iWorld
Holi at home? Stream these five Bollywood favourites on Tata Play Binge
Park the pichkaris and press play this festive week
NATIONAL: Bura na maano, Holi hai! Laughter rings out, plates of gujiya do the rounds and the streets brace for their annual drenching. This year brings a slight celestial twist: with the 3 March lunar eclipse in play, many regions will light the Holika pyre then and break out the colours on 4 March, though local calendars may vary. Either way, if the streets feel too crowded, Tata Play Binge has lined up a clutch of films where Holi is more than backdrop; it is turning point, metaphor and mood-setter.
Here are five festive staples to stream:
Sholay (1975)
No Holi playlist is complete without Holi Ke Din Dil Khil Jaate Hain. Ramesh Sippy’s classic stages the festival in Ramgarh before the mood is brutally interrupted. Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra’s Jai and Veeru, enlisted by Sanjeev Kumar’s Thakur Baldev Singh to stop Amjad Khan’s Gabbar Singh, deliver a scene that swings from jubilation to dread in minutes. It is Bollywood spectacle at full volume.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
If Holi had a millennial soundtrack, it would be Balam Pichkari. Ayan Mukerji’s coming-of-age romance lets Ranbir Kapoor’s Bunny and Deepika Padukone’s Naina drop their guards in a swirl of colour and confession. Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur add to the ensemble in a film where flirtation matures into something more fragile.
Raanjhanaa (2013)
In the bylanes of Banaras, Holi turns intense. Dhanush’s Kundan is hopelessly devoted to Sonam Kapoor’s Zoya in a story that fuses unrequited love with political churn. The colours here feel heavy, a festival reframed as emotional upheaval.
Kati Patang (1971)
Aaj Na Chhodenge Bas Humjoli keeps this Rajesh Khanna–Asha Parekh drama evergreen. Beneath the song lies a tale of reinvention and quiet longing, as a woman assumes a new identity to escape her past. The Holi sequence glows with romance, even as the plot simmers with secrets.
Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017)
Youthful and unabashed, this small-town romance pairs Varun Dhawan’s blustering Badri with Alia Bhatt’s self-assured Vaidehi. Holi becomes a flirtatious battlefield before the film pivots to questions of ambition and equality. It is bright, brash and keenly contemporary.
(Note: The cover image is AI-generated and meant for representational purposes only.)
iWorld
Tech firms tweak office operations amid LPG shortage concerns
Infosys, HCLTech and Cognizant adjust cafeteria services and work policies.
MUMBAI: When geopolitics turns up the heat, even office cafeterias start feeling the burn. Several technology companies in India are adjusting workplace operations and food services as concerns over a nationwide shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) grow following escalating tensions in West Asia. Major IT firms including Cognizant, Infosys and HCLTech have begun rolling out contingency measures to reduce dependence on office cafeterias that rely heavily on commercial LPG.
The disruption stems from rising geopolitical tensions involving Iran after military action by the United States and Israel reportedly led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route for oil and gas supplies. The closure has disrupted the movement of LPG and liquefied natural gas across international markets, triggering concerns about supply constraints and price volatility.
According to a report by The Times of India, Cognizant has advised employees to bring their own meals to office where possible to reduce reliance on office cafeterias dependent on LPG based cooking.
The company has reportedly told staff that it is preparing for potential disruptions driven by supply prioritisation, price fluctuations and pressure on vendor networks.
As part of contingency planning, Cognizant is identifying alternative food vendors that do not rely on LPG. These include kitchens using induction based or solar powered cooking systems.
The company is also exploring partnerships with cloud kitchens that operate on electric or solar power to ensure uninterrupted food supply in case conventional cooking gas availability worsens.
Additionally, Cognizant is evaluating the possibility of expanding work from home or hybrid arrangements for non critical roles, partly to reduce commuting exposure if fuel prices rise sharply due to global energy disruptions.
Meanwhile, HCLTech allowed employees at its Chennai office to work from home on March 12 and March 13 after cafeteria vendors were unable to operate because of the LPG shortage.
Several food service vendors at the campus reportedly suspended operations as they struggled to secure cooking gas supplies, prompting the company to permit staff to work remotely for the two days.
Infosys has also issued internal advisories across multiple locations, including its campuses in Bengaluru and Chennai.
The company informed employees in Bengaluru that cafeteria services would continue but with reduced menu options due to concerns around commercial LPG availability.
As part of the temporary adjustments, live food counters have been suspended, and employees have been encouraged to bring home cooked food while the situation evolves.
While LPG shortages in India remain a developing situation, the measures taken by these technology firms highlight how global geopolitical disruptions can ripple through unexpected corners of the economy, even the humble office lunch.
For companies with large campuses and thousands of employees relying on daily cafeteria services, cooking fuel shortages can quickly turn into an operational challenge. Until global supply chains stabilise, many workplaces may find themselves rethinking everything from food sourcing to flexible work policies.
