Articles

Jabariya Jodi Review: An Unfunny, Headache-Inducing Romance that Tests Your Patience

In 2019, there is no reason that an unfunny, sexist film like Jabariya Jodi should get backed by a mainstream production house. The Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra-starrer is replete with crass gags on sex, women, and condoms. And at the centre of it, is a headache-inducing romance between two people who love beating up other people.

Poulomi Das April 21, 2016

POV

My Love-Hate Relationship with Influencers

Some days I want to burn a gazillion calories and get a six-pack and on other days I want to cook my favourite meals, be a glutton and accept myself as I am. The problem is there are an equal number of people on social media giving ‘gyaan’ on both, and I tend to endlessly switch between the two.

Jagruti Verma April 21, 2016

Bollywood

Article 15 Review: A Necessary Movie on Caste Discrimination that Lands Punches on Upper-Class Guilt

Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15 revolves around an upper-class police officer investigating the gang-rape and murders of two minor lower-caste girls. For a film industry that tip-toes around caste, the mere existence of Article 15 is commendable. But the movie often feels disconnected from the ills of casteism.

Poulomi Das April 21, 2016

Bollywood

Bulbul Can Sing Reminds Us of the Price Girls Pay to Experience Adolescence

When boys come of age, they enjoy the freedom that permits them to make mistakes. But patriarchy doesn’t afford the same luxury to young girls. Rima Das’s Bulbul Can Sing argues that when girls come of age there is some trauma attached to it.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

People

Revisiting Kalpana, Uday Shankar’s Film that Cost ₹22 Lakh in 1948

I was 11 when I first watched Uday Shankar’s Kalpana, an experimental dance-drama, in a Calcutta theatre along with the illustrious Shankar family. I thought it was long and obscure. But as I revisit the film, decades later, I read deeper into the narrative of the artist whom James Joyce described as someone who “moves on the stage like a semi-divine being”.

Chandrima Pal April 20, 2016

Money Matters

Is Nirmala Sitharaman the MS Dhoni of Finance Ministers?

As the buzz around the slowdown in the economy grew louder, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took some small steps – support for the auto sector, a fine-tuning of FDI, and liquidity support for banks. And then, like MS Dhoni in the final over of a run chase, she sent the ball thundering out of the stadium with her decision to reduce the corporate tax rate.

Adhirath Sethi April 20, 2016

Bollywood

The Forgotten Army Review: Kabir Khan’s Story of Bose’s INA Raises Pertinent Questions About Nationalism

Kabir Khan’s Amazon show The Forgotten Army is a welcome departure from hyper-jingoistic historical epics that have become par for the course today. But Khan never quite gets a grip on the complexities of the Indian National Army, which often clashed with its own countrymen who were part of the British army.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

First Person

Only the Lunatics Watch the Moon in Mumbai

Inboxes flooded with images of the super moon from across the globe as it traversed one time zone to another, bewitching everyone with its triple magic. A city had managed to remember that there’s a moon in the urban sky.

Aparna joshi April 20, 2016

Pop Culture

Christopher Plummer Saves All the Money in the World

Ridley Scott’s gamble to replace Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World in the wake of sexual assault allegations, pays off. Christopher Plummer is unforgettable as the icy-cold oil baron J Paul Getty.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

Pop Culture

Beware! Here Come the Marathoners

Bores are bores, but marathon bores are the worst. While your garden-variety bore can yammer on about anything in the world, the marathoner can only wax eloquent on his workout.

Vatsala Mamgain April 20, 2016