Shubhra Gupta is film critic and senior columnist with the Indian Express. She watches world cinema for delectation, Hollywood for fun, and Bollywood for work. She has a huge capacity to sit through terrible Bollywood movies, but no patience at all with bad Hollywood. And world cinema has to be really cutting edge to grab her attention, and keep it. When she began reviewing, over 20 years ago, people would commiserate and say, “oh, you poor thing, you have to watch Hindi cinema”. But soon, Bollywood became cool, cool, cool. So now she hears this more often “oh my god, you watch Bollyood films, can you introduce me to Shah Rukh Khan”? No, she can’t, sorry, though she can vouch for the fact that he is really sharp and good fun in conversation. But what she can do, and has done week after week, month after month, year after year, without a break, is to lead you into the magical world of movies, and share her experiences of watching all those hundreds of films over the years. In her reviews and columns, she lets you into what she likes, and doesn’t, and invites you to be bewitched. And to know how to choose between the good ones and the turkeys, and how you can take away something from even the really ghastly ones. Because life is a movie, isn’t it? Bahut picture baaki hain, mere dost.
April 12, 2025 07:00 IST
The 11th edition of the event included talks by filmmakers as diverse as Brazilian director Walter Salles, Filipino director Lav Diaz, Hong Kong director Johnnie To and Iranian-French cinematographer Darius Khondji.
Fri, Apr 11, 2025April 10, 2025 15:29 IST
Jaat Movie Review, Rating: Sacrificed at the altar of all that gruesome blood-letting and mutilated bodies hanging from the rafters and savaged women forced to huddle together in this Sunny Deol-Randeep Hooda-starrer is coherence and plot.
Thu, Apr 10, 2025April 04, 2025 18:16 IST
His brand of nationalism belonged to a softer, gentler era.
Sat, Apr 05, 2025April 04, 2025 15:31 IST
Test movie review: The film stars some of the best actors working in the Tamil film industry today -- Nayanthara, Madhavan, Siddharth and Meera Jasmine -- but this convoluted and disappointing film has little to offer.
Fri, Apr 04, 2025March 30, 2025 13:41 IST
Sikandar Movie Review & Rating: In ‘Sikandar’, director AR Murugadoss and actor Salman Khan flounder spectacularly, failing to give us anything we haven’t seen before.
Mon, Mar 31, 2025March 28, 2025 11:08 IST
Reacher Season 3 Finale review: Reacher Season 3 had pressed pause after six episodes a few weeks back, leaving us hanging.
Fri, Mar 28, 2025March 20, 2025 12:38 IST
Khakee The Bengal Chapter review: Apart from the fact that the faces are mostly Bengali actors -- Prosenjit, Jeet, Ritwik Bhowmik, and Saswata Chatterjee -- the Netflix show comes off as same old.
Thu, Mar 20, 2025March 18, 2025 11:23 IST
Likeability makes the heart of the show. How do you prevent self-appointed social media gurus from tapping into the anxieties and insecurities of fragile young people? What is it like navigating masculinity in today’s world?
Thu, Mar 20, 2025March 14, 2025 10:33 IST
The Diplomat movie review: It would have been tempting to drown this film in bigotry. But the Pakistan-bashing—of course there is some-- stays low-key.
Fri, Mar 14, 2025March 14, 2025 07:17 IST
Be Happy review: Abhishek Bachchan, who did such a solid job being a dad-to-a-daughter in I Want To Talk, comes off more stolid in Be Happy, essentially because the plot is more in service to the dancing and the competing than to showing us the lives these characters live.
Fri, Mar 14, 2025March 07, 2025 16:03 IST
Nadaaniyan movie review: Ibrahim Ali Khan and Khushi Kapoor-starrer, directed by first-timer Shauna Gautam, has been created by-and-for hashtags, with zero insights into the demographic it represents.
Fri, Mar 07, 2025March 07, 2025 11:29 IST
Dupahiya review: Gajraj Rao, Renuka Shahane's ruralcom delivers clean, socially-relevant family entertainment. The show has a determinedly cheerful air -- leaving the viewer smiling is clearly the mandate.
Fri, Mar 07, 2025March 01, 2025 11:53 IST
Win Wenders talks about his experience in India, missing the Berlinale and his thoughts on AI in filmmaking.
Sat, Mar 01, 2025February 28, 2025 15:29 IST
Dabba Cartel review: Some of the goings-on amongst this gang, despite its not-so-believable-bits, and forced gangsta moves, are enjoyable, with a few genuinely frightening moments bunged in.
Fri, Feb 28, 2025February 28, 2025 13:00 IST
Crazxy review: The absence of other actors – their presence reduced to their voices--is a problem too, leaving Sohum Shah to gamely handle the screen practically single-handed, which makes it even more of a stretch.
Fri, Feb 28, 2025February 28, 2025 11:31 IST
Suzhal Season 2 review: The high point, like in the first season, is the ensemble cast, each bringing their character to vivid life.
Fri, Feb 28, 2025February 27, 2025 16:21 IST
Superboys of Malegaon movie review: The film brings Muslim characters back on our radar, breaking away from the tropes of evil terrorists and subservient sidekicks, and giving us those who own the story and drive the narrative.
Thu, Feb 27, 2025February 22, 2025 16:19 IST
Kani Kusruti on why she is a reluctant actor, her love for science and why she would be happy working in palliative care.
Sun, Feb 23, 2025February 21, 2025 14:19 IST
Mere Husband Ki Biwi movie review: This is the kind of film that tells you why Bollywood is where it is. You take your stars -- Arjun Kapoor, Bhumi Pednekar and Rakul Preet Singh -- and then stuff the film with a supporting cast that works as a buffering collection of one-liners.
Fri, Feb 21, 2025February 21, 2025 09:44 IST
Reacher Season 3 review: The workman-like handling of the story makes everything so pedestrian that I nearly zoned out in the first couple of episodes.
Fri, Feb 21, 2025February 14, 2025 12:52 IST
Dhoom Dhaam movie review: If you married Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahin with a zillion iterations of the odd-couple and lovers-on-the-run and heist movies, you would get Yami Gautam-Pratik Gandhi film.
Fri, Feb 14, 2025February 14, 2025 10:49 IST
Chhaava movie review: The torture porn in the climax of Vicky Kaushal's film reminds you of the systematic flaying of Jesus in ‘The Passion of Christ’.
Fri, Feb 14, 2025February 07, 2025 14:40 IST
Bada Naam Karenge review: Watching the new show run by Sooraj Barjatya is a conflicting business as it makes you wonder whether brief interlude of youthful freedom that keeps rearing its head every decade or so is an illusion.
Fri, Feb 07, 2025February 07, 2025 12:18 IST
The Mehta Boys movie review: The theme of the film has a familiar predictive tilt, but what lifts the film are the little spurts of unpredictability built into the script of Boman Irani’s directorial debut.
Fri, Feb 07, 2025February 07, 2025 10:09 IST
Loveyapa movie review: Director Advait Chandan shows courage in showing that both the ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ have secrets buried in their phones: she has exes, and is a convincing liar; he has ex-exes.
Fri, Feb 07, 2025