Subscribe:
RSS feed
Browsing All Posts filed under »Society«
Off the Topic: Women in Sabarimala…
Honest Raj and Rahini David asked for an OTT thread on this topic, so…. PS: To those who said even the OTT threads are going way out of topic, I don’t mind that. At least, this keeps the film/review threads “pure.”
Off The Topic: #MeToo
October 10, 2018
I have a genuine (and somewhat abstract) question about all this, and let me begin by stating that I believe Chinmayee and others wrt to the Vairamuthu issue. But here’s the question I have. My “belief” is a gut feel, based on my “personal” conviction that these women are telling the truth — but it’s […]
Readers Write In #49: The Portrayal of Disability in Indian Mainstream Cinema – Where’s the Nuance?
September 16, 2018
So, the husband and I were craving a good Tamil masala movie last night, and chanced upon the Suriya-starrer, “Thaana Serndha Kootam”. It seemed to have got decent reviews, and we went in expecting a light, fun watch. Half an hour and two fast-forwarded songs later (thank God for modern online watching. Can’t imagine having […]
Readers Write In #47: When Left Met Right: Let’s talk about Communalizing Carnatic Music
August 24, 2018
As the nation celebrates its 72nd Independence Day, we need to have a dialogue between those who read India right and left. Before I venture further, I must admit this. I have never been too fond of labels which are, more often, borrowed constructs placed out of context. So, I am going to use the […]
Readers Write In #34: Dancing to Bollywood’s tune
February 10, 2018
The title is as literal as it gets and makes me a little unhappy for not coming up with a smarter heading. But hey, as a first time writer I forgive myself. Growing up, dancing was an alien concept. Parties in our tiny Mumbai flats meant men drinking rum and whisky, women chatting and kids […]
Readers Write In #33: Tweet, Outrage, Abuse, Repeat
February 5, 2018
For those who frequent the twitterverse, it is of no surprise to regularly come across online skirmishes involving movie stars and their “veriyargal”. Smarting from the lightest pokes and jabs at their stars, these entities hurl abuses, threats and engage in less than civil behaviour that is now the norm on twitter. This post is […]
Readers Write In #32: O Butterfly and things that even Google can’t buy
January 27, 2018
A piece about things that still do not have a google address, such as an obscure rendition of O Butterfly. Seemed apt to put this up now, given the Padma Vibhushan for Ilayaraja (though this isn’t really about him). Ilayaraja fans and maybe Vikram fans as well would be familiar with the 1991 hit song O […]
Woody Allen, Aziz Ansari and the crucible of public judgement
January 22, 2018
Read the full article on Firstpost, here: http://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/woody-allen-aziz-ansari-and-the-crucible-of-public-judgment-a-reel-versus-real-analysis-4314073.html Ever since stories about sexual harassment and abuse of power/privilege began to tumble out of Hollywood’s closets, some of us have begun to wonder if we have any business commenting at all. It’s vital to come out against systematic predators like Harvey Weinstein, but what about some […]
Readers Write In #31: Parvathy and the Mammookka trolls
January 19, 2018
It all first began when a Malayalam actress was abducted and assaulted in her own car. Women in Malayalam cinema came together after this, and formed a group called Women in Cinema Collective (WCC). They began speaking out against a topic that was largely unspoken about until then : sexism in the Malayalam film industry. […]
Readers Write In #30: Rant of an anti-national
January 5, 2018
We have history books. Philosophical works. Research papers on culture, economy and religion and their impacts on society. Artistic works on the exploitation of the ruled by the ruler. Field workers who themselves have borne the brunt of excesses of our enemy. Dialecticians splitting their hairs to interpret the course of society. With all these […]
Readers Write In #22: My Views – In Questions
September 25, 2017
Those wishful words! Those hopeful eyes! Those words spoken by the young girl who ended her life recently wasn’t just broken English, it was broken dreams. The thought of a young life rich with the potential of good deeds and actions ended by just a piece of cloth causes great pain to me. No explanation […]
Blog vs Bharatvarsh
August 3, 2017
sai16vicky mentioned something in the Dunkirk thread, and it spawned a few responses. Posting them here, as a new thread, in case you feel like chiming in. sai16vicky August 2, 2017 BR, I have always respected your views on Free Speech (though my stand is different). But with you banning Anuj, I have a question […]
Bitty Ruminations 85 – Speaking to the ‘other’ India
June 25, 2017
Every time I read an op-ed in an English-language newspaper, every time I sit through a panel discussion at a Lit Fest or any other event, this is what strikes me: that you are preaching to the choir. The people in the audience have already bought into what you’re selling: women need to be respected, […]
Readers Write In #19: Of bandhs and the VCR boom
June 17, 2017
I was in college in my sophomoron year (sic) and I’d just discovered the joys of binging on Video cassettes. My classmate in college was one of the first families to own a VCR (Video cassette Recorder) and I was a regular at his place, watching the old classics as well as the latest releases […]
Readers Write In #12: A Chennai story
March 27, 2017
City | Chennai Location | Shivan Park, Ashok Nagar A bright little evening on a weekend, I was taking a walk with my friend/mentor, a man of action with words to match up for it. The usual gleeful evening crowd filled up the park ; Children playing see-saw and swing, parents with their kids, the badminton […]
The reinvention of a K-k-k-khan
February 4, 2017
Given Shah Rukh’s career crossroads, it’s going to be fascinating to watch where he goes from here. Is it just me, or has Shah Rukh Khan become the most interesting actor around? This isn’t about his performing skills. This isn’t about his box-office clout, healthy enough for a star, yet nowhere near that of the […]
About free speech, ‘Padmavati’, and that scene in ‘Kaabil’
January 31, 2017
Dear liberals, if you think what happened with Bhansali was wrong, then you have to see ‘Kaabil’ for what it is, not what you want it to be. It’s somewhat pointless to write something on free speech in a country where the right comes with an “if and only if” clause, but I’m going to […]
Taking a stand
December 1, 2016
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the national anthem is yet another instance of the movies being a soft target for tokenistic measures. Why is it always the movies? Take smoking. There are many ways to bring down cigarette and liquor consumption. You can stop the sale of singles, force people to buy a pack every […]
Vox un-populi?
November 12, 2016
Musings on the media, post the bomb that just blew up in the United States. The recent events around Trump already seemed to have played out at movie theatres around Tamil Nadu, around the time the film Remo was released. The word around the rom-com, starring the young (and young-skewing) actor Sivakarthikeyan, was toxic. The […]
Analysis, critical!
October 8, 2016
Social media may not have killed the film critic, but it has definitely changed the business of film criticism. In a panel discussion at the Indywood Film Carnival, held in Hyderabad last week, I was asked about the impact of social media on critics. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question. It […]
October 11, 2018
120