Poulomi Das, Author at Arré

Gold: So You Think You Can Make Sports Films, Bollywood?

For a film about sport, Gold treats hockey as a mere formality in service of an Akshay Kumar vanity project. It only exploits the star’s various talents: enthusiastic comic timing, the ability to arouse nationalistic pride, and romancing a much younger actress.

Poulomi Das July 6, 2016

Love and Sex

Love in the Times of Social Media

It’s no longer just a boy-girl thing. It’s now him, her, and social media.

Poulomi Das July 6, 2016

Pop Culture

Ittefaq Movie Review: Refreshing And Clever

Ittefaq is a clever thriller that reveals itself deliciously without shortchanging the intellect of the audience. It stays away from being self-indulgent and is mindful of every moment of its 107-minute runtime.

Poulomi Das July 5, 2016

Pop Culture

Paddington 2 Bears Kindness in the Age of Fear-mongering

Paddington 2, with its firm anti-Brexit tone, is a pertinent film in our prevailing climate of fear-mongering and othering. It’s a movie that could do the children some good, and also the adults they come to watch it with.

Poulomi Das July 4, 2016

POV

Why Priyanka Chopra Should Stop Apologising for Quantico

In admitting that the Quantico episode showing a fictional Hindu being a terrorist was inaccurate and implying that she prioritised nationalism over everything else, Priyanka Chopra did the opposite of what we’ve come to expect out of her: taking a stand.

Poulomi Das July 4, 2016

Pop Culture

Shut Up Sona Review: What It Takes to Be a Woman In a Music Industry Made By Men, for Men

Deepti Gupta's Shut Up Sona is a captivative record of the never-ending punishment, in the form of FIRs and rape threats, that singer Sona Mohaptra has to endure for not being submissive; for being demanding instead of accepting; for using her voice instead of hushing it.

Poulomi Das July 4, 2016

Bollywood

From Tapsee Pannu, Ranveer Singh, to Yami Gautam: The 10 Best Hindi Film Performances of 2019

As everyone will tell you, this year has been a particularly unremarkable year for Bollywood. The silver lining has been the versatile, inventive performances that have come from the most experimental of films and actors. From Tapsee Pannu and Ranvir Shorey to Geetika Vidya Olyan and Ranveer Singh, here are the 10 best performances of 2019.

Poulomi Das July 4, 2016

Pop Culture

Les Misérables Review: A Searing Portrait of the Cyclical Nature of Violence in an Increasingly Divided World

Narrated as a slow-burn police procedural, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is a commentary on the pervasive, lingering stain of social injustice. The masterful filmmaking evokes the extent of powerlessness that the marginalised are forced to internalise.

Poulomi Das July 3, 2016

Bollywood

Pataakha Review: What Vishal Bhardwaj Gets Right About Sisterly Love

Sisters are each other’s strength and weakness – you can’t live with them, can’t live without them. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Pataakha understands this language of sisterhood, where throwing abuses, insults, and jabs at each other is par for the course.

Poulomi Das July 2, 2016

Bollywood

Stree Review: A New World Where Men Live in Fear of Women

In Amar Kaushik’s Stree, gender roles are reversed: Men are forced to comply with society’s impractical rules and police their behaviour for no fault of their own. The film uses its supernatural spirit to imagine a safer world for women, but fails to eventually carry it through.

Poulomi Das July 2, 2016