Every now and then comes a film that makes one think that perhaps anyone can be a filmmaker and get away...more
Films dealing with newspapers or newspapermen are hardly anything new within the framework of popular American...more
To begin with, Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz can hardly be called a sports film, if one goes by the classic...more
Does anything that can be called a ‘Kolkata film’ exist, as a special sub-genre of Bengali films? It seems...more
Saibal Mitra’s Chitrokar begins with a disclaimer that it is not a biopic of either Benodebehari Mukhopadhyay or Mark Rothko...more
Amid an onslaught of competitions featuring mostly mediocre films or a largely overhyped selection of art house films from Europe...more
A chance meeting of a sales executive and a struggling filmmaker on a train journey becomes the starting point of...more
It is indeed like a rare alignment of celestial bodies when Takashi Miike releases his 100th film and it’s nothing short of a...more
Kadvi Hawa is a depiction of a dark and depressing reality in the backdrop of climate change and...more
The recently concluded Kolkata International Film Festival turned out to be the most obvious next step in the...more
Going beyond the value judgments of good, bad, exciting, offensive, etc., there are certain films which makes you wonder about...more
On the surface, Rakhee Sandilya’s debut film Ribbon comes across as a throwback to the ‘middle of the road’ cinema that...more
Rukh is the latest release from Drishyam Films who just recover form the halo of Oscar smeared Newton that released on 22nd September...more
এখনকার বাংলা সিনেমার নিরিখে যদি ভাবা যায়, অর্থাৎ বাংলা ভাষায় নির্মিত ছবি, তার যে দৃশ্যগত বা এমনকি আখ্যানগত দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি, মোস্তফা সরয়ার ফারুকী পরিচালিত ডুব ছবিটি...more
Let’s call a spade a spade. Ranchi Diaries directed by Sattwik Mohanty cannot really be called...more
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the...more
The challenge of writing about a film like Newton (Amit Masurkar, 2017) is the difficulty to evaluate all its nuances and multiple...more
Chalochitro Circus - abominable, repulsive, offensive, detestable, terrible, awful, vile, horrendous, dreadful…one runs out...more
Cockpit is one of the 7 glorious sisters among the Bengali films released this Puja. It is special for several reasons. First it is...more
There is a perverse crimson joy, almost sadomasochistic in proportion, in experiencing one’s worst expectations being fulfilled, bit by bit and...more
In a dramatic moment in Srijit Mukherjee’s Yeti Obhijaan, members of Kakababu’s expedition group including Santu are terrified and...more
Many will recall (perhaps with a little bit of help) the iconic moment from the 90s blockbuster Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge...more
সহজ পাঠের গপ্পো। এমনিতে ট্রেলার দেখে ভালোলেগে ছিল। গ্রাম বাংলার সাধারণ ছবি বাংলা ছবির ট্রেলারে সাধারণত দেখা যায় না। খুবই হুরুম ধুরুম করে আওয়াজ হয় আর ভিস্যুয়াল চচ্চড়ি...more
Cinematic adaptations of existing works of literature are always a tricky affair, although nothing new. In popular reception, especially if the...more
Imagine a cosy, private adda (gossip and chit chat) over drinks where everyone present belongs to the same line of work. Obviously, a number of...more
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz directed by Kushan Nandy from a screenplay by Ghalib Asad Bhopali is one of those instances where you have an... more
Every now and then one encounters a film which succeeds in making its mark due to its jaw dropping pretension and limitless stupidity lying...more
The main challenge regarding writing about a film like Arindam Sil’s Dhananjoy is that it is utterly forgettable. By the time one has walked out...more
In mainstream films as well as the popular imagination, the town of Gurgaon always comes across as a hinterland...more
As Meghnad Badh Rahasya draws to an end, one of the primary characters called Kunal Sen who is a filmmaker by profession, vows to adapt...more
Four women of different ages, living in Bhopal, go beyond the so-called social norms, in their struggle to establish their identities but fail to...more
At some point, around the turn of the millennium, the idea of popular cinema mutated into some kind of an immersive experience within a larger multimedia...more
Surely Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos has been one of the most enthusiastically received films in the recent times, especially among the urban, English educated...more
