The World Cup match between Switzerland and Serbia ended with an important question: Should politics and sport mix? It’s a question we should ask ourselves, on the brink of witnessing another hyper-nationalistic sport film, the Akshay Kumar-starrer, Gold.
Kesari, a retelling of the events of the Battle of Saragarhi, tells you nothing about the clash between the valiant 21 Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afghan tribesmen that a quick Google search will not. The battle is uninspiring and unnecessarily long drawn-out, and there is little imagination in the fight sequences.
Filmmakers these days want to espouse social issues and stigmas but if Atrangi Re’s treatment of mental health is anything to go by, these issues would be better left to those who know a thing or two about it.
Akshay Kumar’s fifth film of 2022 might just be the best of the lot – but it falls short of being a truly compelling action-adventure because of some weak plotting and unconvincing visual effects.
On his 53rd birthday, Akshay Kumar remains where he was at the beginning… hearing the cash register go ka-ching and smirking at all the other idiots trying so desperately to win.
Good Newwz, starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh, and Kiara Advani, revolves around a mix-up at a fertility clinic that swaps the sperm of the two couples struggling to get pregnant. It’s humour is derived by playing up stereotypes, Dosanjh mispronouncing sperm as “spam”, and fart jokes.
Twinkle Khanna has proved her mettle as a fair-weather feminist whose online persona rests on personal convenience. Her stance on the Mallika Dua controversy makes it clear that her online avatar is just an act of performative coolness.
How many Indian men can so lightly embody the many contradictions of Ranveer Singh? In our determinedly binary society, his love of lehengas on anyone else might have garnered epithets of “sissy” or “hijra”. But then, as his infamous t-shirt once declared, Ranveer always makes one thing abundantly clear: he’s got no fucks to give.
While meme templates and pop references come and go like rainfall in Mumbai, some pieces of content captured the essence of this year quite succinctly. Here are our contenders for Meme of the Year.