Pop Culture Archives

Scam 1992 Review: A Gripping Series that Humanises Harshad Mehta, But Also Warns About the Perils of Greed

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story is a tale of money, ambition, power, and greed. Pratik Gandhi is very convincing as the Big Bull of Dalal Street. And though the series is engrossing, it doesn’t aptly capture how the stock market scam devastated the lives of thousands of innocent investors.

Hardik Rajgor May 12, 2016

Pop Culture

The Lifetime of a Performance: The Crowning Glory of Olivia Colman

In Season 3 of The Crown, Olivia Colman delivers a performance that understands that a good drama hinges on great performers yearning to be ordinary humans. She cries like nobody can see but everybody can watch. She cracks like someone who is forced to use death as a device to feel alive. She breaks like someone who discovers that the fourth wall cannot be broken.

Rahul Desai May 12, 2016

Pop Culture

Mumbai Police: The Twitter Heroes We Didn’t Know We Needed

If the Varun Dhawan case is any indication, Mumbai’s finest are using Twitter to police the city, one Stranger Things meme and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai GIF at a time.

Dushyant Shekhawat May 12, 2016

Pop Culture

The Ads Of Our Childhood Past

In a fast-changing world today, nostalgia is a bug that bites us in the form of Nirma detergent ads, Parle-G biscuits, and bad remixes from the ’80s and ’90s.

Arré Bench May 12, 2016

Pop Culture

Snapchat is Dead. Long Live Snapchat

It was only in 2014, when all of India was talking about the saffron wave, India’s millennials were lost in Snapchat’s simple world of disappearing pictures. Four years on, after Kylie Jenner’s deadly tweet and a much derided interface update, it is finally time to bid the app farewell.

Nihal Bambulkar May 12, 2016

Pop Culture

Joker is Not an Incel Manual. People Like Arthur Fleck Deserve Our Empathy

What most angry criticism of Joker has missed is that getting inside the headspace of a culprit is not tantamount to validating it. That acknowledgement of mental health does not translate into negation of accountability. The film never denies that Arthur Fleck turns into a psychopathic, nihilistic murderer.

Dipti Kharude May 11, 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

Pop Culture

Reaching For the Stars: How Koffee With Karan Got us Closer to Bollywood

Almost 14 years ago, writer-director-producer, Karan Johar did the unthinkable: He brought our favourite Bollywood stars from the big screen, straight into our living rooms. Rarely have our stars been as relatable as they have been on Koffee With Karan.

Arré Bench May 11, 2016

Pop Culture

CID and the Enduring Legacy of “Daya Darwaza Tod Do”

After 21 years and over 1500 episodes, BP Singh's CID, the Indian detective series headlined by our favourite trio, ACP Pradyuman, Abhijeet and Daya, will go off-air today. The show's massive popularity is proof of the fact that it was a comedy special ahead of its time.

Poulomi Das May 10, 2016

Pop Culture

We Found Friends in a Hopeless Place

I’ve never had a single sour experience on Tinder. Contrary to the shallow connections that the app is known for, I’ve managed to hone relationships that are meaningful.

Shruti Sunderraman May 10, 2016