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| September 04, 2008 | | Getting nostalgic about Farooq Sheikh
Some live life like a short story, in the fast lane. Others plan a grand novel, almost akin to an investment. Still others dwell from moment to moment.
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| September 02, 2008 | | An appreciation of Pixar's Wall-E
On the whole, Wall-E works in the same way that Charlie Chaplin does: an unlikely trampy hero embarks on a silent-movie romance with an elegant, far more attractive female. The odds are stacked against them, the protagonist is klutzy beyond repair, and the poetry found in their impossible dalliance is banal, slapstick -- and, quite simply, timeless.
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| August 26, 2008 | | The funniest show you've never seen
Or if you actually have seen HBO's sensational comedy show Flight Of The Conchords, then more power to you, mate. I just had to spread the word.
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| August 21, 2008 | | Rendezvous with Chiranjeevi
Radhika Rajamani talks about meeting the Telugu megastar and how she was bowled over by his simplicity and humility.
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| August 18, 2008 | | Get over the Knight
But now, the hype now isn't just deafening, it's claustrophobic.
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| August 06, 2008 | | They can't Come Soon enough
One of the reasons movies disappoint audiences often is because of how good the trailers are. It is, admittedly, easier to cut 90-150 seconds of the finest, most tantalising footage from over a 100 minutes of film and look way cooler than the film itself, but the best trailers increase anticipation to almost unreal levels --- and the ensuing films seldom live up to that kind of hype.
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| August 04, 2008 | | Kuselan disappoints
The movie was good in parts. The best part was the climax. The movie is carried forward by three characters, all yuck!
Rajni lost and found
He is not your run of the mill superstar. In fact he is not like your other superstars, and I am not talking only of him outstripping the others in the number of crores earned per film.
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| July 24, 2008 | | Too many stars spoil even the idiot box
Shah Rukh and Akshay might be the most overexposed stars in the country today, and Salman's close enough. And they're still trying to show us more, nudge us into laughing, get us glued to the screen.
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| July 16, 2008 | | What if Heath Ledger messes up?
We stand poised on the brink of certain history. I will take wagers -- at whatever odds you offer -- that despite The Dark Knight coming to theatres only on Friday, there is already more than enough guaranteed buzz about its central performance to nab it a posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination.
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| July 09, 2008 | | The book-to-film debate, round one
I open up this space to you now, dear readers. Write in to me with examples, good and bad, of books being adapted to film, and your thoughts on the questions I'm currently thinking about. There is much I still want to discuss, and over the coming weeks this column will, from time to time, keep revisiting the subject at length.
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| July 08, 2008 | | Decline of the small music stores
To music fans like me across the world, music stores like Mumbai's Rhythm House are exactly what book stores are to bookworms or what malls are to shopaholics -- wonderful refuges from the big bad world.
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| July 01, 2008 | | Review: Best Batman Ever
Now, days before the undeniably, lipsmackingly promising The Dark Knight hits the screens, we have Batman: Gotham Knight, the single greatest screen version of any Batman ever, and it's simply marvellous.
Why Aamir left me disturbed
Saisuresh Sivaswamy tells us that it is the the passive connivance we see in the film that enables its grim denouement.
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| June 26, 2008 | | Wishing for the Yash Raj theme park
Yash Raj Films have pioneeringly signed on to create a Bollywood-themed park in Dubai. Built in association with Dubai Infinity Holdings, the glitzy Yash Raj Films Entertainment District is set to open in 2012.
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| June 19, 2008 | | The art of inflation control
An independent central bank, free from political interference, is in the best position to ensure low and stable inflation over time.
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| June 17, 2008 | | Fathers, films and freakin' awesomeness
Father's Day is really a bit of a stretch in terms of a day of celebration, but, especially in our mother-worshipping motherland, dads take what they can get. So I decided this week's column ought be a look at how our cinema usually says papa.
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| June 16, 2008 | | Kamal Haasan disappoints
The biggest failure of Dasavathaaram is the lack of a proper story, a tight screenplay and well connected characters. One gets the feeling that because Kamal Haasan wanted to make history by portraying ten different characters, he created them. Otherwise, one cannot think of any justification in him appearing all sorts of get-ups.
