Bollywood Archives

Bulbul Can Sing Reminds Us of the Price Girls Pay to Experience Adolescence

When boys come of age, they enjoy the freedom that permits them to make mistakes. But patriarchy doesn’t afford the same luxury to young girls. Rima Das’s Bulbul Can Sing argues that when girls come of age there is some trauma attached to it.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

Bollywood

The Forgotten Army Review: Kabir Khan’s Story of Bose’s INA Raises Pertinent Questions About Nationalism

Kabir Khan’s Amazon show The Forgotten Army is a welcome departure from hyper-jingoistic historical epics that have become par for the course today. But Khan never quite gets a grip on the complexities of the Indian National Army, which often clashed with its own countrymen who were part of the British army.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

Bollywood

Why Purab Kohli is Bollywood’s Most Overlooked Dependable Performer

Back in 1998, Purab Kohli debuted with Hip Hip Hurray, where he played a studious 12th grader raised by a single mother. Last week in Typewriter, he essays a single parent to a school-going student. It is the actor’s eagerness to work without obsessing over billing, screen time, or stardom that makes him a dependable performer, even today.

Pragyan Mohanty April 20, 2016

Bollywood

Abhishek Bachchan Does Not Deserve the Trolls, But He Doesn’t Deserve Multiple Comebacks Either

Abhishek Bachchan does not deserve the hate he gets, but he also does not deserve multiple “second chances”. He is charming and has the gift of the gab, but he is not an efficient actor. It’s time Bollywood stops celebrating his many comebacks.

Jackie Thakkar April 20, 2016

Bollywood

No Dance Film Has Earned the Cult Status of Disco Dancer. Even Street Dancer 3D Won’t

Disco Dancer gave us a hero who picked up the guitar instead of the gun. It ushered in an era of Bollywood dance films, which peaked in the ’80s and early ’90s. However, few have earned the cult status as the Mithun Chakraborty film. Does Street Dancer 3D stand a chance?

Sayantan Mondal April 20, 2016

Bollywood

No Ghunghat, No Kesar Doodh: How did the Traditional Suhaag Raat Scene Disappear from Hindi Films?

A coy bride, an awkward groom, a glass of kesar milk, and rambunctious relatives outside with their ears glued to the closed door – this is how a suhaag raat scene unfolded in Hindi films. But which was the last movie in which you saw a shy dulhan sitting on a bed of roses?

Bhavna Devchoudhury April 20, 2016

Bollywood

From Marriage to Maternity, Anushka Sharma Does Things Her Own Way & We Love Her for That

The past nine months have been eventful for Anushka Sharma. She has turned her pregnancy into an open celebration of herself and her body. But maternity has not been the only focus of her life. Her production company’s Paatal Lok won great acclaim, she did promotions for her film Bulbbul while battling morning sickness, and modelled for Vogue.

Kahini Iyer April 19, 2016

Bollywood

Before Uri, Bollywood Learnt About Surgical Strikes From a 1992 Anil Sharma Film

Before Vicky Kaushal asked, “How’s the josh?” in Uri, a lesser- known 1992 film introduced Bollywood to surgical strikes. While Uri is based on true events that unfolded in PoK in 2016, Tahalka takes inspiration from its director Anil Sharma’s overactive imagination.

Sayantan Mondal April 17, 2016

Bollywood

Why Kangana Ranaut Needs Manikarnika To Be a Success

Kangana Ranaut’s combative, no-filter style has come with setbacks. Thanks to her unwillingness to be diplomatic, she has alienated an influential chunk of Bollywood. It’s the reason that, even after doing a massive costume drama like Manikarnika, she’s not mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries Deepika, Anushka, and Alia.

Kahini Iyer April 17, 2016

Bollywood

30 Years of ChaalBaaz: The Sridevi Classic is Proof that Good Comedy Has Nothing to Do with Gender

ChaalBaaz is not a Rajinikant movie or a Sunny Deol movie. It’s instead a Sridevi movie. She is indeed the superstar, the good old “Michaeli Jacksoni”, who single-handedly drives the movie through her impeccable comic timing.

Runjhun Noopur April 16, 2016