The title may sound vague, if not misleading. It alludes to the conformist book-learning system of education in India as opposed to the knowledge gleaned in the developed countries by imparting practical learning. Santoshi Kumari (Tannishtha Chatterjee), whose motto is ‘one should celebrate failure too’, is happily married to an income-tax official i.e. till he…
Biopics are a gateway to revisiting your childhood heroes. Ramchandra Chitalkar (C. Ramchandra the music director) was Bhagwan (Dada) Abhaji Palav’s alter ego. The two sons of the Maharashtrian soil combined harmoniously to give the Hindi film industry, in 1951, arguably its greatest musical sleeper hit. Ekk Albela opens in 1930 before the diminutive actor…
Though the film is peppered with piquant humour, the wittiest portion of the film is before it even begins. After proffering the viewer copious information and statistics on Raman Raghav, the serial killer of the 60s, comes the audacious disclaimer – ‘This film is not about him’. But let that not be a criterion of…
A successful prequel is never a certainty for the fate of its subsequent films. Firstly, the title is a bit of a misnomer. The film is all about a young blue tang fish Dory (Ellen De Generes) with a short-term-memory loss syndrome, who gets separated from her parents. The trials–and tribulations-of the adorable Dory while…
Recipe for a successful film: take a controversial subject—ensure the outdoor location is a porous state of India—sign a rockstar hero (the shorter the better) — add a diva – X, Y or Z, preferably an ex (doesn’t matter if they do not have scenes together)—sprinkle liberally coloured powder (no kitchen condiments please)—add one more…
Macau is the setting for the quartet of the most celebrated magicians and ace illusionists to perform their stupefying feats in front of an encouraging audience. Danny Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is the leader of the group, The Horsemen, which includes Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), Lula May (Lizzy Caplan) and Merritt Mckinney (Woodey Harrelson in a…
There’s something alluring about Hollywood, and it is not restricted to just us mortals. In the course of their teachings, Paramahansa Yogananda (the subject of this bio-documentary) went there in the 1920s, Meher Baba visited it in 1932. Both these hallowed men count among their followers hundreds of Zoroastrians. In 1920, at the age of…
Parsi Times Film Reviewer Hoshang K. Katrak was present at the book launch of Shashi Kapoor’s biography. An interesting report… The select 150-odd who were present at The Sofitel Mumbai, BKC, on 11th June at the glittering launch of ‘Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, the Star’ by New York based film journalist and columnist, Aseem Chhabra,…
Movies starring relentless and ruthless martial arts artists do not necessarily translate into riveting films. In his seventh outing as director, Deepak Tijori makes an honest effort at adapting the successful 2011 Korean ‘Always’, but sadly lets the script fall prey to the dictates of Bollywood. A fortuitous meeting between a visually impaired Jenny Mathias…
At 73, and after 47 years in the industry, the consummate Amitabh Bachchan has nothing left to prove to his fans. He’s done the gamut of roles—and emotions. Sujoy Ghosh, after having helmed the hugely successful 2012 thriller ‘Kahani’, now turns producer, leaving the direction to Ribhu Dasgupta whose only feature so far was the…
‘Haunting, A-haunting we go’ is the motto of the master of shocker flicks James Wan, in this sequel to the 2013 ‘Conjuring’. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise their earlier roles of wife–husband paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren. The film begins with the couple conducting a séance in Amityville. While on the job, the psychic…