Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani, Review: All rhyme, no reason When a film tries too hard to please too many viewers, it shows. When it has too many stars, including stars of yesteryear, predictably, its length grows. When the maker goes back three generations and sets one chunk of the story in 1978, the public knows. When a layman at a bus-stop on a rainy night tells you lots about a film he has not seen because, perhaps, he has seen the trailer and read stuff about the movie, you know that&rs...

FICCI FRAMES Fast Track 2022, 02: Delhi High Court Judge sees enormous opportunities Addressing the two-day ‘FICCI FRAMES Fast Track 2022’ on the second day, 28 September, Hon’ble Justice Ms. Prathiba M Singh, Judge, Delhi High Court said, “There are enormous opportunities that the Indian Creative Sector provides for expansion, and leaving a global footprint of the country.” Speaking on strengthening India’s IP Ecosystem, Justice Singh highlighted, “...

Hachette’s The Bollywood Pocket Book Series, A 4-in-1 Set, by Diptakirti Chauduri: Get set Yes, it’s a pun. I mean you should get the set, buy the book, or rather, books. They look deceptively thin when ensconced in the hardcover box, but provide a substantial reading once you pull them out. Book one is about Iconic Dates, with Raj Kapoor and Nargis on the cover, under an umbrella. The author reminds us about the calendar of events that begin with Raja Harishchandra’s releas...

Jayeshbhai Jordaar, Review: A ban on soap and kisses instead of foeticide Even a relatively small budget film from Yash Raj Films (YRF), with only two known names to tout, succeeds to a large extent in highlighting the hideous Indian social practice, seen predominantly, in a few states, of killing/aborting the girl child. Since marriage involves a large sum as dowry, which is given by the girl’s family to the boy’s family, the birth of a girl child is considered the genesis of a m...

        IFFI 52, 034: Some competition films not competitive, below par When you have already attended 44 IFFIs, you pretty much know what to expect. Or do you? Arriving from Mumbai by train on the 20th morning, the day of the inauguration, I found my usual hotel in an unkempt state. The owner, who had a flat there till some years ago, has let it sink into squalor, but critics like me, who fund all own expenses at IFFI, cannot really complain. A couple of hours later, after...

Chhapaak song released with a splash bash Exactly a week before the film’s release, the makers of Chhapaak released the title track at a media get-together held on Friday afternoon, at the JW Marriott Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai. Present on the occasion were Gulzar, Meghna Gulzar, Deepika Padukone, Vikrant Massey, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca. Chhapaak, the word, means the sound created when a liquid is splashed, is a film about a woman who had acid splashed on her face, ...

MFF 21 Movie Mela, III: Kareena Kapoor-Khan, Alia Bhatt and Karan Johar in Big Talk Kareena Kapoor Khan and Alia Bhatt discussed their favourite roles, film icons and handling success, with producer director and itinerant actor Karan Johar at the Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star 2019, held on 13 October 2019 at the Rang Mandir, Bandra, Mumbai. This was the last session of the ‘feast/fest’. The Rapid-Fire session witnessed a surprising twist from close friend, young actor Varun Dhawan...

Deepika Padukone in MFF 21 Movie Mela: Pre-festival feast of conversations with stars, directors For the last few years, Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) has been holding Movie Mela as a forerunner to the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF). They skipped it last year because some of the likely male panellists were facing groping and molestation charges, but it came back this year with renewed vigour. Mela is Hindi/Urdu for feast/carnival. It is held in the shape of interviews/interactions between...

Gully Boy Ranveer Singh launches music label, calls it IncInk You could not tell anything from the invitation, except that it was sent by YashRaj Films and had something to do with IncInk. The mystery unravelled on 29th March, at Mumbai’s Four Seasons Hotel, after a 90 minute wait. Suddenly, moviestar Ranveer Singh, who is on a roll after Gully Boy, a film in which he plays a rap-star, rolled-in to a chorus of “Baba, Baba” chants. He kept running around the hall, hugging and...

Simmba, Review: Slo mo shun It would be unrealistic to expect anything but action comedies from director Rohit Shetty, showcasing bad guys turning good guys along the line, with tons of slow motion action, having the protagonist landing blow after blow, and the goons rotating before landing on the floor or table or chair or cupboard or door or window or car or cycle or motor-cycle or truck or hand cart or whatever. This time around, the theme, ostensibly, is the heinous crime of rape, with t...

Magnum Opus Padmavati adds a, drops i, eyes release on 25th January It will now be called and spelt Padmaavat, from its original moniker of Padmavati. The deletion of the i is in deference to the wishes of many Indians who hold the folklore of Rani Padmavati very dear, and would not allow a film that shows the actor playing her dancing, midriff exposed, to be released. Protests led to a delay of eight weeks in rescheduling the release, and even now, entire states, like Rajasthan (where the st...

         After shooting for his latest film Befikre in Paris, Ranveer Singh is set to enjoy a much-needed holiday. In Heidi-land, Switzerland. His parent production house is closely associated with Switzerland and naturally, the actor has always wanted to visit this picturesque Alpine country. He says, the schedule for Befikre was extremely intense for him and he needed a vacation before the kick-starts with the  shooting of his next film ‘Padmavati ‘. ...