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'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani': Ways of Being Shahrukh

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  'Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani': Shah Rukh Khan As The Symbol Of Indianness SRK’s persona evokes the kind of Indianness that denies categorisation into singular, exclusive identities. And thrives on making others feel welcome.  This essay was originally published in Outlook magazine, here.     Illustration by Saahil.   01 November 2021  Following the arrest of Aryan Khan, as news and social media began churning out its toxic narrative of Shah Rukh Khan as a traitor and depraved parent, a poem by the poet Akhil Katyal went viral: “Wo kabhi Rahul hai, kabhi Raj/ Kabhi Charlie toh kabhi Max/ Surinder bhi wo, Harry bhi wo/ Devdas bhi our Veer bhi/ Ram, Mohan, Kabir bhi/ Wo Amar hai, Samar hai Rizwan, Raees, Jehangir bhi/ Shayad isliye kuch logon ke halak mein fasta hai/ Ki ek Shahrukh mein pura Hindu stan basta hai.” I too shared the poem on
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We are Like this Only - Ban It

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This week's Mid-day column, coming on the heels of the world cup (although not about the world cup, not about cricket etc.) Just about our enthusiasm for censorship and such stupidities on the one hand so we can ignore how bigoted we really are and how much easier we find it to hate than to love. I don't know if that's just the human way as some tend to argue. I know that I do equal number of things from anger or annoyance as I do from enchantment. So if those who express hate are expressing love someplace, why aren't we hearing of it more? Or do we not see it as love, because we are prejudiced against the thing they love. Meanwhile, not quite connected but I found this amusing link - pride in being censored - while searching for an image of a CC. Took the image from a rather nice site called Doc Bollywood btw.
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Essay in Outlook: Tumhara Ishq Ishq....? The Double Meanings of Desire, Porn and Erotica

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Tumhara Ishq Ishq…? The Double Meanings Of Desire, Porn And Erotica Not taste and aesthetics, but class and power draw the line between porn and erotica. Exploitation happens everywhere in the world of real-world sex—not just in porn. By Paromita Vohra August 16, 2021 The Other F Word Illustration by Akriti Sharma. Image courtesy Agents of Ishq. Follow them on Instagram @agentsofishq What are we really talking about when we talk about the division between porn and erotica? Why does this division keep returning to our conversations with slippery futility? Perhaps the most succinct essay on the topic can be found in the film Ishqiya (2010). The character Babban, played by Arshad Warsi, says to Khalu, the character played by Naseeruddin Shah: “ Y
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