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| June 10, 2008 | | If Aishwarya Rai was a man
Why is it that directors think their interviews aren't relevant enough to last beyond the week of pre-release hype? It's insane. They say anything they want to promote their film, but what is the need for absolute falsehood? Public memory might be short, but newsprint -- and weblinks, today -- live on, yet our directors continue to say things for the heck of it.
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| June 04, 2008 | | A little Sex didn't hurt anybody
In tough times such as the present, what is wrong if Sex and the City lets women dream a little, imagine a world with earthly pleasures of shoes and expensive designer name dresses? Nobody questions Steven Spielberg when he sends Indiana Jones on a long, ridiculous journey looking for a crystal skull. So why cannot women aspire to buy a pair of Manolo Blahnik, even at a price tag of $525?
Riffing with the readers, Vol 1
Our guest columnist, Raja Sen answers five of the most frequently asked questions posed by our readers.
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| May 27, 2008 | | Naach Basanti Naach
The other day I was re-arranging some old stuff in my drawer when I discovered an old stack of dusty comic books. One of them happened to be good ol' Tinkle --mother to beloved desi toons like Kaalia-The Crow and Shikari Shambu.
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| May 23, 2008 | | Subjecting cinema to the world
Sumann Gon focuses on films which are innovative in their use of the formal elements of cinema in the service of a higher aesthetic purpose and sometime define and inspire a particular genre.
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| May 19, 2008 | | Movies we don't admit we love
was quite horribly ill the day Iron Man released, which is why, despite being a hardcore Marvel Comics fanatic, I couldn't review the film -- or even see it till 5 days later, while friends raved breathlessly and cruelly dropped me spoiler bits. The film is a blast, of course.
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| May 12, 2008 | | Leave Amitabh Bachchan alone
Surfing for some decent entertainment on the idiot box can be quite a struggle. Like I keep discovering every time I have the remote control all to myself.
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| May 07, 2008 | | Where have all the stoner movies gone?
It's been a disastrous year for Hindi cinema, what with us in Month 5 and not one unanimously loved film among the lot. What we do have, however, are films of unparallelled idiocy, comedies each more harebrained than the other, thrillers that plumb the depths of low farce.
When I met Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro launched the Tribeca Film Festival as a measure to revive the lower Manhattan area devastated by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Seven years later, the festival has become the largest film event in New York City. Manhattan is a perfect place for the festival -- combining the city's high film culture with its ability to party and celebrate.
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| April 22, 2008 | | The commercialisation of Darsheel Safary
If he's not walking the runway for a designer at some random fashion week, he is inaugurating a gaming arcade at a mall or launching comic books with other actors. Could the commercials be any far behind?
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| April 15, 2008 | | Written By... some guy sitting abroad
It really hurts that the very act of writing the Friday reviews has been reduced to a sort of pattern these days. We talk about the stars, the director, sum up the effort in a few brief lines, and then, almost inevitably, go on to discuss exactly which DVDs the spanking new film has been filched from. It's disgraceful, and, frankly, rather tiresome.
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| April 07, 2008 | | Goodbye, Mr Heston
On Saturday, April 5, Heston passed away. He was 84, and had publicly spoken about his having contracted Alzheimer's disease a few years ago.
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| April 01, 2008 | | All they say is Mahi Ve !
When it comes to Bollywood influences, Indians seem to have shed rigid regional biases and duly accepted the heavy doses of Punjabi that make their way into their living rooms with every hit film. Irrespective of regional origin, desis all over the place are claiming to know and learn Punjabi through their television screens.
The Age Of The Couch Potato
American television today, thanks to edgy networks like Showtime and HBO, is producing intelligent, mature, adult content that is far superior, especially in both character development and consistency, to most anything out there on the big screen. This week, then, we'll take a look at a few shows you should hunt out DVDs for, or use your broadband connections to acquire.
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| March 27, 2008 | | Why I gave away the Race ending
Ever since it was published on Friday, the 1.5-star review for Abbas-Mustan's Race has generated considerable curiousity in terms of my revealing the film's ending. The film's makers have been constantly hounding me since late Saturday night, demanding that I take off the spoiler, simply because they just don't see the point.
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| March 21, 2008 | | Goodbye, Shobhan Babu
Shobhan Babu was a different person who worked in the film industry on his terms, and to him discipline was the most important thing in life.
Farewell, Raghuvaran!
In a clichéd world filled with a thousand rules and explanations about what acting really is, Raghuvaran managed to set a trend all by himself, using words only as the last resort to convey his emotions.
