GENRE: Features

Seeing the posters for Hugo, you’d expect something á la The Polar Express. Or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Something right out of your childhood fantasies. If you did, you’re right! Hugo is a magical 2-hour-8-minute long story of the hand-to-mouth life of a little boy, who stumbled on a life changing secret. Film-changing for cinema lovers. Nobody likes to be forgotten. Especially if their work is so tremendous that they are de facto pages in world history. Today, popular names in movie trivia include ‘Deepika Padukone’ or ‘Karan Johar’. Moving to Hollywood, it’s ‘George Clooney’ or ‘Steven Spielberg’…

The aroma of the coconut oil being heated in the pan, the tempting curries and payasam dishes spread across the table is what God's Own Country's food is about. Here are some of the restaurants that serve the best of Kerala cuisine in Namma Bengaluru. Fish Curry. Pic: Kumarakom Prawn pollichathu and Kerala Chicken curry is the biggest draw at Peppers in BTM Layout. The simple ambience with a few abstract paintings on the wall have calming effect and lets you concentrate on the food.Average cost of meal for two is Rs 250. Alcohol is not served. Karimeen. Pic: Kumarakom…

Have you ever wondered how important colours are, in the world of Nature, around us?Colour is often a way of attracting attention; for these flowers, it is their bright colours that attract bees which will pollinate them, and propagate their species. Colourful flowers. Pic: Deepa Mohan For animals and birds, too, colour is a way of saying, “Here I am!” Nothing depicts colour better than the prismatic plumage of the peacock, flaunting his wonderful tail: The peahen, presumably, chooses the most colourful peacock to be with. Peacock with tail. Pic: Deepa Mohan  Sometimes, colour helps the creature hide instead of…

The movie 3 Idiots has this famous scene that talks about Gujarati cuisine. Watching it again again, my mouth started watering at the mention of Dhokla, Faafda, Thepla, Haandva... I immediately set out find some Gujarati restaurants around Koramangala. Gaanthiya. Pic: Aayush Anand Rajdhani in Koramangala promises to serve the typical Gujarati cuisine. The Gujarati speciality that Rajdhani serves is Masala Khichadi. This is one of the most popular dishes in Gujarat and tastes heavenly. Besides tasting delicious, it is also considered one of the most nutritious and simple dishes to prepare. It is made of a mixture steamed dal…

This year’s Mango crop was a latecomer and much smaller compared to 2011’s bumper produce. While last year produced 11 metric tonnes, this year looks good for just three. “Mango is known for alternate bearing. One year you get a good crop and the succeeding year you get a poor crop.” says Dr G K Mukund, Professor of Horticulture at the University of Agricultural Sciences. Badami: Karnataka’s leading Mango variety. Pic Salonie Rego This year however, saw profuse flowering throughout Karnataka, which was completely unexpected. But factors like the prolonged drought and high temperature still reduced the quantity. Prices are…

With the gathering of dancers, gurus and dance enthusiasts from across India, World Dance Day at Bengaluru witnessed a gorgeous riot of dance forms and music. The event was held at Alliance Francaise, Vasanthnagar on 29th April. Yakshagana at the Inauguration. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthBharathanatyam. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthMen are from Mars performance. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthDance enthusiasts unite. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthThe Mohan Khokar Dance Collection- A mini exhibition. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthHari, Chetana, and their disciples (Kathak). Pic: Maitreyi AnanthArch Ensemble (Modern). Pic: Maitreyi AnanthKallaripayattu. Pic: Maitreyi AnanthBharatanatyam. Pic: Maitreyi Ananth‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); The man behind the event…

With every day of this summer getting hotter, our motivation to get out, take a walk or sweat it out is declining. Be it Football, tennis, cricket or netball, it’s just getting too hot to play. The summer vacations have started and now everyone is looking for ways to excercise, energise and be entertained. And what better way to do that than spending a day at an indoor sports arena close to where you live? Indoor Games. Pic Courtesy: XLR8 Accelerate and runSituated on the Hennur - Begalur Main Road lies your first choice- the XLR8 Indoor Sports Arena. Here's…

It's time for summer vacations. Outings and travel are at its peak. People prefer coloured and textured bags making the military fatigue suitcase covers a passe. No more heavy luggages either. With more people opting to travel by air, baggage weight limits have also become a factor for the change in trend.April - July seems to the peak time for luggage dealers. Summer vacations is when the people flock to buy suitcases and bags.People prefer suitcases made of polycarbonate plastic, as they are lightweight, durable and trendy. These bags come with a choice of two and four wheels. They are…

Which one of us has not watched the house sparrows as they hop about, living their lives alongside us humans in our rural or urban homes? House sparrows (their scientific name is Passer domesticus, the very name saying that they are a part of our domestic lives!) are small and pretty birds which play a large role in our lives, though we are often not aware of this. Male House Sparrow. Pic: Wikimedia commons Can you imagine, these birds are supposed to have become associated with humans nearly 10,000 years ago! Stunning, isn't it?Sparrows prefer a hole to nest in,…

The Avengers is a bold and unique concept by Marvel, bringing together classic comic superheroes in one big-budget, ambitious project. One of the most anticipated movies the year, and the first superhero movie too, the movie incorporates plenty of action, witty dialogue and destruction. But it could have done better.It has a pretty straightforward storyline - decidedly wooden Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) of S.H.I.E.L.D decides to assemble the earth's mightiest heroes in order to save the world from an otherworldly attack, led by the Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston) who, using a piece of alien tech called the Tesseract,…