Mothers. Like them or loathe them, we all have them, and in some respects, we can’t live without them. Jai Mummy Di explores the dynamics of two people in love, with their respective mothers at loggerheads with one another. The battle between Poonam Dhillion and Supriya Pathak’s character seemed intriguing from the trailer, so I ...
Over the years, Bollywood has evolved to the extent where almost every movie starring a who’s who of the industry would gain sufficient attention, which would then lead to box office sales depending on the quality of the movie. But in the past few decades, there were some absolute classics, movies which are regarded as milestones ...
(Updated: January 4, 2021) Streaming devices have made it easier than ever to access cinema, rare and esoteric, across countries and languages. Here are some of the best foreign films on Amazon Prime, Netflix and Mubi that probably haven’t caught your attention: 1. Parasite (2019, Korean) Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning social satire highlights the irreconcilable societal gap between ...
Indian cinema doesn’t have too many good films in the horror genre to boast of. There are only a handful of quality horror films. Here are, what I think, some of the best Indian horror movies ever made: 1. Lapachhapi (2017) (Marathi) Horror is an unapologetically ridiculed genre in Hindi cinema. Marathi horror-thriller Lapachhapi is among ...
Director Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, an exceptionally entertaining satire, is a near perfect film. Its genre of black comedy was a rarity of the era. Despite that, the movie had clear relatable and engaging points that led to its cult status. The film features a talented ensemble that includes Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Ravi ...
Back in 2012, I started a film blog, looking to address my burgeoning love for Bollywood films in a different way from the norm. Having seen my first Bollywood film script passed around from producer to director without much luck, I settled on poking fun at the silver screen, thinking best to channel my frustrations ...
Indian film industry has come a long way since the release of its first film. On this day in 1913, India saw the release of its first full-length feature film Raja Harishchandra, written, produced and directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema. In 1931, Alam Ara, the first Indian talkie was released. Religious, ...
His first brush with film was at the age of 3. It was a cameo in the song Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua in his father Raj Kapoor’s film Shree 420 (1955). At 18, Rishi Kapoor had already won the National Award for Best Child Artist for his debut role in Mera Naam Joker (1970). From Bobby (1973) ...
Often times, the best works go unnoticed, unappreciated. Even the greatest filmmakers aren’t impervious to failures. They’ve all had their fair, or rather unfair, share. But the box office is hardly ever indicative of the quality of work. Here are some of my favourite Bollywood films that didn’t quite rake in the numbers or get ...
(Updated: May 25, 2020) In his 50-year illustrious career, Yash Chopra gave us some of the most iconic films across genres, from action thriller Deewar to the romance musical Chandni. A master weaver of stories, Yash Chopra always had a way with involving audiences in the simplest of narratives. His cinema doesn’t grow stale even after ...
Legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak, perhaps India’s finest exponent of melodrama, once remarked in defense of the technique, “Film is not a form, it has forms. I am not afraid of melodrama. To use melodrama is one’s birthright, it is a form”. While his work embodied this form as a means of expression, most of Hindi ...
In a short span of time, writer-director Zoya Akhtar has built a swell filmography. Her stories are today, her characters relatable and her work rings with a certain authenticity and sincerity. One of the better mainstream voices out there, Zoya has a way with audience, across ages. Her last film, Gully Boy was India’s official entry ...
After Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan, let’s now move on to another celebrated filmmaker, who also happens to be my all time favourite! Late last year, we saw two Hollywood kingpins, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro star in The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese. So those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of watching ...
(Updated: February 25, 2020) Netflix houses some excellent, critically-appreciated documentaries across varied subjects — from true crime to sports. We’ve pulled out some of the finest, streaming as of February 25, 2020: 1. RBG (2018) In the 1970s, a petite Jewish woman, educated at Cornell, Harvard and Columbia, decided to change, one step at ...
Emma Stone shines in her breakthrough role in Easy A, a breezy, delightful story of a well-meaning high schooler, untangling an accidental web of lies she created Warm and witty Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) is a rare teenager — comfortable in her skin, bit too much into literature and altogether as well adjusted as can be expected ...
Dipankar Sarkar
