The fire has seven tongues, and one of these is Kali, writes Bibek Debroy

Speedy Shinde: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has gotten down to business even as his battle with the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena continues in the Supreme Court. Shinde took charge on June 30 and started working the same day. Till August 8, he had cleared 399 files pertaining to key issues of governance and social welfare. That is an average of around 10 files a day | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

A party too grand?: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah recently celebrated his 75th birthday. During the celebration, his party colleague and MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar praised his simplicity and narrated how Siddaramaiah, as chief minister, had once asked her to lend him her treadmill for a week instead of buying a new one. She said that he did not want to waste the taxpayer’s money. However, the ruling BJP was quick to respond that austerity was the last thing on the senior Congress leader’s mind as his grand birthday celebration came at a time when the state was reeling under floods.

Rajiv’s genes: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who led his party’s recent nationwide protests against price rise, also became the ace photographer at the epicentre of the agitation in Delhi. While news photographers were struggling to click photos of the protest from behind a tight ring of police officers, Rahul managed to capture a face-off between protestors and the police on his mobile phone. And, like a true professional, he kept clicking till he was detained. Little surprise, considering that his father was the original shutterbug.

A royal alliance: Pop queens Beyonce and Madonna have united for a superb remix of Beyonce’s lead single, ‘Break My Soul’, from her latest album, Renaissance. The remix, appropriately titled the ‘Queens Remix’, combines ‘Break My Soul’ with Madonna’s 1990 hit song, ‘Vogue’. Beyonce replaces Madonna’s list of Hollywood stars in ‘Vogue’, with her own list of Black women who have become cultural icons—from Aaliyah and Rosetta Tharpe to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. Although this is the first time the ‘queens’ are collaborating, they have been fans of each other for a long time | Getty Images

So long, Sandy: Even as tributes poured in for singer and actor Olivia Newton-John, all eyes were on John Travolta, her co-star from Grease (1978), the hit musical that propelled both of them to superstardom. “My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better,” Travolta posted on Instagram. “Your impact was incredible.... We will see you down the road and we will all be together again.” Interestingly, the two had revisited their roles as Danny and Sandy a few years ago at a sing-along of the movie in Florida, 40 years after the iconic film released. So long, Olivia. And thank you for the music.

The Rangeela factor: Unlike most politicians, Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is also a producer and actor, confessed to a crime, albeit one that can be forgiven—that he bunked school to watch Aamir Khan in Rangeela. He said this at a press conference for Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha, which his Red Giant Films is releasing in Tamil Nadu. “Of course, Urmila (Matondkar) was also another reason,” he said to a smatter of laughter in the room. Laal Singh Chaddha, an adaptation of the 1994 Hollywood film, Forrest Gump, has been 10 years in the making. Atul Kulkarni adapted Eric Roth’s original Oscar-winning script into its Hindi version.

Missing brides’ case: Eleven years after her directorial debut, Dhobi Ghat, filmmaker Kiran Rao has begun work on her next film, Laapataa Ladies. The film, starring Sparsh Shrivastav, Pratibha Ranta and Nitanshi Goel in lead roles, will be shot across different towns of Maharashtra. The story is about two young brides who go missing from a train in 2001. Rao began her career as an assistant on the sets of Lagaan. Interestingly, her ex-husband, Aamir Khan, is one of the joint producers of Laapataa Ladies. The two remain friends after an amicable separation in 2021. The film’s shoot is expected to conclude in April 2023 | Reuters

Qawwali for the soul: New York-based Indian electronica duo Burudu gave a modern day twist to Amir Khusrau’s poem in their new release, ‘Zehaal-E-Miskeen’. Crafted as a contemporary qawwali, the track preserves the timelessness of ghazal which has been popularised by qawwali singing for centuries. The array of diverse sonic textures in the song creates a world that is both romantic and mystic, foreign and familiar, raw and refined.... Formed in 2013, Burudu incorporates a range of influences in their music, from Creole spoken word poetry to German pop.