It’s a well-known allegory that in communist dominated Russia, the citizens had to toe the line of the powers-that-be, no matter what. Taking a cue from this parable, former CIA operative Jason Mathews’ 2013 novel has been fashioned into an espionage thriller, based on Justin Haythe’s screenplay. Jennifer Lawrence plays ballerina Dominica Egorava, who breaks…
When was the last time one saw a film where tears of sorrow turned to sporadic laughter and the other way around? The third film of playwright-turned-director Martin McDonagh (screenplay too), ‘Three Billboards…’ narrates the story of Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), a grief-stricken mother whose daughter was raped and burnt to death and is seeking justice…
Early on in the film one of the central characters in the film mouths the dialogue “In our job we cannot afford confusion”. This line could very well have been spoken by writer-director Neeraj Pandey as viewed throughout the first half of the 160 minute film. The lengthy opening disclaimer too is understandable – after…
‘Padma_ _ ‘ seems to be the flavour of the season. Based on the true story of Coimbatore school dropout Arunachalam Murugananthan, who revolutionised the concept of making affordable sanitary pads for rural women, R. Balki’s PadMan is fictionalised enough to stray from the realms of a documentary. Lakshmikant Chauhan is a welder in Maheshwar,…
The info, or rather statistics, imparted to the viewers in the beginning attempts to assure them that they are in for a thriller. We are told that Los Angeles is the bank robbery capital of the world – every 48 minutes there is a bank heist in the City of the Angels. The film opens…
Come Oscar time, and the best that Hollywood has to offer is on display. After ‘There Will Be Blood’ (2007), Phantom Thread reunites director Paul Thomas Anderson and the hugely talented Daniel Day-Lewis.Confirmed bachelor Reynolds Woodcock (DDL) is a scrupulously painstaking and perfectionist couturier – sewing handmade garments for royalty, millionaires and socialites. He hires models…
History is seldom recorded by the vanquished and, as such, is frequently inaccurate. The film opens to a slew of disclaimers, no doubt prompted by the dictates of the censors to appease the ‘senas’ who had objected to the inaccuracies in the film, which is inspired by the Sufi poet, Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s 1540 epic poem,…
The snowy locales of Himachal Pradesh is the setting for this curiously titled film, and one soon learns that it is the name of a hotel in Manali. The film opens with a person running frantically in the snow as if the devil was after him. Cut to ACP Ashwin Dixit and his wife Shikha…
That famous victory sign, the pugnacity of the man, the perennial cigar in his mouth with those protruding jowls under the bowler hat and the oratory skills which earned him the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature, are all brought to screen via an intense portrayal of two-time British PM Winston Churchill by Gary Oldman. The…
Films of this genre normally start off sedately – the protagonist (being an ex-cop helps) working hard for a living, usually with a spouse and child (comes in handy as hostages), and losing his job – wondering how to break the news at home. So, in The Commuter we have Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson), an…
[otw_shortcode_info_box border_style=”bordered”]Reviewed by Prof. Zarine Soli Arya[/otw_shortcode_info_box] . [otw_shortcode_info_box border_style=”bordered” background_color=”#ffffff” background_pattern_url=”boxed”]* 320 pages, illustrated, hard bound, attractive colour jacket * Published by Marzban J. Giara, December 2017 [/otw_shortcode_info_box] . ‘Valiant Parsis in War and Peace’ by Marzban Giara, highlights our community’s military stalwarts like Field Marshal Sam HFJ Maneckshaw, all the Parsi service chiefs,…