Shubhra Gupta is film critic and senior columnist with the Indian Express. She watches world cinema for delectation, Hollywood for fun, and Bollywood for work. She has a huge capacity to sit through terrible Bollywood movies, but no patience at all with bad Hollywood. And world cinema has to be really cutting edge to grab her attention, and keep it. When she began reviewing, over 20 years ago, people would commiserate and say, “oh, you poor thing, you have to watch Hindi cinema”. But soon, Bollywood became cool, cool, cool. So now she hears this more often “oh my god, you watch Bollyood films, can you introduce me to Shah Rukh Khan”? No, she can’t, sorry, though she can vouch for the fact that he is really sharp and good fun in conversation. But what she can do, and has done week after week, month after month, year after year, without a break, is to lead you into the magical world of movies, and share her experiences of watching all those hundreds of films over the years. In her reviews and columns, she lets you into what she likes, and doesn’t, and invites you to be bewitched. And to know how to choose between the good ones and the turkeys, and how you can take away something from even the really ghastly ones. Because life is a movie, isn’t it? Bahut picture baaki hain, mere dost.
August 11,2023 13:06:09 PM
Gadar 2 review: What we can confirm is that Sunny paaji can still snarl effectively, and that dhai-kilo-ka-haath has residual potency. We can also confirm the reappearance of a hand-pump.
Sat, Aug 12, 2023August 11,2023 08:37:49 AM
OMG 2 movie review: It’s been a while since I enjoyed an Akshay Kumar performance as much as this one. And I haven’t been taken by surprise as much as I was in OMG 2, in the best way possible.
Sat, Aug 12, 2023August 10,2023 11:43:09 AM
Made In Heaven 2 review: Everything is so gorgeous and shiny, even the grime, in the show, but Akhtar and Kagti and directors Nitya Mehra, Alankrita Srivastava, Neeraj Ghaywan detail their characters and fill them in with specificity, reflecting a sense of inner knowledge and empathy.
Thu, Aug 10, 2023July 28,2023 13:56:47 PM
Kaalkoot review: This web series tries delving into the social constructs that bind people and force them into unwanted situations, by asking a bunch of complex questions
Fri, Jul 28, 2023July 28,2023 09:20:10 AM
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani movie review: This Alia Bhatt-Ranveer Singh film has ginormous sets, blingy naach-gaana and a lot of emotions, but little originality.
Sat, Jul 29, 2023July 27,2023 21:42:21 PM
Only Murders In The Building review: In its third coming, the show manages to maintain a fine balance between familiarity and freshness, and keeping us poised on the edge of a well-produced, well-acted wedge.
Fri, Jul 28, 2023July 21,2023 10:27:40 AM
Bawaal movie review: Varun Dhawan-Janhvi Kapoor-starrer promises a lot, but keeps faltering, never quite knowing what to make of a wholly harebrained flourish in the plot.
Sun, Jul 23, 2023July 15,2023 12:47:16 PM
Kohrra review: Both history and geography are important indicators in Sudip Sharma’s atmospheric, beautifully-realised drama ‘Kohrra’ which is as much a murder mystery as an incisive reading of contemporary Punjab and the Punjabi psyche.
Mon, Jul 17, 2023July 14,2023 10:30:35 AM
The Trial review: Kajol fronts The Good Wife remake, which takes time to get into its groove, and lacks the inherent drama expected from such show.
Sat, Jul 15, 2023July 07,2023 14:09:58 PM
Neeyat movie review: Vidya Balan-starrer film tries hard to be original but never quite shakes off the feeling that it is treading familiar ground.
Fri, Jul 07, 2023July 07,2023 10:18:45 AM
Blind movie review: Blind could have been a respectable thriller, but there is zero chill factor in Sonam Kapoor-starrer.
Fri, Jul 07, 2023July 07,2023 09:33:19 AM
Tarla movie review: Huma Qureshi as Tarla Dalal is efficient and pleasant but never quite as flavourful as we would have liked her to be.
Fri, Jul 07, 2023July 03,2023 11:50:30 AM
On July 3, 1998, Ram Gopal Varma had delivered a film that was dramatically different from legacy-Bollywood fare. There’s many reasons why Satya continues to be a pathbreaker, least of because it created a parallel set of stars that the audience would love and demand more of.
Sun, Jul 09, 2023June 29,2023 15:44:56 PM
Lust Stories 2 review: It is Konkona Sen Sharma’s ‘The Mirror’ which is the most complex and satisfying segment in the anthology as it shows unusual melding of class and desire.
Fri, Jun 30, 2023June 29,2023 13:46:12 PM
Satyaprem Ki Katha movie review: Somewhere under the overwrought and overcooked plot of Kartik Aaryan-Kiara Advani-starrer is a real film about two people dealing with troubled pasts, but it gets buried under everything else that the movie throws at us.
Fri, Jun 30, 2023June 23,2023 12:42:55 PM
Tiku Weds Sheru movie review: While Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur are good fit for the roles, they never quite fit together and you can never overcome the queasiness caused by seeing Sheru slobbering over Tiku.
Fri, Jun 23, 2023June 16,2023 14:00:00 PM
Director Homi Adajania on Irrfan the man and the performer
Sat, Jun 17, 2023June 16,2023 13:42:25 PM
Adipurush movie review: This version of the Ramayan is not interested in connecting with the feeling of genuine religiosity that any reading of the ‘granth’ arouses, whether it is the most popular Tulsidas version or the Valmiki version.
Sat, Jun 17, 2023June 09,2023 11:17:04 AM
Sunny Leone on overcoming odds, moving from a career in the adult-films industry to becoming a leading lady in an Anurag Kashyap film.
Fri, Jun 09, 2023June 09,2023 10:22:58 AM
Bloody Daddy movie review: Shahid Kapoor-starrer has all the ingredients of a pacey thriller but despite the occasional burst, it slumps back into a been-there-seen-this category.
Fri, Jun 09, 2023June 02,2023 13:06:30 PM
School Of Lies review: Avinash Arun’s series, set in fictional hill-station Dalton Town, delves into one of the most common human weaknesses, and comes up with a bunch of troubled, twisted individuals who feel real.
Fri, Jun 02, 2023June 02,2023 10:57:24 AM
Chidiakhana movie review: There’s a pleasing sincerity about Ritvik Sahore, and Rajeshwari Sachdev and Mahesh Narayanan are both capable of breathing life into a scene. But with so little lift from the writing, they all come off cliched.
Fri, Jun 02, 2023June 02,2023 10:06:47 AM
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke movie review: The film is a tonal switch in its second-half, introducing a plot twist doused in mothballed sentimentality, and adding a dreary sanskari layer to the whole thing.
Sat, Jun 03, 2023May 28,2023 07:56:50 AM
Here are the top non-main competition films at Cannes Film Festival 2023, which draw attention to original first-time voices, or throw light on parts of the world which are still under the radar, in terms of creating cinema which travels outside their borders.
Sun, May 28, 2023May 27,2023 07:28:48 AM
Will Loach, who won the Palme D’Or twice, win it a third time for the refugee drama?
Sat, May 27, 2023