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Set in Herat Province in Afghanistan, Rule Breakers follows the radical (especially for the Taliban and their followers) attempt by Afghan businesswoman Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri) to teach computer skills to Afghan girls. This is no easy feat – from the time she was a girl herself, Mahboob was fascinated…
Leave a CommentI love movies about the making of movies and about the magic of movies in the lives of ordinary people. Give me a Chhello Show, or a Halal Love Story, or a Harishchandrachi Factory and I’m happy. Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon is another delightful addition to this list. Set…
Leave a CommentI was just thinking last week about how many police procedural films I’d seen recently. They range from the very over-the-top masala films where a policeman is seen to be above the law, larger than life and meting out a kind of extra-judicial justice, something writer Jinoy Jose P. called…
Leave a Comment“In the darkness, you try to imagine light. But you cannot.” Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) all work at a city hospital in Mumbai. Prabha is a head nurse, Anu is a recent nurse hire, and Parvaty is a cook. Prabha and Anu are Malayalees…
2 Comments“I am the Fury,” growls Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) as she looks into the camera being held by her sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), and then attempts a 540 kick that she hopes will be her signature move in the career she’s aiming at: stuntwoman. Ria fails, and will continue to…
Leave a CommentSaim Sadiq’s Joyland opens with a figure covered in a sheet, almost like a ghost, unable to see – this is Haider (Ali Junejo), the youngest son of Abba (Salmaan Peerzada) the patriarch of this conservative, traditional family in Lahore. But Haider is anything but conservative and traditional. He is…
Leave a CommentThis post first appeared on Totally Filmi on October 17, 2019. Raghavan Nair (Thilakan) has been a station master for the Indian Railways in Tamil Nadu for 30 years, and bids an emotional farewell to the community he’s become a part of — but, as he tells the people he’s…
Leave a CommentMalayalam filmmaker Dr. Biju returns to the film festival circuit with Orange Marangalude Veedu (“House of Orange Trees”), currently screening as part of the New York Indian Film Festival. I’ve written before that Dr. Biju’s emphasis as a filmmaker is to create films that serve to inform and advocate on…
2 CommentsI’ll admit to feeling a little – no, let’s be honest, a LOT – of trepidation about watching Kill. I’m very squeamish when it comes to violence and genre films are generally not my thing. But I was curious because the film comes from a partnership of production houses Dharma…
Leave a CommentI spent a number of years living in France, and one of the most interesting words I learned was “sosie” – someone who perfectly resembles someone else, to the point that people could confuse them. I was familiar with impersonators, mostly comedians who did voice imitations of famous people, whether…
Leave a CommentOnce upon a time, there was Zoe (Lily James), an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and Kaz (Shazad Latif), a doctor. Zoe and Kaz are childhood friends, with their families are neighbours. But one day, Kaz tells Zoe that he has decided to get married – that is, that he has decided…
Leave a CommentAlvin Henry’s Christy literally drops us in the ocean in its opening frames, onto a small boat where some men are fishing, and Roy (Mathew Thomas), nursing a hangover, is sick to his stomach with each wave that knocks them about. The song that plays in this moment invites us…
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