Is there much more of Mumbai than meets the eye in Salman Rushdie’s new novel?

A schoolmate from the writer’s Bombay days searches for hidden clues.

Anvar Alikhan

· Oct 14, 2017 · 08:30 am

The Mont Blanc pen and other tales from Salman Rushdie’s life as a Bombay schoolboy

The city, which features in his latest novel, ‘The Golden House’, is an indelible part of Rushdie’s identity.

Anvar Alikhan

· Sep 30, 2017 · 07:00 am

From ‘Debonair’ to ‘Cocktail’: How Hugh Hefner’s ‘Playboy’ inspired many second cousins in India

Even before copies of ‘Playboy’ were smuggled into India, an adventurous publisher had launched an Indian version of it.

Anvar Alikhan

· Sep 29, 2017 · 03:30 pm

What made Freddie Mercury’s voice so magical? His teeth

The singer believed his buck teeth gave his voice the special resonance. Scientists now think there was another reason.

Anvar Alikhan

· Sep 05, 2017 · 11:30 am

The Indian adventures of Amelia Earhart before she disappeared into oblivion

Exactly 80 years after the famous aviator vanished, new evidence emerges about her possible fate.

Anvar Alikhan

· Jul 08, 2017 · 11:30 am

A history lesson for the Tatas (and Indigo) as they consider buying out Air India

A look at the airline’s roller-coaster fortunes over the years.

Anvar Alikhan

· Jul 03, 2017 · 11:30 am

How Rowan Atkinson has been brilliantly miscast (or the strange case of Inspector Maigret)

Mr Bean now plays the philosophical, world-weary detective created by Georges Simenon.

Anvar Alikhan

· Jun 30, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Was Roger Moore the best James Bond ever? Or the worst?

The history of the 007 franchise would have been vastly different if Timothy Dalton or Oliver Reed had been picked over Roger Moore.

Anvar Alikhan

· May 28, 2017 · 03:00 pm

The little-known history of how Zoroastrian merchants helped create the old Silk Route

The Zoroastrian-Chinese connection is at least 1,200 years older than we think. Probably even more.

Anvar Alikhan

· May 18, 2017 · 11:30 am

Can you spot the Nanavati murder case in these Salman Rushdie and Indra Sinha novels?

Thrown in some facts, garnish with a lot of fiction, and sprinkle some magical realism.

Anvar Alikhan

· May 13, 2017 · 10:00 am

This book gives an exciting new life to the murder case that rocked Mumbai 60 years ago

Perhaps none of three main players – Nanavati, Sylvia, and Ahuja – were who they were made out to be.

Anvar Alikhan

· May 10, 2017 · 08:30 am

The romance that caused Dev Anand to be known as ‘Gregory Peck of India’

The American star’s name was hyphenated with Dev Anand’s. But how did that happen?

Anvar Alikhan

· Apr 06, 2017 · 12:00 pm