Mumbai: Spider-Man continues to enjoy phenomenal success at the Indian box office, highlighting the country's enduring fascination with Hollywood superheroes. But the craze also raises an important question: Has Bollywood missed the opportunity to build its own superhero universe? India has produced memorable superheroes like Shaktimaan and the Krrish franchise, while Indian comics are home to several iconic characters. Yet, unlike Hollywood, the Hindi film industry has not c

Student unrest, NCP realignments and electoral manoeuvres are reshaping the city’s political conversation Pune: The city’s political landscape last week was defined by two contrasting forces: the energy of student activism and the uncertainty surrounding the future of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In a city where campuses have long served as incubators of political debate and where the Pawar family’s influence remains deeply entrenched, both developments carried significa

Mumbai: For all the progress Hindi cinema likes to claim, one uncomfortable truth keeps returning to the surface and that is, the industry still does not know how to build women into lasting theatrical phenomena. Alia Bhatt’s Alpha is only the latest reminder. The mixed reaction to it at the box-office and the negativity on social media has exposed something larger than BO arithmetic. It has reopened the old question of why female-led films in Bollywood are still treated as e

Party’s unprecedented East-West division aims to curb factionalism and revive its fortunes ahead of 2029 polls Dipti Chaudhari Prashant Jagtap Pune: The Congress party has appointed two city presidents for Pune, marking the first time it has adopted such a structure in the city. By geographically dividing Pune into eastern and western zones, the party has appointed former

Tensions within the ruling Mahayuti portend a significant upheaval in the political landscape of Western Maharashtra. CM Fadnavis with DCM Sunetra Pawar during the inauguration and unveiling of the foundation plaque of a cancer hospital in Pune. Pic: PTI Pune: In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Mahayuti had suffered a setback across the Western Maharashtra districts of Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Solapur. Had the seat-sharing arrangement within the rival Maha Vikas

An inquiry into Pune’s civic works lifts the veil on a sprawling nexus and a familiar political silence Pune: The Supreme Court’s directive to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to investigate the assets of a retired City Engineer from the Pune Municipal Corporation has sent shockwaves through the city. For the residents of Pune, the inner workings of the Construction Department and the illicit gains amassed by some of its shrewd officials are nothing new; however, this investi

Concerns beyond technical failure with investigators probing possible targeted attack New Delhi: The fire at the Pachpadra refinery in Balotra, Rajasthan, is no longer being viewed as just another industrial accident. It is increasingly raising a larger question in the national discourse: was this merely an unfortunate mishap, or does it point to something more deliberate? At a time when the world is grappling with volatile crude oil supplies, the outbreak of a fire at a key

Mumbai: When Swararaj Shrikant Thackeray, or Raj, launched the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) with fanfare 20 years ago, there was widespread optimism that his ‘steam engine’ symbol would travel far in politics, trigger realignments and perhaps emerge as a viable alternative in Maharashtra. Raj’s dramatic break from his illustrious mentor and uncle, the late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray, and a split from cousin Uddhav Thackeray created more than ripples — i

The death of Ajit Pawar has unsettled western Maharashtra, leaving the BJP cautiously biding its time Pune: Western Maharashtra has long been Indian politics in miniature: dense with sugar cooperatives, caste arithmetic, money and muscle power. For decades it was shaped by one extended family – the Pawars - whose writ ran from district banks to dairy unions and from assembly halls to village panchayats. The sudden death of Ajit Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) stro

Maharashtra’s most agile politician finds that even political acrobatics have a breaking point NCP (Sharad Pawar) State President Shashikant Shinde and party MLA Rohit Pawar during a rally in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. | Pic: PTI Pune: In Maharashtra’s labyrinthine politics, few figures are as deft or as difficult to read as Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Ajit Pawar. As nephew of Sharad Pawar, the NCP’s grand old man, Ajit has spent the past three yea

The city’s civic poll contest has turned into a free-for-all, exposing how Maharashtra’s once-stable alliances have unravelled owing to selfish ambition Pune: Pune’s municipal election was once a relatively orderly affair, governed by predictable coalitions and familiar rivalries. This time it resembles a crowded roundabout with no right of way. The collapse of both the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has produced a four-cornered contest in

Municipal elections expose the identity crisis within both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party Pune: Local elections are often treated as administrative skirmishes. But in Pune, they have become something akin to a philosophical debate about loyalty and legitimacy, ideology and expediency, and whether political parties can survive repeated acts of self-contradiction. The week-long turmoil surrounding the city’s municipal polls has laid bare the Nationalist Congress Pa

Mumbai: Soon after sworn political adversaries Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray publicly embraced reconciliation, a familiar sense of unease spread among Maharashtra’s Muslims and other minorities. For many, the reunion of the cousins after 20 years of separation was less about Marathi unity and more about political expediency, plus a grim reminder of how minority expectations remain expedient for self-serving p

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s recent comments, acknowledging that Shiv Sena workers in Dharashiv have expressed feelings of "betrayal" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) within the Mahayuti alliance, mark a pivotal and ironic inflection point in the state’s volatile politics. While Shinde was quick to categorise these sentiments as merely "local" and insisted that contesting independently does not make the allies "foes," the very language he used – the vocab

After an eight-year hiatus, the municipal elections promise to usher in a new cohort of politicians and reset the city’s political rhythms Pune: The long-delayed civic polls herald a generational shift in Pune, arguably Maharashtra’s most politically vibrant city. When voters return to the booths in December, they will be resetting the circuitry of local power. The last municipal elections were held in 2017. Since then, the city’s politics have drifted into a liminal space.

From Anna Joshi’s grassroots charm to Murlidhar Mohol’s ascendancy, the BJP has long treated Pune as a laboratory for grooming leaders....

Devendra Fadnavis, once denied his due, is the state’s Chief Minister again and a strong contender for Delhi In the eternally fluid...

Ajit Pawar is trying to escape the long political shadow of his uncle, Sharad Pawar. But can he build a legacy of his own before time...

As the state readies for local elections, the political veteran tightens his grip on a shrinking stronghold even as the Congress withers...

Suresh Jain’s missed shot at Maharashtra’s top post had little to do with his faith and everything to do with backroom arithmetic....