Netflix
Poor sense of humour behind India’s failure to produce sitcoms
February 3, 2022
In 1993, whole family from grandchildren to grandparents, the three generations under one roof, all gathered in front of a small television just to spend 20 minutes to enjoy the show Dekh Bhai Dekh and drown their sorrows and pain by laughing at the jokes and satirical scenes set...
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Back to the big screen: Regional films pick up speed abroad
November 14, 2021
The lockdowns imposed to counter the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the film industry in countries across the world and in India. With big blockbusters being continuously postponed, film festivals being cancelled or moving online, shootings halted and hundreds of t...
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From classical to contemporary: Leading modern Bengali film directors
September 18, 2021
Bengali films perhaps first made a mark globally when Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) became critically acclaimed and won several awards, both local and international, including the prestigious Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The feat inspired ...
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Stand-up comedians get digital boost in India
August 21, 2021
Comedians have for long been popular in Indian film and television industry, with a mass appeal for comedy on the silver screen as well as the idiot box. Besides the stalwart comedians of the films, such as Johnny Walker or Mehmood or Kader Khan, there have also been numerous com...
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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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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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Web series that rose to unscaled heights in 2020
December 31, 2020
While everyone was locked inside homes and the theatres shut, OTT dominated the screens this year. The entertainment industry churned out brilliant web-series with intricately woven and multi-layered plots that hooked the audience for the entire lockdown. The dramatic hooks and e...
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5 Indian diaspora actors that ruled 2020
December 31, 2020
This year, two Indian actors starred in shows that were trending on Twitter within hours of their release on Netflix. Tamil-Canadian newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who plays the lead in Mindy Kaling’s new show Never Have I Ever and London-born actor Rahul Kohli, with his hor...
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Binge watching on rise in India: DAN report
September 20, 2020
India’s on demand digital streaming industry surpassed the national film industry in terms of both viewership and growth. With entertainment gone online coupled with a surge in online gamers, the pandemic has proven to be a fillip to the sector with consumers confined to their ...
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Censorship of OTT platforms in India likely
August 5, 2020
Over four years after they made their debut and at a time when they have become the default mode of cinema releases, OTT platforms in India come under scrutiny amidst calls for censorship.
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A long road to recovery for Indian film industry
May 20, 2020
In an interview with Media India Group, Ravi Kottarakara, general secretary, Film Federation of India (FFI) and South India Film Chamber of Commerce (SIFCC), shares on how the lockdown has impacted the Indian film industry and why is it not possible to restart the shootings anyti...
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OTT platforms to Bollywood’s rescue
May 14, 2020
Though there is fierce competition between traditional cinema or the silver screen and the Over The Top (OTT) platforms, the newest kid in the entertainment industry, the coronavirus lockdown has brought the two rivals to cooperate as many large films that have been ready for rel...
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