“My three Ps: passion, patience, perseverance. You have to do this if you’ve got to be a filmmaker.” – Robert Wise Mainstream Indian cinema has largely failed to tap the horror genre. Absurd themes, shoddy visuals, unintentionally comical effects – we’ve been dished out all. Lately though, indie filmmakers have been curiously experimental, redefining and rewriting the rules ...
Bollywood’s sudden obsession with Sairat is the stuff every Marathi cinema lover dreamt of. Year after year of absolute gems from the Marathi industry, Marathi films went unnoticed on a national stage, despite having Mumbai, the cradle of Bollywood. Our films won several national awards but the large masses across the nation were unaware of any ...
La La Land is wonderful from the word go and sticks the landing. Damien Chazelle’s previous directorial Whiplash was an exhilarating experience that rode high on performances and emotions which came out in the form of its electrifying jazz music. This time too the majestic filmmaker has thoroughly capitalized on his perennial love for melody and rendered ...
I’ve lost count of how many viewings I’ve had of Richard Linklater’s second film in the ‘Before’ trilogy. As I finished watching Before Sunset (2004) for the nth time late last night, I couldn’t get ‘Waltz‘ out of my head. Celine (Julie Delpy) sings it to Jesse (Ethan Hawke) with abandon yet a sense of ...
Tamil cinema is faring well despite all the off-screen turf wars and insipid star projects. In 2016, Tamil cinema delivered the usual disappointments from major stars and promising directors. It celebrated mediocrity, while fine filmmakers struggled to get green light for their truly distinct projects. Yet, in 2016, Tamil cinema has delivered some good entertainers and ...
Gauri Shinde’s stories come from a space of strained relationships. English Vinglish, she said in one of her interviews, was an apology to her mother. The film mirrored Gauri’s equation with her mother in her growing years. At the core of her second film Dear Zindagi too, is a relationship, stifled and frayed over the years. ...
2016 seems to be a great year for horror film fans. The year has satisfied the avid fans of the genre as well as the skeptics. Some of these horror movies have transcended genres. Mixed in seemingly polarizing sub-genres. Most importantly, the low-budget indie horror movies have tapped into our basic anxiety and grief, while living ...
The story revolves around a linguist expert-and-college lecturer Louise Banks (Amy Adams), who is caught up with traumatic memories of her daughter and is called upon for help by the government when twelve extraterrestrial objects (nicknamed ‘Shells’) appear across the planet. With a willingness to interact with the ET (tremendous use of VFX) to figure ...
Filmmaker Gauri Shinde chooses to tell her stories through women. English Vinglish was a story of the relationship she shared with her mother and Sridevi (Shashi Godbole) told it with finesse. It brought Shinde to the limelight, winning her several debut awards that year. This time she’s back with another story, a letter to life ...
A musical train journey, a 20-something couple in love, romance, ambitions, confessions, heartbreaks and everything in between! Side A Side B opens with composer Sudeep Swaroop on the guitar, Shivranjini on the vocals, in the backdrop of rain, and warm, snug moments of first love, almost immediately inviting you into its world and the journey ahead. ...
This is one of those years which is ending profoundly better than the way it began. After enduring half a dozen disappointing blockbusters (Civil War is an exception), we found a silver lining in Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Now, the most anticipated movie of the year, the first of the new ‘prequel’ franchise to the global ...
Award-winning screenwriter, veteran producer, and former CEO of Focus Features James Schamus’ directorial debut Indignation (2016) made me think that it will instill warmth like John Crowley’s Brooklyn (2015). The very opposite happened. Unlike Crowley’s clear-sighted coming-of-age tale, Indignation is about a boy reflecting on the limited paths he can choose from. The film is set in 1951. The ...
Christopher Nolan’s Inception was extensively raved for its concept and twisted ending. However, one of its awe-inducing scenes stole the limelight. In Marvel’s 14th offspring, which kickstarts the Phase III of Marvel Cinematic Universe, one particular scene is magnificently manoeuvred. From the beginning to the end. The gravity-defying hallway fight scene is a source of inspiration ...
TV drama biopics have boomed recently. You get the chance to let yourselves into the lives of personalities you’ve never heard of. Most of them are traditional subjects – political activists, scientists, sportsmen, etc. Rarely do we see filmmakers sidestep the standard biopic themes. Julian Farino’s Marvellous (2014) tells the story of one such unique individual ...
If you test someone from up and above the Vindhyas on their knowledge of South Indian cinema, eight out of ten would know of Tamil and Telugu cinema. The remaining two would go for Malayalam cinema. Their knowledge of Kannada cinema would start and end with Dr. Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and Shankar Nag, provided they’re cine ...
Dipankar Sarkar
