Posted inPop Culture
Kumud Mishra has Mastered the Art of Empathy
Kumud Mishra plays empathetic characters with stunning elegance but in SonyLiv’s Dr Arora he also manages to add quiet angst to the portrayal of a heartbroken middle-aged man.
Posted inPOV
“Saheb Kahaan Hai?”: The One Question that Makes Every Married Woman Instantly Invisible
Ask any married Indian woman, and they’ll tell you about how easily the world renders them invisible. It’s as if the minute you take your husband’s surname, you cease to exist. From then on, you’re just a floating genie, who has only one master: “Saheb”. But instead of fighting it, I'm going to make my invisibility my superpower.
Posted inPeople
A Working Mom is a “Soti Hui Sherni”. Don’t Mess With Her
I got schooled in mommy politics recently, where everything from potty-training to the number of classes you enrol your child in is competition. The sticky marsh where working moms are judged for not being involved enough.
Posted inPeople
Naked Nariyal Man & Abstinence in the Time of “Fast” Politics
In an era where the Congress’s chola-bhatura fuelled vrat and the PM’s day-long abstinence from food are also considered “fasts”, a man reminds us of the glory days of fasting – when the abstaining was longer than the time it takes to finish binge watching a season of Game of Thrones.
Posted inPop Culture
Afsos Review: Gulshan Devaiah Kills It in this Crackling Tragicomedy About a Man Desperate to Die
It’s rare to make a comedy that is informed by its wickedness. Even rare to set it in a homegrown universe that pokes fun at the double standards of middle-class anxieties – death, religion, millennial indecisiveness, and existentialism – in a way which is immediately recognisable. Afsos manages to do both.
Posted inPop Culture
Kahaani Chor Chor Ki: What If Ocean’s 8 Were an Indian TV Soap?
Meet Debjaani Sagar, the homegrown version of Debbie Ocean from Ocean’s 8. With her gang of desi girls, she’s attempting the heist of the decade in a caper filled with shapeshifting mosquitoes, revenge plots, and reincarnations.
Posted inPeople
Dandiya Nights With Falguni Pathak: Every Gujjus First-Ever “Live” Concert
Falguni Pathak’s live performances in the ’90s catapulted her into the league of larger-than-life superstars. She will always remain one of the great unifiers of Gujaratis from Andheri to America. A little less than Modi ji. But just a smidge above dhoklas.
Posted inPOV
Can We Please Stop Scrutinising Zaira Wasim’s Decision to Quit Bollywood?
Many Twitter intellectuals have condemned Zaira Wasim for citing her religious beliefs to exit Bollywood, while others have blamed her for making Muslims look regressive. But is ganging up against a teenager on social media progressive?
Posted inBollywood
How Aparna Sen’s 15 Park Avenue Depicted Mental Illness Without Romanticising It
More than 15 years since 15 Park Avenue came out, I doubt any other Indian film tailored sensitivity and accuracy with a poignant storyline on mental illness as beautifully as Aparna Sen managed to portray in 15 Park Avenue.
Posted inPOV
Friendship Cancel: Why Breaking Up With BFFs is Worse Than Ending a Romance
Falling out of friendships rarely gets as much attention as falling out of love. A breakup between friends does not carry the weight of the breakup of a romantic relationship. We might be prepared for heartbreak, but nobody tells us about the friends we are going to lose along the way.