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Maisha Islam Monamee

The author graduated from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka and is a contributor at The Daily Star. Find her @monameereads on Instagram.

July uprising memories in Bangladesh

July then and now: Remembering the month that changed us

17 July 2026, 10:00 AM
Sometimes I find myself wondering what it must feel like to have July arrive without something tightening in one’s chest.
17 July 2026, 10:00 AM
15 years later, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ still finds new meaning

15 years later, ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ still finds new meaning

15 July 2026, 18:40 PM
The scenery still takes my breath away, the playlist still makes me want to pack a bag, and Farhan Akhtar’s poetry still lands exactly where it should. Yet every rewatch feels like a different film.
15 July 2026, 18:40 PM
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‘Urban Images’ turns art into an act of solidarity

11 July 2026, 19:50 PM
Art has always found ways to document cities through the rhythms, fractures and quiet resilience that define urban life. Veteran artist Kazi Salahuddin Ahmed’s latest solo exhibition, “Urban Images”, does exactly that. Yet beyond the abstract compositions and layered cityscapes lies another, more immediate story—one of artists standing beside one another when it matters most.
11 July 2026, 19:50 PM
Why we keep falling for fictional boyfriends

Why we keep falling for fictional boyfriends

7 July 2026, 11:15 AM
Then someone inevitably resurrects Mr Darcy, Jim Halpert or Aditya Kashyap to remind everyone that the blueprint existed long before TikTok edits.
7 July 2026, 11:15 AM
How movies shaped our career expectations

How movies shaped our career expectations

4 July 2026, 12:16 PM
Not just the love stories, the friendships, or the dramatic monologues in the rain, but the professions stitched into those narratives.
4 July 2026, 12:16 PM
BRACU Duburi 2

Two BRACU underwater vehicles reach RoboSub 2026 semi-finals 

3 July 2026, 20:02 PM
BRAC University's underwater robotics research team, BRACU Duburi, has qualified two autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for the semi-finals of RoboSub 2026, becoming one of only two teams worldwide to advance more than one vehicle to the next stage of the international competition.
3 July 2026, 20:02 PM
rom-com watchlist.jpeg

The rom-com watchlist for summer 2026

3 July 2026, 16:00 PM
Summer has always belonged to romance. Long evenings, spontaneous road trips, seaside cafés, weddings, festivals, and holidays create the perfect backdrop for stories that balance butterflies with belly laughs. The latest wave of rom-coms leans into that familiar comfort while embracing modern relationships, witty banter, and characters who feel wonderfully real. Whether you are planning a weekend binge or looking for the perfect comfort watch after a long day, these recent releases deserve a spot on your Summer 2026 watchlist.
3 July 2026, 16:00 PM
How films evolved from meet-cutes to mixed signals

How films evolved from meet-cutes to mixed signals

1 July 2026, 19:28 PM
Modern romances are filled with unread messages, ghosting, dating apps, almost-relationships, emotional unavailability, and the dreaded question: “What are we?”
1 July 2026, 19:28 PM
op_2_mirpur_fire_star_file.jpg

The fires we choose to cry for

We treat industrial fatalities as background noise because our hearts have been numbed by repetition.
24 October 2025, 06:00 AM
Understanding the cinema of convenient truths and perfect propaganda

Understanding the cinema of convenient truths and perfect propaganda

Cinema has always been a mirror, but particularly in the last decade, it has started holding that mirror at a rather flattering angle. The reflection now has a bit more nationalism, a bit less nuance, and sometimes, an entire political manifesto playing in the background. The trailer for "The Taj Story", which asks whether the Taj Mahal might once have been a temple, does not merely invite curiosity; it stages curiosity as corrective history. It is the newest actor in a growing ensemble of movies that treat doubt like doctrine and cinema like a courthouse. And while we once saw filmmakers wrestle with moral ambiguity; in present times, the only ambiguity lies in whether you are watching entertainment or an election campaign.
24 October 2025, 04:52 AM
Why we keep falling for the same rom-com tropes