First-time feature film director Ravi Udyawar is actually no newbie. A gold medallist from J.J. College of Arts, Mumbai, he has worked as a commercial artist, illustrator...more
Marvel and DC have been the twin pillars of the American Comic Book Industry. At the turn of the millennium, Marvel successfully ventured into Hollywood and turned their...more
There is a scene in A Death in the Gunj where 23 year old Shutu (Vikrant Massey) holds a magnifying glass on an insect against a leaf, focusing...more
“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”, comes the ominous and whispered proclamation of hubris from David, the synthetic android created by...more
Move along Srijit Mukherjee. This time it’s confirmed. A new pair of directors have emerged as the champions of Bengali...more
In one of the early scenes in Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Tope, the eccentric hunter who is also the lord of the declining estate warns the filmmakers from the city...more
'Durga Sohay' is best enjoyed as an afternoon show with ice cream, cold drinks and generous helpings of cheese flavored popcorn. If you are Bengali, middle-aged, and...more
Noor is 28, fun, overweight (in her own eyes), lacks a boyfriend, is a journalist forced to do foolish stories instead of 'issue-based' ones, and she hates her life - AND we get...more
For the past couple of years, women centric films seem to have become quite the staple with Bollywood. Across a spectrum of genres including drama, action...more
Remake of a film is a familiar phenomenon which can have interesting ramifications in terms of creativity, technology and capital. Often times these are actually intertwined or at least...more
Kaushik Ganguly has won the National Award once again, this time for Best Bengali Film with his latest release 'Bishorjon'. Strategically dished out on the eve of the Bengali New Year...more
‘Mukti Bhawan’ is this week’s freshest surprise. Young director Shubhashish Bhutiani’s take on life and death is a pleasant break from the bandwagon...more
In a film that is otherwise thoroughly entertaining (and in a positive sense), ‘Naam Shabana’ does pose that one mystery...more
Well meaning but erroneous…that's what sums up Lion, the movie running to rave reviews across the globe. Two actors, Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, are already...more
There is a popular saying about the recently deceased New-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Cimino that he sold his soul to the Devil for The Deer Hunter...more
The first impression one gets while watching Aparnaa Singh’s Irada (meaning ‘Intention’) is that it’s a much neglected and sadly unwanted younger sibling of...more
Hindi Cinema traditionally had a great command over the melodramatic mode of address in films. Even if they didn’t always result in great films, it certainly left ...more
Shlok Sharma’s Haraamkhor possibly marks the worst film viewing experience in a theatre and that is no fault of the film! The extra cinematic aspects of moral policing and...more
There’s a predominant tendency noticeable in the student’s films during the early semesters of film and media schools. The young students who are freshly introduced to..more
Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal which has predictably become one of the most well-received and talked about films of the festive season is a curious case where everything being said about the film is true and not really truemore
In Andrew Robinson’s The Inner Eye, Satyajit Ray speaks about his apparent reluctance in taking over the responsibility of Chiriakhana and also his general misgivings about detective filmsmore
Making an attempt to review Sujoy Ghosh’s Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, it might be a more fruitful exercise and an interesting idea to draw attention to the film’s screenplay... more
Sequel of feature films has a long tradition of not meeting expectation. So, before watching Rock On 2, I promised to myself I would watch it as an independent filmmore
In his latest film Zulfiqar, director Srijit Mukherjee has travelled a considerable distance from his previous outing Rajkahini. From a brothel full of women in the middle more
Films have a life of their own, a conscience of their own. The role of a filmmaker shouldn’t be perceived as some kind of a Biblical Creator butmore
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Pink is perhaps the most relevant film, in terms of contemporary socio-political issues, to come out of mainstream Bollywood in recent times. more
