Bollywood Archives

With Super 30, Will Hrithik Roshan, the Actor, Rise?

Hrithik Roshan’s has had a safe filmography so far with the exception of Guzaarish. In the Super 30 trailer, Roshan, hidden under layers of brownface makeup, looks or sounds nothing like Anand Kumar. But will he surprise us with his acting?

Karishma Pandey June 17, 2016

Bollywood

Gully Boy Isn’t the Year’s Finest Indian Film, But it is the Best Choice for the Oscars

You can be divided on whether Gully Boy is the finest film of the year, but it goes without saying that it is the best choice for the Oscars. An Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film doesn’t have to be an accurate representation of Indian cinema, it just has to have the financial might to sustain an Oscar campaign.

Poulomi Das June 17, 2016

Bollywood

Shakuntala Devi Review: This Vidya Balan Biopic Doesn’t Quite Add Up

Shakuntala Devi’s on-the-nose filmmaking dumbs down the film’s emotional threads to an extent that the plot loses its sheen. Balan, who initially plays a caricature of a boisterous woman, settles into the demands of the role only halfway through the film.

Poulomi Das June 17, 2016

Bollywood

Manmarziyaan Review: The Bollywood Love Triangle, Redefined

Anurag Kashyap’s Manmarziyaan is both a manifesto of modern love and a statement against Bollywood's unrealistic portrayal of love triangles. Aided by smart writing and affecting performances, the film subverts the nice guy trope and squashes the idea of the one true love.

Poulomi Das June 16, 2016

Bollywood

Class of 83 Review: Netflix Film Offers the Dangerous Idea of a Police Force Answerable to No One

Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the Bobby Deol-starrer Class of 83, the message that the film unwittingly “endorses” is this: The police force can only live up to its fullest potential when they have no one to answer to, which is an altogether scary proposition even in the realms of fiction.

Poulomi Das June 16, 2016

Bollywood

Jaane Kahan Gaye Woh Din: Why We Should Have Kept the Legacy of RK Studios Alive

Built by Raj Kapoor, the man labelled the Showman of India, the iconic RK Studios will make away for apartments. Could we not have treated it better? Given it a new lease on life, possibly as a contemporary cinema history museum?

Alka Shukla June 15, 2016

Bollywood

Gulabo Sitabo Review: A Bittersweet Film Elevated by Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana’s Chemistry

In Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo, there is easy chemistry between Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, the dialogue packs a punch, and the comic set-pieces are incessantly charming. Halfway through, when the film starts peeling its layers, it becomes all the more captivating.

Poulomi Das June 15, 2016

Bollywood

Ranveer Singh: Making Femininity Manly Again

How many Indian men can so lightly embody the many contradictions of Ranveer Singh? In our determinedly binary society, his love of lehengas on anyone else might have garnered epithets of “sissy” or “hijra”. But then, as his infamous t-shirt once declared, Ranveer always makes one thing abundantly clear: he’s got no fucks to give.

Kahini Iyer June 15, 2016

Bollywood

Why We Need Films Like Shanghai in the Age of Hyper-nationalism

Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai could easily have been adapted into a political potboiler with countless twists, item songs, and stereotypical portrayals of the bureaucracy. But, Banerjee refuses to go down the OTT route. Shanghai is an exercise in restraint. In a way, it can be looked as a balm for the hyper-nationalistic age we live in.

Parth Pandya June 15, 2016

Bollywood

When Bollywood Biggies Did Not Hesitate to Speak Out Against the Government

During the Emergency, Kishore Kumar, Manoj Kumar, and Dev Anand emerged as the fiercest voices against the establishment. Even as their songs and films were banned from Doordarshan, they remain undeterred. Why does the current crop of Bollywood A-listers choose to remain “apolitical” even as anti-CAA protests grip the nation?

Omkar Poojari June 14, 2016