Movie
The Normal Heart: Reel Life Stories
The Normal Heart is the story of the gay community’s experience at the beginning of the outbreak of the HIV epidemic in early 80s America. Here I juxtapose this moving story with real life anecdotes on being gay and positive in India in the wake of Section 377. I met him a few years ago. He was bright, young, creative guy and a friend’s date. He was happy and gay and quite proudly so. I met him again a couple of days back. He is still bright, still young, still creative but not quite so happy. His happiness...
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Beed-e-Majnoon
In the 13th century, during the crusades, the Muslim and Christian armies were continuously gaining and losing territory. However, the streets of Konya (Turkey)...
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Chennai Express
From the first look of the of the ‘Chennai Express’ song ‘Kashmir Main…Tu Kanyakumari’, I was desperately waiting for the movie to release. The reason...
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Movie
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AIDS
The Normal Heart: Reel Life Stories
The Normal Heart is the story of the gay community’s experience at the beginning of the outbreak of the HIV epidemic in early 80s America. Here I juxtapose this moving story with real life anecdotes on being gay and positive in India in the wake of Section 377. I met him a few years ago. He was bright, young, creative guy and a friend’s date. He was happy and gay and quite proudly so. I met him again a couple of days back. He is still bright, still young, still creative but not quite so happy. His happiness...
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Beed-e-majnoon
Beed-e-Majnoon
In the 13th century, during the crusades, the Muslim and Christian armies were continuously gaining and losing territory. However, the streets of Konya (Turkey) were yet to see the face of the war which had been raging for over a century by then. During this period Maulana, a very accomplished professor and jurist was riding through the markets of Konya when a Fakeer passed him who whispered something into the Maulana’s ear. Maulana immediately fell from his horse. Seeing this his students started to assault the Fakeer only to be stopped...
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Bollywood
Chennai Express
From the first look of the of the ‘Chennai Express’ song ‘Kashmir Main…Tu Kanyakumari’, I was desperately waiting for the movie to release. The reason might be ‘unconditional love of a Kashmiri towards Kashmir’. I was just wandering what the lyricist and the celebrated actors wanted to exchange with this goofy number. During shooting of ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan’ in Phalgham, Shah Rukh khan tweeted, “Leaving Pahalgam. Learnt life’s lesson in my forefathers land. Only beauty is not enuff, u gotta be tough too to survive. I will...
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Aamir Bashir
Harud
And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight. With these verses by Aga Shahid Ali, a Kashmiri poet, begins the journey of a movie which was supposed to be the first ever mainstream film that would represent the true story of Kashmir. If you didn’t go with the expectation of Aamir Bashir finally telling the story of Kashmir to the world, perhaps the reviews would have made you believe so. It’s towards the end of the movie you begin to understand that Ishmael in Shahid Ali’s poem and Aamir Bashir’s...
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Bollywood
Jab Tak hai Jaan
After decades of persecution by J.P Dutta brigade, Sunny Deol and other salesmen of Indian ultra patriotism, here comes yet another movie starring the lover boy of Indian film industry. The film kicks off with an anti bomb squad trying to diffuse a time bomb which is planted in a motorbike, parked right in the middle of the street. Scene two – walks in, rather rides through, the protagonist, Major Samar (Shah Rukh Khan) to diffuse ‘Bomb number 98’. Barely 10 feet away, the curious looking crowd are desperate to watch the brave army...
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Desolation of Smaug
Desolation of Smaug
After a year’s wait, Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug finally arrived and hit the screens on 13 December worldwide. Contrary to the first one, the part two is more spectacular and brings back the wide angle shots and huge landscape photography with Peter Jackson’s trademark cinematic excellence as seen earlier in Lord of the Rings. In this one, only there are few lighter moments as compared to the previous installment. This time Peter Jackson has not tried to withhold the pace of the super- epic fantasy penned down by JRR Tolkien almost half...
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entertainement news
The Hobbit
There is a place in the middle earth far over misty mountains, deep dungeons and a lonely mountain. A group of thirteen warrior dwarves are on a mission to reclaim their homeland. The Hobbit is an epic journey of Thoren (Richard Armitage) and is men rather dwarves to the Lonely Mountain which is under the subjugation of a ferocious Dragon named Smaug. They are also accompanied by none other than Gandalf, the grey wizard (Ian McKellen). But, in order to carry out their journey they also need a burglar and a Hobbit like Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman)...
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entertainement news
The Great Gatsby
Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ is generating international buzz these days. It was presented at the Cannes film festival with a pomp and show worthy of a big release. Baz Luhrmann is known best for his marvelous 1996 film, Romeo and Juliet in which he superimposed Shakespeare’s well known romantic tragedy from ancient Italy to a modern American town, and created a film full of passion. This rightfully won him a lot of acclaim. His subsequent films, Moulin Rouge and Australia,...
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Argo
Argo
This year’s Oscar ceremony appeared too obvious given the record of previous Oscar nominations. Like Hurtlocker, another Kathryn Bigelow directed movie, Zero Dark Thirty was supposed to be a strong contender for the best movie title. But, this time Ben Affleck directed Argo took home the award for best motion picture. Affleck himself plays the lead role of a CIA agent in the 1970s hostage drama set In Iran after the Iranian revolution. Soon after the Shah of Iran was overthrown almost the whole of Iran was under the control of revolutionary guards...
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Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas
Cloud Atlas is the story of different lives in different time periods. It is quite difficult to comprehend the movie for almost an hour in the beginning but, the pace and thrill compensates it. The film is based on a book by the same name written by David Mitchell. The movie is not a regular flick; its excruciating, intense and radiates too much brain squeezing philosophy. In fact belongs to that class of movies that you know are brilliantly made and requires equal brilliance to completely understand each and...