Finger on the trigger

Do films glorifying crime, sexism and toxic masculinity, impact society in a negative way? Film-makers plead that they have creative licence and can’t be held responsible for the fallout ‘Kkkkkkiran.’  This is how a man (read: stalker) calls the ‘love of his life’ in a 1993 Bollywood film, which went on to become iconic. Shah […]

Are OTT platforms the new ‘big screen’ amid pandemic?

The streaming platforms has emerged as an ever-important source of entertainment for those stuck at home “Cinema halls are opening up,” the breaking news read. For a minute, I was elated. But soon enough I wondered, ‘Am I really going to take the risk of sitting inside a movie theatre for almost three hours to […]

Kaali Khuhi Review: Strong storyline, yet fails to create impact

Kaali Kuhi, starring Shabana Azmi, tells the tale of an insidious age-old practice through paranormal lens An ancient well situated amidst a village holds horrors of the past. When dug open, by mistake, the haunting begins. This, to summarise, is what Terrie Samundra’s Kaali Kuhi’s(The Black Well)  prelude tell us. As the story proceeds, we […]

A Suitable Boy Review: Lost in translation, but shines as a saga

Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy, based on Vikram Seth’s 1993-novel of the same name, transports its audience to a world of its own When the first look of Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy released on social media, the netizens could not keep calm. After all, it’s not every day that Nair creates (screenplay by Andrew […]

Tales of terror

Bollywood, in the last decade, has proved its worth in the horror genre. Here’s how Hideous prosthetics. Poor animation. Deafening background score. Creepy creatures. These are often used to describe the horror films Bollywood made before the 2000s – helmed mostly by the Ramsay brothers. But then came Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot (2003), and the […]

The Show Must Go On…

Lockdown and Unlock changed many things for B-town, and now the stars are reporting to work with new schedules and safety norms in place The Hindi film industry has started work again with unlocking 4.0. Filmmakers, actors, and movie crews are gradually discovering the new normal. Shooting schedules are following all the possible guidelines to […]

Too scary for comfort

Will Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb make a difference in Bollywood’s depiction of the transgender community on-screen? If there’s one actor in Bollywood who is known for being politically correct – in both reel and real life – it’s Akshay Kumar. But 2020 is known for its unpredictability and thus a trailer of his upcoming film […]

Zones of dark deeds

The brutality faced by women in conflict zones gets a voice in writer-director Sudipto Sen’s upcoming film Writer-director Sudipto Sen’s upcoming film ‘Aasma: In the name of Jihad’ explores the dark side of the Kashmir crisis from the perspective of a helpless Kashmiri girl who gets kidnapped by four armed cross-border militants one night. They […]