A one-woman stage presentation, Cast Off All Shame, by Ulka Mayur (in picture above), brought into focus the women Bhakti poets of India, who predated the feminist movement—as we know it…

Bridezilla Strikes:   There can be no wedding in our country, without high stress and drama, some of which playwright-director Veena Bakshi has captured with humour in Ank’s production of Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi.…

Land Of Half Lives:   News footage coming out of Kashmir is full of violence, and soldiers watching over an uneasy calm that could blow up in their faces if…

Snatched From Headlines:   Daniel Silva’s astonishingly topical thrillers have plots that could actually have taken place, outside of the writer’s imagination; in fact, a few of his books have…

Bihari Blues: Rating: * 1/2 Only in a crazily patriarchal and lawless society like Bihar could the system of ‘pakadwa shaadi’ even exist, under which eligible men are kidnapped and…

If, a few years ago, somebody had suggested that 007 should be a woman, they would have been laughed off the studio lot. However, today, a production company  sees the…

The Girl Who Came To Dinner: No matter how liberal a family may be, when the possibility of a son or daughter choosing a partner from outside the community comes…

The Hakim Of Hoshiarpur Rating: ** There are ads hidden in the newspapers, and pamphlets plastered on walls—so-called ‘experts’ promising to solve all sexual problems. But people use weird euphemisms…

Stardust In Her Eyes: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love (2006) was turned into a movie starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, so the writer took a backseat. Based on the…

A Witless Comedy : Rating: *i/2 The kind of cinema Rohit Jugraj’s Arjun Patiala attempts to spoof–the ‘scriptless’ formula Bollywood caper comedy movie– is so ridiculous anyway, that the joke…