I could feel my heart thumping and beads of perspiration sliding down my forehead as I took a deep breath and stepped onto the metallic rail that slithered into the night. My body stiffened as I saw a beam of light emerging from the tunnel. “This is it,” I thought as I squeezed my eyes […]
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Month: April 2015
Alive
It had been just a few days since she got the news of her incurable illness from her physician. It had taken a while for the seriousness of the matter to sink in and finally she had managed to ask, “How much time do I have?” The doctor, after a few moments of deep thought […]
Contentment
Radhika was spoilt for choice when it came to clothes, accessories and almost everything else she wanted. She was the pampered wife of a millionaire who went on endless business trips around the globe in search of better deals and more money. They owned a lot wealth and led a lavish life; an outsider could […]
Kalki: Margarita With A Straw Opened My Eyes
Director and writer Shonali Bose after the painfully direct Amu (2005), a film that revisited the 1984 Sikh riots, is back with another story that is close to her heart. Margarita With A Straw draws from a personal tragedy and also the life of a close relative who suffers from Cerebral Palsy ( A […]
From The Diary Of An Anxious Soul
Here are a few pages from the diary of an anxious soul. Though she prefers anonymity, the thoughts she pens down resonates with many of us. Over to her: As I sit on my desk without any work at the moment, I fear that is it because they don’t want to keep me here. I […]
Atul Mongia: Preparing The Actors
He is the casting director of films like Lootera, Shanghai, Shor in the City, LSD and more. And also the man who has created extensive workshops for the cast of NH10, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Daawat-E-Ishq, Queen, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and counting. In an industry largely driven by stars, he is a technician who […]
His Art Is His Message
If adversity challenges us to be stronger than our pain, Eby N Joseph has been there and done that. Many times over. The Kerala based artist was diagnosed with cancer and has not just survived the disease but is now helping other survivors with the one gift he has always relied on to climb out […]
Waheeda Rehman: ‘Don’t struggle Against The Inevitable’
In the mid 90s, Waheeda Rehman was negotiating a cusp in her life. After spending a few blissful decades in Bengaluru with husband Kanwaljit (with whom she had starred in the 1964 film Shagoon) in a sprawling hacienda called ‘Gharonda,’ raising two children, initiating an organic cereal brand with friend and neighbour Asharfa Sattar, she was […]
Sudip Sharma: NH10 Addresses Caste Politics
Cinema in the hands of Sohrab Modi, K Asif, Mehboob Khan, Kamal Amrohi and Salim Javed was pure verbosity and dialogue driven bravado. Gulzar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Rahi Masoom Reza, Sai Paranjpay, Manu Bhandhari and Basu Chatterjee made cinema less confrontational and more conversational. Now cinema is driven by images and emotion that is […]
In The Shadow Of Giants
Early one Thursday morning in the middle of February I rose early to pack up for our big road trip. We set the destination on our GPS for Salem, the capital of Oregon. As we hit the highway, the sun was shining merrily. We ate breakfast in the car as we sped south to the border […]
Inside Out
Sheila craned her neck through the bars of the window. She first looked to her left until she could see the engine 12 wagons away as the train snaked a corner. Then she turned right quickly to catch the guard’s room at the very end 14 bogies down. She just couldn’t wait to get off at the […]
The Asparagus Man
In the heart of Kinnaur in Himachal where tourists on their way to the desolate yet beautiful valley of Lahaul and Spiti, often stop by for a breather or some stretch-the-legs treks; there lives an old man. With a finely lined face, a green Kinnauri topi on his head and a Zen like peace surrounding his persona, 69year-old […]