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.
June 05,2009 18:37:37 PM
'Star Trek' works both as a nostalgia trip for those that remember,and a fun,on-the-run sci-fi flick for those that are Trekkie virgins.
Fri, Jun 05, 2009May 29,2009 18:24:32 PM
Till the prolonged stand-off in the film fraternity continues,such flicks as Yeh Pal Ho Na Ho... Kal will come and go,inducing massive migraines.
Fri, May 29, 2009
May 24,2009 12:42:42 PM
Lata Mangeshkar unspools from an uncredited singer on Mahals 78 rpm record to the go-to songstress for three generations of filmmakers
Sun, May 24, 2009May 22,2009 18:09:16 PM
The two grandkids and Bruno the dog are Nani's faithful companions as she goes about cracking the case of a missing little girl.
Fri, May 22, 2009May 22,2009 18:06:20 PM
Mohabattan Sachiyan differs in only one significant aspect: this one is in Punjabi,with only a smattering of Hindi and Urdu thrown in.
Fri, May 22, 2009May 22,2009 18:02:11 PM
Its coming out spills open a can of worms,confronting us with the kind of dreadful cinema we used to make back then.
Fri, May 22, 2009May 22,2009 01:51:59 AM
Our movies have moved on,but the angry young man defined two decades of Hindi cinema
Fri, May 22, 2009May 15,2009 18:53:21 PM
An unwed mother facing all odds to bring her baby into the world : that,in a nutshell,is the story of Suno Na,Ek Nanhi Awaaz.
Fri, May 15, 2009May 15,2009 18:44:51 PM
99,directed by the duo who gave us the delightful NRI rom com Flavours is not half as funny as it makes itself out to be. And thats sad.
Fri, May 15, 2009April 17,2009 18:00:41 PM
'Dashavtar revolves around,lets see,a vial of deadly virus stolen from a US lab where Govind Ramasamy works.
Fri, Apr 17, 2009April 17,2009 17:59:22 PM
A sorrowing tea-planter writes love letters to his no-longer-present-wife,and his no- longer-peaceful-town.
Fri, Apr 17, 2009April 17,2009 17:56:31 PM
For every star,there are a million unfortunates who hang about the studios in Mumbai,hoping for their big break.
Fri, Apr 17, 2009April 10,2009 19:36:05 PM
A couple of months ago,Arshad Warsi starred in a film called Kisse Pyar Karoon. That film boasted of a hare-brained plot and ham-handed actors,and you wondered if Mr Warsi could descend lower.
Fri, Apr 10, 2009April 10,2009 19:32:40 PM
Coffee House is one long rant,done as simplistically as possible. It gives us TV actor Sakshi Tanwar in her first screen role,and Ashutosh Rana yet another chance to show his exemplary Hindi skills.
Fri, Apr 10, 2009April 10,2009 19:25:49 PM
A school film usually has the same ingredients. A bunch of school kids,some good,some bad,the rest indifferent. A bunch of teachers,ditto. And situations which lead to flashpoints and resolutions.
Fri, Apr 10, 2009April 10,2009 19:19:57 PM
Another of those join-the-spy-service-and-see-the-world films,which Hollywood keeps coming back to.
Fri, Apr 10, 2009April 10,2009 19:15:23 PM
Yorkshire schoolteacher Mr Ratcliffe,newly smitten by the Communist credo,takes himself and his family to live in Germany.
Fri, Apr 10, 2009April 03,2009 16:59:50 PM
Kukunoor uses the lush green of the Canadian countryside to give us one of the most picturesque films weve seen in a while.
Fri, Apr 03, 2009March 20,2009 16:19:00 PM
This is a fine ensemble. The little boy,played unfalteringly by Mohammad Samad,is a heartbreaker.
Fri, Mar 20, 2009
March 20,2009 16:17:15 PM
We all know how it will all end,right from the time 'Aloo Chaat opens. Watch it if you like your comedy loud,obvious and heavily underscored.
Fri, Mar 20, 2009March 20,2009 16:13:15 PM
Menons centering of fringe characters is a welcome thing,and some of the acting,especially by Naseer and Arjun,fits in.
Fri, Mar 20, 2009
March 20,2009 16:07:27 PM
What happens when you think you swing both ways? Tread a 'tedha medha path,with trepidation,thats what.
Fri, Mar 20, 2009March 13,2009 17:33:15 PM
Jai (Fardeen) is a cop pretending to be a motor mechanic. Veeru (Kunal) is a car thief with delusions of grandeur.
Fri, Mar 13, 2009March 13,2009 17:30:14 PM
Sooni Taraporevala,long-time associate of Mira Nair,and experienced script-writer,has come up with a marvellous first feature.
Fri, Mar 13, 2009March 13,2009 17:24:30 PM
Gulal tells the story of an India struggling to come to terms with its contemporary identity and complicated histories. And Kashyap nearly pulls it off.
Fri, Mar 13, 2009





