What would you do if you had Hundred days to live? As Maddy, aka Manohar Dahiya, the struggling rapper from Haryana puts it, "Agar sabko pata chal jaave k life ki gaddi mein kitna tel bacha hai, vahin jaavenge jahaan jana hai." (If everyone knew how long they were going to live, they'd do exactly... Continue Reading →
Review: Panchayat
I have been a Jeetu fan from his Munna Jazbaati days during the early TVF era, and it remains a perennial treat to watch him perform. With Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhaan, this incredible actor got a well-deserved break into mainstream Hindi cinema. Because let's face it, his body of work online has already made him the Amitabh... Continue Reading →
Review: Hasmukh
Vir Das is a comedian who - if you follow his work - you either completely love or completely hate. Especially over the last few years when he has gotten significantly into political humour, his comedy evokes extreme reactions. To be fair, even a cat video would evoke extreme reactions in these polarized times. (Is... Continue Reading →
Review: Four More Shots Please
Four More Shots Please could just as easily be titled Pretty Privileged People Problems. Which is not to say that these people don't have problems. In fact, the show was almost defensive about it this season with multiple characters saying at some point during Season 2 to each other, "Just because you are privileged does... Continue Reading →
Review: Across the Line
Growing up in Delhi, my friends would all go to their hometowns or native villages during summer vacations, and I would often get asked the question, "Where are you from?" And I always replied, "Delhi". "Yes, but where are you from from? Like, originally." I never knew how to answer this question, or indeed what... Continue Reading →
Review: Afsos
This is the best series I've watched in a long time. And as is evident from this blog, I've watched some series. Afsos, as the trailer would tell you, is the story of a man who wants to die but has failed at committing suicide eleven times in a row. Desperate in the face of... Continue Reading →
Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
I didn't know it was possible for a book to be touching, tragic, funny and extremely intelligent at the same time until I read EOICF. Gail Honeyman is a magician with the ability to make you laugh out loud and choke up with a lump in your throat, sometimes in the span of a single... Continue Reading →
Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
I know what you're thinking. That title. That title is, at once, the best and the worst thing about this book, depending on the way you look at it. You might want to buy a brown paper cover, old school style, if you are wary of prying eyes judging you and your reading choices. Or... Continue Reading →
Review: If It’s Monday It Must Be Madurai
I'm at the tail end of a ten year college reunion at Bangalore even as the world is at the tail end of 2019. It is an unprecedented winter in North India which, in Delhi, translates to unprecedentedly poor air quality. I find myself in serious threat of ringing in the new year at Bangalore... Continue Reading →
Review: Saand Ki Aankh
An older and wiser friend, who shall remain unnamed, once told me that the only way to get any new idea past an uncooperative man is to make him think it was his idea to begin with. I was constantly reminded of her sage advice during my favourite parts of Saand ki Aankh, the awe-inspiring... Continue Reading →