Oliver Parker’s The Importance of Being Earnest is a faithful adaptation, wonderfully bringing alive Oscar Wilde’s play on screen. Between films and theater plays, it is the former that has to compete with reality. A play, from beginning to end, looks artificial, unreal — the set, the lack of a fourth wall, etc. The audience is not ...
What could an innocent Disney movie, with a happy ending, have in common with an overtly sexualized Netflix drama? On the surface, nothing. Belle, in Beauty and the Beast, is the naïve bookworm who charmingly paves her way into the Beast’s cold heart, rescuing him from an evil curse, reinforcing the idea of not judging ...
While making Chungking Express, Wong Kar-wai showed absolutely no remorse for the flag-bearers of the conventional narrative form, in the process combining essentially an action flick with an out and out, whimsical and the sweetest of rom-coms. When I was in the freshman year of university, I fell in love with a South-Indian girl. Love. ...
He has delivered some of the most momentous films of the last decade. From Love, Sex Aur Dhoka to Omerta, Rajkummar Rao’s growth trajectory, spanning 10 years and 35 films, has been rather astounding. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, the actor is an inspiration to all young, aspiring actors looking to make it ...
From Nayakan (1987) to Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), here are the best Indian gangster movies that should be on your watchlist. It is upon entering the cinema’s criminal underworlds that one realises the kind of impact the gangster genre has on an average moviegoer. Gritty, punctuated with tough talk and as straight-to-life depictions of the bloodlust inherent in ...
Premised around the life of ‘The Kargil Girl’ Gunjan Saxena, this eponymous film is a tribute to the indomitable spirit and the unbeatable leadership skill possessed by the woman of steel, who served at the forefront in the Kargil war after years of strenuous training. Having ventured for something which was considered unusual for women, ...
From whodunits to murder mysteries, there is nothing more satiating than a well made thriller. Bollywood may have earned a notorious reputation but you can trust it for a good edge-of-the-seat crime drama once in a while. These films are sure to hold you hooked until the end. So, here are some of the best ...
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here, directed by Yoji Yamada, had its theatrical release in 2019. In fact, the 32nd Tokyo Int’l Film Festival in 2019 opened with the screening of this film. It is part of a popular series called Otoko wa tsurai yo (“It’s Tough Being a Man”). The film under review is the ...
What could possibly be the level of dysfunction of a world in which people leave a bag full of 100 bundles of 2000 rupee notes near a public washroom? Lootcase is the answer to that absurd question. Albeit rife with absurdity, the film makes for a decent watch nevertheless. Why, you ask? Well, with its ...
Riveting, gripping, and distinctly local in flavor, Raat Akeli Hai follows the classic ‘one murder, many suspects’ approach. Although, comparing it stylistically to Rashomon would be simply wrong. From the outset, the bias of the investigator toward his love interest is evident. Few opening scenes have left as strong an impression on me as this ...
Shakuntala Devi is an emotional, bittersweet ride, at times operatic but mostly spirited; one that holds its verve while enthralling you throughout. Well, I would start with a healthy disclaimer about the film. Shun all your expectations before entering its world. If you are expecting an answer to the question ‘how does she do it?’, you ...
The Cold-War period (1947-1991) between America and the USSR has been heavily documented in various media over the years. It was an extremely tense political situation, in which nuclear warfare was the imminent catalyst and fear. Citizens of both nations were consistently paranoid about the activities of the other, leading to a battle to achieve superiority at all costs. Dr. Strangelove or: How I ...
“If I made ‘Cinderella,’ the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach”, said Alfred Hitchcock, the man whose ultimate film philosophy was to give the audience a strange kind of pleasure – that which is achieved when they ”wake up from a nightmare”. Far removed from the mainstream, the Master of ...
A little love never hurt anyone. From childhood crushes to adolescent love to deeper, more mature relationships, it is the universality of romance that makes for a relatable experience. And, like me, if you’re a sucker for romance, The Notebook (2004) is your perfect go-to film. Based on Nicolas Sparks’ eponymous novel, the iconic film derives its ...
“If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here,” said Amir Khusrao, while describing Kashmir. The site is one that has been frequently revisited by filmmakers, owing to its sheer beauty and cinematic potential. While it is a difficult task to make a film around something as sensitive as the ...
Dipankar Sarkar