Engaging with Anjan Dutt’s Hemanta might raise the question about whether a film adapted from an existing text should be read as a distinct individual text or solely as an adaptation.more
Bengali films continue on their dismaying path as Khawto, a psychological thriller directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee displays all the “hallmarks”more
Just like a decent rock song with a catchy intro riff, things start to work quite early in the game for Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0.more
Okay, so right off the bat; Is Udta Punjab worth all this hue and cry? The answer is NO. more
One of the first things to intrigue you about Ribhu Dasgupta’s Te3n is the title itself. An official remake of the South Korean thriller Montagemore
The best thing about Anu Menon’s Waiting is that the film has very limited aspirations. It neither claims nor carry any baggage of greatness per smore
Right from the first images of the trailer, Praktan by Nandita Roy and Shiboprasad Mukherjee came across as a mediocre film. The very idea more
Within the first few minutes of Kaushik Ganguly’s Cinemawala, there is a scene when the character played by Parambrata Chatterjee learns about hismore
With a film like Vivek Agnihotri’s Buddha in a Traffic Jam, it is really difficult to figure out where to begin. Made in 2014 and ...more
In the film, Nil Battey Sannata, there is a character called Mr Srivastava (Pankaj Tripathi) who is the principal of the school attended by the prmore
The latest film from Goutam Ghose is in news everywhere. One, it has bagged the national award in the Best Bengali Film category. Two it is anmore
In the very first scene of Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, there is a long take where a rickshaw comes to a halt in front of a house. The passenger climbsmore
Ram Madhvani’s Neerja is one of the most talked about and unanimously well-received Bollywood films in recent times. Although there have been amore
Adaptations in cinema have always been a tricky business. Dealing with a pressure to reach the audience expectation owing to the familiaritymore
Narration in cinema is largely about the timing, economy and hence the precision of revealing information. Irrespective of the narrative more
There is a scene in Aparna Sen’s Arshinagar where Julie, dressed in pristine white is resting on an indoor swing and humming a tune, lost more
Devdas onwards a few components have been a given in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's filmmaking spectrum. Particularly, that he will put a personal more
Arindam Sil’s Har Har Byomkesh is one of those films which even bring the bar of mediocrity to such a low that makes it next to impossible to more
X: Past is Present have been mistakenly described as an anthology film. The narrative actually deals with a filmmaker and his experiences with more
Srijit Mukherjee’s Rajkahini is tale of an elite brothel, which had seen better days to be evicted out in the wake of the India-Pakistan partitionmore
Right within the first few minutes of the film, Babar Naam Gandhiji manages to do something that contemporary Bengali Cinema inevitably fails tomore
Another day in the theatre… Another Bengali film… Another excruciating test of one’s patience and sensibility! With each passing day and with eachmore
Churni Ganguly’s award winning film Nirbashito has been received in the public domain as a film on Taslima Nasrin while the director has beenmore
Writing such detailed accounts of films is not entirely within my forte but I am making an exception this time for the sake of ‘Kaahon’.more
The godfather of new Indian cinema rings his own death bell through his biggest disaster in the recently released Bombay Velvet. Expectations weremore
Shoojit Sircar’s Piku is about a hypochondriac 70-year-old man (Amitabh Bachchan) and his 30 year old, no-nonsense, independent minded daughtermore
At present, the educated urban class of people affected by ‘folk foreign’ syndrome considers Mansamangal, Chandimangal, Bidyasundar or even more
Right from the announcement of the project to the first trailer and till the release of the film, Dibakar Banerjee’s ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy’ more
Beyond love and hate, resides fear, perhaps the strongest of all emotions. What makes it so strong is probably the fact that it acts as a counterpmore
