Cinema
OTTs bring women to the front of mainstream cinema
June 28, 2021
While Bollywood has released a few woman-centric hit movies such as English Vinglish(2012), Queen (2013), and Mary Kom (2014), they have been exceptions and very few at that as the Indian cinema for long has been only male-centric. But within a few years, woman-centric content ha...
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The career trajectories of child stars in Bollywoo...
June 18, 2021
While decades ago, child actors were often seen as accessories or cute stand-ins for the bigger stars, with audience attitudes and a shift towards an interest in more realistic content, child actors are becoming invaluable assets to the film industry. A recent example is 9-year-o...
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Adressing Bollywood’s obsession with ‘Brownfac...
June 7, 2021
The controversy over an advertisement of skin whitening cream ‘Fair & Lovely’ last year reignited the debate over colour preference that has dogged the Indian society for decades, if not centuries. As the society has chased the idea that beauty is indeed skin deep, the co...
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Revisiting the parallel Indian cinema
May 27, 2021
In the era of 1970s and 80s, Bollywood produced films like Sholay (1975), Qayamat se Qayamat Tak (1988), Karz (1980) and many others that gave audiences angry young men, glamorous dance sequences, a series of over the top love stories and the ‘larger than life’ cinematic univ...
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Queer coding in Hindi cinema
May 25, 2021
For years when queerness could not be spelt out on screens, filmmakers used clichéd characteristics to express the sexuality of a character to send a message to those in the know in the audience without divulging, which has come to be known as queer coding. Queer coded character...
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Four Kannada films vie for glory at New York India...
May 24, 2021
In a first, four Kannada films (three features and one short) will be screened at the New York Indian Film Festival next month. Pinki Elli (2020), Neeli Hakki (2020), Koli Taal (2021) and Pinni (2020) are among movies chosen for the festival. The annual New York Indian Film Festi...
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Extraordinary journey of Nawazuddin Siddiqui
May 19, 2021
On Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s 47th birth anniversary, let us have look at the extraordinary journey of the actor who is now a household name and is widely popular for his twisted, dark and comic roles. After years of struggle and several careers, Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his d...
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Breaking the fourth wall in Bollywood
May 16, 2021
Vikram Sabharwal slaps his wife Amrita at a party, owing to professional stress. Amrita is as shocked as the audience watching the film. She suddenly turns towards the screen and asks the audience whether they are waiting to watch the rest. She then says that slapping is not “...
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Towards gender parity in Malayalee cinema
May 7, 2021
Close on the heels of Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao becoming the first woman of colour to win an Oscar for best director, thousands of km away, in Kerala, two women filmmakers are set to make their own history, as agents of change in the male-dominated Malayalee cinema industry. ...
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World Laughter Day: Where did the political satire...
May 2, 2021
“Thankfully it came and went decades ago. I think it would not have released in the first place if it were to come today. I am also sure that people would have attacked the directors, abused the actors and for the female characters, it would have been way worse. Perhaps, that w...
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