While watching Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15, at one point, I was reminded of a powerful line from this year’s Sonchiriya, “Woman is another caste altogether. Different from all. Beneath all,” For a film that stealthily analyzes rural India’s caste fabric through a finite prism of women’s role in the system, […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
“Noblemen” blurs the boundaries between fear and fortitude!
First-time director Vandana Kataria’s Noblemen throws a fascinating allegory with William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice’. The integration quickly reminded me of the way Asghar Farhadi laced Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ to his Academy Award-winning slow-burner Salesman. The lead protagonist Shay (Ali Haji) essays the part of […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
“Kabir Singh” is too obnoxious to pass off as a love story!
Let’s deal with it. There are horribly flawed men all around us. There are eccentric, unethical doctors whose methods deserve nothing but a cancelled license. There are abusive men whose lovers do not detest being in their very despicable state. India is also the nation where a misogynistic and haughty […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
“Game Over”… Taapsee Pannu is marvelous in this original, unapologetic panic fest!
Midway through Ashwin Saravanan’s genre-bending thriller Game Over, we tend to correlate the key protagonist Swapna’s (Taapsee Pannu) tribulations to her vocation – that of a game developer. The director smartly intersperses his frames with numerous quotes and subtle hints to establish this strange yet possible connection. Swapna is shown […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Virus’ review – a masterful survival thriller that celebrates everyday heroes
What happens when a comparatively well-equipped Indian state known for its excellence in healthcare sector gets afflicted by a deadly virus against which there is no known treatment? Director Aashiq Abu in his medical thriller Virus retreads the dark days of Nipah outbreak in Kerala which occurred in May-June 2018. […]
Read Time : 9 Minutes
“Bharat”… A vulnerable film on family virtues often threatened by needless machismo!
There were days of promises – mother promise, God promise and ‘insert-your-favourite-person’ promise. Often stronger than legal agreements, these promises were often part of films and literature, forming significant plot binders. Days have passed and the concept has nearly erased from pop culture, if not from real life. Director Ali […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Rocketman’ review – a less guarded take on Elton John’s life that merits to be ‘loved properly’
A blingy tangerine catsuit, a headgear with feathers, horn and an outrageous, ballsy gait. As Rocketman opens, we see Elton John (Taron Egerton) waltz through a feebly lit corridor. As if he is all charged up to set another stage afire. Not surprisingly for a film of this realm, he […]