Bollywood
FRAMING MOVIES Take One: Raja Harishchandra (1913)
During a year when Indian Cinema is celebrating 100 years since the first moving picture was made, the writers of BollySpice have decided to put together a feature series which pays tribute to this phenomenal and charismatic industry. Titled ‘Framing Movies’, this special series during the course of 2013 will chronicle and assess some of [...]
REFLECTIONS 2012: Films you should have seen in 2012
2012 turned out to be a year when a number of smaller or independent films made their way onto many Top Ten lists. But, as always, there are films that, for a number of reasons, risk being forgotten or overlooked, especially in a year where there are so many great films to choose from. Here [...]
TIFF Cinematheque: Indian Expressionism
On the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival with its focus on the films and filmmakers of Mumbai, the TIFF Cinematheque presents, as part of its fall offerings, a series on the relationship between German Expressionist films and those of Indian cinema pre-Bollywood. Renowned Indian cinema curator Meenakshi Shedde presents a programme that highlights [...]
TIFF Special: Miss Lovely Movie Review
Documentary filmmaker Ashim Ashluwalia makes his transition to feature films with this story of the two brothers, Sonu (Nawazuddin Sidiqqui) and Vicky (Anil George) who work making lurid and sleezy (and highly illegal, given the censorship and repression of the times) schlock horror and porn films in 1980s Bombay. Vicky is the ambitious one of [...]
TIFF Special: Peddlers Movie Review
Vasan Bala’s first feature film, Peddlers, follows the lives of three unrelated individuals whose lives gradually intersect: Mac (Siddharth Menon), a streetwise orphan who deals drugs and does odd jobs; Bilkis (Kriti Malhotra), a young former chemistry teacher with cancer who comes to Mumbai to work as a drug mule, and eventually gets work in [...]
TIFF Special: The Bright Day Movie Review
“Isn’t it unfortunate that you still don’t know where your heart lies?” says Shiv’s father to him. Shiv’s parents are worried about him. At twenty-three he is coddled and a little cocky, and totally aimless. But Shiv agrees with his father, so it’s perhaps not surprising that he sets off on what turns into a [...]
TIFF Special: Gangs of Wasseypur (Part 2) Movie Review
Part 1 of director Anurag Kashyap’s sprawling family saga of power and revenge did two very important things: it introduced the character of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), and it left me with a definite appetite to see Part 2. I had the chance to do just that a screening held in advance of the presentation [...]
TIFF Special: Shanghai Movie Review
“He didn’t understand how it had happened. Undoubtedly he never would. These moments are like shooting stars. They pass before us, leaving only a luminous trail impossible to decipher. Where do they come from? What do they plunge toward?” From the novel Z by Vassilis Vassilikos A controversial political activist fighting the displacement of people [...]
TIFF Special: Ishaqzaade Movie Review
Ishaqzaade (“Love Rebels”, rechristened “Born to Hate, Destined to Love” for TIFF2012) tells the story of Zoya (Parineeti Chopra) and Parma (Arjun Kapoor), and is set against the backdrop of the political wrangling that divides their two families. “Here comes Ms. Earthquake,” says Zoya’s father of her when she arrives home after using her gold [...]
TIFF Special: Ship of Theseus Movie Review
Ship of Theseus is the first feature film from director Anand Gandhi, and, as its title suggests, it explores the philosophical concept of the paradox of Theseus. As described by the Greek philosopher Plutarch, the paradox is this: if an object has any or all of its parts replaced, does it remain the same object? [...]
Red Chillies and Anurag Kashyap Films part of Toronto International Film Festival’s Asian Summit
The Toronto International Film Festival revealed more details about its planned Asian Summit, which takes place on Monday, September 10th, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto. It was no secret that the guests of honour would include internationally renowned actor, director and producer Jackie Chan, and it was revealed today that Harvey Weinstein, co-Chairman of [...]
Shanghai, Gangs of Wasseypur, Ishaaqzaade Screening at Toronto International Film Festival Mumbai City to City
Today the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced the much-anticipated line-up for the fourth edition of the City to City programme, a series designed as an “exploration of the urban experience, highlighting the best in emerging cinematic talent in a particular locale.” It’s been no secret that the spotlight this year would be placed squarely [...]
Toronto International Film Festival 2012: Opening Press Conference – Galas and Special Presentations
Today the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) began unveiling the films that will feature as part of this year’s festival line-up. Piers Handling, CEO and Director of TIFF, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the festival revealed the films that will be screened as Galas and Special Presentations at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. [...]
Special Review: Trishna
This is the truth. The truth love has taught me. My love, you showed me how the world really is. (from one of Amit Trivedi’s very fine original songs from Trishna) Michael Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Winterbottom, of course, is no stranger to Hardy’s [...]
TIFF & IIFA give tribute to the greatest showman of Bollywood, Raj Kapoor
A retrospective of the films of the legendary Raj Kapoor – the first in nearly three decades – has been organized by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and to launch the event, TIFF, in collaboration with IIFA, held a tribute event in honour of the great showman last Sunday. Raj Kapoor and the Golden [...]
The Narrative Function of Song and Dance: Jab We Met
“Audiences who are unfamiliar with the codes and convention of Hindi cinema often find it difficult to make sense of song and dance sequences that, they believe, are inserted rather arbitrarily into a film’s narrative. Even among audiences who are avid fans of the so-called Bollywood style of filmmaking, there is a great debate on [...]
Bollywood Showcards on Display at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum
The arrival of the IIFA Awards in Toronto has afforded some wonderful entertainment opportunities for Bollywood fans – from movie nights to dance competitions to an exceptionally fine exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM): “Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s”. The show highlights examples of this unique art [...]
TIFF Special: That Girl in Yellow Boots
Anurag Kashyap’s latest film, That Girl in Yellow Boots, is a stylish, provocative thriller that has been well received by audiences at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. It’s the story of “England Girl” Ruth (Kalki Koechlin) who has come to India, like so many Westerners before her, on a quest. But where [...]
The Essential Abhay Deol
The upcoming release of Rajshree Ojha’s Aisha — based on Jane Austen’s Emma and starring Sonam Kapoor – will also bring Abhay Deol back to the screen in his first conventionally commercial venture since his debut film, Socha Na Tha. Although the focus of the film’s publicity has clearly been on its title character, it [...]
Ishqiya
The game of pinball, with its flashing lights and flippers, has much in common with Ishqiya, the directorial debut from Abhishek Chaubey. In pinball, a ball is launched by the player through the use of a plunger. The point of the game is to keep the ball in motion all the time, and a skilled [...]
Best Comedians of 2009
“I am thankful for laughter,” said veteran director, writer and comedian Woody Allen, “except when milk comes out of my nose.” And if he compared drama to a meal, Allen also said that comedy was the dessert — a meringue, all frothy and light as air. 2009 was a difficult year for those of us [...]
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