, ensuring that this year's examination process remained secure became one of the government's biggest challenges. To prevent any repetition of past controversies, extensive arrangements were reportedly put in place. Paper setters, translators, and examiners were said to have been kept isolated from the...

Amid widespread negative narratives about India, though many narratives are far from reality, stories of real kindness by Indians often get overlooked. But two recent accounts from foreign travelers present a heartfelt and authentic perspective. The first story comes from a young woman traveling through India, a citizen of Australia, who arrived with far more warnings than expectations. Friends had cautioned her repeatedly, online voices had amplified negative portrayals, and the global narrative had painted India as a place that required constant vigilance. But the moment she began exploring the country on her own terms, her experience diverged sharply from what she had been told.  Walking through streets at night, interacting with locals, navigating public spaces, and immersing herself in ordinary Indian life, she found warmth, friendliness, and genuine curiosity everywhere she went. Strangers offered help without hesitation, people treated her with respect and openness, and not ...

The Marathi language row in Maharashtra has reignited political tensions, communal anxieties, and regional identity issues — all against the backdrop of the upcoming BMC elections and a sensitive linguistic landscape. The row started after a shocking incident in Bhayander, Thane, where a food stall owner was beaten by activists allegedly linked to the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for not speaking in Marathi. A video of the attack went viral, showing the accused, wearing MNS scarves, confronted the vendor and slapped him after he responded in Hindi. The FIR, registered under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, mentioned ''unidentified persons'', and despite the viral video, the accused were released on bail within hours since the charges were non-cognizable. MNS workers have also been putting pressure on businesses and banks to use Marathi in signage and transactions. The controversy escalated further when Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former MP R...