Recent Entries

• Prantik Basu's documentary on Chhau dancers is a gorgeous

  by utuk utuk April 13, 2022
  Prantik Basu remains determined to treat the film as a paean to the rebellion of an indigenous community — composed of Kurmis and Mahatos — and their reverence for an artform fast approaching its expiry date.   In the 59-minute long Bela (the word loosely translates to time in Ben...

• Warner Music India and Jjust Music create a game-changing platf

  by utuk utuk April 12, 2022
  Warner Music India and Jjust music join hands together to release an English language pop track by Bollywood superstar Tiger Shroff.   Warner Music India and Jackky Bhagnani’s Jjust Music have announced a strategic partnership that will see them create pathbreaking Indian music. Their f...

• bittersweet brief encounter on an Arctic-bound train

  by utuk utuk April 11, 2022
  Back in the early 1990s, while covering the filming of the bizarre Russian-backed, Ukraine-set horror movie Dark Waters, I spent 17 hours on a midnight train from Moscow to Odesa. To this day I can still vividly recall the noise, smell and claustrophobia of that journey, crammed into a damp, four-bu...

• Beyond Sharmaji Namkeen

  by utuk utuk April 11, 2022
  For every Sharmaji who finds a sense of purpose in the kitchen, there are many who have perpetually laboured at the ask. It is true at least for the many Sharmajis in my life, including of course my father.   Food binds India, its many cultural shores, unlike maybe anything else. It is the on...

• A Hero movie review of Asghar Farhadi delivers

  by utuk utuk April 10, 2022
  A Hero lacks the verve of A Separation and the emotional gravitas of The Salesman but as a generic social drama, it has its heart in the right place.   This review was first published when A Hero premiered at Cannes Film Festival 2021. It is being republished in view of the film's Indian prem...