Reel Deal

Saand Ki Aankh stars Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar, who are both in their early 30s, in the role of real life characters of shooters Prakshi and Chandro Tomar who are over 60 years old. I discuss why appropriate casting of older female actors is important in today's times and the relevance of the ageism debate in Bollywood. 

Parikshit Sahni, who recently released a book on his father, the legendary actor, Balraj Sahni, talks about the man and the artiste beyond the arc lights. 

In the latest release, Dream Girl, Ayushmann Khurrana plays the role of a man who is forced to take on a female identity at an adult call centre. From references to Sanksrit epics to issues of female consent, I discuss how writer-director Raaj Shaandilya's film from a gender perspective. 

Lord Ganesha, known as the remover of obstacles, often makes an entry at some of the most crucial times in a film's plot, often juxtaposed with violence.  I discuss some of my most memorable Ganpati Festival moments on screen in the last decade. 

Veteran action director Sham Kaushal, who has over 30 years of experience and has worked on films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat in recent years, discusses how the change in director's vision, storytelling style, special effects and big budgets have changed the way Bollywood does its action.

Sanskrit epics Ramayan and Mahabharat have often found their way into Bollywood film plots in the form of a stage production. From Ayushmann Khurrana's upcoming film Dream Girl to Judgementall Hai Kya and Swades, several films have found contemporary interpretations in mythology and sent out relevant messages on gender equality and fighting modern-day demons.

Journalist and author, Anupama Chopra, talks about her book 'Sholay: Making Of A Classic' on the film's 44th anniversary, and reveals some behind the stories of the making of the film. 

The last decade has seen Bollywood film plots evolve - the glory of the past and the independence movement has given way to pride of what Indians and India as a nation has achieved in the 62 years since independence. Films like Parmanu, Raazi, Uri: The Surgical Strike, MS Dhoni, Mary Kom, Gold and many others, celebrate the achievements of our fellow Indians. 

In this week’s episode of Reel Deal, Hrithik Roshan talks to Suparna Thombare about why Super 30 and Kaabil are the films he is proudest of, growing as an actor in the last few years, and being more than just his six-pack abs. He also reveals how his kids rate his films.

The last few years have seen a considerable drop in the quality of Bollywood music. The film soundscape is full of stock party numbers with poor lyrics, an old song remixed or random use of rap and a lack of a wholesome film soundtrack.  This week Sulaiman Merchant, one half of the music composer duo, Salim-Sulaiman, talks to me about why we don’t get a whole top-notch album for a film, the overuse of remixes and the lack of imagination on the part of makers and music companies.

Kahaan Hum Kahaan Tum, starring Dipika Kakar and Karan V Grover, is a daily soap that began last month. The talking point of the show has been the refreshing treatment in the acting, writing and direction departments. In this week’s episode of Reel Deal, I talk to the show’s screenplay writer Ritu Goel and dialogue writer Niranjan Iyengar, on keeping the show in the realm of reality at all times, ditching the OTT treatment for candidness and starting a new trend in the daily soap genre.

The Bollywood slate for releases in second half of 2019 looks quite exciting. Trade has big expectations from big ticket films like Housefull 4, Super 30, Dabangg 3, Saaho and The Fighters, among others. But some good content is expected to come our way in the form of medium budget films like Mission Mangal, The Sky Is Pink, Bala, Chhichhore, Batla House, among many others, too. These films have the potential to set the box office on fire too. In this week’s episode of Reel Deal, we look at the Bollywood films to look forward to in the second half of 2019, identify the dark horses and speak to movie business analyst Atul Mohan about the trade expectations for the remaining part of the year.

In this week’s episode of Reel Deal, we interview movie business analyst Atul Mohan, who tells us exactly how the film industry has fared at the box office in the first half of 2009. The Bollywood film industry managed to earn "Rs 2000 crore in six months", which is more than half of what the industry made in the whole year in 2018. Last year, Bollywood earned around Rs 3000 crore. From Uri: The Surgical Strike and Kabir Khan to Kalank and Student of the Year 2, we look at the Bollywood report card for 1st half of 2019 and discuss the biggest hits and misses of the year so far.

In this week’s episode of the Reel Deal podcast, we interview actor Gauahar Khan, who is all set to star in her first digital series, the Indian version of the acclaimed British comedy show, The Office. Gauahar talks about being vocal about her politics, religion, feminism and playing the boss in reel and real life.

Shahid Kapoor's performance as Kabir Singh, a flawed and self-destructive character who is almost impossible to like, is brilliant. But the film is very problematic. Kabir Singh is misogynistic, violent and full of toxic masculinity, with no agency for the female character, played by Kiara Advani. In this week's episode of Reel Deal, we discuss all things problematic about Kabir Singh, the Hindi remake of the Telugu film, Arjun Reddy.

We are almost half way through 2019 and there is still a long line-up of interesting films to be released in the second half of the year - from Super 30 and The Sky Is Pink to Mental Hai Kya and Jhund. Here are my top 10 films to look forward to in the second half of the year, along with what makes them exciting. 

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Bharat, an adaptation of the Korean drama Ode To My Father released on 5 June to great opening day box office collections. While you always go into a Salman film with no expectations of believability, director Ali Abbas Zafar still manages to surprise you with some of the most ridiculous sequences and those are the funnest parts of the film. 

Bharat, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif will release in theatres on 5 June, an Eid weekend. But considering its clash with Cricket World Cup and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and slightly lower buzz for a Salman film, we predict the film's box office outcome.

Vivek Oberoi-starrer film PM Narendra Modi released in theatres a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced. Will BJP and Modi's comprehensive win help the biopic's box office prospects? Tune in to find out. 

We do a postmortem of the Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Rakul Preet Singh-starrer, directed by debutante Akiv Ali, which deals with the relationship between a 50-year-old man and a 26-year-old girl, and the complications that come with a huge age-gap.  The fact that the film is written and produced by Luv Ranjan, made many of us expect a repeat of his female-bashing romantic comedies like the Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise and Sonu Ki Teetu Ki Sweety, but the love story in this one is, surprisingly, handled with a lot more maturity and depth than his earlier films. In this episode we discuss Ajay embracing his age (which very few ageing male stars of Bollywood have done so far), the writing of the female characters and complexities of the plot. And whether it did end up being funny and entertaining at all.