Man and the land

Rooting for the underdogs: Surely, Nirmala Sitharaman is aware of India’s important defence ties with France. Regardless, minutes before the FIFA World Cup final on July 15, the defence minister tweeted, “Let the best team win! Best wishes to Croatia.” Perhaps she thought the underdog needed more support. Or, it could be interpreted as her admiration for Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who was a big attraction at Russia 2018 | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Blame game: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Panchjanya has published a story criticising actor Sanjay Dutt, who was once convicted in an arms case. The movie Sanju might be breaking box office records, but it has been slammed for glorifying a man with a criminal past. It seems outrage has become politicians’ favourite pastime, and Bollywood is the target. Recently, a Congress leader filed a complaint against the creators of the web series Sacred Games, starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, for dialogue insulting former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The issue was only resolved when party president Rahul Gandhi came out in support of freedom of speech. Elsewhere, in Punjab, the Akali Dal was outraged when Bollywood actor Sunny Leone used her original name, Karenjit Kaur, in a series based on her life. The Akalis objected to the use of the name Kaur, saying she was never a practising Sikh, and that her past (she was an adult film star) was too dirty to accord her the religious identity.

Spitting image: Cricketer Krunal Pandya did not waste the opportunity to click a picture with Ajay Devgn when he met him in England. The uncanny resemblance between the two inspired Pandya to caption the picture “Doppelganger” on Instagram. While people commented on their similarity, Pandya’s Mumbai Indians teammate Kieron Pollard went one step further and asked him whether the actor was his real dad. It is hard to say whether he was being cheeky; Devgn probably hoped so.

Early start: Mithali Raj, the captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, had a special gift for Inaaya, the nine-month-old daughter of Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu. She sent across a personally autographed bat with the message: “To Inaaya, it’s never too early to start.” Soha tweeted back, “Can’t wait for her to grow into it—until then, we will be watching you continue to make India proud on the field.” Inaaya being the granddaughter of the legendary cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan, Mithali replied that there was bound to be some cricketing blood in her. Are you listening, Inaaya? | Sanjoy Ghosh

Markle loses sparkle?: It seems the smile of Meghan Markle, the duchess of Sussex, might not be as sunny as it looks. According to her father Thomas Markle, his daughter is terrified. “I see it in her eyes, I see it in her face and I see it in her smile,” he said. “I’ve seen her smile for years. I know her smile. I don’t like the one I’m seeing now. This one isn’t even a stage smile—this is a pained smile.” He seems to be enjoying his new role as royal basher, calling the royal family “outdated” and Meghan’s new dress code “ridiculous” | Reuters

Space odyssey: Jeff Bezos’s startup Blue Origin will charge people between Rs 1.37 crore and Rs 2.05 crore if they want to sign up for a space ride next year. Blue Origin has completed eight test flights of its New Shepard space capsule from its launch pad in Texas, but none with passengers onboard. The capsule can fly six passengers over 100km above Earth where they can experience “a few minutes of weightlessness”. With Bezos facing stiff competition from fellow entrepreneurs Richard Branson and Elon Musk, the race to space has just gotten a lot more exciting | AFP

Guns and music: Sacred Games, a gangster thriller, is the most talked about Netflix TV series right now, but how many of us know its music composer? Alokananda Dasgupta began trending only last week, but this 34-year-old composer from Kolkata has already scored songs and lingering soundscapes for Hindi films like B.A. Pass and Trapped, Marathi films like Shala and Fandry, and the national award-winning Gujarati documentary Amdavad Ma Famous. Daughter of auteur and poet Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Alokananda started off as music assistant for Udaan, Aisha and No One Killed Jessica. Here’s one music composer to watch out for | Craig Boehman