no way a film like this could ever be made today; released in 2014, just half a year after modi's rise to power, the film's end titles proclaim relative peace and growing tourism in kashmir, striking chills now post-2019 and article 370's inhumane revocation. the amount of sensitivity this has for the militarization of kashmiri life, the recognition of conditions which force them to take arms, indeed the necessity to fight back, is in stark contrast to mass media and popular cinema's history of representational irresponsibility (the film even implies popular cinema as an ideological apparatus of indian metropolitan hegemony, in two creative choices that stand out: to imagine filmi-obsessed rosencrantz and guildenstern stand-ins, and to locate a kashmiri internment camp…

If William Shakespeare were alive today, he would have hugged and cried in the arms of Vishal Bhardwaj. A pure poetry.

Haider based on Shakespeare's Hamlet is a story set amidst the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflicts of 1995, which was the peak of militancy in the valley.

One of the elements in the movie that surprised me was the Cinematography, it was spectacular. How in the heaven of Kashmir beauty there was blood lying and in that blood people are torn with both sides is shown.

The Score of this movie is just mesmerizing. And I am pointing this out because mainly in Bollywood the score is just there, you know kept for entertaining only. A R Rahman has been the…

on my sixteenth mom recounted an event from late 90s kashmir, an era of myraid loss, abuses, armed resistance and an epoch in which "hum kya chahte? azadi!" became a slogan for the collective consciousness who longed for freedom. amongst thousands of miltants who stood up for/in defense of the oppressed were two from mom's hometown. on multiple occasions they came back home to their families, people and everyone from the locality loved them. there's always a cynical optimism in kashmiris — "we know they're not coming back but one day we will be free". months later they were shot dead and their bodies were returned to their families (a rare occurrence). after death they were never spoken of as…

A PASSAGE TO INDIA II: ATTACK OF THE SPICE

A modern Hindi retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet can only be described as a surprise. This was another movie I hadn’t read any of the synopsis for and just added to my list per someone’s recommendation, so every twist and turn took me by surprise. Again, like with Sonchiryan, it would have been great had I known more about the historical context in which the whole film unravels, but at the same time, I don’t feel like it hurt that much my viewing experience.

But yeah, the performances are all incredible, from Kapoor as this broken man who gradually becomes more unhinged to Kabu as the mom who literally goes in a…

It only took me eighteen years to realize that movies are meant to be watched on the big screen. The perfect balance of sound and dark and even sensation, the way the film envelops you so completely that you forget yourself for a little while, the way the actors finally become larger than life, their faces astonishingly striking even though all their imperfections are on display – this is the only way to watch movies. Everything else is but a pale imitation.

Or perhaps it’s just the experience of watching Haider on the big screen that makes me feel this way. I wouldn’t be surprised if, after watching Happy New Year next week at the cinema with my family, I…