Baradwaj Rangan is Editor-in-Chief, Galatta Plus, where he does reviews and interviews. He was formerly Editor, Film Companion (South), and earlier, with The Hindu and The New Indian Express.
Baradwaj began his film-writing career in 2003. He won the National Award (Swarna Kamal) for Best Film Critic in 2005. His writings on cinema, music, art, books, travel and humour have been published in The New York Times, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, The Caravan, Arts Illustrated, Open, Tehelka, Biblio, Outlook and The Cricket Monthly.
His long-form story on Vikram was featured in The Caravan Book of Profiles, as one of their “twelve definitive profiles.” His short story, The Call, was published in The Indian Quarterly.
Baradwaj has contributed to various anthologies, including an essay in Subramaniyapuram: The Tamil Film in English Translation, and an analysis of Rajkumar Hirani in Behind the Scenes: Contemporary Bollywood Directors and their Cinema.
His first book, Conversations with Mani Ratnam, was published by Penguin in 2012. His second book, Dispatches From the Wall Corner, was published by Westland in 2014.
He has co-written the (unreleased) Tamil rom-com, Kadhal 2 Kalyanam. He has written the Tamil short film, Kalki. He has written dialogue and narratives for the dance dramas Krishna and Meghadootam.
He has served as a member of the jury at the National Film Awards, and as a member of the selection committee for international films at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.
He teaches a course on cinema at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.
— 23 March, 2022
Baradwaj Rangan 
Shazia Masood
February 21, 2011
I was reading this and thought in my mind .. were you in the theatre with a pen and a paper.. or wait maybe a notebook or an Ipad… and if you hadn’t .. hats off to you for remembering even the minutest details.. but of course I didnt notice you were with the Indian Express and a well known critic!!
You echoed the same feelings I had … mixed feelings and an headache!!
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bindublore
August 12, 2011
ur article on the interview with Bombay Jayashree was beautiful…. I might not be able to sing like her but I totally understand when she says that she loves music more than God…
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vaanu
March 2, 2012
Hiya impatiently waiting for your review of Aravaan….
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Molly Pollak (@mpollak711)
August 19, 2013
Finally a review that nails it. I used to like Anupama Chopra but no more. You are officially the critic I trust. MP from NYC
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Pradeep Manoharan
January 18, 2015
He is very worst reviewed in Hindu Today Jan 18th.
Vikram his very dedicated on this fully….
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Rahini David
May 27, 2015
BR: Please update the About section now that the second book is out.
The new look (FlamingText) is making me cry. I will look elsewhere when you try out these things, meanwhile please try to find something subtle.
🙂
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brangan
May 27, 2015
Thanks Rahini — but I wanted some flamboyance. Not working? 😀
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cl
May 27, 2015
The inclined angle of your name over a straight line is severely distracting and there is part of ‘B’ peeping, on the right.
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Rahini David
May 28, 2015
Flamboyance is not a great idea. In fact, I would be better pleased if your site resembled a really drab technical site. It will make it even easier for me to loiter around here without suspicion. But that is just me. 😉
The current theme is alright, thougt I liked one of the themes that looked like a sort of grid.
BTW, The date in the about section is still wrong. 😀
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Iswarya
May 28, 2015
Here I was, wondering about the date, having landed here after the wiki query elsewhere and Rahini seems to have just divined my thoughts. And yes, flamboyance, especially in visual presentation, would seem so not you, besides being taxing on the eyes.
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brangan
May 28, 2015
Hey, the Man’s Manual says that I’m reaching the age where I should be buying a Ferrari or banging my secretary. Since neither of that’s happening, I’m fooling around with the blog. A little understanding is all I ask 🙂
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Iswarya V
May 29, 2015
Well, when you’ve made such an ironclad case for yourself, there’s nothing to argue about. But then, a lot of folks check out your blog in their office hours and so, maybe that’s worth some consideration! No vested interest for me in this, though. No office hours, and I usually read your blog from my mobile. Still… just saying. 🙂
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AbhilashaChe
July 5, 2015
Mr.rangan,
I have first read your article an year ago where your article about watching the telecast of Oscars in the Hindu and I had this instant feeling of happiness and gratification of reading something that was so different from the usual cookie clutter articles that we read in the papers daily. I just wanted to read more of your writings but to my dismay, I could not find them in the hindu. and this summer after I passed out of school, I stumbled upon your blog and started reading, no, devouring your reviews and articles. It also helped that I started reading your works after I begin to be more and more interested in cinema as an art and was equally intrigued by the processes that go behind making cinema. your writings gave me wonderful insights on writing and cinema, the two interests that I hold close to my heart. unlike other critics in the business, whose reviews I read just for the sake of knowing how good or bad the movies, I have found myself reading your reviews just for the sheer joy of consuming your works of art. and you have literally shaped my thinking of cinema and writing. I just want to say thank you for writing all these articles. thank you so much for being less of a journalist and more of a force of inspiration. Thank you for all you have done and more.
PS- I just wanted to ask you this for so long. I just can’t help but to feel curious about your childhood, teenage years and college life. how you have grown up, what were your influences in childhood, your relationship with cinema from childhood to adulthood, your favorite books, your upbringing and the like. could you,if you don’t mind of course, write a piece on the same??
Your ardent fan,
Clueless college student
Abhilasha.
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parwatisingari
November 28, 2015
Hi liked your- article on Aamir and Kamal, appreciated you acknowledging the link to the Hindu. sorry to put this here instead of the article I just don’t have the patience to scroll. Keep them rolling. 🙂 take care
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Rahini David
March 10, 2016
He has written dialogue and narratives for the dance dramas Krishna and Meghadootam.
