All set to go!

Model-turned-actor Vikramjeet Virk talks about his journey into Bollywood, international films and forthcoming web series From modelling to daily soaps, from working in the South film industry to his big Bollywood break – Vikramjeet Virk’s career has been a colourful one. “It’s been such a wonderful journey!” he says. Hailing from Haryana, Virk looks up […]

When cinema kills

Films can entertain, engage and enthral audiences. But can they motivate people to commit crimes? Do you remember Shah Rukh Khan’s Darr (1993)? The story revolved around a boy who starts obsessing over a girl. He goes on to stalk her, befriend her fiancé and kidnap her. In 2016, in a somewhat similar manner, a […]

In search of a happy ending

The Amazon Prime series ‘Modern Love’ is a reinvention of a ‘New York Times’ column about relationships Hollywood has perfected the art of taking a cliché, shaking it, not stirring it mind you, and giving us a Modern Love with a New York-sized olive to chew on. Fifteen years after they started a column called […]

An offbeat film fair

Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) directors Ritu and Tenzing talk about its journey, vision and challenges The eighth edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) is scheduled to take place from November 7 to 10, 2019 at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), McLeodganj, Dharamshala. DIFF is conceptualised by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and […]

‘I am inspired by real people’

Displaying more of his versatility, Govind Namdev is moving from TV serials and films to web series with realistic themes Over the last three decades, Govind Namdev has built a strong reputation as a versatile actor known for getting into the skin of characters. Originally hailing from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, the NSD alumnus is best […]

Season of spies

Amazon Prime’s Family Man takes on Netflix’s Bard of Blood. Who comes out on top? “Why should we try to contact home with information when our country doesn’t care for us?” a captive Indian spy asks his comrade, urging him to escape. They are prisoners in a safe house of the Taliban, deep in Pakistan’s […]

Call for diversity

Hollywood has realised the value — and profitability — of diversity in stories, cast and crew. India is not far behind Bollywood might be inspired by Hollywood in multiple ways — from movie plots to the industry’s name itself — but when it comes to social diversity, Bollywood is oddly sparing. Diversity is not a […]

Don’t blame the victim

Netflix’s series Unbelievable is a lesson for journalists and police on how to report and investigate rape In 2016, the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting was awarded to An Unbelievable Story of a Rape by T Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project “for a startling examination and exposé of law […]