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movie reviews ... and more
movie reviews ... and more
Articles
For as long as one can go back, the depiction of love and sex in Bollywood, characterized by melodrama or cliché, has only included heterosexual portrayals; passed off as the bar for anything normal. Even if we ignore that these characters were mostly dramatized and very far from reality, we ...
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When wikipedia has a web page for a phrase that did not exist till about 5 years ago, you know it's an official trend. Considered an upbeat, catchy song with provocative lyrics and women dancing with revealing clothes, an"item" number has slowly become a mandatory part of any Bollywood masala ...
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'Growth' of the Indian audience Morals have been Hindi cinema’s catharsis. It’s been an age-old debate: Good vs. Evil, Right vs. Wrong. Bollywood has always found a way to maneuver the script to make a moral judgment at the end of the film. We have it all, from explicit to ...
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As your read this dear reader, I'll be in the Himalayas. A trek that I've always wanted to do awaits me. It's said to be as rigorous as it is serene out there. This will be my first real trek. Hope I've the guts and will to make it through. ...
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I, wogma, have a tale to share, a story to tell. Be warned, this actually classifies as a rant post. But, if you are interested in what's been happening with me in the last few months, the answers are here. And nevertheless, it's a review of meetu's mis-judgment.
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In the recently conducted Indibloggie awards, wogma won the Best Entertainment Indiblog award. We are of course, mighty pleased. Read the entire list of nominations and winners here.
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happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday dear wogma
happy birthday to me!
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Aaja aaja flu nichodein
Raat ko H1 todein
Koi good luck nikalein
Aaj N1 ko phodein
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Feeling cheated and yet Rahman Rocks! I don't think we need any explanations on why 'Rahman Rocks'. I feel inadequate to use adjectives to describe his compositions. But, I cannot resist mentioning that he is just an awesome singer. His performance of "Khwaja" (Jodha Akbar), "Arziyan" (Delhi 6), and of ...
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For the uninitiated, DDLJ stands for Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. And since you’ve apparently not seen the movie yet, don't read this, go watch it at Maratha Mandir, Mumbai. 700+ weeks and the balcony was still full. There's something really warm about visiting a heritage theater and watching a film ...
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In tough times like "new release strikes!", the theaters are pumping fists and feet in air trying to entice viewers. So, it’s good news for all ye out there who either missed some of the "superhits" in the last couple years. Or for those of you who don't mind a ...
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My husband (Navin Kabra) was in the news lately... Trust me, there's a reason why this is on wogma. Watch this - Scroll down just a bit... Well, this is on wogma because I co-wrote the dialogues and was hovering around, poking my nose while this film was being made ...
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Anurag Kashyap – one may call him the flag bearer of independent cinema in India. He already is a superstar for all the aspiring directors in the country. The cheer he garners for his blink-n-miss roles in his own films confirms this fact. But the "aarambh" (beginning) was never "prachand" ...
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Dear Readers, As you might already know, I recently revamped the site 'Without Giving the Movie Away' - the hindi movie review site you have been subscribed to. Please ignore this note, if you are subscribed to the new feed. That is if you visited the new site and subscribed ...
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In Ghajini, the best sequence for me, and for everyone else I guess, was the one when Sanjay Singhania gets a bout of short term memory loss amidst the bashing of Ghajini Dharmatma and forgets everything only to be told by the latter that Ghajini was coming the other way. ...
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Dear Readers, As you might already know, I recently revamped the site 'Without Giving the Movie Away' - the hindi movie review site you have been subscribed to. Please ignore this note, if you are subscribed to the new feed. That is if you visited the new site and subscribed ...
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Jogawa is a Marathi word used to describe alms received by a Jogta or a Jogtini - a boy or a girl sentenced to devote their lives in the service of God by society. But, the crux is that the jogta/jogtini are servicing the members of the society that has ...
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A name that has grown from a very humble beginning in the interiors of Karnataka to a director of international repute. One of the contemporary legends in the world of cinema due to his Kannada films. A person every aspiring filmmaker looks up to. Girish Kasaravalli. After three decades in ...
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Much has been said and written about Slumdog Millionaire’s depiction of India. Some insist it’s the real India while others think it’s a biased depiction of what the West sees India as. As a viewer and an Indian, I see merit in both arguments.For long, the West has perceived India ...