The film Cosmic Sex obviously had lot of expectations to meet. First, of course is the name. It suggested lots of titillation and had lots more
What’s common between Karl Marx, first kiss, peto boma, rong borof, ‘half pant’ dating ‘frock’, Sonali Sibir, local candy floss, good looking nighmore
Given the oeuvre of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Ugly marks a significant shift in his style, especially as a follow up to his epic crime sagamore
But the fact remains that PK is Hirani's weakest and most flawed film. Yet, it succeeded. I think the reason lies in the message that it conveyed.more
Vishal Bhardwaj has a penchant for adopting Shakespearean plays and setting them against the Indian social milieu. He has already directed 'more
Homi Adjania, in his 3rd film Finding Fanny did try to couple Bollywood formula with offbeat imagination and quirkiness. But in spite of stayingmore
After a little more than two hours of callow wild goose chase in the seedy alleys and allegories of Kolkata, Dhaka, Bangkok, Pune and Mumbai; Bunomore
The title of the film “Shesh Boley Kichhu Nei” (loosely translated, it reads There’s nothing such as the end!) could have served more effective more
Every now and then comes a film that makes one think that perhaps anyone can be a filmmaker and get away... more
Films dealing with newspapers or newspapermen are hardly anything new within the framework of popular American... more
To begin with, Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz can hardly be called a sports film, if one goes by the classic... more
Does anything that can be called a ‘Kolkata film’ exist, as a special sub-genre of Bengali films? It seems... more
Saibal Mitra’s Chitrokar begins with a disclaimer that it is not a biopic of either Benodebehari Mukhopadhyay or Mark Rothko... more
Amid an onslaught of competitions featuring mostly mediocre films or a largely overhyped selection of art house films from Europe... more
A chance meeting of a sales executive and a struggling filmmaker on a train journey becomes the starting point of... more
It is indeed like a rare alignment of celestial bodies when Takashi Miike releases his 100th film and it’s nothing short of a... more
Kadvi Hawa is a depiction of a dark and depressing reality in the backdrop of climate change and... more
The recently concluded Kolkata International Film Festival turned out to be the most obvious next step in the... more
Going beyond the value judgments of good, bad, exciting, offensive, etc., there are certain films which makes you wonder about... more
On the surface, Rakhee Sandilya’s debut film Ribbon comes across as a throwback to the ‘middle of the road’ cinema that... more
Rukh is the latest release from Drishyam Films who just recover form the halo of Oscar smeared Newton that released on 22nd September... more
এখনকার বাংলা সিনেমার নিরিখে যদি ভাবা যায়, অর্থাৎ বাংলা ভাষায় নির্মিত ছবি, তার যে দৃশ্যগত বা এমনকি আখ্যানগত দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি, মোস্তফা সরয়ার ফারুকী পরিচালিত ডুব ছবিটি... more
Let’s call a spade a spade. Ranchi Diaries directed by Sattwik Mohanty cannot really be called... more
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the... more
The challenge of writing about a film like Newton (Amit Masurkar, 2017) is the difficulty to evaluate all its nuances and multiple... more
Chalochitro Circus - abominable, repulsive, offensive, detestable, terrible, awful, vile, horrendous, dreadful…one runs out... more
Cockpit is one of the 7 glorious sisters among the Bengali films released this Puja. It is special for several reasons. First it is... more
There is a perverse crimson joy, almost sadomasochistic in proportion, in experiencing one’s worst expectations being fulfilled, bit by bit and... more
In a dramatic moment in Srijit Mukherjee’s Yeti Obhijaan, members of Kakababu’s expedition group including Santu are terrified and... more
Many will recall (perhaps with a little bit of help) the iconic moment from the 90s blockbuster Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge... more
সহজ পাঠের গপ্পো। এমনিতে ট্রেলার দেখে ভালোলেগে ছিল। গ্রাম বাংলার সাধারণ ছবি বাংলা ছবির ট্রেলারে সাধারণত দেখা যায় না। খুবই হুরুম ধুরুম করে আওয়াজ হয় আর ভিস্যুয়াল চচ্চড়ি... more
Cinematic adaptations of existing works of literature are always a tricky affair, although nothing new. In popular reception, especially if the... more
Imagine a cosy, private adda (gossip and chit chat) over drinks where everyone present belongs to the same line of work. Obviously, a number of... more
