Bollywood Archives

Why Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga Fails as a Queer Movie

Many mainstream Bollywood movies have relied on the “gay twist”, but none of those were interested in selling themselves as a progressive empowerment fable like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. Worse, its lead protagonist is a cipher, who isn’t defined by anything other than her repressed homosexuality.

Karthik Shankar April 12, 2016

Bollywood

Parineeti Chopra: The Girl on the Train to Nowhere

Parineeti Chopra arrived in Hindi cinema with a fair share of anticipation. To be fair, her cameo in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and her sprightly turn in an over-the-top Ishaqzaade, weren’t that poor considering the bar for Bollywood insiders is so low. But who knew, that that would be as far as the story would go.

Manik Sharma April 12, 2016

Bollywood

Dream Girl Review: A One-Line Premise that Suffers from a Vicky Donor Hangover

Dream Girl suffers from a visible Vicky Donor hangover and says nothing new in its greed to say a little bit of everything. But perhaps the biggest downside of Dream Girl is that it looks like the first sign of Ayushmann Khurrana being held prisoner by his own reputation.

Poulomi Das April 11, 2016

Bollywood

Bole Toh… Jackie Shroff, the OG Gully Boy of Bollywood

There was once a little-known kid who grew up in a chawl, worked a couple of dead-end jobs, and rose to fame as Bollywood’s poster boy of the ’80s and ’90s. Jackie Shroff, was your everyday next-door mawali, a tapori through and through, which is why his appeal endures today.

Damian D'souza April 11, 2016

Bollywood

De De Pyaar De and the Fault in Luv Ranjan’s “Male Universe”

In Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety and now De De Pyaar De, Luv Ranjan creates male universes where women are always the enemy. For Ranjan, the joke isn’t just on the woman; it is the woman. Clearly, he understands us as much as Vijay Mallya understands the concept of debt.

Poulomi Das April 10, 2016

Bollywood

Bala Review: A Simplistic Comedy that Remains Enjoyable Despite its Bald Patches

Despite its glaring flaws, Amar Kaushik's Bala stands out for packaging its grand ideas in the language of small-town India. The film underlines how incapable men are to withstand the cruelties of unreasonable beauty standards that they have heaped on women for centuries.

Poulomi Das April 9, 2016

Bollywood

Ludo Review: Anurag Basu Loses the Game and the Plot in His New Film

Anurag Basu’s Ludo is a film about life and death that wants to be meaningful and meaningless at the same time. It translates the futility of finding logic in unpredictability and the method in the madness by way of four different genres. It might come across as the filmmaker’s most structured outing, but it is his most chaotic film.

Poulomi Das April 9, 2016

Bollywood

Patriotism in my Veins: Why Clerk is the Greatest Deshbhakti Film of All Time

Everyone remembers Manoj Kumar’s Clerk for that iconic scene where Ashok Kumar recovers from a heart attack thanks to a shot of nationalism. But Clerk, the story of a government servant who loves the system irrespective of all its ills, is like a beta stage for modern super patriots.

Aseem Chandaver April 8, 2016

Bollywood

Ijaazat: Bollywood’s Finest Take on Love, Marriage, and Adultery

Gulzar’s Ijaazat can tell you almost everything you need to know about love and marriage. It reminds you that falling in love is an instinct beyond our wilful control. And that an “extramarital affair” is often a reductive way to define what might be an inescapable maze of emotions and sense of responsibility.

Runjhun Noopur April 8, 2016

Bollywood

Is Radhika Apte Now Bollywood’s Token Angry Feminist?

There’s a new stock character type in Bollywood, and she is the token feminist. Always powerful, headstrong, and argumentative, you’ll see her in everything from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to Sacred Games. She’s the effeminate gay man of this decade.

Sreemoyee Mukherjee April 8, 2016