Rohan Joshi & TISS Members Give POP Culture Recommendations

What is it like to meet your heroes? Especially at Comic-Con. Well, I met some of mine at the New Delhi edition of Comic-Con India. Some of them were Rohan Joshi, the people of The Internet Said So (Kautuk Srivastava, Varun Thakur and Aadar Malik), and Rob (remember MAD on POGO? Of course, you do). Not only did I meet, I had the chance to interview them. They are all pop-culture enthusiasts like me, and they love recommending to people what they find to be absolutely enthralling and endearing. After talking to them about the overwhelming response the Delhi edition saw, I had to ask them for some recommendations for our readers (and mostly for me).

So here’s a list of all the movies, shows, books, and video games these pop-culture buffs had to share; so that you are not going to be confused with the eternal conundrum of what to watch for at least a year.

Rohan Joshi

When talking to Rohan, the first thing I told him was how tough it is to get ‘new’ recommendations from him. He can be seen giving out a list of his favourite pop culture elements every week on some different channel. He cheekily replied, “That’s a sweet way of saying tu bahut TV dekhta hai.” However, being the pop-culture enthusiast he is, he gave us some really exciting recommendations. From books to movies to shows to even video games, here’s a list of all Rohan’s favourites in recent times.

1. It’s What’s Inside (Film)

2. Manjummel Boys (Film)

3. Arcane (Series)

4. Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith (Book)

5. Fairy Tale by Stephen King (Book)

6. Baldur’s Gate 3 (Video Game)

7. Silent Hill 2 (Video Game)

8. Astro Bot (Video Game)

New York Times Connections (Game)

The Internet Said So

Triple the number of people triple the recommendations. Kautuk, Aadar, and Varun brought their signature quick-witted humor while pulling each other’s legs. At one point, Varun says “My knowledge is very bad, I know like 5 things about comics.” to which Aadar replies “Not just comic books, in general, he knows 5 things” However, what stayed with most was Kautuk’s kindness. He noticed that Aadar was standing the farthest from me and I was struggling to reach for him with my phone (used as a microphone). So he took the phone and held it for a while. Like his Second Hand Stories, this gesture felt like a warm hug.

1. Furiosa (Film)

2. The Substance (Film)

3. Longlegs (Film)

4. Slow Horses (Show)

5. Kaos (Show)

6. The Penguin (Show)

7. The Sandman (Show)

8. The Day Of The Jackal (Show)

9. Broadchurch (Show)

Harun Robert (Rob)

The man who painted all over our childhood. The man who made us MAD about art. It was a childhood dream come true to meet Rob. We just had to ask him what inspired him to make these wonders in visual arts. Here are some of the comics he grew up on.