Bollywood

One of the joys of global streaming apps is the sheer exposure to worldwide content. With a click of a button, I can be deep in the world of emotional Korean dramas, on the battlefields of historical Turkish soap operas or spend the afternoon with familiar Bollywood fare. I love that I get to watch some new and some my decade old favorites from back when I was in India.So, if you are looking to…

If I were to describe Taare Zameen Par in one line, I’d  say – A movie that takes you back to your childhood days and makes you question society’s insistence on being the best. Aamir Khan’s directorial debut TZP is the story of a dyslexic boy struggling for his identity. Ishaan Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) is a misfit in a world enamoured by grades, ranks and trophies. Labelled a loser by his teachers, friends and classmates; he finds…

I will start with the obvious. PINK is not just a movie but a social commentary, and is done really, really well. It’s the movie that will hopefully impact the discussion on sexual consent for years to come. At the least, it will bring this discussion to your living rooms. If you haven’t seen the movie, stop reading this review and go watch it. The plot is straightforward enough. Three girls, Minal, Falak and Andrea,…

After an excruciatingly painful first half of 60 minutes, which could have been shorter or craftier, the film really kicks in. KCK is the story of Karthik (duh), a timid man, bullied around by everyone who gets much-needed help by therapeutic phone calls from himself. As bizarre as it may seem to get calls from himself, which have no existence on his phone records, he goes with the flow and trusts the caller. His life…

There is nothing wrong with the overall plot, and how it can that be, since it’s  inspired from Jane Austen’s Emma, but the Bollywood movie “Aisha” falters appallingly in the execution.  The story is really simple. Aisha, a super rich, good-for-nothing, rich Delhi girl passes her time setting up people together. The movie begins when she finds her new project, Shefali (Amrita Puri), a middle class girl in need of a groom. Aisha sets her…

Directed by Kamal Amrohi, Mahal is one of the first gothic horror movies to be made in Bollywood which would later inspire a series of Haweli main bhatakti aatma genre of movies. It also launched the careers of Lata Mangeshkar with her haunting rendition of ‘Aayega, Aayega’ and Madhubala with her expressive face. The review contains spoilers and if you plan to watch the movie don’t read ahead. So, What’s it about? Our hero, Hari…

Let’s stand and applaud. Quentin Tarantino of Indian Cinema has arrived. And how! With Kaminey, Vishal Bharadwaj weaves the familiar Tarantino-ish magic of black humour and gorgeous violence. Yes, I used the word gorgeous as an adjective to violence–because in filmmaking, that is possible and yet very difficult to achieve. Kaminey is a milestone in the way movies are made in Bollywood. For starters, it doesn’t dumb down the story for the audience. Second, the…

I always get a fairly accurate gut feeling about the movie from its trailers. When I saw Katrina Kaif swaying to the outstanding beat of “Mere Sang”  (another hit for Sunidhi Chauhan) I knew I wanted to watch New York. New York is about the story of three friends – Omar (Niel Mukesh), Sameer (John Abraham) and Maya (Katrina Kaif) who meet at New York State University campus and build a close bond over the…