“Our country is going through the most testing times ever. Though culturally vivid and geographically diverse, we have always stayed united. As a nation. It has indeed been a great feeling to be a citizen of this wonderful country,” begins a letter asking people to not vote for the BJP, signed by 103 filmmakers on the website artistuniteindia.

It goes on to say, “But all that is at stake now. Fascism threatens to strike us hard with all its might if we don’t choose wisely in the coming Lok Sabha election. Period.”

The filmmakers who’ve signed the appeal include Anand Patwardhan, Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, Sudevan, Q, Deepa Dhanraj, Gurvinder Singh, Pushpendra Singh, Kabir Singh Chowdhry, Anjali Monteiro, Praveen Morchhale and Aashiq Abu.

The support for the online movement has been mobilised by Sasidharan, the director of Sexy Durga.

“It’s time to speak up. We are facing a lot of problems. Not just filmmakers but the society in itself under threat,” Sasidharan told HuffPost India over the phone. “So we thought remaining silent is no longer an option.”

Sasidharan’s Sexy Durga had faced plenty of hurdles with the Censor Board because its title was perceived to “offend religious sentiments”. It was one of two films that was selected by the International Film Festival of India jury but was dropped arbitrarily days before the screening.

Sasidharan isn’t an exception. Several actors and filmmakers have spoken out against the BJP for perpetuating a culture of hate and fear. In an interview with HuffPost India, Vishal Bhardwaj had said, “Look at what happened with Padmaavat. Today, it’s happening even in areas other than films. Earlier, there was an ideological battle, today, you are targeted personally. Dissent in itself has become synonymous with anti-national. Either you are with us, or against us.”

Bhardwaj was referring to the Karni Sena’s organised protests against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat. 

Naseerudin Shah, veteran theatre and film actor, also spoke out against the mainstreaming of hate. 

“There is complete impunity for those who take the law into their own hands,” Shah had said. “We have already witnessed that the death of a cow has more significance [in today’s India] than that of a police officer,” referring to the Bulandshahr violence where a police officer was killed by a mob.

When HuffPost asked Sasidharan why no Bollywood filmmaker has found a mention in the list of signatories, he said that they didn’t reach out to them.

“They may not want to come out openly. Maybe they don’t want to indulge in this campaign. But we didn’t reach out to them,” he said.

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, about 60 film personalities, largely from Bollywood, had made an appeal to vote against the BJP. Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bhardwaj, Nandita Das, Govind Nihalani, Saeed Mirza, Zoya Akhtar, Nandita Das, Kabir Khan, Mahesh Bhatt, Shubha Mudgal and Aditi Rao Hydari were just some of the names that were part of that campaign.

However, this time, there has been a stoic silence from Bollywood when it comes to taking a political stand. In a recent interview, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh both refrained from taking a political stand.

A filmmaker said on condition of anonymity, “A lot of big names in Bollywood have major, multi-crore films coming in. Nobody wants to risk any potential threats. Nobody has forgotten what happened with both Padmaavat and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.”

Even before these two movies, actors such as Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were viciously trolled and cinemas playing their films attacked when they spoke about rising intolerance in India. 

Sasidharan, however, is hopeful that actors who haven’t signed the appeal will still share the message on their social media.

“We are also translating it into regional languages for a wider impact. We hope mainstream film actors help us in mobilising this message.”

We’ve all probably dealt with dark circles under our eyes at one point or another, and while it’s easy to blame them on a lack of sleep, that’s only one of many factors that might be contributing to that pesky under-eye darkness. 

“When people talk about dark circles under the eyes, it seems to be a catch-all phrase,” Dr. Shari Lipner, dermatologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, told HuffPost. “Some people are really referring to dark pigmentation in the under-eye area and some people are speaking about more puffiness or edema, bags under the eyes or just a depression, or even just wrinkles.” 

Lipner said it’s important to note that while some of those factors can definitely contribute to the look of dark circles under the eyes, they aren’t all the same thing. Let’s break it down: 

Sometimes dark circles really are a result of actual pigmentation of the skin ...

... and there are a few things that contribute to the darker pigmentation some individuals might have under their eyes. 

Genetics

Some people have darker pigmentation on the skin under their eyes than the skin elsewhere on their faces, which leads to the look of dark circles. This factor, according to Dr. Maryam Zamani, an oculoplastic surgeon based in London who treats various eye issues, is oftentimes hereditary and related to genetics. For instance, she noted that Southeast Asian individuals, or those of Southeast Asian descent, are more likely to be predisposed to this type of pigmentation under the eyes. 

If you’re unsure whether your dark circles are a result of actual pigmentation or, say, a shadow (more on that later), Zamani offered a simple test: use your finger to pull the skin around the lower eyelid to move it around. 

“If you have actual pigmentation, when you move that skin, no matter where you move it, it’s still going to be that color,” she said.

If you have pigmentation under the eyes and you want to reduce the look of it, there are some topical treatments out there that can help brighten and exfoliate, including retinoids and certain acids like glycolic and azelaic, Lipner said.

Zamani also pointed out that hydroquinone, a lightening agent, can be used to reduce the look of dark circles over time. The results of using topical creams will be “very slow, arduous and not hugely successful,” Zamani added, saying “it takes a long time to see a result.”

Inflammatory skin conditions, like psoriasis or eczema

Individuals who have inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis or eczema on the face may also deal with darkness under the eyes for a couple reasons, Lipner said.

“Number one, eczema and psoriasis are both inflammatory conditions, so that in itself can cause a redness or darkening of the skin,” she explained. “And then the rubbing process, because these diseases tend to be itchy, will definitely exacerbate that.”

Lipner also noted that the pigmentation left behind from these conditions can remain on the skin even after the condition is under control. Dr. Devika Icecreamwala, a board-certified dermatologist based in Berkeley, California, likened the effect to that of certain acne bumps, which sometimes leave behind dark marks on the skin.

“That’s more dependent on your skin,” Lipner said. “People with lighter skin tend to recover faster in terms of post-inflammatory changes, while people with darker skin tend to hold onto pigment a little bit longer.” 

The pigmentation left behind by these types of skin conditions can also be treated with the retinoids and/or acids like azelaic or glycolic, Lipner said.  

Rubbing your eyes too much.

Excessive eye-rubbing can affect the eye area in different ways, both related to pigmentation and the blood vessels below the skin, according to both Lipner and Icecreamwala. 

“When you rub your eyes, the skin may become slightly thicker and darker, it is part of the skin’s defense system,” Lipner explained in a follow-up email. “This is similar to a callus forming on the foot in response to trauma.” 

Icecreamwala elaborated, noting that excessively rubbing the eyes is essentially “traumatizing the skin” under the eyes. “The skin is really sensitive, and the more you rub it, the more you irritate it. The skin responds to that with discoloration.” 

Excessive rubbing can also lead to broken blood vessels beneath the skin, which lead to the appearance of darkness; since the skin around the eyes is so thin, those underlying broken blood vessels become more visible, Icecreamwala agreed. 

That leads us into our next point:

In some cases, what you might perceive as dark circles under your eyes might not be dark circles at all. 

As noted above, “dark circles” has become a universal phrase people use to describe a multitude of issues. Sometimes, what people might perceive as dark circles has nothing to do with pigmentation of the skin. Instead, it could be related to shadows left on the skin due to puffiness or, to the contrary, hollowness. Shadows might also be the result of the general structure of one’s face.

Additionally, since we know the skin around the eyes is very thin, and therefore shows what’s underneath, it’s more prone than other parts of the body to appear darker, Icreamwala said. Again, that doesn’t necessarily have to do with the skin’s pigmentation. 

Below are the common factors that can contribute to the look of darkness under the eyes without actually changing the color of the skin:

Allergies 

Individuals who are affected by the dreaded allergy season may find they develop darkness under the eyes as a result. 

“They’re called allergic shiners,” Zamani said, “because they look like you’ve been popped in the eye twice.”

Under-eye darkness that happens to certain allergy sufferers has to do with the blood vessels under the skin around the eyes, which is the thinnest skin on the face, Icreamwala said. 

Allergies trigger histamines in the body, which can lead to dilated blood vessels, as noted in Good Housekeeping. According to Zamani, since the skin around the eyes is so thin ― “it’s see-through,” she said ― and the blood vessels are dilated, you get left with that “purple or darkness” on the lower lids. 

Taking an antihistamine and getting a good night’s sleep can “help reduce the appearance of dark circles under the eyes” during allergy season, Zamani said.

People who deal with seasonal allergies might also experience puffiness around the eye area, which Icecreamwala noted is a build-up of fluid. Once that puffiness goes away, she said, it leaves behind a hollowness, which may make the area appear darker. 

Dehydration

Icecreamwala said dehydration also plays a role in darkness under the eyes. To illustrate her point, she pointed to excessive alcohol consumption. 

