Pranay Dewani, Author at Arré

50 Years of Scooby Doo: What Shaggy and His Gang Taught Me about Fear of the Dark

Scooby Doo proved time and again how needless the idea of fearing the unknown really is. It is the reason why a scared 10-year-old me dared to enter dark alleyways and stopped fearing the demons under his bed.

Pranay Dewani July 25, 2016

Bollywood

Jai Mummy Di Review: A Dated, Unfunny Film that Makes Punjabis the Punchline

Navjot Gulati’s Jai Mummy Di revolves around two love-birds trying to convince their warring mothers to resolve their issues with each other. It stretches a one-line premise until it’s devoid of any humour. The last thing Bollywood needs is yet another film that treats Punjabis as a punchline.

Pranay Dewani July 13, 2016

Pop Culture

Arré Recommends: What Should You Binge Watch in the Coming Week?

The first few days of January can seem gloomy and it’s probably the best time to fall back on your streaming subscriptions. We, the good folks at Arré, have some recommendations that should help you cope with the post-holiday blues.

Pranay Dewani June 9, 2016

Pop Culture

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the Most Underrated Comedy of the Decade

Now officially the longest running live-action sitcom in the history of television, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, entered its 14 season this year, and remains as topical as it was when it first aired in 2005. It has never hesitated to address sensitive and pertinent subjects such as #MeToo and climate change.

Pranay Dewani June 2, 2016

Bollywood

What Kabir Singh Can Learn about Violent Men From Kumbalangi Nights

After the release of Kabir Singh, everyone had one question on their minds: Could movies really depict toxic masculinity without glorifying it? The answer lies in Kumbalangi Nights, a Malayalam film where toxic masculinity isn’t the hero, but is its villain.

Pranay Dewani May 21, 2016

Pop Culture

Upstarts Review: A Start-up Drama that Fails to Fully Take Off

Upstarts, Netflix India’s latest offering from first time director Udai Singh Pawar, falls in the same category as shows Pitchers and movies like Rocket Singh. But while it attempts to differentiate itself by making a comment on the discrimination women entrepreneurs face, it fails to fully address the issue.

Pranay Dewani May 11, 2016

Features

Neeraj Ghaywan: The Middle-Class Boy Who Breathed Life into Bollywood’s Masaan and Sacred Games

The award-winning filmmaker, Neeraj Ghaywan, quit a cushy corporate life and charted his own course at 30. The result is sensitive films like Masaan, that drew accolades at home and abroad, and the second season of Sacred Games.

Pranay Dewani April 22, 2016

Pop Culture

Rituparno Ghosh and the Power of Queer Rights Activism Through Movies

In Arekti Premer Golpo, Memories in March, and Chitrangada, the last three films of Rituparno Ghosh’s acting and directing career, sexuality is almost a living, breathing character. He might have not lived long enough to be an activist, but these three films remain a crucial expression of his LGBTQIA+ activism.

Pranay Dewani April 19, 2016

Bollywood

How to Treat the Trans Community: A Lesson for India from Amol Palekar’s Daayraa

Back in 1996, Amol Palekar’s Daayraa, that revolved around a love story between a transvestite and a gang-raped woman, questioned sexual identities and saw trans people as a “miracle of nature”. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, however, refuses to see the trans community in the same light.

Pranay Dewani March 19, 2016

Pop Culture

Why Moti Bagh the Oscar-Nominated Documentary on an Uttarkhand Farmer Needs Our Attention

Nirmal Chander’s documentary Moti Bagh is an inspiring story of an 83-year-old farmer from Uttarakhand, who continues to tend to his land even as others have abandoned the village.

Pranay Dewani March 11, 2016