The wonder years of Basu Chatterjee

The wonder years of Basu Chatterjee

In 1979, Basu Chatterjee made Baaton Baaton Mein and unobtrusively brought to us the dating and courtship rituals of a community that was till then either caricatured or just overlooked in Hindi cinema. Nancy Perreira and Tony Braganza were regular young people, seeking love and financial independence in a busy metro. They fleetingly locked eyes […]

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A story of matriarchal manipulation

A story of matriarchal manipulation

Matriarchal manipulation in a patriarchal world is depicted unsparingly in Usha Priyamwada’s Pachpan Khambe Laal Deewarein (Now playing on Prasar Bharti). The mother resentful of her lecturer daughter’s comfortable life in her college residence because the younger daughters are still unmarried. The mother also preying on the male interest in her life to figure if […]

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The pyramid of abuse

The pyramid of abuse

Three documentaries streaming right now show the ultimate culmination of the Bois Locker Room culture. And what happens when one gender is taught to mistrust its instincts of self-preservation and the other does not even learn something as basic is impulse control. At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal (Hotstar) is a […]

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The netherworld we live in

The netherworld we live in

In Sudip Sharma’s Paatal Lok (Now streaming on Amazon. Co written by Sharma, Sagar Haveli, Hardik Mehta and Gunjit Chopra. Directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy), India’s disowned inhabit the headlines we turn away from. A young boy travelling in a train, lynched over ‘suspicious’ looking meat chunks in his lunch box. A lower […]

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The binaries that did not exist

The binaries that did not exist

So Ajay Devgan will now be shaving his head to play Chanakya. And the original Chanakya, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi recently said that when he first pitched the show to DD sometime in the mid-1980s, it was rejected. He also was at pains to add that this baffled him as historical shows like Tipu Sultan were […]

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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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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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