Poulomi Das, Author at Arré

Thank You, Next: I’ll Pick the Beauty of Everyday Affections Over Grand Romantic Gestures

Small affections – knowing how much sugar your partner likes in their coffee, reaching out for their hand instinctively during a Netflix binge – mould companionship. The beauty of these intimacies are that they don’t announce themselves to the world but demand a keen familiarity.

Poulomi Das June 11, 2016

Bollywood

Just How Sanskaari is Pahlaj Nihalani’s Julie 2?

Pahlaj Nihalani had touted Julie 2 as a bold exposé with a message for aspiring actors, minus any vulgarity. But it’s proof that the former CBFC chief needs to be gifted a dictionary. The film is neither bold, nor an exposé.

Poulomi Das June 11, 2016

Bollywood

Why Kabir Singh is Proof of How Movies Get Away with Trivialising Women

Every woman watching Kabir Singh isn't just watching a film. They're inevitably imagining a scenario where they are stripped of their agency, only to have a man cross the boundaries of what qualifies as love and what it is never anything but violence. The trouble is, the box-office is applauding.

Poulomi Das June 11, 2016

Bollywood

Shikara Review: An Incomplete Narrative on the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits

In Shikara, Vidhu Vinod Chopra chooses to look at the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in isolation and not in relation with the continuous othering of the state by the governments of India and their armed forces. In that sense, not only does the film come across as visibly apolitical but also an incomplete narrative where quite a few pieces of the puzzle are missing.

Poulomi Das June 10, 2016

Bollywood

Kaamyaab Review: Sanjay Mishra is Phenomenal in this Flawless Movie About the Movies

Hardik Mehta’s Kamyaab is filmmaking at its very best: an affecting acknowledgement of the innumerable artists in Bollywood, whose talent is constrained by an industry that treats them as disposable goods despite their indispensability. It’s also a boisterous love-letter to Sanjay Mishra, an actor who has never demanded the spotlight even when he deserved it.

Poulomi Das June 9, 2016

Pop Culture

Guilty Review: The Netflix Movie Wants To Make a #MeToo Statement But Doesn’t Know How To

Netflix’s Guilty, which traces the investigation of a rape accusation made on Twitter, had the opportunity to stand out as a film that explores the changing nature of consent in a post #MeToo world. It squanders that chance and instead tells us a story told far too many times – that rape survivors are often disbelieved.

Poulomi Das June 9, 2016

Bollywood

102 Not Out: Rishtey Mein Toh Hum Tumhare Baap Lagte Hain, Kaam Hai Nagging

In a culture that still relies on the problematic viewing of children as their parents' property, 102 Not Out encourages pressurising the younger generation into fulfilling dual obligations of being both a caregiver and caretaker at the peak of their youth.

Poulomi Das June 9, 2016

Pop Culture

Sarkar 3 and the Death of an Icon

It took Ram Gopal Varma 12 years and three films to erode the memory of Sarkar, one of the most formidable protagonists to emerge out of Bollywood in recent times.

Poulomi Das June 8, 2016

Bollywood

Why Dulquer Salmaan is the Pan-Indian Hero We Need

After successfully foraying into Telugu and Tamil cinema, Dulquer Salmaan, a bonafide Malayalam star, made his Bollywood debut with Karwaan and is following it up with The Zoya Factor. His soaring fan-following that defies language and age barriers is because he feels like the realest actor we’ve witnessed in a long long time.

Poulomi Das June 6, 2016

Bollywood

PM Narendra Modi Review: The Most Lacklustre Endorsement of NaMo This Election Season

Biographical films, by design, are expected to remain true to facts. But PM Narendra Modi is bound by no such restrictions, mainly because director Omung Kumar hasn’t made a film. Instead he’s directed a 131-minute-long product placement of Narendra Modi.

Poulomi Das June 6, 2016