For a suspense story to become a blockbuster, it should comprise certain elements that make it a potboiler. Right from conflict, pacing and atmosphere to red herrings and background music- all these elements play an important role in deciding whether or not the story has the calibre to pass the muster. When Criminal Justice was released in 2019, the hopes were set high with its stirring and dark trailer, impeccable acting skills being demonstrated by Vikrant Massey and others and an exemplary storyline that offered no resolution in sight. Now that the second season of the same show has been released, I cannot deny that the anticipation level was similar.…

I read somewhere recently that Netflix has become the dumping ground for all the movies and series that would otherwise be ignored even if their posters are made to shine in the dark. While several movies falter in terms of content and quality, some movies are borne from a brilliant and unique idea but owing to poor execution, they fail miserably at the box office. Such is the story of House Arrest, a movie that fails to arrest the attention of the viewers for long because of its flawed narrative and lazy execution. The story is based on the phenomena of Hikikomori, a Japanese term for ‘pulling inward or confinement’.…

When the trailer of Bhoot (starring the heartthrob, Vicky Kaushal) was dropped on the web, it took the internet by a storm, for the actor’s exemplary expressions and the omnipresence of the ghost in every frame knocked the daylights out of many. However, the movie has a different story to tell altogether. Bhoot Part I: The Haunted Ship is based on the real events that took place in 2018 when a ‘ghost-ship’ was found at Myanmar coast. It was later revealed that the ship had drifted away from the ship-wreaking factory in Chittagong in Bangladesh. But the mystery regarding its disappearance from the Taiwan coast in 2009 and then the…

A Genre is defined at the style or category of any literary piece, art or music. To understand genres is one of the key requirements of becoming an artist. Once the difference between different genres is clear, it becomes easy for the budding artist to have the light bulb moment and identify the niche which the artist wants to master. The second important aspect of writing is the ‘form of writing’. Often inapt research leads to a confusion between different genres and forms of writing. Therefore, this article will help the new authors understand the difference between these two areas. Writing comprises many genres. Each genre can further be sub-divided…

If there is something positive that this lockdown period has offered me, it is the chance and the time to watch and appreciate the talent that often goes unnoticed. Watching the not-so-hyped movies on the streaming platforms is the new normal and I cannot stop appreciating the impeccable acting by the newcomers and the underrated actors. Just recently, I watched Chamar Bahaar starring Jitendra Kumar. The film is a comfortable family drama that focuses on the one-sided love story of a paan seller. Starring Jitendra Kumar in the lead role, Chaman Bahaar is his story of hope, resilience, ambitions and the eventual failure. When Billu (Jitendra Kumar) argues the toss…

Sima Taparia from Mumbai says that ‘marriages have become like biscuits; they are breaking easily’. Well, I have a question. If marriages are becoming like biscuits, why do you need to put pressure on them so that they break? The new trending show on Netflix, Indian Matchmaking, has become the talk of the town with its cringe-worthy plotline and too-bad-that-it’s-good content. The human mind is a strange organ; it finds pleasure not in thinking about new ways to conquer a problem but in gossiping and processing the information gathered via eavesdropping. The new reality show, Indian Matchmaking, is regressive and orthodox, for it highlights that section of the society that…

There are very rare instances when Bollywood comes up with an intelligent satire that is dark and at the same time, humourous. One of those brilliantly crafted plots is that of Gulabo Sitabo starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushman Khurrana in the lead roles. The title of the film is a metaphorical reference to the very famous Puppet Show of Uttar Pradesh that goes by the same name. In that show, Gulabo is a man’s mistress while Sitabo is his wife. The two females are always at the war of words and people tend to find humour in their deeply infra dig arguments. Similar is the premise of this slow-paced yet…

You might call me a slow coach but I am not that. I am a little eccentric, that’s all. While people were raving about FRIENDS 10 years back, I despised the idea of watching a show that goes on for 10 seasons. Consequently, I didn’t watch it. I am grateful- not because I didn’t watch it but because I decided to watch it now during the lockdown and believe you me, I wouldn’t have liked that show as much as I like it now! Now that FRIENDS is over, I am currently watching The Walking Dead and trust me, it is worth all the time that you have these days.…

The world is no longer a safe haven like it used to be. People are fighting people over caste, religion and beliefs. Cities are fighting cities over culture and language. States are fighting states over boundaries. Countries are fighting countries over borders. The world is fighting with Covid-19. Amongst all these fights, if we have anything that gives us hope and happiness, that is the small packets of joy that come our way. In these trying times, if we don’t value counting our blessings, we cannot expect the miracle to happen overnight. Chintu Ka Birthday (airing on Zee5) is one such movie that portrays the importance of smaller joys which…

This post is going to be really short, for I am too overwhelmed by the actions of my own kind that words seem inept. I just wrote these lines a few minutes back. They aren’t great, I know. But they speak my heart, I know. Happy World Environment Day, everyone. Let’s take a pledge that we would do our bit in saving the environment in the best way possible. 🌷🥀🌹🌸🌻🌼🌱🌿🍃☘️🍀🌳🍂🍁🌳🌵🌅🌊🌍🌎🌏🌏🌏🌏🌍🌏🌍🌏🌍🌏🌍🌏🌍🌏🌍🌏 A little present arrived at my doorstep-Shoots sprouted tearing apart the white packaging.When I pulled the string that held it all together,Sprung up a tiny little ball of blue. The blue ball had many a green shootHanging, dangling, twirling and…