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…
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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…
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“Start with hope..always start with hope. We went from being a shitty team to become one of the biggest dynasties in the sport and all it needed was one match to light this fire,” says Michael Jordan at…
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In 1947, my grandparents brought three children and the remains of an uprooted life from Pakistan to India in a train. One of those children was my mother. I grew up hearing a lot of stories about the…
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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…
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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…
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And it is going to be a brand new year soon and therefore, here’s a new list of things for you to do. I ask you to do them because I have the authority to, having done them myself. Get past your boundaries. Real freedom lies one to-do list away. – Talk to a tree, […]
The equator it is, where I lie sprawled, stuffing myself with freshly plucked plums from the garden that lies in the other half of the planet. I must leave some for the days to come, The territory has been seized, we don’t have access to those trees anymore. The trees that we planted on Family […]
I quietly play the soulful music and talk to the silent chords, my heart plays. But there is a music in distress too, that just doesn’t die. Even when there is peace, I can see so many pieces within. Whether you come or not, my soulful symphony will go on. I can’t stop the dance, […]
I see a 15 or 16-year-old adolescent. I observe her facial features – droopy, flickering eyes, her body language – waving, abrupt gestures while laughing, legs in careless disarray while sitting, and her speech – impulsive and uncertain, at times ignorantly rude. I observe her clothing – undersized. Glaring pink and orange top paired with […]
What is freedom? Is it a state-of-mind? A physical, social or personal reality? A perception that can be manipulated? On Independence Day, I asked some of the writers and readers of Unboxed Writers what their idea of freedom was. For some it was an intensely personal state-of-being. For others, it was a hard-won right to […]
A few archival snatches from the morning of August 15, 1947 came with a national newspaper today. The sepia sheets spoke among other things, of cinema, riots, a Mahatma on fast, a toothpaste ad asking a very relevant question, “Are you afraid to kiss him?” Not much has changed, has it? If you discount the […]
Freedom is… Knowing we will all drown someday but being at peace with drowning before the next minute arrives Feeling the fear but looking it in the eye anyway Thinking you’ll never make it but taking that first step nonetheless Sensing that you’re way out of your depth but trusting the water and your body’s […]
I call myself a writer But do I have a right to? With words broken, thoughts unspoken, buried deep inside of me? And every word beaten back a thousand times.. then picks itself up; wounded, cursed and struggles to earn me a living… Every comma, ellipsis, verb, adjective sentenced to death, like me. My thoughts shackled to someone’s whim.. My pen screaming […]
Editor’s note: This piece was written by the author as a Facebook note in response to the manner in which young celebrities are speaking out to defend the freedom to drink. Actor Imran Khan, it was reported, intends to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the Maharashtra government’s decision to raise the legal age limit for alcohol consumption to 25 years. I was touched to see […]
Ever since I saw Raj Kapoor and Nargis in the song, Pyar Hua Ikraar Hua, my idea of monsoon romance was sealed; a single umbrella with me hanging onto a love that could have very well been my Siamese soul. But that was a long time ago. As time passed by, along with shedding all […]
How does one write about… Beauty and its many lovers, like an infatuation. Like a shrine, its devotees. Like an ancestral home that belongs to many, yet none. How does one write about… Snow, melting our senses as we gaze at her humility, her presence as ephemeral as laughter. Her impeccably white robe spreading like […]
Anirban Dhar or Onir, as we know him now, makes disconcerting films that disturb the equanimity with which Hindi cinema is watched. They ask questions not all of us are willing to face or answer. The abiding sense of isolation running through his work is not romantic or self-indulgent. It instead takes us into the heart and mind of an ostracised AIDS patient in My Brother Nikhil… This was a film that […]