Why we keep falling for the same rom-com tropes

Rom-coms tell us that even in the chaos of real life, some things are beautifully predictable. The same misunderstandings, the same meet-cutes, the same last-minute airport chases somehow never get old.
22 October 2025, 04:00 AM
Gods, graves, and gallery lighting: A love letter to looted civilizations

Gods, graves, and gallery lighting: A love letter to looted civilizations

They say you cannot see the world in a day, but they clearly have not been to the British Museum. After five hours of exploration, I came out questioning three things: time, empire, and how exactly one steals a whole moment without anyone noticing.
19 October 2025, 13:17 PM
Gen Z guide

The Gen Z guide to smarter learning

For Gen Z students who have grown up navigating both online classes and algorithmic chaos, learning smarter isn’t about working harder or longer. It is about using the right tools with the right mindset.
14 October 2025, 05:44 AM
The quiet rage beating beneath ‘Dhadak 2’

The quiet rage beating beneath ‘Dhadak 2’

Despite flaws, this is a milestone in the reluctant evolution of Bollywood's conscience
10 October 2025, 09:02 AM
‘Alice in Borderland’ struggles to escape its own maze

‘Alice in Borderland’ struggles to escape its own maze

The new season begins back in the mortal world, where Arisu and Usagi are living as a married couple, supposedly free of the horrors that nearly consumed them. Their peace, however, does not last. Usagi, still haunted by her father’s absence, becomes vulnerable to the manipulations of Ryuji Matsuyama, a researcher obsessed with proving Borderland’s existence.
5 October 2025, 04:00 AM
TV Series 2025,

Finished ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’? Let’s find your next binge

Plenty of shows and movies capture the exact same feelings that hooked us on TSITP—so consider this a fan-to-fan guide to what to watch next. Each of these picks delivers a flavor of TSITP, whether it’s the romance, the setting, or the emotional gut punches we secretly live for.
3 October 2025, 05:54 AM
The many faces of Durga Puja in cinema

The many faces of Durga Puja in cinema

What remains fascinating is how the aesthetics of Durga Puja on screen often mirror the aesthetics of cinema itself. Both are public spectacles designed to overwhelm the senses, to invite immersion and disbelief. A pandal is not unlike a film set, meticulously crafted, temporary, and destined to dissolve after a few days.
30 September 2025, 04:00 AM
the-bads-of-bollywood-cast-explain-the-controversial-title-620.jpg

"The Ba***ds of Bollywood": All shine, no spine

"The Ba***ds of Bollywood" arrives like a party that knows it is both entertaining and dangerous to attend. It is gleefully loud, crammed with cameos and inside jokes, and built out of the familiar ingredients of commercial Hindi cinema. At the same time, it repeatedly lets loose sharp, uncomfortable flashes that refuse to be smoothed over. Watch it as a satire and you will laugh often. Watch it as an indictment and you will feel the edges. The series wants to do both things at once, and that ambition is its central thrill and also its chief flaw.
28 September 2025, 04:00 AM
Memory, music and the fragile shape of modern romance

Memory, music and the fragile shape of modern romance

At its heart, the film is a story of Krish Kapoor, a volatile and ambitious young musician played by Ahaan Panday, and Vaani Batra, a lyricist played by Aneet Padda, who together discover not only the soaring highs of romance but also the fragility of time when Vaani is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. What begins as a meeting of music and words gradually turns into a meditation on the meaning of love when memory itself starts slipping away.
24 September 2025, 13:03 PM
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The summer I learned what first love feels like again

I remember the first time I heard about "The Summer I Turned Pretty". It was in a group chat with my friends, where two of them were fighting as Team Conrad vs Team Jeremiah. "You have to watch it," they said and I was skeptical at first, dismissing it as just another teen drama. But when I watched the first episode, something clicked. I know it is super embarrassing to be obsessing over a teen drama as a twenty-something year old but this show really had its sweet way of pulling me in. I never thought a show about a teenage love triangle could make me feel like a teenager again, but here I was, waiting eagerly for a new episode each Wednesday.
23 September 2025, 15:04 PM
AI for job application

