Ridley Scott’s Napoleon – A Review
Ridley Scott’s latest Napoleonic-era endeavor is based on the life of arguably the world’s most-studied King, Napoleon Bonaparte. Of course, it is titled “Napoleon”; as many autobiographies do but it’s…
Film Review
The Killer (2023) review
David Fincher’s The Killer was one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. The favourable reviews from film festival screenings only added to the anticipation, and expectations around the film…
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) review
Martin Scorsese’s latest film Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the Osage Indian murders - a series of brutal killings of the Native American Osage people by white…
A Match (Sthal) That Makes a Difference
The shock that ended with the movie, A Match (Sthal) eventually brought in the coveted NETPAC award at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) which concluded on Sep 17,…
In Jawan, Shah Rukh Khan makes us an offer we can refuse
Cast of Jawan Shah Rukh Khan: Hindi-speaking North Indian Rajput army-man Vikram Rathore and his son, the ‘casteless’ policeman Azad Nayanthara: Hindi-speaking upper caste (Bhumihar, Brahmin or probably Rajput given…
Three Indian Movies win TIFF 2023 Awards
As the breeze of September ushers in the season of change, Toronto City's 'festival of festivals' in the form of the international film festival came to a close yesterday. In…
Toronto International Film Festival Starts on 7th
There's a whiff of winter wind all over Canada. And it's the time the school year begins. The most sought-after summer starts moving into the rearview mirror of the year.…
Oppenheimer film reviews did not notice its injustice to victims of the bombing and the test
Shamefully much of the writing on the film Oppenheimer fails to grasp the film’s blatant failure to show the suffering of the people in Japan or of those living on…
Oppenheimer (2023) review: A transcendental cinematic experience
Wars change the course of human history - not only the present and the future, but also the past. The consequences of the two major world wars of the twentieth…
Barbie Pathologies: It’s All About a Doll
As the ancient Greeks reminded us, bone cold definitions as starting points are essential in any discussion. One current discussion, insignificant to posterity but amusing for advertisers and the presently…
An Oppenheimer Review Through the Lens of an Anti-War Activist
The ground-breaking movie Oppenheimer, despite its unsympathetic protagonist, packs a powerful anti-nuclear punch that makes it hard, if not impossible, to sleep after watching the film. For this reason alone,…
Barbie (2023): Ken, Men and Patriarchy
Every film has a target audience. Even the films that are “for everyone” are produced with a primary audience in mind. It can be said that the primary target audience…
Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ to Premiere at TIFF 2023
New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi's latest comedy 'Next Goal Wins' is the first film selected for this year's Toronto International Film Festival. For the first time, the organizers have announced…
#Shout is scathing indictment on patriarchy and misogyny
“I don’t think rape is about sex. It is about violence and the need for power… “We talk of sexual violence. We don’t talk enough about patriarchy. We don’t talk…
Why we think that the ‘problems’ in Adipurush are deliberate choices
The past few months have been a topsy turvy ride for the Hindi cinema with several films falling like nine pins and at the same time few films taking everyone…
Naseem 1995 in India 2023
PM Modi said in a press conference that the religious minorities in India do not face any discrimination and that India’s democracy remains faultless during his infamous visit to the…
EO: Three Hooves up in High Heaven
Films featuring animals as screen filled protagonists, often in an imperfect, callous human world, have been made before. There was Robert Bresson’s 1966 Au Hasard Balthazar, which introduced audiences to…
An asteroid named Aribam Syam Sharma
There is a very famous story which I had repeated recently at the North East film festival conducted…
A Film A Day Won’t Keep the Doctor Away
Attending a documentary film pitching forum in 2014, I found myself being criticised not only for the film I had made, but for the level of privilege I was assumed…
Ennu Swantham Sreedharan – A Moving Tale of Examples that Go Over Precepts
Ennu Swantham Sreedharan (With Love, Sreedharan), a movie directed by Siddik Paravoor, is a true depiction of a real-life story of a family in Nilambur, Northern Kerala. It's a must-watch…
Why success of the movie ‘Pathan’ matters?
