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Ayub Khan and the Pakistani film industry
A leading film-maker once asserted to me that Pakistani cinema had actually thrived through the advent of Ayub Khan’s military rule. This thought is part of the broader belief amongst some quarters...
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Chennai Express: A perfect Bollywood masala film!
Director Rohit Shetty, who delivered hits like Golmaal 3, Singham and Bol Bachchan, brings together Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s captivating chemistry once again to the big screen in the form...
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Chennai Express: A trainwreck of a masala film
Chennai Express is paisa vasool; shamelessly masala, no pretense otherwise. The locations are absolutely stunning, the item number is decent, the humour hits the spot more than twice in 2.5 hours....
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Shuddh Desi Romance: Fairy tales exist, with or without marriage!
Three days into the release of Shuddh Desi Romance (SDR), most of the Bollywood viewers (irrespective of whether they have seen the movie or not) know that the film circles around the theme of...
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Zinda Bhaag: Pakistani cinema’s return to glory?
I watched Zinda Bhaag at its World Premier in Toronto, incidentally on August 14, 2013 - Pakistan’s Independence Day. After a successful ten day run, followed by many reviews, and nominated for...
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Waar: Pakistan’s stark reality or hope for the future?
After the release of Waar’s trailer online I found myself being annoyingly corrected about how to pronounce the movie’s name. I’d invariably call it ‘War’ in front of Urdu lovers who would tell me it...
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Diana: A twisted exaggeration of incomplete facts
Although the making of the film Diana has generated quite a bit of hype, the build-up seems to be more about the exceptional personality that the film attempts to portray rather than the film itself....
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6 areas where Waar missed the target
It is official. Waar is making coin! The film has shot to Rs10.5 crore within the first ten days of its release, firmly placing in its crosshairs Pakistan’s highest grossing film of all time, Bol. Waar...
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Ram-Leela: Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s visual treat to the world!
The moment I saw the first promo of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Ram-Leela, I decided I had to watch it. I did not think that it would change my views about world cinema, nor was it the most...
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‘Catching Fire’ with The Hunger Games!
With its dark and powerful plot coupled with an abundance of fantastic performances, Francis Lawrences’s Catching Fire is as gripping a watch as its former film. But unlike The Hunger Games, the latest...
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12 Years A Slave: A peek into the dark history of the US
While my friend and I were having coffee, he shared an interesting observation with me: “I always wondered why the black people were unable to overcome the practice of slavery in the United States...
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Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine is not worthy of a Golden Globe
As I sat in a cosy small Indie cinema in the dark waiting for the film to start, I was struck by the strangest sense of déjà vu... ‘Will this be another lack lustre Woody Allen film or a hidden gem?’...
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Oscars 2014: Here are my predictions about who will take home the gold!
The year 2013 has been a fantastic year for films – a film about an HIV positive patient, another about the smirk of a drug lord with metal teeth; one about a lesbian love affair and another showing...
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Total Siyapaa: Despite a Pakistani groom and an Indian bride, the movie could...
Ali Zafar’s fifth Bollywood film, Total Siyapaa, is an outlandish comedy of errors which unfolds on a single, wild night. The movie is another version of the popular cliché of what happens when a boy...
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Damon Salvatore and Edward Cullen better hide, we want a Buffy the Vampire...
Being a die-hard fan of the classic television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and knowing that there are many others like me out there, I think it is about time a Buffy movie...
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Three Muslim films Pakistanis must watch
Pakistan might not have the best movie industry in the world but Muslim countries across the world have managed to spread some truly phenomenal messages and cultural insights through their films...
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4 reasons “Edge of Tomorrow” was such a… fail
From the day that the trailer for Edge of Tomorrow was revealed, it was surrounded by a buzz. With Tom Cruise playing the lead and the amazing visual effects, I was sure we were in for a mega summer...
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Will North Korea consider this blog an “act of war”?
Facing what could be his harshest critic yet, Seth Rogen’s upcoming film, “The Interview”, has been rated 4.5 nukes by the fuming Supreme Leader of North Korea whom it has satirised. [embed...
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Kick: Of course all laws of physics and science are defied… it’s a bhai film!
What Indian cinema fans feel about Salman Khan is somewhat similar to what Pakistanis feel about Shahid Afridi. We will never compare him with any other player of the world. We know he doesn’t have any...
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Humans have no place in the ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’
“All hail Caesar” Taking place around 10 years after the memorable events of its predecessor movie, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes shows a world where humans have been all but wiped out by the simian...
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