No, Mr Mallya, you don't get to claim their crown

I'm not here to decide if Vijay Mallya is a guilty man who defrauded Indian banks. That's for the courts. But what I can do is call out the discomforting elements of his recent four-hour podcast that's being hailed as a "glorious rehabilitation.

- By Manjusha Radhakrishnan Entertainment Editor

Among many things that rattled me — his casual deflection of responsibility, the cinematic retelling of his jet-set fall from grace — what stood out most was his attempt to stake credit for the success of women such as Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone. It was subtle, but unmistakably smug: the kind of name-dropping that doesn’t just reek of vanity but a disturbing sense of ownership over someone else’s accomplishments.

MALLYA’S PR NARRATIVE