Why Fan reminded me of puppet-masters and their psychotic dolls

Not a review of Maneesh Sharma’s Fan , just some thoughts, best read if you know the basic premise (and you do live on planet earth, yes?). ...

Flyovers, fans, Anupam Kher and disco killers (in which life outdoes satire)

[ My latest Mint Lounge column ] Holding a ceiling fan above her head, like a Mother India lurching under the weight of a misshapen, three-p...

The Lost Generation, an account of dying professions

[ Did this review for Outlook magazine ] A s a cliché has it, many eras coexist in India – little wonder that recent iconography for the co...

Unhappy in other ways: how Hindi-film families changed (or did they?)

[ Did this piece for Open magazine . I’m not usually a fan of the medium-sized essay that tries to make sweeping statements about something ...

Coming soon, The Blueberry Hunt

Very pleased for Anup Kurian, whose film The Blueberry Hunt is releasing in selected halls on April 8, more than five years after it was co...

Imperfect photos, happy memories in Kapoor & Sons and 45 Years

[ My latest Mint Lounge column ] Broadly speaking, Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons (Since 1921) can be described as a well-paced drama-com...

An unfathomable fury: on Bhisham Sahni's (and Govind Nihalani's) Tamas

[ Did a version of this piece for Flipkart Stories ] In one of the quietest but most effective scenes in Govind Nihalani’s 1988 telefilm Tam...