I’ve seen The Raid (*) twice now. It’s the best action film I’ve seen in years and years. I tried to write a conventional review for The Raid. I really did. But, after staring at a blank screen for more minutes than I’d like to admit, I realized that trying something different for this particular piece would be better. So, here we are. In five points, I’m going to tell you why it would be a really bad idea to...

It’s nearly a year since The Artist first screened to audiences. And it’s nearly a year now people have been calling it a love letter to just about everything under the Sun. While I completely understand if someone likes the film, the reasons they give for liking the film often leave me nonplussed. I saw the film for the first (and only) time in October, and this has been bothering me since then. It has been said that The Artist...

This is not a review of the new Marvel superhero film, Thor. This article is not about the charismatic performances Chris Hemsworth & Tom Hiddleton give in the movie. It’s not about how generic & predictable the film’s plot is. It’s not about the clunky allusions to the upcoming superhero teamup, The Avengers (or Marvel’s The Avengers – its official, even clunkier title). I am clarifying all this before...

Here’s an assignment for you: Ask anyone what’s the first thing that comes to mind on hearing “Bollywood”. 9 times out of 10, the answer will be “the colourful song-and-dance numbers.” Songs are usually the identifying characteristic of our films. And, on a certain level, the practice makes sense. There’s a reason why almost all Bollywood films are musicals. The same reason is why most of our films were 3 hours long and why...

It’s a topic that has elicited giggles, nodding heads and raised eyebrows in equal measure… because let’s face it: Sex is a pretty integral part of dreams, right? And, if a movie were to deal with the concept of dreams (and dreams within dreams, and dreams within dreams withi – you get the drift), then it wouldn’t be incredulous to assume that sex would play a prominent role, right? Which is why I can understand where...

By many metrics, the Indian sub-continent in the 1940s was a terrible place to be in. Communal tensions were at an all-time high and violence was commonplace on a scale that’s hard to imagine. Life was difficult, to put it mildly. Yet, acts of bravery took place at every turn, ordinary people stepped up and performed tasks worthy of heroes… so on, so forth. It was a time which offered hope amid despair, smiles amid tears – if you...