Mirzapore, in East UP is known more for its carpet weaving industry, and less for the child exploitation that exists there. Noted documentarian, Brahmanand Siingh, whose oeuvre includes documentaries on R D Burman and Jagjit Singh, has directed and co-written ‘Jhalki’, a film on child exploitation, particularly on […]
“DDLJ jaisa ending hoga kya?” asks a character, referring to the blockbuster of the 90s. This is just one of the many films alluded to in Amar Kaushik’s latest, written with wittiness by Niren Bhatt. The theme of male ‘premature’ issues seems to be captivating audiences of late. Just a week after ‘Ujda Chaman’ hit […]
“Sinners are not punished. If they were, there wouldn’t be so many men in the world,” says one of the women, fettered by generations of bondage to their menfolk through ignorance stemming primarily out of unfounded beliefs. The first Gujarati film to win the Golden Lotus Award, while winning Best Feature Film at the […]
‘Hair today, gone tomorrow’! If the trio of directors of this film (led by Abhishek Pathak) are to be believed, ragging in Delhi has gone up several notches – first-year students deride and ridicule even their lecturers for a paltry reason such as going prematurely bald! Not having seen the original 2017 Kannada movie, ‘Ondu […]
Well, hadn’t he promised, or warned, in 1984, that he’d be back? On his return, Schwarzenegger brings along with him the series’ original director, James Cameron (in a different capacity) and the ubiquitous Linda Hamilton, as Sarah Connor. The film is set 22 years after Judgement Day, and has, as protagonists, the augmented human Grace […]
Lest the viewer forget what the film is all about, the opening words – ‘definition of an aphrodisiac’ also serve to reassure that he is in the right auditorium. Raghuvir Rao (Rajkumar Rao) is an enterprising but unsuccessful entrepreneur. In the hope of turning his business around, his cousin, Devraj (Sumeet Vyas) takes him on […]
“Once… uh, twice upon a time …”, is the line uttered in the opening frames, perhaps referring to the fact that this is supposed to be a sequel five years down the line. Maleficent is Fairy Godmother (Angelina Jolie – her third film in five years) to Aurora, Queen of the Moors (Elle Fanning), who […]
“I never argue, I explain,” is just one of the many one-liners veteran actress Maggie Smith, as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, gets to deliver in this reprisal of the hit British TV series, which aired in Britain from 2010 to 2015. It’s 1927, and what begins as a simple story of King George […]
‘P se P, F se F’ refers to Article 15 of our Constitution, which enshrine clauses pertaining to ‘discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste and sex’, much as the recent ‘Section 375’ which referred to IPC’s section on sexual assault. ‘Based on continuing true stories’, is what we are informed. Sooraj Mali (debutant Bhavesh […]
Sifting through 500 hours of archival footage – most of it not seen before – Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia, has constructed a lively and obsessive documentary about the world’s best-known footballer of the 80s. The film begins when SSC Napoli, a little-known football club in Italy, welcomes their newest recruit, 23-year-old Maradona on 5 July, […]
“For my whole life, I didn’t know if I even really existed,” – the reader would be forgiven if even a glimmer of likeness was to be found with similarly titled films! Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a part-time clown, part-time stand-up comedian, with minimal success in the latter vocation, but who’s grown up idolising […]