The Bollywood Elephant

It has been 42 days since Sushant Singh Rajput left for his heavenly abode on the 14th of June, 2020. In this write-up, The Bollywood Elephant pays a heartfelt tribute to the late Sushant Singh Rajput. May he find semblance in his mother's arms up there. Sushant carved your own niche in the galaxy far away yet near. We hope that we could bring him back using quantum physics by igniting chemistry. His dreams and passion are embedded in our hearts and become an immortal source of motivation. His death makes me realize the uncertainty and fear of life. His uncertain exit from our galaxy was unsettling but opened a chapter about life consumed by depression. I recall how he always wanted to be an astronaut and in one of his interviews, he said, "Let's be an actor and let's be everything" with the same energy and gusto as a naive and a simple guy with Bollywood dreams! Thereafter, he unravelled his dreams through cinema and stuck to what he believed! When I first read a...

Recently, choreographer and director Ahmad Khan criticized the movie 'Thappad' saying that if he slaps his wife, his wife should slap him back and totally dissed the idea of the character Amrita leaving the house. He did go on to say that it is open to a person's interpretation but it cannot be ruled out that Bollywood for decades has been glorifying patriarchy. In Thappad, the protagonist realizes how her husband did not respect her and she gives it her all and loses her individuality in the process. The slap makes her realize what she has been missing and she seeks out to make her own identity. If we take Ahmad Khan's statement into consideration, a slap for a slap shall not change things and his act of hitting his wife shall be within the walls of the house. Little does he realize that 'keeping such an act within the walls' shall make the relationship worse, also make him realize that it such an act is not his 'right' and therefore reach no conclusion...

14th June 2020. Bandra West, Mumbai. It has been 12 days since Sushant Singh Rajput has left the world. We accept it or not but, his death has impacted us to a great extent more than any other death in the film fraternity. There are uncountable  rumours  regarding his death and it is really shameful that it took a Death to realize the roots of Nepotism and Favourites that run in this industry! In the blog post, I would just like to share some radical views about the statements and the controversies that evolved  after his death.                                JUDGEMENTALITY:  Probably after the Nepotism debate, the most talked-about reason for his suicide is the Rhea Chakraborty And Mahesh Bhatt angle. Just because intimate pictures between Mahesh and Rhea have started doing rounds on the internet, the public has come to the conclusion (let alone an assumption) that there is someth...

“Are u sure you don’t want anything else Mr.Rajiv?” asks a disinterested Sheena. “No, thanks that will be all! BTW are u free this evening?” replies Rajiv. “How abt u complete ur painting Rajiv? And next time please pls don’t ask me any such thing!” replies Sheena. “Come on Sheena, we are neighbours as well. Why so cold?” asks Rajiv. “Thank u for providing me with some business Rajiv! U may leave!” says Sheena and leaves Rajiv at the counter of her paint and stationery shop to settle other things in her store. Rajiv is perplexed and leaves. Back at her one bedroom apartment, we are introduced to Sheena and her daily life. She reaches her house, unwinds herself, contemplates, speaks to her mother who keeps requesting her to meet boys for her marriage and she replies to it by saying “I’m 40 ma, I am not getting married after that.” and as soon as she says this, there is a knock on her door and it is Rajiv. “So what are your plans for today evening since you are back early Sheena Ji?...

“Yes Meeta, come around at 9:30 pm with your niece to my place. I would certainly like to put her to test before I employ her as my daughter’s caretaker.” Said a workaholic Subhagi(VB) and a mother of one-year-old Pia whom she took from the crèche and went home. Subhagi is a divorced workaholic whose job does not permit her to spend a lot of her time with her one-year-old daughter Pia. She is desperate to find a caretaker of Pia, believing that at least Pia shall be home with a nanny while she is at work. Her doorbell rings and it is Meeta, the caretaker of the neighbouring house who has got her niece, Reshma(AB) as a nanny for Subhagi’s daughter Pia. Seeing Pia cry, Subhagi ensues Reshma with the task of stopping Pia’s cry which she is able to stop within seconds. This convinces Subhagi that she can trust Reshma with Pia and thus takes her documents and employs her in haste. Meanwhile, Subhagi is also fighting the custody case for Pia with her ex-husband Kanishk who is a doct...

Amazon Prime Video came out with a neo-noir thriller series 'Paatal Lok'. The series stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh and Neeraj Kabi, Abhishek Banerjee in the lead roles with Gul Panag, Deepak Tiwari, Rajesh Sharma supporting this able cast. This 9 episode series is directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy and produced by Anushka Sharma.                                                        What's Good : Acting:  Terrific acting performances by such a talented cast but it is Ishwak Singh's Imran Ansari who stands out and shines. Story: The story is undoubtedly the real king of Paatal Lok. Dark, Gritty, Merciless and Ruthless storyline is extremely phenomenal and totally leaves you in splits. Cinematography:  The story needed a good complement from the cinematography which is delivered to it by the ace director and cinematogra...

Worldwide, the ratings from the movie portal Internet Movie Database (IMDb) ratings play a huge role in determining a person's mind to watch a particular movie in the theatre or at home! Even though these ratings neutralize over time, IMDB ratings continue to be a major driver of a person's choice to watch a movie in theatres or not which contributes to its box office collection that describes a movie's fate as a Flop/Average/Hit.                                   Of recently, the platform has been grossly been misused because even if a movie is a good movie and worthy money-spinner, it does not get it due credit at the place where it matters the most: The Ticket Windows and gets declared as a Flop. There are certain movies which in spite of no content and poor ratings still manage to rake in money, the movie in question being Baaghi 3 (2020) which raked in 95 crores at the Box office, undeservingl...