Cinema
Different colours of Holi on silver screen
March 26, 2021
From the symbol of ecstatic celebration in films like Sholay and Baghban to acting as a background for crime scenes like Damini, and for budding relationships like Ye Jawani Hai Deewani, the festival of colours has been aptly used as a plot device in Bollywood classic movies. Hol...
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From Anubhav of Bazaar to Silsila of Zindagi: Saga...
March 25, 2021
Born in the scenic town of Baffa near Abbottabad, now in Pakistan, in1933, Sarhadi had always been passionate about cinema. Post-independence, like million others living in the North West Frontier Province of undivided India, he too was forced to abandon his childhood home in Baf...
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Thirike: Representing Down syndrome on and off scr...
March 21, 2021
For several minutes, the camera does not show the other child’s face. There are two children who are the subject of discussion – two little boys just orphaned after the death of their parents. The younger of them – four or five years old, looks worried, anxious, ev...
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Small budget & lesser-known stories: India’...
March 11, 2021
After being delayed for months because of the ongoing pandemic, the Oscar nominations will finally be announced on Monday at the crack of dawn in Los Angeles. Actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas and singer, songwriter and actor Nick Jonas will announce the 93rd Oscars nomination...
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Prize unwise: Bollywood award shows
March 4, 2021
After a gap of over a year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bollywood award season has begun again. Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, considered one of the most prestigious awards in Indian cinema, concluded on February 26 and Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Akshay Kumar bagg...
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Low budgets & no imagination: Lifeless Indian...
February 25, 2021
Much of the painstakingly detailed animation for the global-hit Disney film The Jungle Book (2016) was done in the Bengaluru offices of the Soho-headquartered Moving Picture Company. The film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 2017. A lot of the advanced computer graphics...
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Dubbing artists: Forgotten voices of Indian cinema
February 17, 2021
“Anthena? Inkem kavali? Veelaithe nalugu maatalu. Kudirithe cup coffee?” (in Tamil) means “That’s it? What else do you want? A small chat if possible? A cup of coffee if feasible?” This dialogue from Telugu film Bommarillu, director Bhaskar’s 2006 blockbuster, was an...
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Writing with Fire: Dalit women’s fearless fight ...
February 11, 2021
Amid internet shutdown at the National Capital’s borders, where farmers are protesting against the farm bills, and concerns over freedom of speech, a documentary film by a Delhi-based duo on grassroots journalism has won two awards at the just-concluded prestigious Sundance Fil...
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Sense & sensibilities in Bollywood’s poster...
February 4, 2021
Like the Indian cinema, its film posters have also gone through a radical transformation linked to new technology and the proliferation of visual culture in the 21st century. In India, like in most parts of the world, film posters have historically been integral to the distributi...
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Films of tribal, by tribal & for all: Seral M...
January 28, 2021
Once a shepherd went to graze his cattle in the forest. The shepherd found that a Sal tree had fallen. He uprooted the tree and found some colourful stones beneath in the soil, which he carried back to his home. At night villagers heard the roar of a tiger. Worried, they wondered...
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