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.
January 22,2009 09:59:28 AM
Dharavi boy Jamal Malik,server of 'chai',keeper of secrets,is one of the wise. He's learnt his wisdom on the streets,and he uses it to become a millionaire.
Thu, Jan 22, 2009January 17,2009 02:01:56 AM
Sadsack Sidhu lives in Chandni Chowk,peels potatoes for a living,and prays to Ganapati Bappa to release him from his daily drudgery.
Tue, Mar 18, 2025
January 16,2009 12:49:17 PM
The script is forced into being a vehicle for its star,not the story,so what you get is an overlong Akshayrama,which perks up only in fits and starts.
Fri, Jan 16, 2009January 10,2009 04:39:51 AM
And then you walk into Bad Luck Govind,and wonder if anythings ever going to change.
Wed, Mar 26, 2025January 10,2009 04:38:21 AM
The President Is Coming kickstarts the year with exactly the sort of lift weve been looking for its free-spirited,irreverent,and funny.
Fri, Mar 28, 2025January 10,2009 01:03:13 AM
The President Is Coming kickstarts the year with exactly the sort of lift weve been looking for its free-spirited,irreverent,and funny...
Sat, Jan 10, 2009January 09,2009 17:56:26 PM
This flick about a penniless fellow from Delhi who lands in Mumbai looking for a job,looks like one of Ram Gopal Varma's left-over films.
Fri, Jan 09, 2009January 09,2009 13:14:30 PM
The President Is Coming' kick-starts the year with exactly the sort of lift we've been looking forit's free-spirited,irreverent,and funny.
Fri, Jan 09, 2009
March 08,2006 00:00:00 AM
In last week’s Economist there’s a short take on a Los Angeles Cardinal declaring that the priests would defy any law requiring ch...
Wed, Mar 08, 2006
December 07,2005 00:00:00 AM
Om Puri’S gravelly voice doesn’t need a microphone to fill the auditorium. Twenty years ago, he says, I had said we should have ou...
Wed, Dec 07, 2005
November 27,2005 01:15:04 AM
Is India finally ready for cutting-edge political cinema ? ‘Parzania’, a film "inspired by a true story," takes you away from stan...
Sun, Nov 27, 2005
October 23,2005 00:00:00 AM
The other day, I was at a movie which featured animated animals. Kids were all over the place, laughing, spilling popcorn, squabbling with s...
Sun, Oct 23, 2005
September 07,2002 00:00:00 AM
Sex sells. Bollywood has long recognised the adage, but for decades it has cravenly gone in for the pelvic-thrust-and-heaving-bosom formula ...
Sat, Sep 07, 2002




