The Idea-smithy

HT Cafe’s summary of Paa goes as follows:
Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent, witty 13-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing. Mentally he is 13, but physically he looks five times older. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan), is a [...]

I saw Jail last night. This is the latest offering from the Madhur Bhandarkar stable and is about (yes of course) life within the confines of prison. One thing to say about Bhandarkar is that he definitely picks his topics well. From the plight of bar dancers to the socialite circles, the corporate battlefield and [...]

I’m not a dog-lover. In fact I am not even an animal-lover, though I could fairly tolerate a cat’s company. It’s not that I have anything against them, animals just never touched me. I’m a people-person, not an animal-person.
But what if animals were people too, just on fours and oh, with paws and fur instead [...]

Slumdog Millionaire is that rare combination of a strong plot and skilful storytelling that marries grit and glamour seamlessly.
You would think that a firang’s depiction of India would be all ‘exotic desh’…swollen-bellied babies starving outside the Taj Mahal and begging children. The movie does have hunger, poverty, slums, streetkids and beggars. Even the Taj Mahal. [...]

Darna Mana Hai…..getting scared is strictly prohibited. Of course I would love to be able to claim that this dictum isn’t valid, because there is nothing that could scare me. “Want to bet?” The movie seems to challenge me as it unfolds into 7 different routes into that murky zone of fear.
A couple of years [...]