It doesn’t occur to me often when I watch films from two different geographies and they weirdly connect over a common crux. The unusual happened as I explored Luis Buñuel’s iconic Spanish classic Viridiana (1961) and Gulzar’s Hindi feature film Meera (1979). The former is about a novice nun’s tryst with the disruptive […]
“Sachin: A Billion Dreams” deserves laurels for its format!
Sachin Tendulkar, like the country unanimously asserts, is less of a sportsman, and more of an emotion. Every member of a typical Indian family – be the cricket-fanatic son, the passive daughter, the workaholic father to the indifferent mother and clueless grandparents had a taste of Tendulkar. It wasn’t really […]
“Hindi Medium”… An important story drowned in clueless making!
There’s something about the nouveau riche. Their struggle to get along with the rich and famous, better education for children, the classier way of life and the works. Hindi cinema mostly struggled or easily resorted to safe zones while canvassing this strata of society. Sridevi in Judaai was a rulebook […]
“Meri Pyaari Bindu”… A beautiful, deeply felt romance that’s confident in its skin!
When our protagonist Abhimanyu (Ayushmann Khurrana) reaches a familiar music shop to get his favourite ‘mix tape’ fixed, the shopkeeper declares how certain combinations are to die for. Singularly perfect, they make for a priceless brew if put together. Just like Abhimanyu’s mix tape, and his chemistry with childhood sweetheart […]
‘Comrade in America (CIA) review’ – all Dulquer, no substance
The edifice of Amal Neerad‘s body of work is so markedly defined by his stylized shot-taking that it has eventually become his hallmark. The director’s latest offering, CIA – Comrade in America, stars Malayalam heartthrob Dulquer Salmaan as a man with Communist leanings. With even the doyens of Communism – […]
‘Autumn Sonata’ review – a devastating portrait of failed motherhood
This Ingmar Bergman classic is a doeful recipe on papers. If one is told a three-liner synopsis, you would think twice on how the story will pan out. Bergman welcomes us into the film with one of the most sublime beginnings one could have ever asked for. There’s our lead protagonist […]