Posted inPop Culture
All Hail Jaanbaaz Julia
Karan Johar made the mistake of believing he’d invited Kangana Ranaut of a decade ago to Koffee with Karan. No longer the awkward outlier, the actress dropped several truth bombs.
Posted inBollywood
De De Pyaar De Review: A Predictable Love Story that Should Have Made Tabu its Hero
Even though De De Pyaar De revolves around a 50-year-old man falling for a 26-year-old woman, it never quite addresses the peculiarities of being with someone from a different generation. It doesn't help that Ajay Devgn, used to playing heroes who are half-his age, plays Ashish with the attitude of a 30-year-old from Delhi.
Posted inPop Culture
2.0 Review: There’s More to the Rajinikanth Movie and It’s Akshay Kumar
Despite Rajinikanth’s presence, 2.0 ensures it is an equal battleground for its hero and antagonist. It’s the villain Pakshirajan – a fabulous Akshay Kumar – who gets the indulgent backstory; he’s the first character we see in the film and the only one to merit a song.
Posted inPop Culture
Eeb Allay Ooo! Review: A Timely Portrait of the Indian Migrant Crisis
There couldn't be a more timely reminder of the fragility of migrant life, the precariousness of their livelihoods, than right now, when we're watching it all unfold in real-time. Prateek Vats' debut, Eeb Allay Ooo!, is a frighteningly perspicacious political satire.
Posted inBollywood
Yours Truly Review: The Soni Razdan-Starrer is a Reminder that Loneliness is a Constant Companion
The lonely don’t endure loneliness; they live with it. Sanjoy Nag’s Yours Truly evocatively establishes the essence of that feeling through the eyes of 57-year-old Mithi Kumar, played by a terrific Soni Razdan, who gives a face to middle-aged longing.
Posted inBollywood
Baaghi 2: How to Make Your Cheek Muscles Act While Saying Jai Hind
Tiger Shroff's Baaghi 2 comes very close to convincing you that there can be no action hero unless he has an “I love my India” tattoo on his forehead, and no action film if it doesn’t act as a PSA for the army. It makes you miss the times when Bollywood action heroes had dhai kilo ka haath instead of dhai kilo ke abs.
Posted inBollywood
Selection Day: The Brilliant Ratna Pathak Shah Won’t Allow Ageist Bollywood to Slow Her Down
Ratna Pathak Shah is synonymous with layered, evocative performances that acquire a fandom of their own. In the last two years alone, with stellar roles in Love Per Square Foot and Lipstick Under My Burkha, Shah has had a more envious acting resume than any of her younger peers.
Posted inBollywood
Sairat Lovers, All Your Nightmares About Dhadak are True
Spoiler alert: Dhadak is as terrible as anyone who has watched Sairat expected it to be. If there’s anyone who can take the ignored issue of caste and ignore it even further, it’s a Karan Johar production. The result is a risible, candyfloss film that embodies everything Sairat mocked.
Posted inPop Culture
What Jack Ryan Gets Right About the War on Terror
Jack Ryan tracks an unassuming but troubled desk-bound analyst’s heroic turn into a duty agent heeding the call of duty. But its strength lies in its awareness that the war on terror is after all, a terror too.
Posted inGender
Sorry, Tanushree Dutta. This is Bollywood and It Lives in Denial
No matter how hard you scream about sexual harassment within the industry, Bollywood does not want to know. This is a machinery oiled by collective denial, which makes A-listers like Amitabh Bachchan refuse to take a stand against a male oppressor. Denial explains the flourishing careers of Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.