Weak Wicket

Why did a film chronicling the life of India’s most celebrated cricketer Sachin Tendulkar fail to leave a lasting impact? Exactly a year after the release of James Erskine’s ambitious docu drama Sachin: A Billion Dreams, jury is still out on why did the film chronicling the life of one of India’s most celebrated icons […]

Chronicling child abuse in cinema

Hindi films have portrayed child sexual abuse in their films time and again, whereas in India this hasn’t figured in as the key theme in world of letters As the recent spate of sex crimes against children hit the headlines and stirred national discourse, it would be relevant to see how Hindi films have engaged […]

Hard act to follow

Sohaila Kapur says she’d love to direct a Bollywood film some day. She has already made a mark in theatre and played character roles under top directors Sohaila Kapur is a well-known writer, theatre director and actor. Besides, she happens to be late Dev Anand’s niece and sister of famous film-director Shekhar Kapur. She started […]

Amazon unfriends outspoken actor

Swara Bhaskar is intelligent and doesn’t fit the pliant-flexible role that neo-liberalism assigns to women celebrities There is something freaky about the hysteria surrounding upcoming actress Swara Bhaskar’s utterances. The wrath directed at her is unforgiving, intolerant, and seeks to discipline. A young actress cannot cross lines without her career suffering, and certainly cannot use […]

No paeans to ‘jaan’

Film-makers seem to have fallen out of love with Mumbai, the city in which they live and work. No ode has been sung to ‘Bambai’ in the last two decades As home to Hindi film industry, Mumbai has hogged the space as backdrop of many films.The romanticisation of the city and various stereotypes that it […]

Child power

Utpal Borpujari is a bold film-maker who chose to take up the theme of witch-hunting in a remote Assamese village and is now getting the National Award for Best Assamese film Utpal Borpujari was a well-known media critic from Assam before he got into film direction. An MTech in Applied Geology from IIT-Roorkee, he won […]

Grandfather next door

As an old Rishi Kapoor and an older Amitabh Bachchan come to a screen near you in 102 Not Out, a tribute to the ever-old man of Hindi cinema, AK Hangal As the resolutely old are set to find a story celebrating a centenarian on Hindi screen this Friday in Umesh Shukla’s 102 Not Out, […]

Talent Roll-Call

It’s celebration time for the makers of Newton, Baahubali and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha Mainstream blockbuster Baahubali: The Conclusion won the National Award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, besides being named for special effects and action direction. Ganesh Acharya won for his choreography for the Hindi film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Hindi film […]