“When you drink, you’re losing fluids and electrolytes and you’re losing that fluid underneath your eyes, so it looks more hollow and there’s not as much tissue between your skin and bone socket under your eyes,” she said, adding that in a case like this, the apparent darkness would be the result of a shadow as opposed to pigmentation. 

When the skin is dehydrated, Lipner noted it can look a little more mottled or dark, therefore leading to the appearance of darkness under the eyes. One way to address that is with under-eye creams, which she said “can make the skin look lighter [by] improving the skin barrier there.”

Zamani elaborated, saying ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ceramides and peptides are all good for giving your skin moisture. 

“If you have moisture locked into your skin, you are making that skin a little bit thicker in that area, and therefore you can’t see the dilated and tortuous vessels as much underneath it,” she said.

Retinoids are also effective for treating the eye area, as they help increase the skin’s thickness by building collagen, Zamani said. 

Puffiness

Puffiness of the eye area, Zamani said, is like gray hair: “everybody gets it.” Some people may experience it in their 20s, others in their 30s, some in their 50s and beyond. 

That puffiness is caused by a fat prolapse, she said, explaining that we have three fat pads in our lower eyelid area: the medial, the central and the lateral. 

“We have a tissue that holds all that back and, for genetic reasons, sometimes contact lens wearers or really allergic people who rub their eyes a lot, that tissue becomes attenuated and thinner,” she said. “When it becomes attenuated and thinner, the fat starts coming forward [and] that creates actual puffiness.” 

Then, that puffiness creates a shadow just above the cheek, which might be perceived as darkness under the eyes, she added, noting that dermal fillers can be used to smooth out the area and reduce the shadow. However, she said, that would only mask the problem; the most successful way to treat a fat prolapse is with an eyelid surgery to remove the fat, Zamani said. 

Puffiness can also be attributed to edema, which is a buildup of fluid around the eye area from damaged blood vessels, according to the National Eye Institute. 

Volume depletion 

“A lot of people think they have puffy eyes, but they really have volume depletion,” Zamani said. 

She explained that as we age, the eyelid-cheek junction becomes elongated, and you can visibly see where the eyelid ends and cheek begins. When we’re kids, there’s little differentiation between where the eyelid ends and the cheek begins, she said. But as we get older, that line sometimes becomes more dominant. 

“When that happens, you basically see what people call dark, puffy eyelids, but ... it’s just the elongation of the eyelid-cheek junction,” Zamani said. “If people have that, they think those are dark circles, but actually it’s a shadow. That shadow is what makes the appearance of a bag.” 

General aging

As we get older, our skin becomes thinner. That includes the eye area, which is already very thin. As a result, the underlying blood vessels become more visible. 

Additionally, we lose fat as we age, and as Lipner said, “if you lose the fat pad [under the eye], it’s definitely going to look darker.”  

So, what should you do if you’ve got darkness or puffiness that won’t go away?

It’s clear that under-eye circles can be the result of an array of different issues, so your best bet for addressing them is to see a dermatologist or your doctor. In rarer cases, Zamani and Lipner said dark circles could be symptomatic of more serious medical issues, like cardiovascular or kidney problems. 

But, Lipner added, when a doctor or dermatologist diagnoses you, “you can really be guided toward the right treatment depending on what the darkness is attributed to.” 

Sandra Bullock was tapped to play the lead role of Neo in “The Matrix,” which ultimately went to her “Speed” costar Keanu Reeves.

But Bullock turned the mind-melting 1999 sci-fi movie down because it “just wasn’t something for her at the time,” film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has revealed in a new interview with The Wrap published Tuesday.

Di Bonaventura, who the entertainment website reports “fought to get” the movie made, said Bullock was approached after Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith all showed interest but then pulled out of the project.

“We went to Sandy Bullock and said ‘we’ll change Neo to a girl,’” he explained. “It was pretty simple. We sent her the script to see if she was interested in it. And if she was interested in it we would try to make the change.”

But it “didn’t really go anywhere” because it “just wasn’t something for her at the time,” he added.

Bullock admitted in 2009 that “The Matrix” was “a movie I wish I had done.”

“At the time, it wasn’t cast with Keanu, and I didn’t see myself with the person they wanted,” she said. “Later I saw the movie and loved it. It was sexy and great because of Carrie-Anne (Moss) and Keanu.”

Smith told Wired in 2004 that he “just didn’t see it” when the concept of the movie was pitched to him. Pitt reportedly told producers that he was “way too exhausted” from filming “Seven Years In Tibet,” while DiCaprio said he didn’t want to follow “Titanic” with another visual effects movie.

If you’ve been in a relationship with the same person long enough, you realize that, though some things will inevitably stay the same (your inability to decide where you want to eat, your partner’s penchant for corny dad jokes), others are bound to change over time.

The relationship can’t mature if both of you aren’t open to change and willing to grow. When things between you remain stagnant for too long, it doesn’t bode well for your future together. 

“The same habits, communication skills and interpersonal dynamics that worked for a couple in their early 20s probably won’t, and shouldn’t, work for the same couple 25 years later,” said psychotherapist Kathleen Dahlen deVos

We asked deVos and other therapists to identify some of the ways the happiest couples evolve over time and how those changes make for a more satisfying relationship. 

1. They encourage each other to have their own lives separate from the relationship. 

In the early infatuation stage of a relationship, couples tend to spend a lot of time doing things as a twosome, sometimes putting their individual lives on the back burner. But as time goes on, the happiest couples learn that they don’t need to be attached at the hip. Instead, they prioritize their independence, striking a balance between “me” time and “we” time. They allow each other to develop as individuals, each with their own set of hobbies, interests and friendships outside of the primary relationship, deVos told HuffPost. 

“When couples rely solely on each other to meet all of their emotional intimacy and social needs, this ‘merging’ can stifle healthy personal growth or threaten to slip into co-dependency,” deVos said. “Rather, these couples encourage each other to define themselves as individuals within a relationship rather than being defined by the relationship itself.”

2. They become better communicators. 

Strong communication is the foundation of any happy, healthy relationship — a partnership can’t thrive without it. That means honing your ability to express your needs and desires to your partner and also learning how to be a better, more compassionate listener, too.  

“Learning to speak your truth respectfully and genuinely listening to your partner’s feelings, thoughts and needs can be particularly challenging in times of conflict or distress, yet this is one of the biggest predictors of a couple’s health and happiness over time,” marriage and family therapist Andrea Wachter said. 

The healthiest couples are in the habit of dealing with conflict head-on rather than ignoring an issue and letting resentment build.  

“Mature couples have communication down pat,” psychotherapist Patrick Schultz said. “They know how to approach their partner and talk about anything and everything they need. The partner does not have to be fearful that something will catch them off guard.”

3. They find new ways to keep the relationship exciting.

It’s easy to get trapped in a ho-hum routine, focusing only on what needs to get done at work, with the kids or around the house, never leaving any time for fun. The happiest couples continue look for new ways to keep the spark alive — checking out a new restaurant, volunteering with a different charity or, heck, experimenting with a new sex position — instead of settling for a life of blah. 

“Couples that successfully mature over time find ways to stay engaged and excited about each other and about life together,” said marriage and family therapist Jon-Paul Bird.

But you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel, Bird added.

“Remember to do the little things: flowers, love notes, midday calls and the ‘just becauses.’ They go a long way to remind your partner that they still occupy space in your thoughts.”

4. They dig deep because they want to know each other on a more intimate level. 

By the time you get married, particularly if you dated for a long time, it may feel like you know all there is to know about your partner: their weird habits, their dream job, their family dynamics. Instead of getting complacent, the happiest couples stay curious about each other for years to come, always looking for opportunities to be vulnerable and connect on a deeper level. 

“No matter how well we know someone (or think we do), they can always surprise us, and we have to allow room for them to,” deVos said. “Curiosity is one of the ingredients that fuels early relationships — the eager desire to learn all about this new person. Solid long-term couples also understand that there is always something new to discover about their partner.”

5. They honor each other’s changing needs, giving each other room to grow. 

Watching your partner change (even when the changes are positive) can be a little unnerving for some. “What if they go down this new path and leave me in the dust?” you may wonder. But instead of resisting those changes, the happiest couples empower their partner to branch out and recognize that it’s actually healthy for the relationship. 

“For example, two people might start out loving outdoor activities and, in later years, one of them begins to value — or need — more indoor time. Regardless of the reasons for the changes, it is critical to a long-term healthy bond that we honor each other’s needs, especially when they don’t match our own,” Wachter said. 

And that applies to each partner’s individual values, too, said associate marriage and family therapist Kate Stoddard of Wellspace SF.

“Couples who have the ability to be flexible when it comes to evaluating their individual values year after year will fare much better than those who are rigid and uncompromising,” Stoddard said. 

6. They keep setting new goals and helping each other achieve them.

Whatever your goals in life may be — changing careers, adopting a child, buying a house, running a half marathon, taking up calligraphy — a great partner will be firmly in your corner. It doesn’t matter if the goal is an individual one (like writing a book) or a shared one (like starting a family) because couples in the healthiest relationships recognize that both are equally important. After one goal is achieved, these couples don’t just rest on their laurels. Rather, they encourage each other to strive for more by setting new goals and helping each other reach them.  