Recently the movie 'Pathan' was in the news primarily for two reasons. One was around being its supposed anti-Hindu content for usage of saffron colour in a song scene and…
Seeing Like the State: Eyes Right
Tanaav, a series, that released on an online platform, last month, tells a tale of human conflict. It is the tale within the tale that is worrying. Last month India’s…
Doctorhood, Mosquitos and the Adivasis: How DAMaN obfuscates the politics of public health in Odisha
When there seems to be a growing recognition of regional cine industries in recent years, the fanfare around Odia film DAMaN probably marks Ollywood’s resurgence with a strong populist overtone.…
‘Our Home’- A call to preserve community-based society
Romi Meitei has made 40 feature films and short films. His well-known movie Eikhogi Yum( Our Home ) was screened in the international competition section of the 27th International Film…
40th anniversary of ‘Gandhi’ movie by Richard Attenborough
This movie produced by Richard Attenborough which was released 40 years ago on November 30th, 1982, was classic in it's own right. Ironical that it took an Englishman to embark…
Kantara: a triumph for Indigenous Knowledge System
“And then both of them disappeared?!” - the kid asked his father with utter amazement. The father didn’t reply, only a strange smile spread across his face. The movie ended.…
Dali Land, another movie with Kingsley’s travelling talent
Be it the protagonist in 'Gandhi' or Darwan Singh, the instructor in 'Learning to Drive' or Itzhak Stern, the Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor in 'Schindler's List', Ben Kingsley is a different…
Kantara: Film around Human-Nature conflict
In the human and nature conflict debate, conservationists argue for expansion of wilderness and wildlife and those advocating tribal rights advocate for increasing access of tribal rights over land, water…
Review: The King of Laughter
The Italian film festival which has opened in various cities of India from October 12, 2022, has brought with it a slew of interesting works by Italian directors which include…
Neo-Realist Films on the Lingering Impact of War Devastation
Charlie Chaplin called this the most beautiful Italian film he had ever seen, but then this is also an extremely tragic film. Based on the life of a family in…
PBS Spurious Narrative of America and the Holocaust
Introduction to a Spurious Narrative Excessive attention to the 80 year old World War II Holocaust prompts questions: “Why have constant reminders of the World War II Holocaust failed to…
A Peep into the spirit of China
Review of Ascension (2021) directed by Jessica Kingdon. Firstly, the prospect of an American documentary about China arouses too much speculation; additionally, it draws one's interest to know how…
Truth to the Powerless: Newly Released Critical Docuseries on Canada’s Foreign Policy
Truth to the Powerless: An Investigation into Canada’s Foreign Policy is a six-part docuseries which takes a critical look at the role Canada’s foreign policy plays in the international arena.…
Two Indian Documentaries Find Place in TIFF 2022- Winners List
When the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF2022) winds up its 47th season on Sep 18, Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical creation, 'The Fabelmans' has bagged the prestigious People's Choice Award. Sunday morning has witnessed…
TIFF 2022 : An Exciting Lineup of Worldwide Features
When the Toronto International Film Festival 2022 stands just around the corner, the preparations for the fun and excitement are well underway. King Street West, which is known as the…
Love, Hope and Domestic Violence: Revisiting the Netflix movie ‘Darlings’
The movie ‘Darlings’ has recently received a lot of backlash and its storyline has been critiqued as a “pseudo-feminist” revenge of domestic violence. It has also been called vengeful and…
Kaleidoscopic Images of a Culture
Joshy Joseph’s “Laparoscopic Cinemascapes” featuring the veteran Aribam Syam Sharma – now in his 80’s – is actually a kind of a full encounter with the rich and complex dimensions…
A ‘holy’ conspiracy? Not quite
Saibal Mitra’s film A Holy Conspiracy is a definitive document of some of the important ideas competing for India’s soul today. In a little town called Hillolganj, the science…
Opposition to Laal Singh Chaddha is because its story doesn’t fit into BJP’s divisive agenda
The latest Bollywood film brings a breeze of fresh air at a time when India faces a growing threat of Hindu extremism, under which space for pluralism and diversity is…
Documenting a Story of Change
The end credits to the Slumdog Children of Mumbai, a 2010 documentary made by Nick Read roll on my screen at 3:00 am. Yes, I am guilty of watching documentaries…
Anamika Haksar’s Experimental Film
