Amitabh Bachchan is a consummate chameleon. You got to hand it to him for seamlessly merging and adapting to the political atmosphere in the country. Once upon a time, he was very close to the Nehru-Gandhis during the high noon of the Congress party rule. Then, he hitched his wagon to the Samajwadi party a few years ago. And now that the BJP is dominating the political landscape of the country, he has converted to being a Modi devotee. What else can explain the shameful silence by this holier-than-though patriarch of the Hindi film industry, when he would not speak a word in support of the filmmakers right to make the movie that they want to make in relation to the raging controversy around the yet to be released movie Padmavati.

Yesterday was National Press Freedom day in India.  And PM Modi tweeted his admiration and support for the necessity of having a vibrant press in a democracy.  Well, it's good that the Prime Minister is so concerned about the state of our media.  I hope the irony is not completely lost on the honorable Prime Minister because he's always been contemptuous of the media.  Ever since he has assumed the office of the Prime Minister, he has not held a single press conference.  He never allows members of the press to ask any questions of him.  As far as he is concerned, it's been all a one-way communication, when he would get on his soapbox and deliver tired old cliches like a school headmaster in 'Mann Ki Baat'.

Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Remains Of The Day' is a work of luminous beauty. You never cease to be amazed by the sheer moral clarity of the prose. This 1989 Booker Prize-winning novel was made into a fine movie in 1993 by the renowned Merchant-Ivory production, receiving eight Academy Awards nominations. I saw the movie a few years ago, and now reading the book. As so often happens when you have seen the movie first before reading the book on which it is based on; I cannot get rid of the image and voice of Sir Anthony Hopkins as the extremely conscientious butler Mr. Stevens is meditating on his lifetime of dedicated service at the Darlington Hall, and reflecting what in the end has it all amounted to.

I for one never believed that they actually killed their only child Aarushi and the domestic help Hemraj.  These were a couple of murders most foul, that practically mesmerized the whole nation nine years ago.  After so many trials and tribulations, which not only questioned the ability or lack thereof of our criminal justice system, but also the patently dishonest and cynical role played by a section of the media, especially the Hindi news channels, that directly contributed to the horrible miscarriage of justice in the wrongful conviction of the parents.  Finally, after a four-year ordeal, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  The High Court has acquitted Rajesh and Noopur Talwar.  I am so happy for them.

To all those who are in the habit of dissing the mainstream media, please remember that it was this very 'mainstream' media like the New York Times and the New Yorker, who through their painstaking background work and diligent reporting, have managed to nail the powerful Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein for the kind of sexual predator that he's been over the years.  So much so that you got to wonder how powerless the likes of Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd and many others would have felt to spurn his advances?

PM Modi is never tired of reminding us how as a child, he used to sell tea (chaiwala) in front of the Vadanagar railway station in Gujarat. Well, it turns out that the Vadanagar station was constructed in 1973 when Mr. Modi would have been around 22 or 23. So, how come he was selling tea as a kid at that particular station? Not only in this instance, but the fact of the matter is that this prime minister, on many other occasions in the past, has resorted to bluff, exaggeration and outright lies to bolster his standing as some kind of renaissance man, who has been divinely ordained to alter the destiny of India in the 21st century.

After such a bizarre choice of Bob Dylan last year, I am so happy that this year's Nobel Prize for literature has gone to one of the most deserving writers in the last few years.  Unfortunately, I am not quite familiar with the actual craft of his writing; but I am most definitely going to correct this anomaly sooner rather than later.  It is not that Kazuo Ishiguro has been an unknown quantity for me.  He can't be.  After all, this 64 years old Japanese born British author has always made his presence felt among other luminaries on the literary horizon in the last 30 odd years.  Some years ago, I saw a movie from the Merchant-Ivory production ''The Remains of The Day''.  It was an exquisite movie, receiving eight Academy Awards nominations in 1994.  Afterwards, I discovered that this film was adapted from a 1989 Booker Prize-winning novel of the same title by Kazuo Ishiguro.  And at that time, I thought if somebody could fashion out such a fine movie out of that book, it really speaks volumes about the talent of the author.  Now Mr. Ishiguro has found validation from the Nobel Committee itself, not that he needs any validation.  What is also quite a praiseworthy effort by the Committee is that this time, the honor has been bestowed upon a genuinely popular mainstream writer, and not on somebody so obscure that few people have heard of, and much less have actually read.  I think nobody's going to grudge this hour of glory to this quiet and unassuming man who has worked diligently over the years and established his reputation.  Considering the fact that Mr. Ishiguro is in his mid-sixties, you would hope that there are still a couple of books left in him, and I believe he is currently deep into his next book.  Now he must be feeling the added pressure of living up to the reputation of a Nobel Laureate.