Every now and then one encounters a film which succeeds in making its mark due to its jaw dropping pretension and limitless stupidity lying... more
The main challenge regarding writing about a film like Arindam Sil’s Dhananjoy is that it is utterly forgettable. By the time one has walked out... more
In mainstream films as well as the popular imagination, the town of Gurgaon always comes across as a hinterland... more
As Meghnad Badh Rahasya draws to an end, one of the primary characters called Kunal Sen who is a filmmaker by profession, vows to adapt... more
Four women of different ages, living in Bhopal, go beyond the so-called social norms, in their struggle to establish their identities but fail to... more
At some point, around the turn of the millennium, the idea of popular cinema mutated into some kind of an immersive experience within a larger multimedia... more
Surely Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jasoos has been one of the most enthusiastically received films in the recent times, especially among the urban, English educated... more
First-time feature film director Ravi Udyawar is actually no newbie. A gold medallist from J.J. College of Arts, Mumbai, he has worked as a commercial artist, illustrator... more
Marvel and DC have been the twin pillars of the American Comic Book Industry. At the turn of the millennium, Marvel successfully ventured into Hollywood and turned their... more
There is a scene in A Death in the Gunj where 23 year old Shutu (Vikrant Massey) holds a magnifying glass on an insect against a leaf, focusing... more
“Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”, comes the ominous and whispered proclamation of hubris from David, the synthetic android created by... more
Move along Srijit Mukherjee. This time it’s confirmed. A new pair of directors have emerged as the champions of Bengali... more
In one of the early scenes in Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Tope, the eccentric hunter who is also the lord of the declining estate warns the filmmakers from the city... more
'Durga Sohay' is best enjoyed as an afternoon show with ice cream, cold drinks and generous helpings of cheese flavored popcorn. If you are Bengali, middle-aged, and... more
Noor is 28, fun, overweight (in her own eyes), lacks a boyfriend, is a journalist forced to do foolish stories instead of 'issue-based' ones, and she hates her life - AND we get... more
For the past couple of years, women centric films seem to have become quite the staple with Bollywood. Across a spectrum of genres including drama, action... more
Remake of a film is a familiar phenomenon which can have interesting ramifications in terms of creativity, technology and capital. Often times these are actually intertwined or at least... more
Kaushik Ganguly has won the National Award once again, this time for Best Bengali Film with his latest release 'Bishorjon'. Strategically dished out on the eve of the Bengali New Year... more
‘Mukti Bhawan’ is this week’s freshest surprise. Young director Shubhashish Bhutiani’s take on life and death is a pleasant break from the bandwagon... more
In a film that is otherwise thoroughly entertaining (and in a positive sense), ‘Naam Shabana’ does pose that one mystery... more
Well meaning but erroneous…that's what sums up Lion, the movie running to rave reviews across the globe. Two actors, Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman, are already... more
There is a popular saying about the recently deceased New-Hollywood filmmaker Michael Cimino that he sold his soul to the Devil for The Deer Hunter... more
The first impression one gets while watching Aparnaa Singh’s Irada (meaning ‘Intention’) is that it’s a much neglected and sadly unwanted younger sibling of... more
Hindi Cinema traditionally had a great command over the melodramatic mode of address in films. Even if they didn’t always result in great films, it certainly left ... more
Shlok Sharma’s Haraamkhor possibly marks the worst film viewing experience in a theatre and that is no fault of the film! The extra cinematic aspects of moral policing and... more
There’s a predominant tendency noticeable in the student’s films during the early semesters of film and media schools. The young students who are freshly introduced to.. more
Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal which has predictably become one of the most well-received and talked about films of the festive season is a curious case where everything being said about the film is true and not really true more
