Posted inPop Culture
B-Town Wonder Women and their Wingmen
In 2016, we saw movies like Pink and Dangal that were premised on the struggles of female heroes – and the men who enabled them.
Posted inModern Family
Mohabbat ke Dushman: When Fathers Were Like DDLJ’s Amrish Puri
Younger millennials will never understand that we once lived in a world where fathers were milder, yet authentic, replicas of Amrish Puri in DDLJ.
Posted inPop Culture
Jab Imtiaz Ali Should Have Killed Sejal
Imtiaz Ali’s Sejal sets off on a journey to achieve a socially acceptable level of fuckability and ultimately becomes an extremely worrying case of self-objectification.
Posted inBollywood
In a World Crazy Over Rahuls and Rajs, Why Shah Rukh Khan’s Mohan Bhargava Stands Out
Bollywood, much like the government, has fed us an idea of nationhood that is so much bigger than ourselves, most of us tend to struggle to understand our place in it. Swades showed us an alternate version. In Mohan Bhargava, it gave us a deshbhakt we could imagine ourselves being, some day.
Posted inBollywood
Looking for a Sushil, Sanskari, Non-Toxic Bollywood Hero
Hindi cinema hasn’t completely disregarded the need for healthy male leads. Toxic protagonists are still seen as rule breakers – as underdogs who can win against the system and evoke sympathy. But a handful of films, like Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, October, and even Muqaddar Ka Sikandar have tried to change that.
Posted inPop Culture
How Badrinath Ki Dulhania Tries (And Fails) To Be DDLJ
Badrinath Ki Dulhania struggles to recreate DDLJ, riding on the Varun-Alia chemistry. But it’s impossible to doff your hat to a classic with a hero with a major character flaw.
Posted inBollywood
17 Years of Veer-Zaara: An Ode to the Time When Bollywood Made Music Instead Of Churning Remixes
Like Veer and Zaara’s love story, the movie’s music stands the test of time. “Main Yahaan Hoon” became the ballad for an entire generation. Fifteen years on, it makes us pine for eternal love even when we find ourselves in an age where regularly liking someone’s Instagram posts is the zenith of commitment.
Posted inBollywood
20 Years of Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani: In the Age of CAA and “Godi Media”, this SRK Film Seems Prophetic
Twenty years ago, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani that starred Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, featured a news channel that toed the government’s narrative and paid goons hired by a politician to orchestrate riots. It ends on a positive note where codes of democracy are honoured and protestors usher in a change. Today, as the entire country protests against the CAA-NRC, the film’s subtext has never been more relevant.
Posted inBollywood
In a World of Kaushals and Khurranas, Where Does King Khan Now Stand?
Shah Rukh Khan is looking forward to capping off the year with Anand L Rai’s Zero. But in an age when Bollywood seems to have found new King Ks – in Vicky Kaushal and Ayushmann Khurrana – is the original King Khan’s dominance over our hearts and screens under threat?
Posted inBollywood
Chhe Din, Ladki Not In: Will the Year of #MeToo Usher in a New Kind of Bollywood Hero?
No film in the ’90s had a woman character whose first “no” was accepted – instead her consent was treated as a challenge by the hero. But in a year when #MeToo ruled our cultural consciousness, will that old idea of what a Bollywood hero is supposed to be, change?