Few people have such a privileged and unique background as Anamika Haksar whose experimental film Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Ja Riyan Hoon was released in a few cities in small…
Some glimpses of old Bollywood in Kashmir
Usually, the Kashmiris think & believe that “Mainz Raat”/Mehndi Raat ( in Kashmiri, 1964) was the first movie produced by Hindi Cinema on Kashmir & that it was followed in…
Black American cinema vis-a-vis Dalit Indian cinema
If being ghettoised within the mainstream and slotted in the category of “outcasts” in society, then Blacks in America and Dalits in India perhaps face the same kind of discrimination…
Manipur Mindscapes: A film by Joshy Joseph
https://youtu.be/yh3hYCgJxpg The Films Division under the Government of India’s Ministry of I&B has a certain genealogy that has been in a constant search of cinematographic forms that would make the…
Divisive Politics: Alarming Scenario – Film Kashmir Files’ Negative Role
The incidents from Ram Navami to Hanuman Jayanti have more than shaken the nation. The ‘bulldozer of Hate’ demolished not only several households but also our Constitutional values. Backing up…
Jhund: Nagraj Manjule’s engrossing drama
Cesare Zavattini, a screenwriter, film theorist and proponent of Italian Neorealism, writes cinema should penetrate more and more into the manifestations and essence of reality. Nagraj Manjule's Bollywood debut film…
The Kashmir Files is nothing but an attempt to silence voices of dissent
The recent Indian movie on the conflict zone of Kashmir can be best described as a propaganda tool of apologists for the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP government in New…
Why RRR is not a Hindutva propagating film
The recently released movie ‘RRR’ is being received well across the country. The movie is based on two revolutionary tribal leaders namely Alluri Sitaramaraju and Komaram Bheem. While both lived…
“Kashmir Files”-Half Truths and falsehoods galore
Major weapon of sectarian nationalism is to spread misconceptions and create hate against the religious minorities. This process which has been going on since long has now got a new…
‘Kashmir Files’ is a Manifestation of Hindutva Fascism
We should expose how 'Kashmir Files' movie is an advertisement of the Hindutva propaganda machine to tarnish the image of Muslims of Kashmir, give a crushing blow to all credibility…
Appropriate Portrayal of Youth on the Margins through Sports and Uproar – Unheard Expressions
by Rishikesh Nagdawane, Kanad Jambhulkar and Vicky Nandgaye The film is inspired by the former sports teacher Vijay Barse from Hislop College. It is a socio-pic (see Mangesh Dahiwale's wall[1])…
Love & Shukla – Through a Gender Lens
The setting - A 12 by 12 all-purpose one-room rundown chawl in a crowded suburb of Central Mumbai. The residents – An auto rickshaw driver, Manu Shukla, and his parents.…
Jhund: An upper-caste movie review
ONE I was shown Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s Fandry for my course in media and cultural studies at TISS and then I went and watched Sairat with my friends in a…
Tired Propaganda Bandied as History
Review of Munich: the Edge of War|Netflix, 2022 When I first saw an advertisement for Munich: The Edge of War appear on my Netflix search screen, my blood pressure rose…
Film on Godse’s Killing of Gandhi: Falsehoods Galore
The film has “Why I killed Gandhi” was recently released. It is an attempt to glorify Nathuram Godse the killer of Mahatma Gandhi. One of its clip, the one related…
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass by Oliver Stone
A Film Review Two of the greatest speeches ever delivered by an American president bookend this extraordinary documentary film. It opens with President John F. Kennedy giving the commencement speech at…
The Battle at Lake Changjin: An Anti-war War Film
For decades, Hollywood has produced a plethora of films extolling American military prowess in warfare. Aside from Oliver Stone films and a few others, e.g., Casualties of War, usually these…
How A Boy Called Christmas converted me to the politics of greed
This was the Christmas my young daughter finally cornered me into admitting that Father Christmas doesn’t exist. I felt a small pang of regret that she had taken another step…
A Marxist Analysis and Critique of “Don’t Look Up”
Capitalism is a form of life riddled with social antagonisms. Every Marxist knows this well. Most have been using the effects these antagonisms produce to predict the fall of capitalism…
Jai Bhim- A review
In recent years, the Tamil cinema has seen a flurry of films mainstreaming Dalit narratives that bare the underbelly of a regressive caste driven society. As Dr. Biju, the Malayalam director…
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