Lit-fests! (A virtual one, and a reminder about Chandigarh)

It was fun to participate in LitFestX , an online literature festival where all I was required to do was sit at home and talk to my comput...

Reviewing the reviewer: a part-response to Khalid Mohamed's piece

There have been some nice, flattering reviews of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee book recently, such as the ones by Jerry Pinto in The Indian Expr...

In defence of Vikas Bahl's delightfully zany Shaandaar

[ Did this review for Mint Lounge ] It may be an understatement to say that Vikas Bahl’s madcap new film Shaandaar will confound or annoy m...

No tamasha – the return of Nikhil Bhagat

[ My latest Mint Lounge column ] The Oscar-winning actress Luise Rainer, who died last year at age 104, holds what could be a record for lon...

Guddi screening at India Habitat Centre

If you’re a movie buff and in Delhi on October 31, please mark your calendars. Penguin India is organising a screening of Hrishikesh Mukherj...

Reviews and responses 1: a "tough" and "discomfiting" book

Here’s a nice review - by Mayank Shekhar - of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee book. I appreciate this bit:   “This is a tougher book to write [tha...

Jazbaa: Irrfan kicks ass...and that's about it

[ And the Irrfan Khan theme for the week continues. Wrote this piece for The Daily O ] There were two moments in Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa (tho...

Thoughts on Talvar: Holmes in the heart of darkness

[ Did a version of this piece for my Mint Lounge column ] In an early scene in Meghna Gulzar’s Talvar , CDI officer Ashwin (Irrfan Khan) jok...