”They said, for the sake of the country… But the country isn’t the earth beneath our feet, it is the people. Have any of you ever spared them a glance? Oppression for the sake of the country is oppression of the country. But you won’t understand. Travel as far on the road as you can […]
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Author: Reema Moudgil
Of Black Sheep Who Won’t Line Up For Slaughter
Sometime back, Aamir Khan was reviled because his wife was disturbed by what she read in the newspapers and for the sake of their son, wondered if they should settle in another country. Khan said loud and clear that it shocked and devastated him that his wife could feel that level of fear. In the […]
Fitoor: Where Passion Is A Hair Colour
Dancer Amy Yakima and choreographer Travis Wall danced breathtakingly to a song called Wicked Game (performed by James Vincent McMorrow and written by Chris Isaak) in one unforgettable season of So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) and the highlight of the performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ0QrJaPFcQ) was a gravity defying leap where Amy just flew into Travis’ arms while […]
Of Hum Dono and Love Beyond Deconstruction
Recently, I sat down with a cup of lemon tea and watched The Lunchbox and Piku in one long stretch. To reassure myself that the world was still made up of serendipitous conversations tucked in fleeting moments when strangers connect and make soul contact. Sometimes via little notes that talk of the smell of spent […]
What Sunny Leone Taught Us About Dignity
Watching Bhupendra Chaubey’s contempt for Sunny Leone (He did not even care to pronounce her name correctly) in a brutal interview on CNN IBN reminded me of an episode many years ago when my son was about six or seven and as a working mother, I had taken him to a media event I was […]
David Bowie: ‘Look Up Here, I’m In Heaven’
My first introduction to the unrepeatable David Bowie was Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. A disturbing, cathartic, strangely uplifting film about war that was made in 1983 by Nagisa Oshima. Bowie played Major Jack Celliers, a mind bending war prisoner who is so free, nothing can break him. Not violence. Not torture. Not perverse mind games. […]
2015: Unboxed Interviews
From Aatish Taseer to George Calombaris to late Charles Correa, we had the privilege of initiating some of the best conversations of 2015 with purveyors of change in cinema, theatre, food, music, urban planning and so many different walks of life. Here are a few interviews we enjoyed doing this year. Cinema Rajat Kapoor: A Sudden Shower It is the […]
Sadhana: Effortless Magic
You saw her first as Sonia. Clad in no-nonsense rolled up trousers, a tucked in shirt with hair pulled back in a stern pony tail and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. She lingered over a book in the lawn of a sprawling Simla bungalow, looking on wistfully as life passed her by. […]
Sanjay Suri: Enduring Courage
Actor and producer Sanjay Suri is a quiet, enduring presence in an industry that thrives on noise. As the producer on the cusp of the release of his new projects including the internationally acclaimed Chauranga, he looks back at the years when he was still discovering what it means to be a part of the […]
Vicky Kaushal : The Year Of Miracles
Vicky Kaushal in Masaan was unflinching and brave without any of the manufactured bravado we associate with a Hindi film debut. He was just part of a narrative, a face in a rich and teeming ensemble cast but then you started to notice a shy smile, a gaze that lingered when he sparred over the spice […]
Shweta Tripathi: Warrior Of Good Cheer
Soon after the completion of this year’s sleeper hit Masaan, actor Richa Chaddha told Vicky Kaushal and Shweta Tripathi, “Say bye bye to anonymity.” Prophetic words in retrospect and Shweta relearns their truth everytime she wants to retreat to anonymity. She smiles, “This is an industry where appearance matters and there is no denying that. It’s […]
Bajirao Mastani : Of Mirrors, Swords And Fearless Passion
That scene in K Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam? Where Nigar Sultana stealthily puts on the bejewelled crown of the future queen of Hindustan? Well, you know exactly what was on Bhansali’s mind when Priyanka Chopra tries on her Peshwa’s warrior helmet to preen before a mirror. Like Nigar Sultana’s Bahaar, Priyanka’s Kashi Bai in Bajirao Mastani […]