This is new, isn’t it?
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brangan
March 10, 2016
Rahini David: No, no. Quite old. Shobana’s ‘Krishna” was about 5 years ago, and ‘Meghadootam’ was a year-and-a-half ago.
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Rahini David
March 10, 2016
I mean, in the about section.
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Shalini
March 10, 2016
Never ventured onto this page before; thanks for pointing me here, Rahini. Ferraris remind me of when I was a little girl – dreaming of growing up to be a race-car driver. Zamaane ne mare jawan kaise kaise…
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Janani Kalyanam
April 27, 2016
BR: It makes more sense for the newer comments to appear at the top – no? I wonder if this is at all under your control.
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Shalini
May 11, 2016
Didn’t know where else to post this and clearly, I’m getting soft in my old-age, but…here. A great read.
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/wmKmvIpF0a521RgzfQAmoL/Gulzar-is-always-looking-for-the-right-lafz.html
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blurb
August 1, 2016
brangan: been meaning to ask this – I got to know that you once gave a talk on “Tanglish in Tamizh Cinema” sometime in 2010. I can’t seem to locate the related blog post – it would be great if you could the corresponding write up, if you have it. Thanks 🙂
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brangan
August 1, 2016
blurb: There’s no blog post. That was something I did for Madras Week. They wanted a fun presentation, and we did one on the evolution of the pre-GVM “Peter Tamilian” in cinema. Sriram wrote about it here (with a picture of me wearing what appears to be Ramarajan’s shirt 😀 ):
https://sriramv.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/tanglish-in-tamil-cinema/
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blurb
August 1, 2016
brangan: .. shirt and shaking KB’s hand, no less! 🙂
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brangan
August 1, 2016
blurb: Oh yeah, KB. Lovely man to talk to.
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blurb
August 1, 2016
brangan: I am sure he was lovely 🙂
But let me share this little incident that happened to a friend and I – which ends with KB chiding us for being too giggly. This was sometime in the 90s. K.B. lived in Warren Road (which has since been renamed to Bhaktavatsalam Salai), Mylapore. My friend and I used to obediently visit a ‘pillaiyaar kovil’ before exams (exam-kku munnaadi dhaane bayathoda sendhu bakthiyum romba varum 🙂 ) situated right across from his house. Of course, everyone knew that was his house – but we had never seen him around ever. On this particular day, KB just appeared out of nowhere in the temple, and was a pleasant shock to everyone (myself, my friend, and the priest, for we were the only ones there). He was standing right across from us. It was so surreal to see him that close. I suppose we were having a silly fan girl moment and were giggling uncontrollably. At which point, he looked straight at us and said “Kovail-ku vandhu kekka bikka-nu enna siruppu”. Of course, that only added to spice to our giggling session — did not deter us one bit (hey, we were silly teenagers, and had NEVER seen a celebrity this close, let alone interacting with one).
An aside – you will actually see this kovil in several of his movies. For example, there’s this fleeting shot in MMKR just before the palakkad-kamal goes to the “malligai kadai”. Kamal with his little friend on the Bajaj Chetak 😛
Good memories. 🙂
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blurb
August 1, 2016
Uh, never mind – I just looked up, and turns out that MMKR had nothing to do with K.B. O.k.
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Rajesh kumar R
September 21, 2016
Hi Baradwaj, Great to see your reviews and to know about your achievements. Wishing you to attain more new heights in your life.
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Anu Warrier
March 3, 2017
BR, this is the first time I’ve read your ‘About’ page and, while your list of accomplishments is amazing, it seems odd to have every sentence in a paragraph start with ‘He has written…’ Seems like bullet points would have worked better, if you just wanted to list your résumé. Honestly, it’s the weirdest ‘About’ page I’ve seen. 🙂
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Chris
March 12, 2017
BR, you haven’t mentioned your The Hindu connection at all. Error of omission? Or was there a falling-out with that team that you would no longer like to remember or be reminded of that connection?
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SudharsananSampath
December 13, 2019
Very very long time lurker, but never commented on anything until now. Just had to say hi, and let you know that I highly enjoy your reviews, sometimes more than the films themselves! Favorite thing is to sit with one of your old reviews during lunch.
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brangan
December 13, 2019
SudharsananSampath: Thanks for the comment, and for de-lurking 🙂
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Shailu Tipparaju
September 16, 2020
You forgot the greatest book Brady ever wrote….enet 3.0 requirements.
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Kaminni Sharrma
September 29, 2020
Hello Sir,
I enjoy reading your articles. Your observation is sharp, nuanced, objective but never mean. My most fav review by you is Race 3. Please believe me when I say tht I read it when I’m low. It helps me laugh. Sad you’d to sit through it. But your writing made it worth it. I’m still discovering your past work. Will you pl do a segment on Hrishida, Basuda, Amol Palekar films ?
Thanks !
Kaminni
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Sananth K
December 9, 2022
Greetings sir, enjoyed watching Mega Roundtable 2022…but, what i felt was, there should be some common audiences inside the room…so that we can know more about audience perspective over cinema. If this hits you, figure out any which way possible. Thank you.
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Shridhar Manivannan
July 3, 2023
Hi sir. Im from Salem. Recently I had attended a discussion of you in Chennai where I asked you “Can an introvert be a successful filmmaker? ” and you answered for that question so beautifully, which gave me lot of confidence and clarity to what to do. So I made my first short film on my own with zero budget, with no crew but with enough self confidence. Thank you for inspiring me. Always great fan of your work and words.
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brangan
July 3, 2023
Shridhar Manivannan: Oh wow. That is so amazing. Congratulations on making your first film. The first step is the toughest. All best wishes.
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Riya
February 8, 2024
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