The Bollywood Elephant

This lockdown season has helped me uncover some small and beautiful gems which the audience has missed watching in theatres. A movie that boasts of names like Sanjay Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi, Eklavi Khanna, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Anshuman Jha; ' Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain ' is a heartwarming and delightful piece of cinema which we did not know but needed in our lives! The movie had released in 2018 but largely went unnoticed because of reasons best known to the audience. What's Good:  Story:  The story follows 3 distinct love stories and depicts how love has matured over generations. A silent ode to all those women whose marriage and love got lost within household chores and responsibilities.  Performances:  With a cast so perfect, nothing goes wrong in this one! Pankaj Tripathi even in his minuscule role leaves an everlasting impact. Direction:  Harish Vyas' direction is pitch-perfect and guides this movie well. Camerawork:  Farooq Mistry's camerawork captures B...

 To begin with, familiarizing ourselves with what Nepotism means is necessary. Nepotism is " Nepotism  is based on favouritism granted to relatives in various fields, including business, politics, entertainment, sports, religion and other activities." So Nepotism exists in all fields and is a very normal and natural process and there is absolutely nothing wrong in it. A doctor shall promote their kid, similarly an engineer, businessman etc. Therefore it is very normal that there shall be nepotism in every field but then why is Bollywood singled out specifically? Not to forget, trending Boycott Bollywood, disliking trailers is not a solution and in fact, there is a bigger issue than nepotism that exists!                                  The real issue is an 'Entrance Test' and 'Privileged vs Oppressed'. As it has become clear, the are certain 'gangs' that control who gets a movie, who does not....

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...