Tag: indian cinema

Raajneeti (Dir.: Prakash Jha; Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Arjun Rampal, Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Bajpayee et al.) Prakash Jha?s reputation of making films against a socio-political backdrop grows with Raajneeti. But here, his canvas is bigger as he seeks to combine the Indian political scenario with The Godfather whilst peppering the plot with…

Noukadubi (Dir.: Rituparno Ghosh; Cast: Riya Sen, Raima Sen, Jishu Sengupta, Prosenjit Chatterjee et al.) Noukadubi (The Boatwreck) is Rituparno Ghosh?s adaptation of the Rabindranath Tagore novel bearing the same title. The plot of Noukadubi deals with a case of mistaken identity and the ensuing choices and about how it affects the lives of a…

Moner Manush (Dir.: Goutam Ghose) Moner Manush is Goutam Ghose? screen adaptation of the Sunil Gangopadhyay novel bearing the same title. Moner Manush is a depiction of Lalan Fakir, an Indian saint who lived in the 18th century. This is the story of a simpleton from an Indian village in the region of Bengal and…

Gangs of Wasseypur (Dir.: Anurag Kashyap; Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia et al.) It would suffice to say that Gangs of Wasseypur is a film which is in a class of its own by such a far distance from its peers from the same house, that, by the sheer fact of its existence,…

Meghe Dhaka Tara (Cloud-Capped Star, Dir.: Ritwik Ghatak) Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-Capped Star) by the respected Indian director Ritwik Ghatak is an intense human drama starring renowned Bengali actors Anil Chatterjee and Supriya Choudhury in the lead roles. Meghe Dhaka Tara is an experience too enormous and deep to be described in words. This…

Satyajit Ray’s Calcutta Trilogy (Pratidwandi, Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya) Pratidwandi (The Adversary) is the earliest part of Satyajit Ray?s Calcutta Trilogy, the other two being Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya. Pratidwandi?s plot is derived from a Sunil Gangopadhyay novel. The film portrays the trials and tribulations of a young man in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in the…

Apur Sansar (The World of Apu, Dir.: Satyajit Ray; Cast: Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore et al.) Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) is the concluding part of master Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray?s ??Apu Trilogy?. The Indian word ?sansar? may mean both world and family. Both meanings are relevant in the context of the film, as…

Aparajito (The Unvanquished, Dir.: Satyajit Ray; Cast: Karuna Banerjee et al.) Aparajito (The Unvanquished) is the second part of Satyajit Ray?s ?Apu Trilogy? – the three films chronicling the life of Apu from his childhood to adulthood. Aparajito begins with Apu as a teenager and culminates with him in his youth. This journey is arduous…

Pather Panchali (Dir.: Satyajit Ray; Cast: Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Tulsi Chakrabarty et al.; Music: Ravi Shankar) Pather Panchali marked the introduction of Satyajit Ray, arguably India’s finest filmmaker, on the world stage. Pather Panchali, based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s identically titled novel, is the story of a small family consisting of a couple, an elderly…

This section contains film reviews and musings around films in general. Exploiting the liberty of getting to choose the films I review, I have largely gone with the ones which moved or delighted or entertained me. As each film is unique and has its own story to tell, which may vary widely in scope and…