Business Standard

Uttaran Das Gupta

Uttaran Das Gupta

Uttaran Das Gupta

Uttaran Das Gupta

Hamare Baarah and Maharaj: To watch or not to watch

Heckler's veto or preventing harm? Censoring films that cause offence opens up a can of worms

Hamare Baarah and Maharaj: To watch or not to watch
Updated On : 16 Jun 2024 | 11:22 AM IST

Frames per second: The churning and the counting

Watching the restored version of the 1976 film Manthan reminds one of the Emergency but also gives hope for a renewed democracy

Frames per second: The churning and the counting
Updated On : 07 Jun 2024 | 2:02 PM IST

Amar Singh Chamkila: Bawdy songs and radical obscenity

An accusation of obscenity is usually not an attempt to control prurient art but to limit its radical potential

Amar Singh Chamkila: Bawdy songs and radical obscenity
Updated On : 19 Apr 2024 | 1:30 PM IST

The plague as a metaphor

Laxmibai Tilak, a contemporary writer, recounts how plague camps, where patients were quarantined, were 'kingdoms of the god of death'

The plague as a metaphor
Updated On : 17 Apr 2024 | 10:59 PM IST

Frames per second: War films as revenge drama

Earlier, Bollywood war flicks were about defending India's borders. Now, they are all about vengeance

Frames per second: War films as revenge drama
Updated On : 16 Apr 2024 | 8:59 AM IST

Crouching tiger, rising mammoth

Historian Sugata Bose, in his new book, makes a compelling case for Asia to embrace its political, cultural, and economic diversity as it reclaims its centrality in the world

Crouching tiger, rising mammoth
Updated On : 11 Mar 2024 | 10:30 PM IST

Frames per second: Hullabaloo in the awards season

Ranbir Kapoor winning the Filmfare Best Actor award for 'Animal', while Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig missing out Oscar nominations for 'Barbie' have sparked controversies

Frames per second: Hullabaloo in the awards season
Updated On : 04 Feb 2024 | 2:37 PM IST

A happy life: 2 movies on pursuit of happy life and distractions in between

'Past Lives' and 'Three of Us' celebrate the pragmatism of love over the heady impulsiveness of romance

A happy life: 2 movies on pursuit of happy life and distractions in between
Updated On : 12 Jan 2024 | 3:50 PM IST

12th Fail: Great expectations, major victories

The film directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra is always aware of the fact that the remarkable rags-to-riches story of IPS Manoj Sharma is the exception and not the norm

12th Fail: Great expectations, major victories
Updated On : 06 Jan 2024 | 11:41 AM IST

Shah Rukh Khan: The Return of the King

The three blockbuster films delivered by the Bollywood heartthrob show a definite turn in his oeuvre

Shah Rukh Khan: The Return of the King
Updated On : 22 Dec 2023 | 3:53 PM IST

Animal: Looking into the mirror

The film starring Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol unleashes the desires of many Indians accustomed to violence

Animal: Looking into the mirror
Updated On : 16 Dec 2023 | 12:20 PM IST

'The Archies' movie review: Vapid nostalgia that misses political nuances

Set in the mid-1960s, the Zoya Akhtar film signals virtues through reference to corporate greed, gender politics, and global warming, but delivers solutions that are too easy

'The Archies' movie review: Vapid nostalgia that misses political nuances
Updated On : 08 Dec 2023 | 3:17 PM IST

Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar: Things Falling Apart

The struggles of a young couple to find economic security in a small town is a realistic take on the romanticised mofussil of Hindi cinema

Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar: Things Falling Apart
Updated On : 01 Dec 2023 | 12:45 PM IST

Naipaul's India

A similar self-fashioning is evident in the two other books he wrote on India - A Wounded Civilization (1977) and A Million Mutinies Now (1990)

Naipaul's India
Updated On : 17 Nov 2023 | 10:43 PM IST

Munich and the moral limits of revenge

Steven Spielberg's spy drama on Mossad's mission to kill Palestinian militants interrogated the ethics of state-sponsored vengeance

Munich and the moral limits of revenge
Updated On : 06 Nov 2023 | 2:45 PM IST

A suitable choice

The 30th-anniversary edition of Vikram Seth's landmark novel A Suitable Boy is a timely reminder of India's nascent democratic aspirations

A suitable choice
Updated On : 04 Aug 2023 | 10:32 PM IST

Frames per second: Exploding heads in the time of Oppenheimer

Western and Japanese artists found inspiration for post-humanist visions in the years following Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Frames per second: Exploding heads in the time of Oppenheimer
Updated On : 04 Aug 2023 | 7:18 PM IST

Instruments of war: Bandit Queen to Manipur

A gendered perspective on conflict - local or international - is essential because women are often targeted as part of conflict strategy

Instruments of war: Bandit Queen to Manipur
Updated On : 22 Jul 2023 | 11:27 AM IST

The 'more perilous adventure' of the poor marked out in a movie

The 1974 blockbuster Roti, Kapda aur Makaan tapped into popular emotions sparked by rising inequality

The 'more perilous adventure' of the poor marked out in a movie
Updated On : 14 Jul 2023 | 2:57 PM IST

The disruptor

What emerges from these interviews are some remarkable stories, some by people who knew him intimately and others who only worked with him

The disruptor
Updated On : 07 Jul 2023 | 8:54 PM IST