Fool Volume
Indian comedian Vir Das is back to make you laugh, think, and feel all the feels with his new Netflix stand-up comedy special, Fool Volume – a play on the words “full volume.” It marks his sixth special on the streaming platform, premiering globally on July 18.
The trailer reveals that the special will focus on the Mumbai-based comedian’s recent setbacks. Most notably, losing his voice just six weeks before the biggest show of his career. It will also piece together footage from three of his live shows shot by an Indian crew in New York, Mumbai and London.
Das won an International Emmy Award for his 2022 comedy special Landing, which centred on his childhood and his move to America for university. He also drew both anger and awe from Indians worldwide with his controversial “Two Indias” monologue, which he performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 2021.
Sahiba
Heartbreak anthems have been the bread and butter of artistes since time immemorial, and the number one track on Spotify’s Top 50 in India playlist is no exception. Sahiba is a Hindi pop ballad by Indian singer-songwriter Aditya Rikhari that blends soulful vocals with catchy synth beats.
The track was released in 2023 under Indian music label T-Series but has since made an explosive comeback after going viral online. The song’s lyrics tell the story of a restless and sleepless, heartbroken man haunted by the absence of his ex-lover, Sahiba.
In response to the lovelorn tune’s resurgence, a lyrical visualiser style music video was released on July 15. It features a montage of clips from the original music video released a year earlier, intercut with concert footage of shows Aditya headlined, capturing both the energised crowds and electric atmosphere.
The Summers Between Us
The theme of forbidden love is given a contemporary update in the romance novel, The Summers Between Us. Written by Indian-Canadian author Noreen Nanja, and published by Penguin Random House, the book was released on May 13.
Known for exploring identity and race within stories of romantic and familial love, Noreen is also a practicing pediatric neurologist who received her MD from the University of Calgary. The novel’s female protagonist Lia is partly inspired by Noreen’s own experience as a daughter of first-generation Indian immigrant parents.
Lia is torn between dating her mother’s version of the ideal son-in-law and her Caucasian childhood sweetheart who is not. Whether she chooses herself or succumbs to social expectations forms the rest of the plot.
