Why Kandukondain Kandukondain remains a classic
Character sketch
Rai's Meenakshi echoes Marianne's emotional spirit, while Tabu's Soumya reflects Elinor's sensibility — but with a uniquely Indian layer: the internalised burden of always having to please others. Social media critic Rino, who writes for carpe_diem_movies on Instagram, notes, 'Soumya is a poignant portrayal of a person suffering from a people-pleasing attitude, burdened by the label of being 'unlucky'. She silently endures its impact. She is overcompensating for the stigma of being unlucky.'
Her growth — standing by Manohar (Ajith) while suppressing her own dreams, dealing with society's judgement — ends not just in love but in finding herself. Rino says, 'After a moment of intense doubt, she finally surrenders her self-doubt. It's a moment of profound self-realisation, signalling her growth as a person.' Instead of accepting her sister's 'fate', Rai's Meenakshi directly questions it, notes Meenakshi Girish. 'Why blame the woman? Why not consider that the guy was unstable or problematic? That kind of internal questioning within the film makes it feel intelligent and self-aware. The sisters don't just contrast — they complement each other,' she adds.
The film also updated Austen's idea of marriage as a woman's primary goal. Dr Meenakshi explains, 'In Austen's world, marriage was an important way in which a woman found herself. In the modern world, especially in tradition-bound south India, carving an independent identity takes precedence over mere romantic interests. The ultimate fruition of romantic relationships take on strength and adds meaning from the assertion of newfound identities.'
Soumya finds her voice before finding love. Her sister fiercely pursues her music career. Their romantic relationships feel earned, growing out of their personal journeys rather than defining them.
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Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘You don't know which format will be more important in a couple of years'
Stavanger: Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand says he likes of compartmentalize the various hats he currently wears. Over the last 10 days in Stavanger, though, he's been a busy man. Amidst his daily commentary gig with Norway Chess, Anand made a quick dash for the 'Clash of Generations' exhibition game in Italy, and was among the speakers at the Norway Summit on Wednesday. Sitting down with members of Indian media here ahead of that, the five-time world champion spoke on a range of issues — from Gukesh's performance in the tournament to Magnus Carlsen's fist bang. On Gukesh's tests of survival in Norway Chess It is nothing that wasn't unknown to me. He is tough, quite tenacious. He copes pretty well with setbacks. Obviously, this is a higher test, a more intense tournament. He seems to be under pressure every day, but several days he came out well. Yesterday (on Tuesday, in the loss against Hikaru Nakamura) he flipped a little bit. Suddenly too much success, perhaps two days of getting lucky — of course, you make your luck — and something was off with him. But, that happens. On whether Gukesh is playing too much It depends on what you want to try. And also, you have to grab opportunities. Maybe, going forward, careers won't be as long. But yes, you have to schedule some tournaments. It's good that after this, he gets some break. He has to enjoy those moments as well. I mean, there's no use if the brain refuses to switch off. On his advice to Indian youngsters in dealing with playing all formats (classical, rapid, freestyle), and the risk of burnout Not only is it difficult to compare, the situation is also not the same. I no longer feel my advice is what's the right mix is necessarily the only one. But I know that you cannot cope by taking in everything. And at some point you have to stop, and say these are things that I'll leave out and these I'll prioritize. Because that's the way we do things. Beyond that, the scenario is changing so much. You don't know which format will be more important in a couple of years. A lot of this is decided by public opinion and what they want to watch. On the Gukesh-Grzegorz Gajewski partnership I guess it's a normal relationship. But they've had to deal with such wild swings. I don't think they expected Toronto (Candidates). Obviously without Toronto, you can't expect Singapore (World Championships), and you can't expect this kind of meteoric rise. So they're also adjusting to it. On whether he's seen extreme reactions like Carlsen's fist bang on the table before Yes, enough anger. All this has been around for a while, people screaming and cursing. The only difference is the cameras. The other thing I would say is that this was very intense. Maybe Magnus isn't that excited about classical chess, but he has certainly taken on Gukesh. Or if not that, (to) show that