The Latest Breaking News from Bollywood

Contemporary Bollywood films tend to focus on stories of the Indian underdog emerging triumphant after facing adversity or a threat from an “outsider”: the triumph of the charismatic masculine Hinduised hero who fulfils his duty, saves the nation and reclaims India’s lost pride.

The front page of the Indian Express had a short piece yesterday on how after questioning actor Rhea Chakraborty for almost 18 hours, the Enforcement Directorate did not find “any substantial transfers” to her from the bank account of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Canadian citizen and the face of Indian nationalism in Bollywood Akshay Kumar has released his fifth film on India’s Independence Day this year. Previous releases include Brothers (2015), Rustom (2016), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) and Gold (2018).

Like Hollywood, the Mumbai film industry too can offer a lesson or two to the world every once in a while. For the past two weeks or so, Swara Bhaskar, an up-and-coming Indian actress, has been at the centre of a most curious unravelling.

Let’s face it – sting operations are to news what nudity is to cinema. So it is hardly a surprise that in these times when television news is a fiercely frantic TRP battle, news channels sting with alarming frequency and unbridled zest. Many sting ops, expectedly, are plain ridiculous and…