On Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, and other books about cultural heritage

[ From my Forbes Life column ] As a film buff, I am often appalled by how much neglect or apathy there is when it comes to India’s cinemat...

The Canon in the Early Sound Era

This is the latest in a series of posts about the relationship between the Bible, the idea of canonicity and film. The start of the sound e...

A love story about corpses: on KR Meera's The Gospel of Yudas

[ Did this review for Scroll ] ------------------------ “I had heard that the blood-red, gooey mud at the bottom of the lake had magnetic po...

Blade Af Satans Bog (1921)

Carl Theodor Dreyer is rightly revered as a filmmaker of some repute, whose bold and uncompromising films, such as Ordet  (1954) and La Pass...

Why you mustn't trust anything (least of all the human mind) - plus 2 encounters with Gulzar

[ M y Mint Lounge column for this week ] One of the most fun things I did last year was sit down with a group of critics and filmmakers to d...

ISIS brides in a spiritual wasteland: on Tabish Khair’s Jihadi Jane

[ Wrote a version of this review for Open magazine ] Read a novel about religious terrorism these days, and chances are that there will be a...

The Canon in the Late Silent Era

This is the latest in a series of posts about the relationship between the Bible, the idea of canonicity and film. The latter part of the s...

INRI [Crown of Thorns] (1923)

Robert Wiene will, rightly, always be best remembered for his 1920 expressionistic classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , but by 1923 with hi...

The Prodigal (1955)

This post is my entry to the Sword and Sandal Blogathon hosted by @DebbieVee of the Moon in Gemini blog In 1955 would-be makers of epic fi...

Nawazuddin, child-killer: on film and the suffering of innocents

[ from my Mint Lounge column ] At a time when much of our public discourse centres on how to deal with humour that is jet-black, offensive o...

The Sword and Sandal Blogathon

I'm pleased to announce that I'm going to be partaking in the Sword and Sandal Blogathon which is taking place from the 8th-10th Ju...

The Star of Bethlehem (1912)

Thanhouser's The Star of Bethlehem (dir. Lawrence Marston, 1912) originally ran to three reels, but only around one reel's worth of...