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.’
‘Or perhaps, Pandit Dinanath Awasthi was exhausted. Tired of a large, brabbling family in a small, rented house, he was convinced that it was time to create memories in a home of his own.’ An excerpt from Shubha Sarma’s novel, The Awasthis of Aamnagri (2020).
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