“You work together to complement each other and support each other on the journey to your bigger goals for life and partnership,” Schultz said. “By working together on these goals, you get the collective nature of two people invested in a common objective, which makes it far more likely that you will achieve this goal in a faster and more efficient way.” 

Stephen Nedumpally (Mohanlal) and Bobby (Vivek Oberoi) are facing each other for the first time in the movie. The former is displeased with the latter’s plan to raise funds for the party by smuggling killer drugs. As he turns to the window, the camera trained on his broad, white-shirted back, Stephen calmly announces, as if to the audience: “Those who know me understand this very well about me. I have always said that narcotics is a dirty business.”

It’s a spin on that iconic dialogue from Mohanlal’s own Irupatham Noottandu and, as intended, is met with thundering applause.  It’s also the first of many ways that Prithviraj Sukumaran, who makes his directorial debut, declares his brazen love for the superstar in his movie. Lucifer, first and foremost, is an unrepentant, glorified tribute by a fanboy to his idol.

So much so that every time Mohanlal (who looks deadpan for the most part) appears on screen, the camera reverentially trails him. It lingers on his broad back, that familiar, slanted shoulder, the finely trimmed salt-and-pepper beard, his fingers as they slowly sweep the sides of his golden rimmed mundu as he ties it over his waist and his searing, almost unreadable eyes. It equally adoringly captures the star in slow motion as he squats rowdies away like flies. Interestingly, he doesn’t have many dialogues (he is a man of action, you see), but the ones he does say are aimed at making his fans go ballistic in theatres.

Mohanlal’s Nedumpally is a regular cliched mass hero who ticks all the fanboy-required boxes. He is the proverbial dark horse, a loner, with an unpleasant back story, generous to a fault and yet, a man of the masses. He fights a dozen men without batting an eyelid, is largely misunderstood and remains an enigma. Several cronies pop up at crucial junctures to recite the psalm of Stephen.

Lucifer triesto tell a story about a dysfunctional political family. When PK Ramdas, the leader of the ruling party, dies, his party is left in a predicament over its next leader. His daughter Priyadarshini (Manju Warrier), son Jathin Ramdas (Tovino Thomas), son-in-law Bobby and granddaughter Jhanvi are the surviving members of the family. Priyadarshini views Stephen Nedumpally, adopted by PKR, with hostility. The film traces the events following the shift in power and how it affects each of their lives in various ways.

For actor-writer Murali Gopy, this is uncharted territory—writing for a superstar in a mainstream potboiler. Unfortunately, the self-indulgent writer in him deals with this by bringing back the bombast he attempted with Tiyaan and failed. Gopy’s fascination for philosophical chants masquerading as dialogues and insistence on making every character sound weighty is on full display here. Most of Stephen Nedumpally’s conversations sound like biblical spasms.

Having said that, Murali’s writing is in top form in a brilliantly crafted scene where Tovino’s character makes his debut political speech. I also liked how he tries to break down the difference between a politician and a political leader by drawing parallels from a scene in Narasimham.

But Prithviraj takes the familiar, much-travelled route. His cinema, from what we have seen, are about larger-than-life heroes fighting battles alone, centred around the classic good v/s evil stories, mounted on large canvases, sprawling milieus, an array of characters and big inspirational speeches. It’s the vision of someone who loved watching Shaji Kailas-Renji Panicker-Ranjith films while growing up. Lucifer, by that definition, has a marathon of clichés but when most of them hit home, you know the director seems to know the pulse of the mainstream audience. Like a seasoned director, he knows exactly when his star should get on with his act. When a cop tries to mess with Stephen, he knows his star should push him against a wall for exactly 60 seconds and the applause will follow. Or that a gang of goondas should be sent to jail to showcase Stephen’s mean punching skills. Every nod, every stride, every punchline of Stephen Nedumpally’s is brilliantly staged. Despite everything, however, this character required better and original writing, as his graph eventually ends with his character being reduced to a hired gunda.

The main antagonist, Bobby, is a corny role but seems fresh as performed by Vivek Oberoi (also because actor-dancer Vineeth does a terrific job with the dubbing). Bobby is the suave, despicable, good-looking villain who molests his step-daughter and gifts her drugs as well. Manju Warrier plays Priyadarshini well, as expected, especially in two scenes. One with her daughter (played by Saniya Iyyappan, who is terrific) at the hospital and the confrontation with Bobby that follows. The supposed menacing villain was like a bolt from the blue and might soon be a favourite of trolls.

Prithviraj, who also makes a cameo as Stephen’s right-hand man, comes across as a bit hilarious, considering he is playing a Hindi-speaking character who also doubles up as a starry-eyed fanboy to Stephen (meta, much?). And why, why did the director, who had promised not to let “disrespect for women” be celebrated in his films, include a distasteful item dance in this movie?

Lucifer had the potential to be a deft political thriller but is content to appeal to just Mohanlal fans.

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has filed for an annulment just four days after tying the knot with his makeup artist girlfriend Erika Koike, according to court documents filed in Clark County, Nevada.

Cage obtained a marriage license on March 23, wed that same day at Weddings at Bellagio in the Bellagio casino on the Vegas Strip and filed the annulment request on March 27, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. If the court refuses his request, he wants a divorce, the filing noted.

Cage and Koike, 35, had been together for at least a year, according to The Blast, which was the first outlet to report the annulment request. It’s unclear why the two split. 

This was Cage’s fourth marriage. He was married for six years to his first wife, actress Patricia Arquette. He wed singer Lisa Marie Presley in 2002, but filed for divorce three months later, People magazine reported. Cage was married to his third wife, Alice Kim, for 12 years. They had a son, Kal-El, in 2005 and divorced in 2016. (Kal-El’s “acting debut” at the age of 13 last year was as the voice of a young Bruce Wayne in “Teen Titans Go! to the Movies.”)

“It was a shocker for me,” Cage said of his breakup with Kim in an interview with the Guardian last year. “I definitely didn’t see it coming.”

Cage also has a 28-year-old son, Weston Coppola Cage, with ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton. Weston Cage married his third wife last spring.

If a spaceship landed some place in Tamil Nadu and aliens wandered into a theatre playing Super Deluxe, they would get a pretty accurate image of what passes for humanity in this part of the world these days. Thiagarajan Kumararaja, one of the four writers and the director of the film, creates a world full of real, flawed and morally ambiguous characters whose stories intersect only marginally, but in significant ways.

Much like his earlier film Aaranya Kaandam, in Super Deluxe too, Kumararaja narrates the stories of seemingly disparate groups of people who navigate difficult lives. Yet, the film transitions from one situation to another so seamlessly that it doesn’t even feel like parallel worlds. For instance, when Shilpa (played by Vijay Sethupathi) is introduced, everyone expecting her arrival freezes at the sight of her. Breaking this silence, we hear someone call out, “arputham…arputham…” (amazing.. amazing...). As this continues, we learn that it’s someone knocking on the doors of a character named Arputham (Mysskin) in another scene. Super Deluxe is full of such clever double-meanings that will delight cinema lovers.

In fact, I anticipate — half in fear and half in delight — that every dialogue from this film will soon be all over the internet’s meme-loving heart soon. Each line is loaded with meaning, applicable in various instances in several ways. Equally captivating is the staging of each sequence. For instance, there is a revolving door in Vaembu (Samantha) and Mugil’s (Fahadh Faasil) house that hides/reveals just as much as necessary to retain the cinematic tension. When the lives of the four young boys turn upside down after their failed assignment, we see it as it is — upside down.

The biggest strength of Super Deluxe, however, is the characters. In spite of the many interesting characters (and excellent actors) that share screen space, we understand and empathise with them. For instance, a teenage boy waiting for his friends to bring porn to watch warms himself up by watching a sensual duet from a 1980s Tamil film on TV. He sings along, passionately, with the male actor, pausing for the female portions to play in between. Fahadh’s Mugil has the tendency to break into ill-informed political discourse every time he’s stuck in a bad situation. Samantha’s Vaembu puts a knife to a young boy’s neck in a moment of weakness. After this she asks plaintively, “I didn’t know what to do. I was paralysed. So, I put the knife to the boy’s neck. You get the logic, don’t you?” We kinda do. We understand these characters not logically, but instinctively.

This intricacy in writing characters doesn’t stop with the main ones—there’s a boy who wouldn’t behave himself in a stranger’s house, an assistant to a fake-godman, a friend named Minnal who gets things done, a half-blind, almost-deaf old man, the porn-selling woman—Kumararaja packs so much into so little time that we walk away feeling like we know these people, even if we don’t really like all of them.

