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Top articles
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Suniel Shetty, the hard business of acting
Suniel Shetty will remain for me the rescuer of certain boring films such as Umrao Jaan and Main hoon na. Thanks to him, I have found an interest in those poor productions. Watching him cast his back eye and his disdainful sneer has more than often thrilled...
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3 Dewaarein: can a film-director avoid committing himself?
3 Dewaarein by Nagesh Kukunoor is a very good entertainer. Its construction is very clever, its rhythm flawless, the actors are truly first class, the suspense is exciting, the photography is excellent… One spends a very rewarding 120 minutes. But…it’s...
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Ayesha Takia: in search of her soul!
One might say the 21 year old glamgirl called Ayesha Takia is rather young to be commented upon at great depth; one would be wrong, because there is a great deal to be said about and around her. Let’s start with the beginning: a few months ago, I wrote...
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Ajay Devgan, Bollywood's dark prince
With his title “The dark prince” I am not so much referring to Ajay’s skin colour, even though there are only few among the best-known Bollywood stars that do have a dark skin, but more to his character, what I can guess of it. I’ve always felt in him...
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Fire on the Mountain
Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, 1977. Nanda Kaul, an old solitary lady lives in her house on the mountainside. Something depressing about her presence there, as if she was hiding away from some family secret. The house: a witness of generations of Colonial...
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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Cannes bad taste
For me the yearly Cannes festival is not much more than an industry's self-celebration which is probably best left unwatched, but these days, it’s difficult to miss Cannes photos and interviews even if you’re only slightly interested in Bollywood. Aish...
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Meenaxi, tale of 3 cities: Bollywoodian befuddlement!
« Meenaxi, tale of three cities » by M.F. Husain (2004), is exactly that, a Bollywoodian befuddlement. The film is a pathetic attempt at building “something else” than a traditional love-story, and, because of lack of inspiration or lack of artistic common...
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Family Matters
T here are two « mysteries » in Rohinton Mistry’s 2002 novel Family Matters. One concerns the character of Nariman Vakeel, the 79 year old Professor suffering from Parkinson and osteoporosis, who lives with his two adult unmarried step-children, Jal and...
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Sagina: a freedom beyond politics
Sagina (1974), a hindi remake of the bengali Sagina Mahato , shot by the same director (Tapan Sinha) four years before, is a reflexion on work exploitation, oppression and revolution. The story is set in the “tea gardens” of North-East India, in the forties,...
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The Householder: does "spiritual India" mean anything?
What is the typical Western question? Perhaps this one: “Do you believe in God?” The West has a long history of belief, but also of doubt. And people from the West have long since gone East, most notably to India, to find the answer to that question....
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A passage to India - mine!
This isn't going to be a review of David Lean's famous movie , and my English-speaking readers will have to put up with a bit of French, because this blog is temporarily going to be used as a travelblog for my upcoming trip to India, starting this Friday!...
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Love in Kuch kuch hota hai
Hi, I've found this text written a long time ago probably after having seen KKHH one of the first times! Enjoy! Where does the poignancy of love come from? This love in need of love, this need which screams in the face of the loved one “I will make you...
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Allers et venues au Rajasthan
Bonjour! Aujourd'hui vendredi 13 aout, nous sommes à Udaipur, sous la mousson, qui nous a fait rebrousser chemin puisque nous avions quitté la ville pour aller dormir à Ranakpur (à vos cartes!), mais l'hotel a telephone alors que nous sortions de Udaipur,...
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Déjà les souvenirs!
Bonjour à tous, Voilà, nous sommes rentrés... Normal, évidemment, mais bon, que cela a été vite! Le séjour dans le Rajasthan, avec notre chauffeur privé VIP, les passages endiablés à Delhi, et puis le séjour dans les neiges (enfin, les boues) de l'Himachal...
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Third-class ticket
Have you heard of an author called Heather Wood ? Have you heard about this book “Third-class ticket” (1980)? No? Neither had I, until recently. But someone gave it to me, suggesting it might be interesting to read, and I took it along with me during...
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Achanak: what is the value of human life?
Gulzar’s acclaimed Achanak (Suddenly, 1973) suffers from a bothersome defect, its well-meaning intentions. The film contains much worth, but it is too preoccupied by the demonstration process for its own good. What a film says is as important as how it...
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Yeh raate, yeh mausam
Here’s my belated commentary of Ravi’s song Yeh Raate yeh mausam in Dilli ka thug sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri (I had promised it to Suja! Cf. here ). Below you'll find the video, the lyrics and their translation....
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Love aaj kal, a vindication of the past?
For once I thought I’d jump back to the present and enjoy a little contemporary Bollywood. So I pored in my box of unwatched movies and saw Love aaj kal (Imtiaz Ali, 2009) with the alluring eyes of Deepika Padukone smiling at me with their healthy skin...
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Arranged Marriage
This blog has already reviewed collections of short stories ( here and here ) and rather similarly, this volume contains stories which revolve loosely around the theme of femininity and motherhood of desi women abroad. To be more precise, the 11 stories...
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The white tiger, movie
Arvind Adiga's story has been turned into a movie, shot by Ramin Bahrani and which has just come out on Netflix. It's an excellent movie, which does full credit to the novel; I really have no negatives about it. The cast is great, led by a glorious Adarsh...
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Punashcha, the poetry of Love and Life
Here's a beautiful and poignant little movie (2014) by Souvik Mitra featuring Soumitra Chatterjeee and Roopa Ganguly (above; I had seen her - much younger, it was 1989 - in Ek din achanak ); but what makes its beauty? Probably its story, its poetic charm,...
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Difficult daughters - Manju Kapur
Difficult Daughters, by Manju Kapur, written in 1998, tells the story of Virmati, an Amritsar-based young girl, the eldest daughter of an middle-class Arya Samaj family in which nevertheless certain traditions weigh as much as in any other more backward...
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An interview with Mohnish Bahl
Alas, I was not the person who interviewed Nutan's son! But thanks to Seema, my desi Nutan-collaborator, I would like to indicate the recent interview which appeared in Filmfare. You'll find it here . It's by Farhana Farook, whom I'll thank in advance...
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The lament of a lone Bollywood lover
I’m sure you BW fans in the four corners of the world have had a similar experience: uneasy admittance of that shameful addiction: Bollywood obsession! You know, it starts like a dream, a nice dinner party with friends at your place, or at the restaurant,...
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Indian music authors
Hi everybody, I'm interrupting my comments of personal stuff to let you know of A2line's initiative, a very nice selection of songs from various authors, her favourite pieces, all directly available a click away. If I were you, I'd go and have a look!...