The problematic representation of women in many recent Telugu blockbusters like Peddi and the Pushpa films have stoked controversy. When mainstream commercial cinema consistently turns the sexualisation of women into entertainment, who should be responsible for the world these images help create? By Sumithra Prasanna
Poem by Anju Devadas R D: ‘someone once said / the soul is lighter than breath / but the soil keeps secrets / the sky cannot hold.’
Dhruvi Acharya’s Lockdown series from the exhibition Painting in the Time of Corona provided a glimpse into the way many would feel during the pandemic, inhabiting a surreal, bewildering alternate universe. Priyanka Sacheti interviews the artist on her process and the future of her work.
Bena Sareen, winner of the Oxford Bookstore Book Cover Prize, speaks about her latest honour and the “huge responsibility” of designing a memorable literary cover. By Chittajit Mitra