he can fight the youngsters. A lot of stuff (that was) probably going on in his head, and it came out. So those two games (against Gukesh), he took very intensely and seriously. That's kind of partially what brought it on. And that he essentially threw away a carefully nursed game in half a second. On comments by Carlsen and Nakamura in Norway speculating their classical future They've been saying this for some time. Hiraku doesn't play much anyway. He is really quite busy with his other commitments. Same with Magnus, and he's mentioned it many times. You can't ask what the future is every time someone tries to dial it down. I mean, nobody asked me — I had also dialled it down. The sport goes on. There are hundreds of new talents. In this case, we had a lot of warnings. On Nakamura's comments here that chess needs more personalities to sell, and whether that also applies to the current Indians in the elite bunch People are supposed to do what they do best, focus on the best outcomes, and that is supposed to be interesting. You're not supposed to go out there and make being interesting separate from what you do. They (the likes of Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi) are all also very young. Hikaru is able to bring his experience over many years into this, and he's been someone who has done things on the online platform and has a good sense of what people react to and like to watch. That's something he has managed to leverage well. They (Indian players) are welcome to take advice from him, but how they implement it is on them.
Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich on Magnus Carlsen's fist thump: ‘It was extreme emotion… but emotions make any sport more exciting'
When a frustrated Magnus Carlsen slammed his fist on the table after a blunder against world champion Gukesh Dommaraju during a match at Norway Chess, the sound was heard across the world. While many in the chess fraternity were a little taken aback by that display of emotion, that moment has prompted plenty of people who would otherwise not follow the sport to track the drama keenly. Now FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich has said that what Carlsen did was 'a bit unusual' but 'not disrespectful'. 'I saw a video that showed that Gukesh had also done the same (once). The reaction (from Carlsen) was a bit unusual, yes. It was like extreme emotion. But, people like emotions. Emotions make sport more exciting sometimes,' Dvorkovich told Indian media in Stavanger on Wednesday. OH MY GOD 😳🤯😲 — Norway Chess (@NorwayChess) June 1, 2025 'Of course, everyone should keep himself respectful. I would not call what Magnus did disrespectful. It was emotional as he was really disappointed. Gukesh fought back in a very tough game. But at the end, Magnus appreciated that Gukesh was really fighting for that (win).' Dvorkovich-led FIDE and Carlsen have recently clashed a few times, especially when the world no.1 was threatened with a forfeiture for wearing jeans at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. In response, Carlsen quit the tournament and butted antlers with the top brass of chess' world governing body. He was later coaxed back to play the World Blitz Championship, the title which he subsequently opted to share with Ian Nepomniachtchi. FIDE then objected to the Freestyle Grand Slam chess tour events, organised by people backed by the Norwegian. In Stavanger, when Dvorkovich was asked whether he thought Carlsen banging his fist on the table would draw in newer audiences to the sport, he said: 'You can always say that in any sport, any scandal creates more excitement. And this was not a big scandal, happily, it was just a short moment.' 'Major channels start following those things, like it was once with the (Hans Niemann) cheating scandal, Jeansgate or whatever. Magnus is a top player, so when he is involved in something like that, of course everyone pays attention. But I have great respect for Magnus and I would not blame him for those things.' Dvorkovich felt that in cases where a player acts out physically during a game, an arbiter should give a soft warning. But 'if there are no complaints (from the other player), it doesn't go anywhere.' Right after the fist thump incident, Carlsen had spoken out about how this year's Norway Chess could be the last classical event he plays. When asked about Carlsen quitting classical chess, Dvorkovich said: 'That would be unfortunate, but I hope that he'll come back to some classical events or some mixed events. Magnus is the best player, but not the only strong player in the world. He's in his mid-thirties already, so it's good that he's doing other things as well.' Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
News18
29 minutes ago
- News18
Yuzvendra Chahal Clicks Selfie With Fan, Mahvash Walks Away Amid Dating Rumours
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