As I stepped in to watch Master – my first Vijay film in a theatre after about a decade – I had clear-cut clarity on what it was going to be, even though in a broad sense. My desire was to relive the silver screen euphoria that I had missed […]
Read Time : 13 Minutes
‘No One Killed Jessica’: A Numbing Chronicle of a Murder That Shook The Nation
Marking its tenth anniversary on January 7, 2020, is filmmaker Raj Kumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica. The screen adaptation of the controversial Jessica Lall Murder Case, the film stirred the nation’s collective conscience – just the way the brutal incident did. Unlike several other Hindi films based on real […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Ludo’ review – Anurag Basu sprinkles emotions in a chaotic dark comedy
I never thought a day would come when Anurag Basu, of all filmmakers, would attempt a dark comedy. One of my personal favourites in contemporary Hindi cinema, Basu always brought to us complex human stories. They contained tinges of innocence, soul-stirring music, high voltage drama, and oodles of smiles. In […]
Read Time : 13 Minutes
‘Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare’ review – a compassionate ode to India’s working class heroines
The most fascinating characters in Alankrita Shrivastava’s Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare are two children. They are Dolly’s (Konkona Sensharma) sons – Bharat (Hearty Singh) and Pappu (Kalp Shah). A regular school boy, Bharat loves sports and is someone who might grow up into what they call an ‘alpha […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
‘Sadak 2’ review – Mahesh Bhatt’s comeback film is an embarrassing road trip to the ’90s
Mahesh Bhatt is back on the director’s chair. Back in 1999, when he announced to hang his boots, I never thought this day would come. Such was his conviction. As he minted remakes after remakes, the fatigue was evident in his later years’ work. 21 years later, he reunites with […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Class of ’83’ review – Bobby Deol is first-rate in a concise cop drama
For those who began watching Bollywood films around 1995 would know the sensation that Bobby Deol (the lead of Class of ’83) was. Blessed with bouncy curls, a lean physique, slick dance moves and a winsome smile, he was unlike any reigning hero from that period. In fact, he differed so starkly […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Gunjan Saxena’ review – a pleasant underdog story saddled by cardboard characters
The most interesting scene in Sharan Sharma’s Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl comes somewhere in the second act. A perplexed Gunjan (Janhvi Kapoor) confesses to her father (Pankaj Tripathi), “The Air Force needs pilots who are patriots. I just want to fly planes,” Her dad replies, “They want cadets with […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Raat Akeli Hai’ review – Untangles family secrets in a chilling murder mystery
An aged aristocrat dies mysteriously in the night of a life event. Under the lens of suspicion are his prospective heirs and a woman who is not a part of the family. These aren’t the lines for Knives Out in the ‘describe the synopsis of your favourite film badly’ challenge. […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
“Lootcase” celebrates the hysteria of Mumbai with wacky characters and deadly humour!
A lower-middle-class man named Nandan (Kunal Kemmu) finds a large trolley-bag outside a urinal somewhere in Mumbai. It is way past midnight and a shot from inside the bag gives a glimpse of his popping eyes. This cash-stacked bag is the film’s pivot – it is the loot case. The […]
Read Time : 9 Minutes
‘Shakuntala Devi’ review – a math wizard’s story designed as a glitzy melodrama
Director Anu Menon’s Shakuntala Devi is one film that seriously made me ponder. At what point does a filmmaker decide a non-linear screenplay structure to his/her film? Maybe because I am revisiting several pre-2000s films in days of quarantine – some good, some bad and some which shouldn’t have existed. […]