A fight for soul and identity: THE WEEK reports from Bangladesh

Threat matrix: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy recently offered underperforming officials a generous menu of exits: proceed on leave, choose quieter postings or seek central deputations. Failing that, he cautioned, measures like compulsory retirement, already being implemented in some other states, could be considered. He also said that he had a list of non-performers and threatened to name them | Illustrations by Job P.K.

Colourful change: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, long associated with white in public life, has been branching out. Parliamentary sessions saw him in coloured sweatshirts. With the heat rising, he has switched to polo T-shirts in bright and dark shades. Many BJP MPs have for long worn specific colours on working days in Parliament—to align with the energy of the ruling planet of the day. So, some people now wonder if there is such an astrological reasoning behind Rahul’s new preference. There may be. Or he may have simply got tired of white.

The cost of honesty: Taapsee Pannu has never been afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes that has cost her roles. She recently spoke about how she has the reputation of being “difficult to work with”, because of which many heroes have said they don’t want to work with her. She said she does not agree with the criticism. “Anyone who opens my filmography can see that the directors who worked with me have repeated me, and that cannot happen with someone who is difficult to work with,” she said. Pannu’s latest film Assi—a courtroom drama directed by Anubhav Sinha and co-starring Kani Kusruti—is currently running in theatres | PTI

When reel mirrors real: In the wake of the joint strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, the Apple TV+ show Tehran—whose third season released in January—is seeing a huge spike in popularity. In the show, Israeli actor Niv Sultan plays a Mossad agent who is attempting to infiltrate Iran and gain access to its nuclear programme. Known for its balanced approach, Tehran, directed by Daniel Syrkin, gives both Israeli and Iranian perspectives. Often mirroring actual events, it decodes the tension in the middle-east with a sensitivity lacking in many TV shows about the region. In 2021, it became the first Israeli show to win an Emmy award for best drama series | Getty Images

The legend is back: After announcing his retirement from playback singing, Arijit Singh dropped his first independent song ‘Raina’, a romantic ballad composed by Shekhar Ravjiani, with lyrics by Priya Saraiya. “Raina is out now and all yours,” Singh shared Ravjiani’s post on Instagram. “Turn it up, feel it deeply, let the night take over.” Fans could not contain their excitement. “The legend is back,” stated one of them. Singh, one of the most popular Indian singers of his generation, has won two national awards and eight Filmfare awards. He was the most-streamed Indian artist on Spotify for seven consecutive years, from 2019-2025, with a following of 171.7 million compared with Taylor Swift’s 150.2 million | PTI

Five star actor: HBO’s medical drama The Pitt won in several categories at the recent Actor Awards. But the biggest winner was the show’s lead Noah Wyle, who became the first male actor to win all five major television awards for one season of a show—an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Critics’ Choice Award, a Television Critics Association Award as well as an Actor Award. Many women, however, have achieved this feat, including Sarah Paulson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Michelle Williams. The Pitt takes on several real-life health care issues in each season, from abortion to end-of-life care. Next, it seems it will tackle the Medicare crisis in the US. “These cuts in Medicare, the ones that are going to affect Americans and put them off the rolls, hospital closures—there are all sorts of very pressing issues that are facing hospitals and health care workers in America, and we have only scratched the surface,” said Wyle | AFP