Category Archives: Essays

10 Years of MAM (Mad About Moviez): An Exciting Journey Despite Many Glitches

Earlier this month our website Mad About Moviez (MAM as we fondly refer to it) turned a grand decade old, having started operations way back in 2011 around this time. Back then the portal came up to fill a void of sorts, after the fantastic PFC (Passion For Cinema) shut down in the summer of 2011. With like minded film buffs like Ashwin Varma, Ajay Nair and Aditya Savnal joining me with the same mindset and enthusiasm, we began MAM in a small way. Though we did not set out with any particular goals, we soon realized that a portal like ours needed one or more focus areas. Covering conventional Bollywood and Hollywood cinema was thus relegated to the background, as we realized that doing justice to these broad areas would be tough. We were anyways late entrants and there were big, popular film websites with whom we would have to compete with.

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Dil Chahta Hai: Time to acknowledge the Sameers around us

It’s been 20 long years since the movie released, and the trio made a trip to Goa. But the characters are etched in our minds forever. And I was just thinking about everyone, especially the character Sameer.

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Re-presenting The Epic Characters in the Film Franchise, Baahubali

Rajamouli’s two-part epic film – Baahubali broke many-a-record in Indian film industry. So much is written and said about the film – its cast, storyline, special visual effects, settings, dialogue, music, costumes, stunts, and more than all about the amount spent on the movie and the records that they broke in box-office collections. The use of new technologies has no doubt enhanced the quality and the visual impact of the film. But what appears to have touched the hearts of the viewers the most is the art of narrating the story.  Millions of viewers queued up in the theatres to find satisfactory answer to the one question that agitated their minds since the release of the first part of Baahubali two years back. It is enough to view the film once to get the answer for the question, “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?”. More than the answer to the question, the film attracted repeat audience and sustained the viewership mostly because of the emotions that the lead characters in the film could arouse. Continue reading “Re-presenting The Epic Characters in the Film Franchise, Baahubali”

10 Path-Breaking Marathi Films of this Decade (So Far)!

We all must be aware that in terms of filmmaking, ‘Path-Breaking’ is an adjective used for films which in a way opens up a different genre/style/theme or redefines a previously known genre/style/theme. In case of Marathi cinema, ‘Path-Breaking’ could be a title used to honor films that broke the mould of conventional ‘Marathi’ genres/styles/themes & while doing so also succeeded in overall aspects, expected from a good film. Comedy & family drama have always been the most conventional genre in Marathi, not to forget ‘melodrama’! There are people who have recently recognized Marathi cinema & have also coined the term ‘The Marathi New Wave’ which includes any random popular Marathi film (like Natsamrat or Katyar..) of recent times. Is the ‘Wave’ really there? Even if it’s there, is it even averagely substantial? Well, let’s examine it!

Note: ‘This Decade (So Far)’ stands for 2010-2016.Continue reading “10 Path-Breaking Marathi Films of this Decade (So Far)!”

Revisiting Khosla Ka Ghosla: 10 years of Uncleji and Chiraunji

On 22nd September, 2006, a small Delhi-based production house and a team of fresh cast & crew members gave us a movie that was to open new gates in Hindi Cinema – the concept of multiplex movie, foray of UTV Motion Pictures into backing many such movies, frequent usage of Delhi as a character and a director called Dibakar Bannerjee
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Rajinikanth on a High

Disclaimer- Well, let me tell you very clearly, I am an atheist and hence i can’t call myself a Rajni fan.
Also, I am my own boss, so it won’t be proper if I called somebody else Thalaivar. I love Thalapathi, not because it is a Rajni film, but because it is a Santosh Sivan and Mani Ratnam film. For me, Sivaji – the Boss was satire and Enthiran was surrealistic imaginations of a person who doesn’t know anything about ceiling fans. The point is this is a totally non-serious and vella article without any intent and motivation. I hope the title will be self-sufficient to understand what my intent here is.

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Sumitra Bhave-Sunil Sukhtankar: Finest Marathi Filmmakers Around!

Praising Marathi cinema is a kind of in thing, these days. You would find quite a few movie buffs on Twitter or elsewhere, catching up on the few absolute gems from Marathi cinema in recent times like Fandry or Killa and then going gaga over it. Directors like Umesh Kulkarni or Nagraj Manjule are celebrated not only in their home state but by cinema aficionados from all over the country, and rightly so! But there is one name that is hardly discussed, especially among the English media of all kinds, and that is of the director duo of Sumitra Bhave-Sunil Sukhtankar. I would stick my neck out and say that their body of work over the last two decades is as good as any other contemporary filmmaker in India. But, sadly, their cinema remains mostly unseen and thus underappreciated.Continue reading “Sumitra Bhave-Sunil Sukhtankar: Finest Marathi Filmmakers Around!”

GAME OF THRONES- Season 6: An Essay

CONTAINS SPOILERS

It is not often that a good episode on TV fills you with such unadulterated joy that you want to revisit the same to truly believe the magic of what you have just seen or savour each moment of what you watched with sheer anticipation in the first go. It is almost unequivocally believed that barring Jon Snow’s resuscitation and Hodor’s tragic death, Season 6 of Game of Thrones has been insipid by the standards it set for itself in the last five years.Continue reading “GAME OF THRONES- Season 6: An Essay”

Through The Lens Of Western Cinema: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Depiction of India or Indians in films produced in the west has mostly not only been inaccurate but to an extent has been outrageous. With the advent of social media, globalisation and lot of ease made in traveling, one would expect to get to know about each other better than ever. This probably might be why such bigotries among the west and its film makers are reduced, if not completely among the new age cinemas. But shouldn’t the Indians themselves be blamed for this by doing very little to show their might by not speaking enough to the world through the medium of cinema? Let’s take a look at some of the movies that were completely harsh, some a little with its own share of imprecisions and some, kind enough to show India and its countrymen in good light.Continue reading “Through The Lens Of Western Cinema: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”