The Bollywood Elephant

"I was ‘rumoured’ to bring bad luck to films. Mind you, all of these films had huge male co-stars and directors, but the failure of movies was blamed upon my bad luck. Thereafter, I’ve been asked to reduce my pay, I’ve been thrown out of films because the producer was having financial issues." was said by an actor who brought both name and fame to a movie which was solely her outstanding performance. An off-beat content driven and a women centric movie that managed to make it big on financial returns.                                           Such incidences raise questions about the pay disparity that is on going in Bollywood. A fact not hidden from anyone, males are paid more than females for their films.  Pay Disparity occurs because when it comes to revenue and it's credibility, the producers believe that it is the "male power" that has brought in collections.  And as per the stats of the last 3-4 years also suggest that a male lead has brought in mor

2017 seems to have had a revolutionary start. Some good content backed by strong performances have been the agenda. Like last week's Rajkummar Rao starrer "Trapped", Bollywood has delivered "Anaarkali of Aarah" this week. "Anaarkali of Aarah" is a movie made up of actors (and not stars). Writer and debutant director Avinash Das has been successfully able to handle the concept of consent of a woman and made it interesting (and entertaining) by adding some typical masala elements. The story of the movie is an out and out winner but it is the sincere and earnest performances that steal the show and back a strong script.                                          Swara Bhaskar's portrayal as a singer who hails from Aarah in Bihar and does "programs" for people is par excellence. Her dialogues, her make-up, her accent are all phenomenal. Her eyes, especially in the last 15 minutes spoke volumes. Swara emerges as a real hero of the fi

'Failure' is a word everyone is afraid of. Failure signifies defeat and defeat is something which a human nature does not accept easily. There are a lot of failures after which comes success. Failures in Bollywood are something which everyone can learn from.                                            Like Ram Madhvani took 14 years to create 2016's most acclaimed movie Neerja after his debut into directing. Sujoy Ghosh took 4 failed attempts to make this decade's biggest thriller,  Kahaani. So, it does take a lot of failures to reach success. What if Amitabh Bachchan had quit Bollywood after his first failure in the form of Saat Hindustani? We would have had no angry young man. So, it does take time for things to come our way.                                         Bollywood has seen a lot of failures, though it has also given us an idea about how to cope up with them. The biggest example being Anurag Kashyap who bounced back after the delivering the bi

"Trapped" is Rajkummar Rao's triumph. Trapped directed by Vikramaditya Motwane of 'Lootera' and "Udaan" fame, the director skillfully captures the real life scenario of a young man named Shaurya (Rajkummar Rao) who gets trapped inside his own apartment. Trapped is all about his struggle and survival in an apartment of Mumbai , a city where one becomes deaf to their inner voices.The movie has subtle undertones of loneliness, a lone person's mentality and rediscovery in a big city like Mumbai.                                        As mentioned earlier, Trapped is Rajkummar Rao's triumph. Shaurya makes you believe in his   loneliness and it gives you a feel that you are trapped with him in his apartment. His mentality, his freedom, his fears are so much believable. Trapped is Rajkummar Rao's best performance to date. If you thought Shahid was his best, this performance is a notch higher.                                              

"All that glitters is not gold." is a saying everyone is familiar with. But, when it comes to Bollywood, this saying only increases multiple folds to hold true. There is a huge price an actor pays for their stardom.                                         The Bollywood industry  may look very glossy and stylish from the outside but , actually has a very dark life on the inside. What appears to be a very comfortable, luxurious life is actually laden with loads of work. People might  contradict by saying "Even an average Indian works what makes an Actor's life so different?" The answer is "Stardom." Not every Indian in the country has the same type of craze, madness as an actor. And moreover the craze for movies is unprecedented in our country.                                            An actor, after signing on a dotted line of the contract, becomes a director's pup, leave alone people like SRK, Salman, Rekha, Kareena and Hritik,

BKD is the "supposed" sequel to the 2013 hit, Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, though both the stories are entirely different they have the same cast as HSKD. The movie opens with a  comical Badrinath Bansal (VD) trying to woo Vaidehi (AB) and how and what happens to their relationship forms the crux of the movie. By now, I'm sure everyone knows that it's a typical Bollywood romance BUT there is something more to it than being a clichéd romance.  Varun Dhawan's portrayal of Badrinath Bansal is Phenomenal. It's par excellence. His accent, his dialogues are well written and spoken. Alia Bhatt as Vaidehi, just proves to be like a wine, the older the better. She is just getting good with every passing movie. Her portrayal of a guilt-stricken, selfish and career oriented girl is beyond my expression. Yash Sinha as Alok (Badri's brother), Sahil Vaid as Somesh(Badri's bestie) and Shweta Prasad as Urmila(Badri's sister in law) prove to be amazing support

Dear Bollywood,  Like everyone says, "Real and Reel life should not be mixed." I wish u were real. Bollywood, there are so many  instances in life where one feels like "The King of the World", it is no doubt a moment but if someone lives that moment then why not? They may not end up having a "trophy" but it can certainly provide them happiness. When it rains, my ears start to linger with "Taal", "Tum Se Hi" tracks and make me go in a trance and enjoy the moment. Contrary, to what happens with you, I may end up catching cold but it's worth it. It casts  a big smile on my face.         TO                     It is you who has made every girl dream for their "Prince Charming", had you been for real, people would have started believing that dreams , DO come true.                               (Well, it's a dream) If u were true, with every wind that blew, I would believe that yes, a lower lip smile would hav

B for Bollywood? Nah, it's B for Biopics. Bollywood seems to have grown an unexpected fondness for biopics over the last 4-5 years. All of this immense fondness started after the success of the Farhan Akhtar starrer, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, based on the life of the sprinter Milkha Singh and since then there has been no turning back for Bollywood. The recent success of movies like Neerja and Dangal have not only cemented my belief that this trend of biopics is not going to stop but also it seems that Bollywood is running out of storylines because of which  they are shifting to Biopics.                Why might producers invest quite a fortune(because a lot of biopics need quite a old setup)? The answer to this lies in the audience. Most of the biopics are inspiring. Then there are movies like Neerja and Dangal, which encash on something that the indian audiences are overflowing with.....Emotions. Where Neerja had no star power it had the best return on its Investment of 20