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| February 26, 2008 | | No Country For Young Men
It's been the best Oscar year in ages, and here's why we should be toasting the golden boy.
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| January 14, 2008 | | Did the Golden Globes really happen this year?
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has come up with a relatively cowardly list, a list that -- in a year brimming to the top with violent masterpieces -- is too scared to pick up the gun.
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| January 07, 2008 | | Khan: The magic Bollywood word
2007 was dominated by the three Khans -- Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir -- who delivered the biggest hits of the year.
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| November 21, 2007 | | Critical questions about film critics
What value do you place on film criticism? Do reviews help you decide which movies to watch, and which to avoid? Has a critic ever influenced you in favour of, or against, a film, and/or its maker? Has a critic ever enhanced your understanding/appreciation of a particular film?
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| November 12, 2007 | | OSO : Kitsch kitsch hota hai
Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om works well as a spoof, but can't smoothly transition from bling to bhoot.
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| November 07, 2007 | | Of Deepika, and her virginity
Why has Deepika Padukone forgotten that she has acted down South, even as she calls OSO her debut? Oh wait, it's Bollywood tradition.
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| November 05, 2007 | | Why I like Farah Khan
It took the director of Om Shanti Om a long time to reach where she is today. Her talent will continue to explode and surprise us.
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| October 16, 2007 | | Aneek wins, Himesh loses
In the last few weeks of watching SaReGaMaPa, what Himesh Reshammiya did to pull Raja down shows his true traits: Insecurity, envy, greed.
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| September 26, 2007 | | The story of 'S'
Bolly Woods is here to to talk movies, and to hear you talk back: about the movies you watch, about what you like and don't, about your thoughts on movies in general.
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| September 10, 2007 | | Please retire, Mr Bachchan!
Should the Big B be or not be seen on the big screen? It's a tongue-twister, but also an increasingly relevant question. An open letter to Amitabh Bachchan, whose participation in the sullying of our Sholay memories was the final straw.
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| August 13, 2007 | | SRK and the M word
Much as the script overtly downplays any mention of Kabir Khan's faith, it is Khan's dilemma as a Muslim in today's India that courses through the narrative.
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| June 19, 2007 | | Chasing Angelina Jolie
A press reporter recounts being denied an interview of a lifetime with the actress of A Mighty Heart .
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| May 25, 2007 | | An ode to Bagha & Goopy
Looking back at Satyajit Ray's 1968 film, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, the most original Indian film ever made.
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| April 02, 2007 | | Gogol on my mind
Sandip Roy on how Indians in America often live out scenes from The Namesake.
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| January 29, 2007 | | Water down the drain
Suparn Verma travels back seven years and the controversy over the making of Water.
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| January 22, 2007 | | Beauty and the Brother
A British-Indian writes about Big Brother, and why Shilpa proves herself a great role model.
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| December 13, 2006 | | Remembering Smita Patil
On the 20th anniversary of her tragic death, the actress remains strikingly relevant.
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| August 30, 2006 | | Art for heart's sake
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films have transcended libraries and genre, to become a part of who we are.
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| August 02, 2006 | | Why Omkara blew my mind
Slow, hard to follow and depressing -- one of the finest Hindi films in recent times.
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| February 02, 2006 | | My heart goes out to Debojit
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa made me sit up. Crass commercialisation, ignorance, jingoism. You name it. It had it all.
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| January 20, 2006 | | Why I won't watch Zinda
'I applaud the strides you have taken in terms of slick production values and groundbreaking soundtracks, but the lack of originality in your films is tragic.'
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| May 05, 2005 | | 2005: Dull, boring so far
Five months have gone by. Five unexciting months, during which an odd mix of indescribably awful, genuinely awful, just-about-awful and not-so-awful movies made it to the celluloid screen.
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| December 09, 2004 | |
Hot jodis that fizzle!
Sukanya Verma finds out why some of the hottest offscreen couples fail to make hit screen pairs.
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| July 30, 2004 | |
Rafi, the unforgettable
Anil Dixit pays tribute to the evergreen singer on Rafi's 24th death anniversary.
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| July 27, 2004 | |
The Casting Couch Syndrome
'There are enough ambitious women throwing themselves at industry men. Just as there are enough women who do not compromise on their principles.'
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