Ishita Sengupta
Senior Sub Editor
Articles By Ishita Sengupta
Delhi Crime, Soni: Are powerful female characters empowered enough to command their own narrative?
Power, with all its neutral connotations, has come to be coloured by the hues of gender and gender, in turn, serves as a convenient parameter to identify who is powerful and who is powerless.
Jonaki review: Of uncompromising and powerful storytelling
Jonaki is a personal story, private even, and the director is uncompromising in his storytelling, unrelenting in his choices and intrepid in the employment of metaphors.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind review: An inspirational story that fails to inspire
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind is a tale of a curious if not a prodigious boy who, while tinkering with broken radios, discovers his ability to "harness the wind”.
Gully Boy: Tender is the love
Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy, as the title indicates, is not just Murad and Safeena's story. It primarily preoccupies itself with the boy and his gully, Dharavi, his struggles, hardships, angst and the final release. And yet for them, at least for Safeena, it is her only story.
Firebrand movie review: This Priyanka Chopra production has no fire, only ashes
Directed by Aruna Raje and produced by Priyanka Chopra, Firebrand does not hide what it sets out to be. In a day and age when feminism as a movement and feminist as an adjective are treated as much-abused terms, the film closely deals with issues women suffer from - child marriage, rape and abuse.
Valentine’s Day: Does love thrive in solitude?
Lovers and loners are not really different beings, that perhaps all lovers are loners, and love, with all its grand promise of dispelling isolation, probably thrives in solitude.
Khatija’s niqab reveals that each woman might have her own personal definition of freedom
AR Rahman and his daughter made an appearance as he was celebrating ten years of his winning the Oscar for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionnaire. Soon social media trolls were condemning him for being conservative,
Velvet Buzzsaw movie review: A bizarre take on the art world where nothing is sacred except the artist
Peppered with humour and deaths, almost in equal measure, Dan Gilroy's Velvet Buzzsaw resists fitting into a particular genre. Velvet Buzzsaw is as bizarre as profound. And the film works excellently as a parody of the (art) world it is situated in.
‘I have stopped trying to be relatable’: Durjoy Datta on love, books and Valentine’s Day
Durjoy Datta was recently in the Capital and spoke to indianexpress.com about his books, the genre of romance that he is almost always associated with and if Valentine's Day is overrated.
Rani Mukerji and the worst advice to end the year of #MeToo
Rani Mukerji was the Messiah we all needed at the roundtable. Living in an ideal world, she believes that "back off" would end all instances of sexual assaults. The actor's optimism was both enviable and absurd.
‘Cancer became a metaphor for all that was wrong in my life’: Manisha Koirala on her new book
Over a telephonic conversation, Manisha Koirala told indianexpress.com how cancer became a metaphor for all that was wrong in her life, and how it also triggered self-reflection that ultimately led to a soul-searching journey.
Are translators co-creators of a novel? Jasmine Days’ author and its translator weigh in
The year 2018 has largely been about translated works. It began with Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk winning the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for Flights, translated by Jennifer Croft, on May 22.
Booksellers of College Street: Between tiny shops and greasy palms, an untold story
College Street, a kilometre-long stretch of road from Ganesh Chandra Avenue Crossing in Bowbazar to Mahatma Gandhi Road is lined with books on both sides; the eclectic collection on display can entice any connoisseur of books.
Kolkata’s new crop of vegetarian cafes offer food lovers choice, and much more
People in Kolkata are still aficionados of good food, and this often surpasses their rigidity regarding vegetarian and non-vegetarian. In Kolkata, good food, still, triumphs all.
Smog: How it affects the eye
Every year, after Diwali, people in the Capital are engulfed in a thick cloud of smog. We spoke to people and doctors in the city to find out how smog affects the eye and if it could be prevented at all.
Paradise Towers review: In search of a plot
Set in Mumbai, Shweta Bachchan-Nanda's debut novel shares its name with a building in the city. Paradise Towers, by the author’s own admission, not only stands as an anachronistic edifice among the skyscrapers, but also has a name that is dripping with irony.
Shweta Bachchan-Nanda on her debut novel Paradise Towers, her biggest critic and literary influences
In an e-mail interview with indianexpress.com, Shweta Bachchan-Nanda talks about her debut novel Paradise Towers, the reason for using stereotypes and the family member who has always been her biggest critic.
On World Heart Day, we ask – does heartbreak ever get easier?
Bereft of the luxury of time, I don’t languish in heartbreaks anymore - but the pain now hits in waves. Many a times I have kept memories of an agonising night neatly beside the bed, unaware of it till a song floating in the air makes it difficult for me to breathe.
Pyjamas are Forgiving review: Despite interesting premise, Twinkle Khanna’s novel ceases to be engaging
Twinkle Khanna situates her debut novel Pyjamas are Forgiving, in the midst of a Kerala’s Shanthamaaya Sthalam, a spa where people are supposed to exercise restraint, consume copious amount of ghee and in turn get treated for their ailments.
Anuradha Roy on her latest novel and books that are part of her bloodstream
Anuradha Roy's novel All The Lives We Never Lived has been receiving rave reviews and most recently was longlisted for The JCB Prize for Literature. The author spoke to indianexpress.com about the novel, what goes into building the characters and who are the authors who inspire her.
