Life affirming stories

Life affirming stories

Looking for life affirming movies to watch? Here are a few. Ali (On Netflix), directed by Michael Mann is long and meandering but it has important things to say about race, power and how one man with the intention to not comply can challenge the majoritarian narrative about patriotism. Especially when the notion of patriotism […]

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Remembering Satish Gujral

Remembering Satish Gujral

*A tribute to artist Satish Gujral who passed away on March 27 Much before I started writing about art and architecture, I read about Satish Gujral. And as a teenager, craned my neck from the window of a taxi to catch a glimpse of the glorious Belgian embassy he had designed in Delhi. Something about […]

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The end of the anti-establishment rebel?

The end of the anti-establishment rebel?

When an actor who built his career playing the poster boy of anti-establishment resistance tweets fake news about how “bacterial energies” during amavas can be dissipated by clapping and shankh naad, you realise once again that opportunistic artists always sell what is in demand. They know the season of discontent and dissent is over and […]

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Looking back at Ghayal

Looking back at Ghayal

Ghayal was the mainstream version of protest cinema in 1990. This was a time when we looked not at each other to find fault but at flawed governance. A time when it was heroic to stand up to authority and brutal policing, to the nexus between judiciary, police, politics and big money, to fight for […]

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Plagiarised feminism

Plagiarised feminism

“Kajol stuns in a royal blue wrap dress as she posts a boomerang of herself swirling and pouting.” This is a Republic World report about the success party of a film about rape. Other media outlets are busy telling us who came to celebrate this film that has also been accused of plagiarism by Abhishek […]

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The reinvention of Akshay Kumar

The  reinvention of Akshay Kumar

*This piece was written on March 3 The shift towards a more lucrative ideological stand began with Baby for Akshay Kumar. Or perhaps the seeds of opportunism were always there. After all, here is a hero who went from a rebellious lover boy in his debut film Saugandh to a super human khiladi to an […]

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Lisa Ray: A memoir of hope

Lisa Ray: A memoir of hope

Lisa Ray’s memoir Close to the Bone reads like a sumptuous literary work. It is an important story about isolation rooted in the lack of self worth, about the journey into the heart of darkness, death, bruising relationships and recovery. She is unfailingly kind to the people she writes about and brutally honest about her […]

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The need to demystify male violence

The need to demystify male violence

Films made on women acting out their anger don’t do as well as men losing it spectacularly. The recent critical and commercial success of Joker proves once again that empathy is a mercurial element and reacts differently to stories of men and women. Female victims of extreme violence are seldom as well-known as their killers […]

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How did we get here?

How did we get here?

*This piece was written on February 16, 2020 The latest footage of policemen in combat gear storming the Jamia Millia Islamia library on December 15, 2019 sums up the nature of the beast. This domesticated beast is India’s law and order machinery and is unleashed strategically by the powerful to settle scores and by and […]

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