In Andrew Robinson’s The Inner Eye, Satyajit Ray speaks about his apparent reluctance in taking over the responsibility of Chiriakhana and also his general misgivings about detective films more
Sequel of feature films has a long tradition of not meeting expectation. So, before watching Rock On 2, I promised to myself I would watch it as an independent film more
Films have a life of their own, a conscience of their own. The role of a filmmaker shouldn’t be perceived as some kind of a Biblical Creator but more
Engaging with Anjan Dutt’s Hemanta might raise the question about whether a film adapted from an existing text should be read as a distinct individual text or solely as an adaptation. more
Bengali films continue on their dismaying path as Khawto, a psychological thriller directed by Kamaleswar Mukherjee displays all the “hallmarks” more
Just like a decent rock song with a catchy intro riff, things start to work quite early in the game for Anurag Kashyap’s Raman Raghav 2.0. more
One of the first things to intrigue you about Ribhu Dasgupta’s Te3n is the title itself. An official remake of the South Korean thriller Montage more
The best thing about Anu Menon’s Waiting is that the film has very limited aspirations. It neither claims nor carry any baggage of greatness per s more
Within the first few minutes of Kaushik Ganguly’s Cinemawala, there is a scene when the character played by Parambrata Chatterjee learns about his more
With a film like Vivek Agnihotri’s Buddha in a Traffic Jam, it is really difficult to figure out where to begin. Made in 2014 and ... more
In the film, Nil Battey Sannata, there is a character called Mr Srivastava (Pankaj Tripathi) who is the principal of the school attended by the pr more
The latest film from Goutam Ghose is in news everywhere. One, it has bagged the national award in the Best Bengali Film category. Two it is an more
In the very first scene of Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, there is a long take where a rickshaw comes to a halt in front of a house. The passenger climbs more
Ram Madhvani’s Neerja is one of the most talked about and unanimously well-received Bollywood films in recent times. Although there have been a more
Adaptations in cinema have always been a tricky business. Dealing with a pressure to reach the audience expectation owing to the familiarity more
Srijit Mukherjee’s Rajkahini is tale of an elite brothel, which had seen better days to be evicted out in the wake of the India-Pakistan partition more
Right within the first few minutes of the film, Babar Naam Gandhiji manages to do something that contemporary Bengali Cinema inevitably fails to more
Another day in the theatre… Another Bengali film… Another excruciating test of one’s patience and sensibility! With each passing day and with each more
Churni Ganguly’s award winning film Nirbashito has been received in the public domain as a film on Taslima Nasrin while the director has been more
Writing such detailed accounts of films is not entirely within my forte but I am making an exception this time for the sake of ‘Kaahon’. more
The godfather of new Indian cinema rings his own death bell through his biggest disaster in the recently released Bombay Velvet. Expectations were more
Shoojit Sircar’s Piku is about a hypochondriac 70-year-old man (Amitabh Bachchan) and his 30 year old, no-nonsense, independent minded daughter more
Beyond love and hate, resides fear, perhaps the strongest of all emotions. What makes it so strong is probably the fact that it acts as a counterp more
What’s common between Karl Marx, first kiss, peto boma, rong borof, ‘half pant’ dating ‘frock’, Sonali Sibir, local candy floss, good looking nigh more
Given the oeuvre of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Ugly marks a significant shift in his style, especially as a follow up to his epic crime saga more
But the fact remains that PK is Hirani's weakest and most flawed film. Yet, it succeeded. I think the reason lies in the message that it conveyed. more
Vishal Bhardwaj has a penchant for adopting Shakespearean plays and setting them against the Indian social milieu. He has already directed ' more
Homi Adjania, in his 3rd film Finding Fanny did try to couple Bollywood formula with offbeat imagination and quirkiness. But in spite of staying more
After a little more than two hours of callow wild goose chase in the seedy alleys and allegories of Kolkata, Dhaka, Bangkok, Pune and Mumbai; Buno more
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