Movies
Movies

Hiralal: A rare biopic on a pioneer of Indian cinema

The fascinating life of Hiralal Sen probably needed more visual flair, writes Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri However, despite its staginess, there is no denying that Hiralal is an im...

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The South Wave

Film historian, Dhruv Somani, rewinds to the time when there was an influx of heroines from Southern cinema to Bollywood. There was a time when Hindi cinema banked considerab...

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The peerless entertainer

Film historian Dhruv Somani, pays tribute to Nasir Hussain, wizard of the undervalued romantic musicals of Bollywood. Nasir Hussain commenced making films during the era of t...

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Prem Tame: Love’s Labour Lost

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri writes that an inspired final act and a brilliant soundtrack cannot overcome the shortcomings of vapid characters and a meandering screenplay that does ...

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Days of qawwalis

Film historian Dhruv Somani asks why have the qawwalis, once a big draw in the Bollywood movies, have gone with the wind today? Once, the qawwali maintained a sacrosanct plac...

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Bengali Film Review: Dictionary

Well-known playwright, theatre activist/director, and film-maker/actor Bratya Basu’s film is well-intentioned but suffers from a muddled execution, writes Shantanu Ray C...

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Once upon a foggy night

Film historian Dhruv Somani, re-assesses the 1964 suspense thriller Kohraa, which he asserts is grossly undervalued. I happened to watch Rebecca (2020) on Netflix starring Li...

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Sightless in Bollywood

Film historian Dhruv Somani, recollects the B-town movies dealing with the theme of the sight-impaired. Cinema has always been considered as a powerful medium to reflect our ...

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Tara ra pomp pomp

Khalid Mohamed attends The Big Day weddings, listens in to Martin Scorsese’s docu-interview with Fran Lebovitz and… more. THE BIG DAY (NETFLIX)   Oh oh, ...

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Womanpower in khaki

Film historian Dhruv Somani, tracks down the heroines who have portrayed top cops, a domain usually reserved for heroes. Bollywood has largely been about stereotypes, what wi...

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ALTERNATIVE ENTERTAINMENT: OF THAT HUMAN FACTOR

Currently, the boom in Artificial Intelligence has been viewed with mounting dread or em...

December 9 2025

POWERFUL PEOPLE: IDEAS BECOME MOVEMENTS HERE

A conversation between Vinta Nanda and Shenali Rajaratnam, a young global leader shaping...

December 8 2025

RETROSCOPE: FLASHBACKING WITH....CHAUDVIN KA CHAND!!

Monojit Lahiri met up with the still-gorgeous Waheeda Rehman at her sea-front flat in Ba...

December 7 2025