made in heaven Archives

How Zoya Akhtar’s Made in Heaven Shatters the Myth of the Bollywood Vivah

For a long time, Bollywood has convinced us that the shortcut to a happily-ever-after is marriage. But Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s Made in Heaven intends to tear a hole in the utter romanticisation of this custom. It shows us a side of marriage – an examination of why people choose to be in it – that has rarely been depicted on celluloid.

Manik Sharma June 3, 2016

Bollywood

Has the Famously Homophobic Bollywood Really Changed in Post Sec-377 India?

In a post-Section 377 world, Bollywood has evidently taken major leaps. I was recently brought in as a consultant for a film script when the production team felt that the straight men writing a story about queer lives lacked insight.

Manish Gaekwad April 4, 2016

Technology

From the Jetsons to Black Mirror: When Did the Future Go from Utopia to Dystopia?

In the last two decades, our approach to technology in pop culture has swung from the unremarkable Jetsons to dystopian web series like Black Mirror or A.I.SHA. What changed? At some point, we had to deal with the very immediate prospect of robots taking our jobs, and inevitably, the world.

Kahini Iyer March 27, 2016

Love and Sex

Buddha Mil Gaya… Why Does the Thought of Old People With Sex Lives Make Us Cringe?

In our movies like in real life, we expect lovers to be young and restless. Indian psyche tutors us that men and women beyond 50 do not need a sexual dialogue or depiction. Aged people and their desires, as a Made in Heaven episode showed us, make us cringe.

Aarti Shetty March 22, 2016