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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.

Why Spider-Man feels like Gen Z's superhero

Why Spider-Man feels like Gen Z's superhero

5 August 2026
"Brand New Day" succeeds for a different reason. Beneath the web-slinging and skyline chases lies a story that feels surprisingly familiar to the generation filling the theatres.
5 August 2026
how AI affects critical thinking

I spent two years learning AI, then another year unlearning it

27 July 2026
Like many people working close to technology, I believed AI would become the defining aspect for our generation.
27 July 2026
‘Beyond the Brief’ explores the intersection of art and design

‘Beyond the Brief’ explores the intersection of art and design

26 July 2026
Every colour, typeface and composition is ultimately expected to solve a problem. “Beyond the Brief”, currently underway at Bengal Shilpalay in Dhanmondi, asks a deceptively simple question: what happens when those problems disappear?
26 July 2026
Christopher Nolan revisits glory, guilt and the ghosts of war in ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan revisits glory, guilt and the ghosts of war in ‘The Odyssey’

22 July 2026
It is an adaptation of one of humanity’s oldest stories, an epic that has shaped the language of adventure, heroism and homecoming for nearly three millennia.
22 July 2026
July uprising memories in Bangladesh

July then and now: Remembering the month that changed us

17 July 2026
Sometimes I find myself wondering what it must feel like to have July arrive without something tightening in one’s chest.
17 July 2026
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
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
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‘Urban Images’ turns art into an act of solidarity

11 July 2026
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
Why we keep falling for fictional boyfriends

Why we keep falling for fictional boyfriends

7 July 2026
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
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Understanding the science, salience, and surge of ‘Project Hail Mary’

The theatrical experience has been under quiet negotiation for years, reshaped by streaming, shrinking attention spans, and an industry increasingly inclined to design films for quick consumption rather than sustained engagement. Into this landscape arrives “Project Hail Mary”, a film that feels almost defiant in how fully it leans into what cinema can achieve when it assumes the audience is actually watching.
5 April 2026
Casting, controversy and cultural memory in the age of adaptations

Casting, controversy and cultural memory in the age of adaptations

A visible portion, however, reveals something more uncomfortable: how quickly aesthetic preference can blur into racial bias when long-held images are challenged.
3 April 2026
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How World Cup anthems became a global phenomenon

The FIFA World Cup has always extended beyond the ninety minutes on the pitch. It operates as a cultural convergence point where identity, commerce, and memory intersect. Within that ecosystem, music plays a precise role: it frames the tournament, translates its energy across borders, and leaves behind an auditory record that often outlives the matches themselves.
2 April 2026
Eid gifts

Here are 7 gadget gift ideas for this Eid

From devices that encourage reading and creativity to gadgets that improve productivity, entertainment, or health awareness, the right tech gift can remain useful long after the festivities end.
17 March 2026
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The spin-off age: How supporting characters now lead the narrative

For most of film and television history, supporting characters existed with a clear narrative function: assist the protagonist, provide comic relief, move the plot forward, and quietly exit when the hero’s journey took centre stage. They were memorable, sometimes even beloved, but rarely powerful enough to reshape the story’s structure. Yet the modern entertainment landscape, particularly in the age of sprawling franchises and long-form streaming series, has begun to shift that balance.
10 March 2026
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The power of female rage in cinema

For much of cinematic history, women have been permitted to suffer beautifully. They mourn, endure, forgive, and sacrifice. What they have rarely been allowed to do—at least without consequence—is rage. Female anger has often been framed as instability, hysteria, or moral decline, something to be corrected or contained before it threatens the social order.
8 March 2026
Violence against women and children in Bangladesh

Have we grown desensitised to violence against women and children?

When perpetrators act with confidence, it is often because consequences appear uncertain, distant, or negotiable.
4 March 2026
Ramadan productivity

A guide to navigating the workplace in Ramadan

In Bangladesh, Ramadan reshapes not only personal routines but also institutional rhythms. Office hours adjust, traffic patterns shift, and workplace energy follows a different arc across the day.
3 March 2026
The emotional cost of female ambition on screen

The emotional cost of female ambition on screen

When every powerful woman on screen is depicted as overworked and cold, the idea of feminine leadership becomes tied to self sacrifice and emotional distance.
24 February 2026
Understanding the annual monetisation of love

Understanding the annual monetisation of love

Netflix pushes a carousel titled “Love is in the Air”. Disney+ resurrects old romances under pastel banners. Amazon Prime quietly rearranges its homepage so that longing appears algorithmically convenient. A month before February 14, the emotional groundwork is already laid. The annual romance rollout has begun.
14 February 2026
Voting

Ballots, bills, and the life we are building

With the election days away, young people are not speculating about who will win as much as they are preparing a checklist of what must follow.
11 February 2026
File visual: Shaikh Sultana Jahan Badhon

The political coming-of-age of a generation

For most of our lives, democracy existed as a concept we memorised rather than experienced.
9 February 2026
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The Gen Z guide to making sense of money at work

Workplace money remains poorly explained, and conversations around pay often feel awkward, opaque, or emotionally loaded.
5 February 2026
How TikTok, memes, and Instagram reels stole your shows

How TikTok, memes, and Instagram reels stole your shows

A punchline circulates without context. A dramatic monologue turns into a trending audio. By the time many viewers finally press play, the show already feels familiar, discussed, and emotionally charted by the internet. This shift has quietly reshaped how stories enter everyday life.
30 January 2026
Gen Z work life

The Gen Z guide to building a life outside of work

We design lives that feel inhabited, where days carry texture and seasons leave memory behind. Let's take a look at how Gen Z can quietly build that fullness.
27 January 2026
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The economic mood shaping modern cinema

Cinema has always followed money with remarkable intuition. Long before balance sheets make headlines, economic pressure finds its way into scripts, pacing, characters, and the scale of dreams that feel believable on screen. Films absorb the emotional climate of their moment, translating prosperity into spectacle and scarcity into restraint. Over time, a clear transition appears. Cinema once leaned towards grandeur, ambition, and excess. Today, it leans towards burnout, containment, and endurance. This shift feels less like an artistic choice and more like an honest response to how life is experienced.
24 January 2026
Why 2016 still lives in our timelines

Why 2016 still lives in our timelines

Social media has developed a clear fondness for 2016, a year when pop culture felt collective, emotional, and effortlessly cool.
22 January 2026
Managing manager

The Gen-Z guide to managing your manager

Managing a manager used to sound like an act of rebellion. However, today it has become a quiet professional necessity.
20 January 2026
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The strong case for staying and building in Bangladesh

For a long time, success in Bangladesh came with a passport stamp, and the highest form of validation was going abroad, either to study or to work, and to finally make it. Staying back was often framed as a compromise, a temporary stop, or worse, a failure of ambition.
20 January 2026
Career direction

Gen-Z guide to choosing your first career direction

The pressure to choose a career that sounds impressive, feels meaningful, and leads somewhere stable often turns the first job into a personal referendum. The truth, however, is less dramatic and more practical.
13 January 2026

Pagination

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Copyright: Any unauthorized use or reproduction of The Daily Star content for commercial purposes
is strictly prohibited and constitutes copyright infringement liable to legal action.