But the film doesn’t bother itself with the inanities of likes and dislikes, rights and wrongs. It is simply a commentary on the goings-on. In that commentary, the one thing that gets the most flak is the idea of a system. Super Deluxe rejects all established systems with a vengeance. Its utter disdain for law enforcement is embodied in Berlin, the sub-inspector who likes to call himself “meladhikaari” (senior officer). Without blaming Berlin alone as the embodiment of evil, Kumararaja presents law enforcement as an evil system of the powerful exploiting the powerless. In fact, the powerless constable is the only kind one.

So, in the world of Super Deluxe, all systems fail the powerless individual—society, religion, politics, patriarchy, education and healthcare are all held up to contemptuous scrutiny. Obviously, none of them pass. Yet, every time, the individual triumphs in spite of all systems failing her.

That is not to say that systems change. It is just to say that life goes on. When Leela (Ramya Krishnan), an erstwhile porn star, asks her son, “When lakhs of people watch porn, there will be four people to act in it. Why are the actors shunned, while the watchers are forgiven?”, it appears like an important statement. But almost immediately, her son and his friend call each other “thevidiya payale” (son of a whore) and laugh. In that sense, I wonder if this film is more Kino Eye than Kino Fist (Kumararaja’s production house is called Tyler Durden and Kino Fist).

But there is more to Super Deluxe than that meets the eye. The ambient sounds are as much a character as any of the human ones. Yuvan Shankar Raja does a rousing job with the background score, elevating every scene a notch, sometimes with sounds, sometimes with silence. The constant presence of the street-seller (whom we never once see), a nondescript machine running in the background, indistinct conversations at a distance while there is distinct silence in the foreground, a film within the film—Super Deluxe is full of auditory pleasures. But a mere ‘thank you’ card for Ilaiyaraja won’t suffice for the role his music has played in this film, each important scene playing out against the background of an immaculately chosen ‘situation-song’. It adds a touch of magic to every actor’s performance.

Samantha as Vaembu, the unhappy woman in an arranged marriage, delivers her career-best performance. Fahadh as her hen-pecked partner-in-crime, Mugil, is a delight Tamil cinema needs much more of. Ashwanth Ashokkumar as the innocent but wise Rasukutty is the closest thing to a cinematic miracle. The role of Arputham, the fake-godman in an existential crisis, couldn’t be more perfect for Mysskin. Kumararaja extracts performances from each of these actors that we didn’t even imagine they were capable of. 

Yet, Sethupathy’s Shilpa has a rather discomfiting presence about her. It is not that Sethupathy doesn’t try, he perhaps tries too hard. But it appears as if the actor is somewhat distant from the character. More importantly, for a film that is all about the rejection of established norms, couldn’t Shilpa just have been played by a transwoman?

I had a similar discomfort with the unbearably long build-ups to sexual violence, one involving Berlin and Shilpa, and the other involving him and Vaembu. These moments are gratingly long, the tension building for ages as we watch the women plead for mercy from anyone who’d listen to them. In the scene with Berlin and Shilpa, there is even a break-away for a joke.

In spite of these shortcomings, Super Deluxe is a delicately intelligent commentary on modern life with such powerful writing and artful filmmaking. This journey is one you must not miss.

Cracked olive-green leather pants. That’s what director Gil Junger vividly remembers about Heath Ledger’s first day on the set of “10 Things I Hate About You.” 

“A white worn-out leather belt, some crazy pair of white shoes, a hat and who knows what shirt,” Junger continued, listing the various elements of Ledger’s Day One ensemble. “I looked at him and thought to myself, ‘If I put on any one of those pieces of clothing, everybody around me would burst out laughing.’ But for whatever fucking reason, on Heath it was so cool. He could sell anything.”

Junger was captivated by Ledger as soon as he met the then-18-year-old actor at his “10 Things” audition. The filmmaker, along with his team of casting directors — including Gail Goldberg, Donna Morong and Marcia Ross — were having trouble finding the right guy to play Patrick Verona, a rebellious high school outcast tasked with getting bold teenage feminist Katarina “Kat” Stratford (Julia Stiles) to date him. He had to be grungy yet charismatic. A likable loner. 

“I had already looked at probably 250 guys, and I still wasn’t happy. I still hadn’t found that magic that I felt was out there,” Junger told me at a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the movie’s release, on March 31, 1999. “And Heath walks in, and I thought to myself, ‘If this dude can read, I’m going to cast him.’”

“10 Things I Hate About You” is a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” centered on a major conflict: Because of their father’s (Larry Miller) strict rules for dating, Kat’s younger sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), can’t go out with anyone unless Kat gets a date too, leading Bianca’s potential suitors ― her timid tutor, Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and popular jock Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) ― to strike up deals with Patrick, seemingly the only guy in school who would attempt to woo the ill-tempered Kat. 

It’s a tale that has entranced moviegoers from 1999 to today, which is why HuffPost gathered Junger, actress Julia Stiles, Ledger’s agent Steve Alexander and others to recall one of the film’s most iconic scenes: Ledger’s romantic song-and-dance routine on the high school bleachers. In order to make up for not kissing her after a drunken night out, Patrick crashes Kat’s soccer practice with a slightly embarrassing performance of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” accompanied by the school marching band. She, of course, is charmed. 

A Cast Dreams Are Made Of

After his successful stint as the director of the coming-out episode of “Ellen” in 1997, Junger had a general meeting with Disney. It turns out the studio was looking for someone to helm “10 Things I Hate About You,” and his enthusiasm for the project persuaded producers to give him the gig. 

Gil Junger (director): When I got hired to do the movie, which was, of course, thrilling, I said, “I’m not making a high school movie. I look at this as a relationship movie between two people that happen to be in high school, because I want my 40-something friends to come to this movie and dig it.” I refused to make a high school film in a condescending manner of any kind. I just find the genre to be so derivative. 

Steve Alexander (Ledger’s agent): I think the movie really holds up. I have kids, and they watch it today if it comes on, or they stream it or something. It still works, and it’s a testament to the material being strong and Gil casting it so well. 

Junger: The only thing the studio said regarding casting was, “You should take a look at the kids from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ because they’re really hot right now.” They basically inferred that they would like me to hire Katie Holmes and that cute guy from “Dawson’s Creek.” For some reason, I think his name was Patrick. Whoever was cute or one of the heartthrobs in “Dawson’s Creek.” [Editor’s note: I threw out James Van Der Beek’s and Joshua Jackson’s names, but Junger wasn’t convinced it was either of them.] I really wanted them to trust me to find relatively talented people who nobody knows, because then there wouldn’t be any preconceived notions at all. It’ll just be this new group of kids that America is watching. I said, “Please just give me a chance to cast this myself. I’ll screen-test them and you can either say yes or no.” And they looked at me and said, “OK, you got it,” which was pretty amazing, since this was my first movie.

Alexander: It was a screen test that came first. We made a test deal for him, and if I remember it correctly, Heath read it, liked it, thought he could play the role well.

Junger: Marcia Ross was the head of casting for Disney at the time, and she was just phenomenal. She brought in the next guy, said he was from Australia and that she didn’t know much about him, but his agent said we should take a look. And as soon as Heath walked in, I just felt, “That is a fucking movie star.” And it wasn’t because of the way he looked. It was just the vibe. There was just an ease of confidence and sexuality that was like, “Whoa, who is this guy?” So, he sits down, and I had about eight pages of sides for the character to read. We’re not even done with the first page, and I said, “Heath, let’s put the sides down.” And he looked at me so scared. I said, “No, no, no. This is a very good thing. I think you’re a very talented guy, and I just want to improv with you for a little.” I wanted to see how facile his ability was to shift attitudes and maybe play off some humor. And we did that for about 45 seconds, and I said, “OK, thank you so much for coming in.” And again he looked at me like, “Dude, I just flew here from Australia. You’re spending two minutes with me for a 16-hour flight?”

Alexander: I don’t even think they looked at the film [from the screen test]. Normally they’ll watch the film and then decide together and do this whole thing. I think they literally called as soon as he walked out of the room.

Junger: Literally the instant the door closed behind him, I said, “I have never wanted to have sex with a man, but if I had to have sex with a man, that would be him. Hire him right now.” And he was hired within an hour.

Alexander: That was the first American film that I put him into. It was a studio movie with him playing the lead guy, so it was kind of just what you want. 

Junger: I cast Heath, then I cast Julia.

Julia Stiles (Kat Stratford): I was flown to LA and had a screen test with Heath after the initial auditions. I just remember being happy to have gotten that far.

Junger: The character of Kat, I just wanted to say to kids, “It’s OK to not change or adjust who you are to feel connected to everyone else. Basically, don’t behave in a way to make other people like you; behave in a way that’s true to who you are.” To be honest, I always thought of it as a female empowerment film, so when I met Julia, forget it. She was exactly who Kat was. Just the way she shook my hand, I was like, “This isn’t a girl. This is a young woman to take seriously.”

