Bala, Review: Haireditory and dark humour Two films in rapid succession about hair loss are about as rare as a new lock of hair sprouting on a bald pate. Whereas Ujda Chaman had the relatively unknown Sunny Singh Nijjar and Maanvi Gagroo playing the lead roles, Bala has National Award winning (shared) actor Ayushmann Khurrana, and by now well established actresses Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam. Time has come when insider jokes, vulgar dialogue, mimicry and stand-up comedy are expected from K...

Stree, Review: Ironing ‘bored’ What do you call a female ghost? For want of a better word, the villagers who are haunted by this entity call it Stree (Hindi for woman). Fair enough. If English film-makers can call a ghost Entity, what is wrong with a Hindi film selecting Stree as its eponymous title? Mind you, this is no ordinary ghost that haunts or possesses the simple village-folk. It kidnaps only men, every year, with precise accuracy, on the same dates, and leaves behind only...

16th Third Eye Asian Film Festival: X Besides features and docu-features, the 16th Third Eye Asian Film Festival (TEAFF) had a competitive section for shorts. As many as 25 films competed. Countries represented included India, Iran, Myanmar, Turkey, Tajikistan and South Korea. They were packaged into two screening slots, one of which I managed to attend. Audience Award, Short Film: Taghdir (Fate)/Iran/13 min/Azar Faramarzi Actress, producer and director Azar Faramarzi graduated in Film and ...

MIFF 2018, II Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation Films, which begins on 28 January, 2018 in Mumbai, has released the list of films to be screened in four sections. Here is the list of films selected for the International Competition section, in the two duration-based categories, 45 or less and no specified duration. The shortest of the lot runs for 15 minutes while the longest is a marathon 183 minutes long. Films come from India, Canada, Australia,...