Forbes India

Shah Rukh: I have the guts because of repeated failures

He ambled in trailing charm and cigarette smoke. An assistant placed a glass of whiskey in his hand. And we began to talk. Or rather, he did. ...  

Salman Khan: The hit machine

Saat Rasta, known earlier as the Jacob Circle, is the vortex that joins five different areas of Mumbai. On that junction lies New Shirin Talkies, a non-descript theatre. Normally, the traffic on Saat Rasta roundabout is messy, but a week before Eid in 2010, at least three roads leading up to it were completely blocked. ...  

A different stroke from Jeev Milka Singh

At the play-off hole of the 2012 Scottish Open, his position on the penultimate shot wasn't great and his fingers and wrists were hurting. His opponent Francesco Molinari, the Italian Ryder Cup star, who had led the European Tour event for the first three days, fluffed his putt. "Drive for show, putt for dough," they say. After the Who's Who of golf, including defending champ Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson and...  

Gul Panag: Does marriage still tie an actress's career in knots?

In the last few months, two of Indian cinema's leading ladies got married. They're both talented, in great health, very attractive and at the peak of their careers. Will they fall prey to the accepted wisdom that marriage deals a death blow to the career of an Indian actress? ...  

Who will inherit Rajinikanth's throne?

There was a time in Tamil Nadu when these two songs would blare from every other tea shop loudspeaker, on All India Radio programmes (like Neyar Viruppam, or 'Audience Choice'), and on tape recorders in drawing rooms across the state. There were no similarities between the two, either in tune or in setting. One featured Rajinikanth, the undisputed superstar, and the other a five-year-old boy, the son of an ambitious...  

MS Dhoni: Past perfect, future tense?

Forbes India Celebrity 100 No. 3: Watch any TV channel for an hour, at most, and you're sure to see at least a couple of suave cricketers in custom-made suits, hair styled, seasoned models with an attitude to match-nothing like their sweaty, muddy facades on the field-telling you why they prefer to ride a certain motorbike, drink a particular cola, brush their teeth with only that toothpaste, or use precisely...  

Notables not on Celebrity 100

Javed Akhtar: He was hailed in creative circles for his efforts in getting the Copyright Act amended in May 2012. He also penned the lyrics for 'Ekk Deewana Tha'. But he doesn't feature in the Celebrity 100 because there was no specific category for lyricists. ...  

Anurag Kashyap's return to direction

"I just can't work anymore. I have no time," exclaims Anurag Kashyap as he walks into his Yari Road office in Mumbai on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I ask him how long can he spare for the interview. "Honestly, I just have three minutes for you," he says with a chuckle. For a man who did almost everything one can possibly do in showbiz (direction, production, screenwriting, acting) in the...  

Fine tuning: Pick of best and quirkiest that money can buy

1. Smart Driving Parrot's Minikit Smart is a multifunctional Bluetooth car smart cradle designed to work like a universal car mount: It can be attached on to your car windshield or dashboard and can cradle your smart phone horizontally. It hooks up with the phone over Bluetooth. The cradle makes it quite useful for GPS navigation. It has retractable microphones, and can even power your phone when it's connected to...  

Letter from the editor: The magic of entertainment

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Forbes India Celebrity 100: What the stars earned

Here are top 10 celebs and their earnings in crores. ...  

Shah Rukh tops Forbes India's 'Celebrity 100' list

Shah Rukh Khan has topped the inaugural Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, a ranking of India's biggest entertainers based on their income and popularity. ...  

Rural consumers will hold the key to stocks' success

From a macroeconomic perspective, 2012 for India was close to the worst that could have been forecasted in late 2011. Back then, it was called sensationalist to forecast a 5 percent GDP growth, a mid-50s steady-state value for the rupee against the US dollar, a sticky 7 percent-plus wholesale price inflation, close to double-digit consumer price inflation and almost no rate cuts from the RBI. It was feared that if...  

GVK's big Australian bet

GVK has to raise $7 billion in debt to succeed in its venture to mine coal Down Under and fight off stiff competition. ...  

13 books to add to your reading list

Dharavi, HarperCollins: Dharavi is arguably Mumbai's largest problem and its greatest opportunity. This collection demands attention as much for its topic as its contributors, who include Jerry Pinto, Sonia Faleiro, Hussain Zaidi and Anne Zaidi. ...  

Seven hottest emerging markets to live and work in

1. Chile Encircled by the imposing snow-capped Andes, it is the first South American country to sign up as an OECD member. Its government has invested in arts and entrepreneurship; in 2011, The New York Times called it the No. 1 destination to visit. Chile is stable and forward-thinking. The Start-Up Chile programme has attracted more than 220 foreign startups since 2010. ...  

Will Unique Identification start to deliver?

The PMO has announced that the government will start UID-based cash transfers in 51 districts from January 1, 2013, and it will be expanded to 18 states from April 1, 2013. However, given the practical problems involved, as well as the time required to put in place the requisite infrastructure, I expect it will take time before significant benefits are being delivered in the coming year. Here's why. ...  

Five sustainable practices India must make mandatory

1. Fishing Fishing stocks around the globe started dropping in 1988. In India, data on the availability of fish stocks and yield is poor, but given the prevalent ocean fishing practices, sustainable methods need to be implemented not only for the survival of marine biodiversity but the fishing industry as well. ...  

Five game-changing ideas from academics

Dumping the 'junk' DNA theory: From the time the final draft of the human genome was published in 2003, it was believed that 98 per cent of our genetic material inside each cell was 'junk', with no known function. The rest, about 2 per cent of our DNA that make 20,000-odd genes, are coded for the proteins that govern our life. In 2012, that theory was consigned to history. Results...  

3 regulatory changes that you should take note of

Frank-Dodd Act - the legislation is the US' response to the global financial crisis of 2008. The Act was signed into law in July 2010 by President Barack Obama. Some of the major aspects of the Act include regulation of mortgages, loans and credit cards, overseeing Wall Street and systemic risks that occur within, and regulate, risky derivatives. ...