Stiles: I had never seen a character like that in teen comedies. Maybe there were precursors like Ally Sheedy in “Breakfast Club” and Molly Ringwald in “Sixteen Candles.” Winona Ryder in a handful of ’80s movies. But I was excited by Kat’s outspoken angst.

Junger: I was, like, out-of-my-mind excited. This was the first movie for Heath. The first movie for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The first studio movie for Julia. So yeah, we cast the shit out of it. We even had Allison Janney before Allison Janney was cool. How do you like that?

An Unforgettable Summer Shoot

The cast and crew descended on Tacoma, Washington, in May 1998, where they filmed at Stadium High School and in and around Seattle through August. The group quickly became a family. 

Junger: Directing the cast, I never thought, “I’m hanging out with kids.” We were a team, and we were making a movie.

Stiles: We were all so open-hearted and there for each other. 

Alexander: When I went and visited, all the kids — quote, unquote — were, I think, staying in dorms, and they became this little tribe.

Stiles (from a previous interview with HuffPost): We were all staying at the Sheraton in Tacoma, Washington. That was such an amazing time for all of us, and we were all so innocent.

Alexander: Heath had a blast making that movie. He loved it. It was a very close-knit group of people with the producer, director, the cast.

Junger: Working with Heath was so special, and I’m not saying this because he’s dead. I just liked being around him. Most of the days I would have my driver pick me up a little early, and then I’d go pick up Heath so I could take the extra half-hour ride in with him because I just found him to be so freaking interesting. He was amazing.

Alexander: There were so many great people in the movie, and Heath really enjoyed the camaraderie of working with them. He got close with David Krumholtz and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Also, Andrew Keegan! That pack of guys got close. And he and Julia got along really well. 

Junger: The funny thing is Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were the hot item. I thought every girl on that set was going to be nuts for Heath, and true to form, Julia had her own drummer ― just totally went for the little, supersmart Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Scene That Charmed Audiences

Halfway through the movie, Patrick performs a memorable song-and-dance number on the bleachers during Kat’s soccer practice. Originally, Ledger was going to sing “I Think I Love You” or “I Touch Myself,” but he decided Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” was the right choice. Producers cast a local high school marching band to perform alongside him, which no doubt helped him score a nomination for Best Musical Sequence at the then-prestigious MTV Movie Awards.

Junger: Rather than cast actors who couldn’t play an instrument, I thought, there’s a rhythm to a band. You play with a band and you’re all in sync. And so, if my recollection is correct, I sent casting to a couple high schools to see if they had marching bands. We wanted a whole band.

Frank Caraan (bandleader): The marching band was a mix of actors and actual band members, myself included. The school that the movie was filmed at did not have a marching band, so they had reached out to my school, Lincoln High School, and asked if we could be in the movie. My band teacher was hesitant. I remember saying, “Are you nuts? We have to do this movie!” I was already accepted as an extra in the movie, but I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity to have an actual role.

Junger: The lead guy was some bumped-up extra. For all I know, maybe that bandleader was a real bandleader. I remember he blew the whistle and had one tiny scene in the hallway where Heath handed him $300 bucks. I added that scene in because I needed that connective tissue. Patrick was such an outcast, why would the marching band perform for him? 

Caraan: During filming of the bleacher scene, my friends were talking, and we wondered how the audience would know that Heath got the band to play the song for him. A few days after finishing the bleacher scene, I received a call from the production company asking me to come in for an emergency shoot. I wasn’t sure what scene I was going to do, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping for that locker scene. Thankfully the production crew was two steps ahead. When I got on set, the assistant director approached me and gave me a quick rundown. He explained that the bandleader was this guy at school that could get any- and everything done for students, for a price. You needed answers for a test? Ran out of pencils? Need a full-on musical production to impress the likes of Kat Stratford? Go see the bandleader.

Junger: If you remember the way the scene was shot, it opens with the fingers pushing the volume up on the speakers in the control room, and then you see Heath come out of a room and slide down a pole. Well, there was originally no pole there, but I wanted it to set the tone — effortlessly charismatic.

Marguerite Pomerhn Derricks (choreographer): The pole! I think I got that from “Showgirls.”

Junger: I blocked on the fly, but the choreographer created a beautiful sense of movement.

Pomerhn Derricks: At that time, just because of “Austin Powers,” all of a sudden, I became the go-to girl for movies. I had a meeting with Gil Junger, and then we decided to do the movie together. I was sent pictures of the location, and through those, I came up with the idea of how Heath would move. He was my Fred Astaire!

Junger: Not that I’m an aficionado when it comes to old black-and-white films, but I wanted Heath to have that ease and charm of Fred Astaire.

Pomerhn Derricks: I talked to Heath about Fred Astaire and just the couple of little moves that he does — the slides to the side and that long-pass grapevine. It would take an actor like Heath, who was fearless, to not be worried about how he was going to come off, not to worry that it was old-school. 

Years later, when I got “Spider-Man 3” with Tobey Maguire, I remember meeting with him and Sam Raimi, and Tobey did not want to dance. There was this whole breakdancing scene that turned him off. I was developing this number and bringing in all these head-spinners to be his body doubles, and Tobey was negative, negative, negative. So one day I went to his house, and I started showing him Fred Astaire stuff, and that’s what we ended up doing for “Spider-Man 3.” But it was because of Heath. I told Tobey, “You doing it is not going to age you. You’re just going to make these classic moves fresh and hip and new.” Watching Heath do that in the stands, that’s exactly what he did. In his youth and his fearlessness, he made them look so cool.

Stiles: Heath just surprised everyone with his commitment to that performance. 

Alexander: He knew he wasn’t great, and I think that’s the charm of that scene, of course, that it’s bad. I think he probably went for it in that way, really not being prepared but being as goofy as he could be, running around in the bleachers doing his thing. 

Junger: He was running take after take, up and down those steps. I was actually very surprised at Heath’s athleticism while singing because, yes, that was him singing. Like, of course he could fucking sing too, right? He could wear green leather pants and sing! Fucker. I still resent him. Is that foolish?

Caraan: In addition to having my high school’s band march in the movie, it’s our band that recorded the music, and we were able to watch Heath Ledger record his vocals for the scene. He was very nervous, stating that he never sang in front of anyone before. But he nailed it.

Pomerhn Derricks: The singing impressed me more than anything because, as a choreographer, I can always find a way to make actors look amazing. But singing? That’s something you can’t fake. 

Alexander: He sounds terrible, yet he’s super-charming and has a great smile ― that’s what makes that scene work.

Junger: At one point I was getting ready to do a camera take, and I see someone lying down in the bleachers. One of the two cops who were supposedly chasing him in the bleachers thought he had a heart attack. He was like 50 and overweight and had such shortness of breath, so they called the paramedics. It was the perfect irony or juxtaposition to the youthful exuberance and power of Heath. It was actually the guy that Heath spanked on the butt when he ran past him.

Alexander: He was always silly and fun, and there’s a lot of his personality in that scene that shines through. Later on in his career, he spent most of his time figuring out ways of disappearing and not sharing as much of himself in his roles while trying to create characters. But I think there’s a lot of Heath in Patrick Verona, at least in certain moments.

Junger: Heath was wildly magnetic, but I got to say, just those looks that Julia Stiles gave, from “Ugh, it’s that asshole” to “What’s he doing?” to “Who’s he singing to? Me?” to “Oh, my God, I love that man.” I mean, she did it all.

Stiles: That’s so nice of him to say. It wasn’t hard to just react to what Heath was actually doing. 

Junger: I just couldn’t believe it when she read for me, because I just knew, holy shit, is this girl deep. And she was! She’s crazy smart. I think one of the reasons the scene worked so well was, of course, the gymnastics of Heath and his charm, but it was also her reaction and how moved she was by his efforts. It was a beautiful two-hander, let’s say.

The Making Of Stars

Ledger’s and Stiles’ performances in “10 Things” put them on the Hollywood map, to everyone’s delight. He went on to appear in “The Patriot” and “A Knight’s Tale,” and she booked lead roles in “Down to You” and “Save the Last Dance.” 

Stiles: I had done a few bit parts and an indie [“Wicked”], but “10 Things” was my first lead in a studio movie and the first thing people really saw of me. And it’s a rare privilege to make a movie that people remember 20 years later. 

Junger: I told Heath, “Look, I just want you to know that when this movie comes out, you’re not going to know what the fuck hit you. People are going to be clamoring to work with you, and I bet your next offer is going to be a million dollars.” And as a new friend, I was just telling him to do his best, to remain who he was: an old soul, mature, not distracted by drugs. Then he said to me, “I really appreciate the advice, but rather than worry about what’s going to happen, help me be the best I can today.” For an 18-year-old who’s getting his first movie ― and that first movie is with a Disney studio ― and that director of your first real movie is telling you you’re going to be a huge star, any kid I know would’ve been like, “Oh, man, that’s so fucking cool! I hope so!” Not Heath. He just wanted to be the best he could in that moment. That’s so telling of who he was.

