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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
Param Sundari charms, just not enough

Param Sundari charms, just not enough

It is a clever premise for a modern romance as a data-driven Delhi businessman finds his match through an algorithm, only to realise that love, unlike code, cannot be debugged.
1 November 2025
Bits of Halloween in Bangladesh’s ghostly lore

Bits of Halloween in Bangladesh’s ghostly lore

They emerge from social injustices, unfulfilled desires, and forgotten histories, and in their persistence, they remind us that the supernatural is often an allegory for the very real.
30 October 2025
Lights, camera, larceny

Lights, camera, larceny

Last week’s Louvre heist, €88 million worth of jewels gone in minutes, reminded us why heist stories captivate audiences. They are a blend of tension, intellect, and style: a world in which every move counts, every second is choreographed, and every character has a role that feels indispensable.
28 October 2025
Twenty five years of believing in ‘Mohabbatein’

Twenty five years of believing in ‘Mohabbatein’

At the heart of "Mohabbatein" lies a cinematic optimism that feels almost extinct today. There was something beautifully naive about its conviction that love, not logic, not rebellion for rebellion’s sake, but pure, unfiltered love, could soften even the harshest hearts.
27 October 2025
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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
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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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"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
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
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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
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

‘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
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
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

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