カテゴリー: Culture
The west reduced tantra to a quest for sexual liberation and wellness. But a new show charts its darker depths – from avenging goddesses to blood-drinking and self-decapitationMake a cursory web search for the term tantra and you will be confronted wit…
The makers of this ancient instrument were near to closure. But could it get a new lease of life? Katsuhiro Otaki confesses he can’t play a note on the shamisen, a three-stringed instrument whose sound has been the backdrop to Japanese traditional thea…
Academics, historians, researchers and scholars feel a literary crime is taking place during the distraction of the global pandemicSheltered in the bunkers beneath the National Library in New Zealand’s capital rests a treasure trove of books, including…
Actor accused of supplying drugs to her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput, who killed himself in JuneThe Bollywood star Rhea Chakraborty has been arrested and held in custody for allegedly supplying drugs to her boyfriend, Sushant Singh Rajput, an actor w…
The Casteless Collective are repurposing the bawdy gaana style to confront class conflict – and call out everything from corruption to violence against womenWhen Isaivani starts singing the “beef song” with happy abandon it is nearly 10pm. The audience…
Years of adherence to stringent rules leave a performer at odds with modern society in this melancholy film from Chaitanya Tamhane, India’s first Venice competitor for two decadesChaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple comes boldly billed as the first Indian …
Delhi Riots 2020 claims violence was result of Muslim jihadist conspiracy but critics accuse publisher of censorshipBloomsbury India has pulled a controversial book claiming to tell the untold story of February’s Delhi riots, after the publisher was ac…
Narendra Modi said the death of Jasraj, aged 90, leaves ‘a deep void in the Indian cultural sphere’. Here, his students remember a man who lived inside musicThe Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj has died at the age of 90, a man described by one o…
British-Pakistani filmmaker tackles sexual stereotypes in groundbreaking new drama series, Churails A burqa-clad boxer, a high-society wedding planner and an ex-convict may sound more like the wish list for the next series of Big Brother, but they are …
Video by Es Devlin and Machiko Weston tells story of nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and NagasakiA powerful 10-minute video artwork marking the 75th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been released by the Imperial Wa…
Bollywood star idolised in India discharged three weeks after contracting ‘mild’ symptomsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan has been discharged from hospital, three weeks after being admitted…
Fa’afafine athlete and advocate Jaiyah Saelua, and Kaimana, the fa’afafine actor who will play her in Taika Waititi’s latest film, find shared celebration in a uniquely Polynesian storyJaiyah Saelua is a footballer first.The first openly transgender wo…
Vidya Balan puts in a blazing performance as the eponymous Indian maths genius in Anu Menon’s characterful feminist life storyIn recent years, the Hindi film mainstream has become more proactive about telling the stories of notable women. This new one …
Series following contestants hoping to be chosen for arranged marriage has divided opinion in India“Richa has beauty, she has smile, she’s tall, slim, trim, educated, from a good family. I can give her, I think, 95 marks out of 100.”The comments, made …
Sima Taparia has arranged scores of marriages for wealthy singletons. Now she’s the subject of a Netflix reality show“Compromise and adjustment is what I tell all my clients – you need to lower your expectations,” says Sima Taparia. Speaking over video…