Bollywood
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Lata Mangeshkar 1929-2022. End of an era
Omar Ali marks the death of Lata Mangeshkar, calling her the queen of Indian playback singing for over fifty years, and quotes Ishtiaq Ahmed on how old Bollywood songs preserve…
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Beards, Bigotry and Burqas
Recalling the jovial Sardar caricature of 1990s Indian entertainment, the author contrasts it with the bearded-Muslim imagery he grew up with, including a local mural, and reflects on how such…
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Extraction, a Bangladeshi view
Sharing a Bangladeshi viewer’s review of the film Extraction, which finds it anti-Bangladeshi and Islamophobic, the author disagrees, arguing the film exists in a world without religion and that cultural…
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Super30, Casteocracy & Blacked Up Hrithik Roshan
Reviewing the film Super 30, the author finds Hrithik Roshan blacking up to play an OBC emblematic of India’s ‘Casteocracy’, argues that the IIT and IIM system suits upper castes,…
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A darker shade of brown
The author examines attitudes to skin colour among South Asians, noting how Bollywood aesthetics define ‘Indian’ even for Western casting, that Indian-American culture pays less attention to shade, and predicting…
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The Rise of the Quarter-breeds in Bollywood
After seeing Kabir Singh, the author remarks on a trend of Bollywood starlets with a hidden European maternal grandparent, arguing that Indian beauty standards of sharp features and fair skin…
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The Advice of the Childfree
Defending his criticism of Bollywood men who leave wives for younger partners, the author argues rich and powerful men must be held to account, that their daughters bear the pain,…
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Is Bollywood “whitening” Indian beauty standards?
Prompted by a young actress said to look Spanish or Italian, the author asks whether Bollywood is whitening Indian beauty standards, argues India is in an ‘importing stage’, and criticises…
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philhaal is guftagu se thak gaye hain hum.
Reviewing Kalank, the author praises the performances, especially Madhuri Dixit, but finds Karan Johar’s ‘more is more’ style and unrealistic Heera Mandi make it farcical, contrasting Bollywood with Pakistani dramas…
