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Browsing All Posts filed under »Cinema: Marathi«
“Sairat”… An epic reimagining of the typical love story touches (and crushes) the heart
The following is based on the cut of the film screened at the Berlinale this year. And yes, spoilers ahead… In Nagraj Popatrao Manjule’s first film, Fandry, a dark-skinned, poverty-stricken Dalit boy tried to get the attention of a fair-skinned upper-caste (and upper-class) girl. What if he got her attention? What if she started liking […]
Common men, uncommon stories
August 15, 2015
On the eve of the release of ‘Manjhi – The Mountain Man’, Baradwaj Rangan traces the journey of our biopics, which are no longer just about larger-than-life achievers. It all began in 1959, when a landless Bihari from the Musahar community, a scheduled caste that traditionally made a living as rat catchers, decided to make […]
“Court”… An impressive achievement
April 30, 2015
Spoilers ahead… Note the way Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court begins. An old man. A bunch of kids. The setting: an unremarkable room. The old man is trying to teach the kids something. He’s teaching them about butterflies. He’s teaching them about the country’s geography. Now, note the way Court ends. Another old man. Another bunch of […]
Lights, Camera, Conversation… “All the world’s a screen…”
September 12, 2014
In light of the upcoming ‘Haider’, a look at a 60-year-old Hindi version of ‘Hamlet’. Plus, ‘Sivaji’ Ganesan and Uttam Kumar as Othello. When we think of non-Western (and non-Vishal Bhardwaj) adaptations of Shakespeare, the mind settles, instantly, on Kursosawa. Throne of Blood. Ran. But a quick Google search reveals some fascinating Indian productions. A […]
Lights, Camera, Conversation… “And the Oscar doesn’t go to…”
September 27, 2013
Some thoughts on cricket and baseball and the movies we send out for Best Foreign Film consideration. So the powers that be chose The Good Road over The Lunchbox, and Twitter exploded. I thought, first, that this was an overreaction. (Then again, what’s Twitter for if not overreacting?) After all, isn’t this the same system […]
Films & Feni: Elephants and Eternal Life
December 3, 2009
ELEPHANTS AND ETERNAL LIFE DEC 3, 2009 – FILMMAKERS HAVE LONG ENDEAVORED to dispense bitter medicine in the form of sugar-coated pills, but in doing so, they seldom manage the trick of getting past the audience’s gag reflex. Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar, with their Ek Cup Chya (the title is a euphemism for greasing […]
Films & Feni: Oscar Ahoy!
November 30, 2009
OSCAR AHOY NOV 30, 2009 – CAN A FILM BE COMMERCIAL, incorporating songs (wonderfully tuned by Shantanu Moitra) and ingratiating product plugs, and yet not too commercial, wanting to embrace a wide audience but not at the cost of losing its soul along the way? Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s beautifully bittersweet Antaheen somehow finds that magical […]
Films & Feni: Early Edition
November 24, 2009
EARLY EDITION NOV 24, 2009 – AS THE DEBATE RAGES ABOUT WHETHER or not the winsome display of Kareena Kapoor’s bare back was absolutely germane to the narration of Kurbaan, I slink into a press-only screening of Gabhricha Paus (The Damned Rain), Satish Manwar’s Marathi film where the only backs are broken ones. Can a […]
Baradwaj Rangan 
April 28, 2016
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