Alexander: So much has been written about Heath being that old-soul guy. He did have a maturity about him. He left home at a young age and kind of got a lot of life in quickly. So for a young guy in his early 20s, he felt older than that in the way he carried himself and the way he thought about things. I think that’s what made him special, even in the early days. He would say he wasn’t as capable as an actor until later, but he did a pretty good job in “10 Things I Hate About You,” pulling us all in. And he had a lot of fun.

Pomerhn Derricks: The thing I remember most about working with Heath was he and I just sitting on the bleachers. It was beautiful outside. I remember sitting with him for hours and talking to him about Australia and him coming here and his desires and dreams. I’m crying right now remembering this shoot.

Alexander: It’s funny, coming off of that film, he was offered so many more teen comedies, dramas, those kinds of stories. But he did that one, and that one was it for him. When he pivoted and wanted to look for other challenges, it was amazing how many he passed on after that film. I remember the year that we went to the Venice Film Festival, and we were there for a week, and every day he was talking about a different film. It was “Brokeback Mountain,” “Casanova” and “The Brothers Grimm.” And he had “Lords of Dogtown” in the can, as well. It was this incredible, very, very different group of films and characters. 

Caraan: Prior to his passing, I was very excited when I heard he had gotten the role of the Joker in “The Dark Knight.” There were so many people that were apprehensive with that decision and if Heath could step up to fill such an iconic role. I remember watching it in theaters, and all of his scenes were so intense, I felt I was actually in those scenes. When he won the Academy Award for his performance as the Joker, I teared up a little bit. It was humbling for myself, as I was a small piece to his entire legacy. But it was bittersweet.

A Short Life Well Lived

Ledger died of an accidental drug intoxication on Jan. 22, 2008. He was 28 and the father of then-2-year-old Matilda, his daughter with actress Michelle Williams. In the years he spent in the industry, he starred in 16 films and earned two Oscar nominations, posthumously winning Best Supporting Actor in 2009 for “The Dark Knight.” 

Junger: Two weeks before Heath died, I was just finishing a script for a film that I wanted him to star in [“10 Things I Hate About Life”]. I called Steve Alexander and asked if Heath could give me a call so I could share this exciting project with him. He said Heath would be taking no work calls at all while he’s filming “Dark Knight” because he’s so far into the character that he can’t get out of it and he’s having incredible trouble sleeping. That role shook him, and he took it so seriously and so professionally and profoundly that he couldn’t escape it. God, it gutted me because I knew it was a wasted life. I knew he wasn’t playing with fire. I knew he wasn’t that guy.

Pomerhn Derricks: I’ve worked with so many amazing actors, but he was somebody I wish I would’ve worked with again. I was a big fan of his and watched him develop into this amazing actor. I would’ve loved to have done something a little deeper with him. Not only did we all love him for his work; he was such a sweet soul. As a fan, I feel we missed out on so much more, like, what else was he going to give us as an actor? He had so much.

Alexander: I’m incredibly proud of the career that we built together. Obviously, it was his incredible work on screen, but there’s a lot of thought that goes into the choices these artists make, and I feel honored to have worked on that career. When you look at it now, it’s just ... it’s great work. All of it. It’s not an overly long resume because he only had a short period of time, but the work is so strong.

Stiles (from previous HuffPost interview): I dug up this old note that he had written on this hotel stationery. ... I forget the beginning of the quote, but it’s like, ‘Dance like you’ve never heard the music and love like you’ve never been hurt.’ It was so sweet. I almost cried. That was his goodbye note to me.

Alexander: I have so many memories and things to remember him by, but I have one tattoo on my arm that says, “Wish you were here,” which is something he had on his body. It’s just a constant reminder. He’s a part of my life in lots of different ways, still.

The above interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. 

I hated my name in school because of the ways in which people mutilated the pronunciation. But I felt immensely better when my mother told me that I was named after a book and a literary character. My parents had read an Urdu novel called Andleeb a few months before I was born. My father was quite taken with the name and had insisted that if they had a girl, they would name her Andaleeb.

I can credit my love for books to my family of voracious readers. I was first introduced to books in my grandfather’s old house in Vellore. It wasn’t in a “this is amazing and it will change your life” way, but more of a “just read this and let us read too” way. My mother used to read a lot of Urdu novels. Some were serialised in the ‘digests’ that she would subscribe to. She even admitted that she introduced us to books so that we would stay out of her hair and let her read in peace.

The Vellore house was a treasure trove of books. We found books in every cupboard we opened. My uncle read Westerns and my aunt read Mills n Boons. As a child I would look at them and wonder when I would be able to read them. Probably to prevent me from reading about romance when I was still not even ten years old, my aunt introduced me to comics. It was Richie Rich at first, and then Phantom and Mandrake. I spent many blissful hours flipping through these comics during summer vacations. My brother, cousins and I would vie for space on the huge wooden jhoola that hung from the ceiling, as we nibbled on salty pieces of dark dried mango.

In school, everyone was reading Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Agatha Christie, once we’d moved on from Enid Blyton of course. These were our mainstays along with thesupplement, Open Sesame, that came with Deccan Herald every Saturday. My brother and I would fight over who would read it first. We would pore over the stories with the same eagerness my children exhibit when a new show drops on Netflix.

I think what really fuelled my desire for reading was how scarce books seemed to be. There were no bookstores near our Bangalore home except for Gangarams. My father wasn’t the sort who would suddenly go to a bookstore to buy me books if I wanted them. (I don’t know why. I never harangued him enough I suppose!) The only time I could buy books was when we went to see him off at the airport when he was flying out on work. He’d allow me to choose a book from the Higginbothams stall and I would spend many gleeful days reading, savouring it slowly, hoping it wouldn’t end soon.

We didn’t know of libraries nearby until my mother and I discovered a government library very close to our house. The dusty and congested rows of books, most of them hardbound with no indication about the stories inside, didn’t dissuade us from signing up. My mother was pleased because it had Urdu books too. We would visit the library every week, sometimes walk and sometimes in my mother’s trusty old Maruti, to exchange them for more dusty volumes.

I don’t remember all the books by name, but I do remember being surprised and thrilled by the historical romances because I would discover that these were romances only while reading them. They didn’t have any racy covers and were hard bound in black or blue, making them look rather innocuous. I would often look up from these somewhat illicit books, thank whoever decided to make them look harmless, and go back to reading.

In college, if one girl got books from a library, we would take turns to read it. Access to books, especially romances, was limited. We would sneak in these deliciously fat novels, albeit covered in newspaper (since most of these romances had heavy bosomed heroines clutching the arms of a ripped and often shirtless hero on the cover) and read them during class, hoping that the teachers wouldn’t spot them.

Years later, amid the tedium of household duties and being a young mother, I signed up at the Eloor Lending Library. I would religiously take the long trip to the library from my corner of the city because it seemed like my world had opened up dramatically. With recommendations from writer and journalist Rehmat Merchant, who had decided to mentor me, I discovered Indian writing in the year 2000. I devoured Chitra Banerjee’s Arranged Marriage and Sister of my Heart, Sohaila Abdulali’s Madwoman of Jogare, Mohsin Hamid’s Mothsmoke and plenty of other novels. I was fascinated by the wonderful tales that were relatable, yet far removed from my own life.

I also fell in love with crime fiction and read Ruth Rendell, PD James and Martha Grimes. I found that my world continued to expand with each page I read. I particularly loved Martha Grimes’ Hotel Paradise whose protagonist, Emma Graham, stayed with me for the longest time.

That entire period now seems hazy – my membership at Eloor lapsed and I signed up at three more lending libraries, closer to wherever I lived. I read a vast number of books, struck up conversations with librarians and asked them for recommendations while happily taking my weekly stock of books back home. Two of those libraries are gone now – EasyLib in Koramangala and Raj’s Rent-a-Book on Richmond Road. I don’t know about the third because I haven’t visited that area in a decade now.

I’m truly amazed that I actually used to take time out to travel to these lending libraries (without Ola/Uber or even Google Maps) and bring back these books because today, literally no one wants to step out of their homes.

Although I feel nostalgic about the old days, nothing makes me happier than my Kindle and the access to the hundreds of books it affords me. At the same time, that anticipation of settling down on a rainy afternoon, curled on a sofa, clutching a paperback is something that has eluded me for the longest while now.

NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on the successful test-firing of an anti-satellite missile did not violate provisions of the model code of conduct, the Election Commission said Friday night.

The poll panel took the decision based on the report of a committee of officers which concluded that the prime minister’s address did not violate the provisions for ‘party in power’ in the poll code.

“The committee has, therefore, reached the conclusion that the MCC provision regarding misuse of official mass media...is not attracted in the instant case,” the commission said, citing the report of the committee constituted to look into the case.

CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury had approached the EC alleging that the PM’s address violated the model code.

A copy of the report was also sent to Yechury.

The Model Code of Conduct is in place for the April-May parliamentary election and some state polls.

