Posted inPop Culture
A Bihari Prince’s Guide to Finding a Half Girlfriend
In Half-Girlfriend, Chetan Bhagat and Mohit Suri come together to provide an educational PSA for Romeos looking for their One Indian Girl.
Posted inBollywood
20 Years of Gunda: Can We Finally Agree the Film is a Work of Art?
At its heart, Kanti Shah’s Gunda, remains a joyous journey of one man's idea of cinema and his devotion to it. Considering the appetite for excess that we now display in our popular culture, isn't it time Gunda is appreciated for its ingenuity?
Posted inGender
The Fault in Our Bollywood Bodies
Back in the ’90s, Bollywood actresses had bodies that were whole, full, and jutting out in parts. At that time, we could be them and they could be us. But the perfectly crafted bodies of younger actresses have stripped us of that joy.
Posted inPeople
Nostalgia, College and Friends: How KK Helped me Adult
Because I grew up in the internet age, I discovered KK fairly late and yet I found in his voice, in his music, an instant resting place for everything that I found unsettling in life.
Posted inPop Culture
What Padmaavat Gets Wrong About Alauddin Khilji
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat is a gross misrepresentation of facts… just not the ones the Karni Sena has been so upset about. Alauddin Khilji certainly did not dress in black furs and rip meat from the bone like a Viking.
Posted inBollywood
Ten Years of Kaminey: An Ode to Vishal Bhardwaj’s Love Letter To Bollywood
On the surface, Kaminey might seem like rehashing a story endlessly told and retold. But what sets it apart is Vishal Bhardwaj’s eagerness to explore deep into the psyche of his villains. Even 10 years later, Kaminey feels like Bhardwaj’s love letter to Bollywood.
Posted inBollywood
How Rekha Made Khoon Bhari Maang A Camp Classic
Khoon Bhari Maang marks the very pinnacle of ’80s Bollywood — a time of big hair and big pearls, padded shoulders on gaudy-gauzy outfits, shiny reds, and avenging female leads epitomised by Rekha, the camp queen.
Posted inBollywood
Angrezi Medium Review: A Conservative Film Made Bearable by Irrfan Khan
Unlike Hindi Medium, its sequel Angrezi Medium lacks originality. This is a comedy that feels hastily assembled with contrived sub-plots, crowd-pleasing one-liners, and emotional manipulation. But Irrfan Khan is impeccable and the film works best as a pean to his capabilities as an actor.
Posted inPeople
Akshay Kumar: The God of Timely Things
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.
Posted inPop Culture
Why Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khilji Let Us Down
In Padmaavat, Alauddin Khilji is reduced to a unidimensional villain. All that the script required, was a Muslim ruler to serve as a vessel into which a depressingly contemporary take on communal relations could be poured.