As anticipated, the political masters of Pakistan have finally directed its national cricket team to lift the boycott and play India on 15 February, 2026, as scheduled in Colombo . The Masters must've thought the money at stake is too lucrative to continue indulging in such kind of grumpy politics. Of course, they had imposed some pre-conditions that included making the 'handshake' a mandatory protocol, but the ICC looked the other way. So, the PCB takes it as protecting the 'spirit of cricket'. The Indian cricket board , the sponsors, the TV channels and millions of fans who do not necessarily mix patriotism with sports, if it's cricket in particular, must be deliriously ecstatic that all the revenues and hype and excitement shall be there for harvest thr oughout the ICC Men's T20 World Cup-2026 , co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka . Most of the Indians fans must also be ecstatic to have their heroes go on vanquishing the enemy neighbor and humiliating t...
Why should any film director, let him/her be a seriously famous or crass commercial maker, make a movie like the ’12 O’ Clock’ (2021) while still in the right frame of mind? I’m saying so because the film, placed in the ‘horror’ genre, is ludicrously absurd, inadvertently funny and with superimposed superficial characters. The angst of the viewers is particularly aggravated if that filmmaker happens to be an era-defining and a prolific one for over three decades. I cannot restrain myself from quoting the Hindi teaser that goes like this, ‘ Tera barah baj gaya kya ?’ (Have you got done with it?) while avoiding the Sardar jokes associated with the ’12 o’ clock’ phenomenon. Mind you, I’m far from trying to be offensive or insulting in any possible manner for I’ve been a devout admirer of the filmmaker since the 90s. As the title suggests I’m just asking as to what may have been happening with him in the recent years. However, it’s a far cry as regards the remotest possibility of this piec...