Citing meetings with top Doordarshan and All India Radio officials and correspondence received from the two, the committee said, it is clear that Doordarshan has only used the feed provided by a private agency and the All India Radio has taken audio output as broadcast by Doordarshan News for dissemination over its network.

It said, the AIR has also clarified that the address was broadcast live but “taken as a news item”.

Doordarshan said, the telecast of the address was not live and the source was the play out of the video received from the private agency. The DD also told the EC that the PM’s message was telecast on more than 60 news channels in addition to Doordarshan.

The Commission said the panel set up by it examined the PM’s address in the light of the provision in the model code dealing with ‘Party in Power’. 

The provision says, “Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in the power shall be scrupulously avoided.”

On being asked why the report is silent on the content of the speech, a senior functionary explained that since the state/government media was not used, the issue of content does not arise.

Another functionary said: “He did not seek vote. He did not describe the missile launch as an achievement of the government. He only hailed the scientists. There was no electioneering involved.”

There was a view in the Commission that the speech did not violate the model code in letter, “but we can’t say it about the spirit of the code”.

India shot down one of its satellites in space on Wednesday with an anti-satellite missile to demonstrate this complex capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced, making India only the fourth country to have used such a weapon.

Declaring India has established itself as a global space power after the success of the operation ‘Mission Shakti’, Modi said the missile hit a live satellite flying in a Low Earth Orbit after it traversed a distance of almost 300 km from earth within three minutes of its launch.

The announcement was made by the prime minister in a broadcast to the nation on television, radio and social media.

Several opposition parties had raised the issue to the Election Commission alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Two weeks after an alleged white supremacist shooter killed 50 people at two Christchurch, New Zealand, mosques, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered a message of hope and resilience in remembrance of the victims.

“The world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end,” she said during a memorial service on Friday local time.

“We cannot confront these issues alone, none of us can. But the answer to them lies in a simple concept that is not bound by domestic borders, that isn’t based on ethnicity, power base or even forms of governance. The answer lies in our humanity.”

Roughly 20,000 people showed up for Ardern’s Hagley Park speech, which was near one of the mosques where gunfire erupted earlier this month. 

Despite the losses in the worst terrorist attack the nation has ever seen, Ardern assured the audience that the sentiments behind it will not find a home in New Zealand.

“An assault on the freedom of any one of us who practices their faith or religion, is not welcome here,” she said. “Violence, and extremism in all its forms, is not welcome here. And over the last two weeks we have shown that, you have shown that, in your actions.”

Ardern, who received a standing ovation, has drawn praise for her empathy and leadership in the wake of the violence, garnering international attention for her immediate announcement that the country would ban military-style weapons as a result of the massacre.

Marcia Cross recently got candid about her experience with anal cancer in an effort to reduce the stigma associated with the disease. 

“I’ve read a lot of cancer-survivor stories, and many people, women especially, were too embarrassed to say what kind of cancer they had,” the “Desperate Housewives” actress told People magazine in an interview published Wednesday.

“There is a lot of shame about it. I want that to stop,” she said. 

The actress first announced that she was post-cancer in September 2018 after sharing a selfie of her hair loss with her followers on Instagram.

Cross told People that she was diagnosed with anal cancer in November 2017 and began radiation and chemotherapy soon after. 

“In the beginning, I just sort of lay down for the parting of the cheeks and I would float away,” she told the outlet. “Because what are you going to do?”

Now, after going through everything, Cross describes herself as “a big fan of the anus!” 

These days, Cross is happy and healthy. The actresses’ husband, Tom Mahoney, is also a cancer survivor.

NEW DELHI — Air India Friday was again found to be using boarding passes carrying photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, days after the national carrier decided to roll back such passes amid criticism over alleged poll code violation.

On Friday evening, a passenger who took an Air India flight from Madurai tweeted a picture of his boarding pass having photos of Modi and Rupani in an advertisement for the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in January.

“Air India had issued notice on March 25 to all domestic stations to discontinue usage of boarding cards with Vibrant Gujarat Advertisement on reverse with immediate effect. Today’s incident is apparently a human error. A show cause notice for this error has been issued to the airport manager of AI at Madurai,” an airline spokesman said.

“Today AI management has reiterated its earlier instructions and asked for confirmation from all stations regarding discontinuation of these boarding cards,” he said.

The Election Commission sent a second notice to Ministry of Civil Aviation, seeking a reply by Saturday, ANI reported.

On Monday, a picture of Air India boarding pass - which had photos of Modi and Rupani on it - was tweeted by a passenger, triggering a major controversy. Consequently, the national carrier issued a statement that it “has decided to roll back” these boarding passes.

On Wednesday, the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to the Railways and Civil Aviation ministries over the use of pictures of PM on rail tickets and Air India boarding passes as prima facie it violated the model code of conduct.

On March 20, tickets with photos of the prime minister were withdrawn by the railways after the TMC raised the issue with the poll body.

The Railways had said it was a third-party advertisement and leftover from a pack of tickets printed a year earlier was used. The national transporter also instructed its zones to withdraw the tickets.

Last month, the Civil Aviation Ministry “requested” airlines flying on domestic routes to give their passengers a letter written by Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu that enlisted various “achievements and initiatives” of the Modi government in the aviation sector.

(With PTI inputs)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has strongly denied the reports that the US spied on India’s anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test by sending a reconnaissance aircraft from its base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to monitor the development.

It, however, said the United States was aware about India’s first test-fire of an anti-satellite missile.

“No US assets were spying on India. In fact, the US continues to expand its enduring partnership with India, resulting in enhanced interoperability and stronger economic ties,” US Defense Department spokesperson Lt Col David W Eastburn told PTI.

Aircraft Spots, which monitors military air movements, had said that a US Air Force’s reconnaissance aircraft from its base in Diego Garcia went “for a mission in the Bay of Bengal to monitor India’s anti-satellite missile test”.

This was interpreted by many that the US spied on Indian ASAT test.

“I don’t think that it implies coordination between India and the US,” astronomer Jonathan McDowell from the prestigious Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told PTI on the Aircraft Spots report.

“This implies that the US intelligence community were aware of the test in advance because to some extent they’re spying on India,” he alleged.

“Everybody spies on their friends as well as their enemies. That’s the way the world works these days. It would be surprising if the US were not detecting or observing the launch site and aware of activities preparing for the test. So one assumes that they knew it was coming,” he claimed.

McDowell, who is a staff member at the Chandra X-ray Center and author and editor of Jonathan’s Space Report, an e-mail-distributed newsletter documenting satellite launches, said he has not looked into the issue of the aircraft, but it is certainly not surprising that the US would fly a sensor aircraft to try and observe the test.

The Pentagon, however, strongly denied the spying allegation.

“It’s a relationship so strong that no topic is off limits,” Eastburn said.

“Both nations enjoy shared principles regarding our respect of sovereignty, free and fair trade, adherence to international norms, and peaceful resolution of disputes,” he said.

Air Force Space Command Commander Lt Gen David D Thompson told lawmakers Thursday that the US was aware that India’s ASAT test was coming.

“First of all, we knew it was coming because of flight bans that India had announced and information they published previously. The launch occurred at 1.39 AM EST,” he told members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces during a Congressional hearing.

“First of all, it was detected, characterised and reported by Air Force Missile Warning systems and Airmen at Buckley AFB. Immediately after the test (it struck the target vehicle), the Joint Space Ops Center and USAF 18 Space control Squadron began collecting information about the breakup of the vehicle,” Thompson said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Wednesday announced that India successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite, describing it as a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space super powers.

The test made India the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus isn’t here for comedians who say PC culture is killing comedy.

The “Veep” star and recipient of the 2018 Mark Twain Award for Comedy made clear to Vogue on Thursday that she doesn’t sympathize with the complaints of comedians — such as, say, her former co-star Jerry Seinfeld — that political correctness is holding them back from doing their work.

“When it comes to being ‘politically correct’ for me, that’s a red flag word because ultimately, for me — and this is my opinion — that’s born out of ultimately being kind,” the multiple Emmy winner explained. “So for me, ‘politically correct’ means, you know, be a human being, be mindful of being kind. And it doesn’t mean you can’t satirize. And it doesn’t mean that you can’t take snark to DEFCON 5. But I think you and I both know that there’s a difference. And I do believe that when people talk about, Oh, I have to be so politically correct here, that’s a buzzword for something else that I don’t subscribe to anyway.”

Although Louis-Dreyfus’ hit HBO comedy “Veep” uses plenty of misogynistic and other potentially offensive humor, the 58-year-old actress thinks the jokes shouldn’t offend because of their context.

“We’re making a satirical show about political culture,” she told Vogue. “And right now extreme times call for extreme comedy. It may seem strange to say, but I think that we are all playing horrendous people on this show. So it’s not like we’re advocating for these behaviors. In fact, quite the opposite. You’re laughing at these heinous people.”

Louis-Dreyfus’ comments to Vogue echo remarks she gave to Time in February.