How AI can transform your job search

The sheer volume of administrative and creative tasks when applying to multiple jobs can feel overwhelming, and that is where AI can genuinely become a personal productivity partner. When used thoughtfully, AI can save time, reduce errors, and help you present your best self to potential employers.
23 September 2025, 05:36 AM

‘Metro… In Dino’ captures love in its chaos

“Metro… In Dino,” currently trending at No 4 on Netflix, plunges viewers into the messy, unpredictable, and deeply human world of modern love. Director Anurag Basu returns with his signature intertwining narratives, tracing the lives of four couples across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, and Pune as they wrestle with desire, loyalty, heartbreak, and self-discovery. At its core, the film probes the nuances of contemporary relationships, exploring the spaces between desire and fidelity, longing and responsibility, routine and excitement. Basu never shies away from the uncomfortable: questions of infidelity, emotional neglect, and the tension between individual ambition and shared life are addressed head-on, yet never in a preachy way. His storytelling is deliberate, oscillating between comedy, melancholy, and romantic whimsy in a way that mirrors the characters’ own emotional unpredictability.
18 September 2025, 04:00 AM
AI colleague

AI - the new colleague on your desk

From language models to workflow automation, AI tools are increasingly integrated into everyday work, promising efficiency and insight. Yet adoption remains uneven, in part because misconceptions abound.
16 September 2025, 04:56 AM
iPhone 17 worth buying

Is the iPhone 17 worth buying?

Every September, Apple asks us to upgrade. And every September, we wonder whether the shiny new iPhone is worth stretching our wallets again, or if last year’s model is still good enough. How much better is the iPhone 17 compared to last year’s iPhone 16? And if you are already thinking of spending big, how does it hold up against Android’s superpowers?
10 September 2025, 08:13 AM
Ducsu election 2025

An election that could return Ducsu to the students

There is a sense of possibility in the air, a rare, almost tangible feeling that something is different.
8 September 2025, 14:00 PM
‘Wednesday 2’: A spellbinding return to Nevermore Academy

‘Wednesday 2’: A spellbinding return to Nevermore Academy

When Netflix released the second season of "Wednesday" in two parts, I initially wondered whether this decision was driven by narrative necessity or simply by the platform’s strategy to keep the conversation alive for longer. After all, the first season had been a global phenomenon, and splitting the follow-up into two halves carried the risk of breaking its rhythm. Having now seen the complete season, I can say that while the release format interrupted its flow, the content itself proves that the creative team paid attention to the lessons of season one and delivered something richer, darker, and more confident. This time, the show leans further into the shadows while still delivering the sharp wit and macabre humour that made its first season so irresistible.
7 September 2025, 06:00 AM
A musical, a satire, a lament: The many faces of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

A musical, a satire, a lament: The many dimensions of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

I found myself wondering why an animated film had suddenly taken the world by storm, topping Netflix’s global charts. Animated titles rarely reach this kind of universal acclaim unless they are tied to a massive franchise, and yet here was "KPop Demon Hunters", a seemingly niche story about idols battling demons, sitting at number one. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to dive in. What I found was a film that managed to wrap a playful premise around a surprisingly layered commentary on fame, identity, and the relentless machine of modern pop culture.
3 September 2025, 10:49 AM
The weight of myth and maternal fury in ‘Maa’

The weight of myth and maternal fury in ‘Maa’

Every few years, Bollywood offers a story of maternal heroism, where a mother becomes both protector and saviour, taking centre stage in a narrative traditionally dominated by male leads. "Maa" enters this lineage with Kajol in the titular role, a choice that immediately draws attention. The film, currently streaming on Netflix, blends horror with mythology to weave a narrative that pits a mother’s fierce love against supernatural forces rooted in Bengali folklore. Set in Chandrapur, West Bengal, the story is anchored in the legend of Raktabeej and the fierce presence of Kali Maa, aiming to merge ancient myth with contemporary familial stakes. On paper, the premise is ambitious: a mother willing to defy mortal and supernatural odds to protect her child, all while exploring broader social themes, particularly the value of a girl child in a patriarchal setting.
31 August 2025, 07:11 AM

Pagination

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