Pop Culture Archives

Joaquin Phoenix: A Superhero Hiding In a Supervillain’s Role

While his rendition of a deranged Joker set off alarm bells at the FBI and in military headquarters, Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar speech could not have been more virtuous if the Dalai Lama wrote it for him.

Arré Bench July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

Haraamkhor and Other Tales from Small-Town India

Haraamkhor is a small film with a short story told on a large canvas. It is part of a conversation started a decade and a half ago by Gulaal, by Haasil, by Khosla Ka Ghosla.

Ajay Sharma July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

Tamasha And The Celebration Of The Universal Story

Tamasha is the rare Bollywood film that accomplishes the feat of being “meta”, avoiding becoming a clichéd rehash of Imtiaz Ali’s earlier films.

Bhaskar Chawla July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

B-Town Wonder Women and their Wingmen

In 2016, we saw movies like Pink and Dangal that were premised on the struggles of female heroes – and the men who enabled them.

Karanjeet Kaur July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

After Endgame, How Will Marvel Fans Adjust to a Life without the Avengers?

What the hell are we all going to do when we no longer have the Avengers in our lives? Now that there are no more trailers to slow down frame-by-frame, or post-credits scenes to sit in the theatre for, to whom will the devotees of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes turn?

Kahini Iyer July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

Masaba Masaba Exposes the Dark Side of Girlbossing

Though Masaba Masaba looks stylised and elite, it also captures the dark, often underexplored and unsexy side of Girlbosses.

Takshi Mehta July 30, 2016

Pop Culture

Is it Time to Say “Avada Kedavra” to the Ailing Harry Potter Franchise?

Today marks 22 years since Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone introduced us to The Boy Who Lived. There was a time when I couldn’t get enough of Hogwarts and its magical folk. But now I think the Potterverse is exploited beyond imagination and it’s time to say goodbye.

Kahini Iyer July 29, 2016

Pop Culture

Criminal Justice Review: An Average Crime Drama that Says Nothing New About India’s Flawed Judicial System

Criminal Justice comes across more like a faithful remake than an adaptation of the eponymous BBC series, undone by its inability to contextualise the proceedings and Indianise them. The sluggish, over-explanatory pace of the initial episodes ruins the chance of a tense build-up.

Poulomi Das July 28, 2016

Pop Culture

India’s Real Gully Boys & the Art of Protest Poetry: Rapping Up Election 2019

At a time when there is a trust deficit in India’s news media and chilling deaths of RTI activists and journalists are par for the course, the guardians of democracy appear to be India’s street rappers. Their fire rhymes are lighting up an election year. Meet the new breed of “citizen rappers”.

Nair Da July 28, 2016

Pop Culture

10 Years of Dirty Picture: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like Vidya Balan Anymore

Vidya Balan is an anomaly. In an industry rife with svelte figures and saccharine personas, her body of work is an aging but fresh breath of air. From playing a sex symbol to a ferocious agent, Balan made offbeat cool before it became mainstream.

Jackie Thakkar July 28, 2016