“I think as soon as people start bitching about ‘politically correct,’ it’s a term for something else,” she told the magazine, adding, “I’m in favor of political correctness. I’m suspicious of those who have a problem with it. I think it is language for something else ― for ‘It’s O.K. to make racist jokes,’ or ‘It’s O.K. to make violence-against-women jokes.’”

Selina Meyer, er, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for president!

The Associated Press Stylebook, a style manual for many journalists and news outlets around the country, now recommends that if something’s racist, writers should call it racist.

“Do not use ‘racially charged,’ ‘racially motivated,’ ‘racially tinged’ or similar terms as euphemisms for ‘racist’ or ‘racism’ when the latter terms are truly applicable,” the new guidelines read.

Crucially, the AP Stylebook also notes that using “racist” as a description “need not involve examining the motivation of the person who spoke or acted, which is a separate issue that may not be related to how the statement or action itself can be characterized.”

The changes, announced Friday, come as members of the public increasingly criticize journalists and news organizations for using euphemisms to describe racism or racist comments, particularly in reporting on President Donald Trump.

Many news outlets characterized Trump’s racist description of some African countries and Haiti last year as “racially charged” or “racially tinged” — among a spate of similar euphemisms that HuffPost’s Julia Craven collected.

News organizations have also hedged or sugarcoated racism with terms like “racially incendiary,” “remarks condoning racism” and “comments that some consider racist” in covering politicians like white supremacist Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Govs. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.). Kemp and DeSantis’ campaigns frequently used explicit or implicit racism last year to attack Democratic opponents Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum, who are both black.

Some journalists say editors have asked them to remove references to a subject’s “racism” or to their “racist” behavior” and to replace those words with euphemisms.

Friday’s announcement was part a series of revised AP guidelines on reporting on race.

Another change that many, though not all, journalists of color applauded Friday: The AP calls for dropping the hyphen in terms like “African American” and “Asian American” (previously styled as “African-American” and “Asian-American”). Some see the hyphenation as pejorative and othering, though others say it meaningfully reflects their identity and should be a matter of personal preference.

Other style guides and dictionaries have already recommended not using the hyphen, such as the Chicago Manual of Style and the American Heritage Dictionary. The latter notes that the hyphenation “has come under strong criticism as suggesting that those so designated are not as fully American as ‘unhyphenated’ citizens, and it is best avoided in all but historical contexts.”

Demi Lovato flipped the script on a body-shaming headline about her “fuller figure.” 

The “Tell Me You Love Me” singer, who has used social media sparingly since she was hospitalized following an apparent overdose nearly a year ago, took to Instagram with a message of positivity after coming across an article from The Inquisitr. 

“I am not my weight,” she wrote on Friday across a screenshot of the story with the headline “Demi Lovato Appears To Have Fuller Figure After Working Up A Sweat In LA.” 

Lovato went on to explain that while she’s no longer “triggered” by these kinds of stories, she feels a responsibility to speak out about damaging rhetoric.

“I’m angry that people think it’s okay to write headlines about people’s body shapes,” she wrote. “Especially a woman who has been so open about being in recovery from an eating disorder. I’m not upset for myself but for anyone easily influenced by the diet culture.”

Lovato then revealed she was corresponding with the article’s author directly in a series of private messages, in which she encouraged the writer to “use your platform for good.”

She said he took “full responsibility” for the post and the two reached an understanding about the media’s power to reframe the conversation around body types.

The article’s author added his own note to the post after publication extending a “a sincere ‘Thank you’ to Demi Lovato for her grace and patience in our exchange.”

“Now my fuller ass is going to sleep!!” Lovato concluded. “Goodnight guys. I love you so much. Don’t forget to tell yourself how beautiful and worthy you are of a happy and healthy life.”

Lupita Nyong’o has apologized for recent comments in which she said the voice of her villainous character in the movie “Us” was inspired by a disability.

In the new horror film, Nyong’o plays two characters, Adelaide Wilson and Red, that latter of whom is an evil doppelgänger hellbent on bloody revenge. Nyong’o said in interviews this month that the effectively creepy voice she gave Red was inspired by the voice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary spasms of the larynx.

Her comments sparked backlash from disability advocates for linking her terrifying character to the condition and disability.

During an appearance on “The View” Thursday, the 36-year-old Oscar winner responded to the criticism.

“It’s a very marginal group of people who suffer from this,” Nyong’o said. “The thought that I would, in a way, offend them was not my intention. In my mind, I wasn’t interested in vilifying or demonizing the condition. I crafted Red with love and care. As much as it [was] in a genre-specific world, I really wanted to ground her in something that felt real. For all that, I say sorry to anyone that I may have offended.”

Nyong’o also explained that Red’s voice was a “composite of influences,” which included laryngeal fractures, vocal cord hemorrhages and her own experiences with vocal injury.

“All of that is very hard to get into a sound bite,” the actress explained. “So … in mentioning spasmodic dysphonia I may have been disproportionate to what it actually is in the film.”

She also noted that she met with numerous people with spasmodic dysphonia while developing Red and is aware of the frustrations related to the condition and thought that “speaking up about it and mentioning it may shed light on the condition.”

“And instead people really came after you for it,” interjected co-host Sunny Hostin.

“Yes, but, you know, I understand that,” Nyong’o quickly responded.

RespectAbility, a nonprofit group that fights stigmas and advances opportunities for people with disabilities, was one of the groups that initially criticized Nyong’o’s remarks. In a statement published Friday, the group said it appreciated the actress’ “heartfelt apology,” stating:

We’re all on a learning journey to be sensitive to all marginalized communities whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation / gender identity, disability, religion or anything else. ‘Us’ ― especially with Lupita Nyong’o as the lead and Jordan Peele as the writer/director ― is opening up doors, and breaking glass ceilings for people of color and is a massive advancement for Hollywood as a whole. We hope Nyong’o will use this experience to continue lifting up all marginalized groups including the 1-in-5 people who live with disabilities.

Though many may view the backlash toward Nyong’o as unwarranted, associating disability with villains is a trope in film and media that the disability community has been trying to combat for years.

The “Road Map for Inclusion,” a new report funded by the Ford Foundation that details the media’s failure to represent people with disabilities and gives recommendations for better inclusion, even cites the hurtful stereotype in its findings, saying:

This stereotype plays on people’s inherent discomfort with those who do not look the same as them, telling them that disfigurement — and disability, in general — makes characters revolting and morally wrong and reinforcing the notion that “we should be afraid of people whose faces and bodies are different from our own.”

If you’re an Apple fan who has waited a year and a half to snag an AirPower wireless charging mat, we have bad news: In a rare reversal, the company has canceled the product.

It was originally promised in September 2017, but sources told TechCrunch the charging coil design produced too much heat for safe use. Despite the company’s best efforts, it couldn’t design a cooler, safer alternative.

Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering confirmed the decision in a statement to the tech blog:

After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.

Unlike the conventional, readily available wireless charging mats that have already saturated the market, Apple promised its AirPower mat could charge multiple devices at once, regardless of their placement on the pad. 

While the cancellation is unlikely to affect Apple’s bottom line much ― wireless charging pads aren’t exactly a cash cow ― it’s certainly enough to give analysts pause.

“This is a major black eye for Apple,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told CNBC. “A product that was touted by Tim Cook himself never even makes the shelves, it’s a complete shocker.”

MUMBAI — Director Umesh Shukla says he is planning to release his web series Modi: Journey Of A Common Man in April, but he is worried about the project coming under the scanning of the Election Commission.

The 10-part original-series is based on the life story of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Recently the Election Commission had sought comments from the makers of biopic PM Narendra Modi, featuring Vivek Oberoi, on the opposition’s demand to postpone its release till the Lok Sabha elections get over. The film is currently slated to release on April 5.

When asked if he is worried that his web series might also come under the radar of the EC over violation of code of conduct, Umesh told PTI, “I am a little worried but at the same time, it’s a different platform. This will come on the Internet. I don’t think so that code of conduct is applied there. But we never know. We haven’t declared our dates yet.”

The series is written by Mihir Bhuta and Radhika Anand, and each episode will be of 30-45 minutes in duration. The director said though a concrete date is not out yet, they are looking for an April release on Eros Now.

“We are on the edit table currently. I will finish it very soon of course... But I don’t know how it (code of conduct) will work for web content. I don’t know how it works.”

The year began with a film on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, titled The Accidental Prime Minister which was deemed propaganda by critics.

The timing of the release of the web series, right on the heels of the Lok Sabha elections, has raised many eyebrows but the director said he does not “fear these things.”

“When I made Oh My God a lot of people threatened me saying how can you make a film like this in India about God. I started this (project) a year ago. It took time to materialise into what it is today.

“We are still not ready. Till yesterday we were shooting. I’m trying to release it as soon as possible. But it was never in our minds to release it before the elections. If we were ready by January we would have released then. It wasn’t planned like that.”