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Yesterday I was walking by a local street market. A market of the vendors who sell the latest Chinese cell phones, international magazines and novels printed with ink which can dissolve into thin air if exposed to it, all the funky t-shirts with ‘DIZEL’ written on them and also CDs ...
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I get extremely miffed when something I've written is copied and pasted elsewhere without permission. And yet, I find myself more liberal towards "inspired" movies. The anomaly has always bothered me. One obvious factor is that the remake of a movie is not a blind copy-paste. However bad it is, ...
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2008 - the most mercurial years Bollywood has seen in recent past. It was a year where most of the big films proverbially bit the dust and some small ones conjured biggest of surprises. It was a year where the small indeed became the new big. Hindi cinema saw an ...
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Here goes the mandatory annual round-up post. I'd been wracking my brain on how to make this one different from my usual laundry list of films. As a starting point I glanced at some numbers and I saw an interesting trend. Thought I'd share that with you instead - Rating ...
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This is the rating scale we were using until very recently - Must see - on the big screen Watch for sure, preferably in theatre Wait for video release Watch if you have nothing better to do Switch channels if it's on cable! "Why such a verbose scale?" many ask. ...
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A conversation between a wogma reader (!) and non-yet-reader (?) -?: Why read a review? !: Should I watch it or skip it? Pitch it or ditch it? ?:How does a review help? It's just the writer's point of view which could be absolutely different from yours. !: Could, but ...
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Why the dress-change? To all the lovely regular readers - yes, yes, it’s the same site, stay on. There's lot more to hang around for. Dearest first-timers, welcome here - we are prettier and meatier, all to turn you into regulars. And subscriber hun-ney, do check out the changes. I'm ...
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Over two years ago, before I wrote my first opinion on a movie here, I struggled with the question - "What gives me the right to comment on anyone on his/her job? Be it Amitabh Bachchan or an assistant director of a little known movie? aakhir, main kis khet ki ...
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Dear subscribers, We are shifting base and are very excited about it too!! We have a spanking new site with the same content but more features at http://wogma.com But like all changes, this one too will cause some inconvenience to a few of us. We tried our best to avoid ...
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- by guest author, Noopur Bora One of the most important events of the year for cinema in India began two days ago - the 39th International Film Festival of India, popularly known as the IFFI. IFFI is India’s oldest and most prestigious film festival. The event is India’s attempt ...
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When I think Saurabh Shukla, I think writer of Satya and Mithya rather than a character actor. And I was surprised to find that Saurabh is not a man of many words. His answers are short and to the point. The Writer A glance at the movies Saurabh Shukla has ...
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From our taken for granted understanding of reality, the court of justice is where the actors narrate their version of events, so that the ‘truth’ can be ascertained; where “truth” is an external reality, which can be observed and known through mental representations in the mind of the knower. The ...
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It has been 57 years since Kurosawa’s Rashomon was first seen by viewers, and its power to engage and confound audiences continues undiminished. On the surface the film is straightforward, an incident occurs in a forest and three people are involved; a bandit, the samurai husband, and his wife. The ...
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…and cinema halls BUT…I’m off on a vacation for a couple of weeks. First one after 5 years, so really looking forward to it!! No, dear readers, I’m not missing Kidnap, Drona or Ramchand Pakistani. The reviews will be out by Saturday. No vacation can be important enough to miss ...
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My third baby, wogma, turns 2 today. Most of you are here for reviews and not to see me go all sappy and melodramatic about how it has changed my life (it has, really!). Exciting things have happened here in the last year. My first two babies have grown old ...
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What’s a birthday bash on a review site, if the author doesn’t list the movies she enjoyed the most over the last 52 Fridays? So, here goes - Taare Zameen Par and Chak De! India completely had me sucked in. I watch an average of 2 movies a week. And ...
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Every once in a while, a movie moves me so much that it starts affecting a certain part of my brain. And that part of the brain nags till I appreciate the movie in a way that’s a little different from the usual. Turns out, those are the views I ...
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Me! Uh…maybe not. So, if some of you read this DNA article “Now you can earn while you blog“, and were confused by the name of the author of this movie review site, you were right. I know wogma is not really the forum for me to talk about the ...
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Audio reviews: Now you can hear wogma reviews at indicast. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed or you can get them by e-mail. Genre by rating table: A lot of movie watching is “mood” based. Check out the genre-wise table. So, if you are in the mood for ...
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So, Ram Gopal Varma reviewed some of the reviews (especially negative ones) that Sarkar Raj got on his blog. Among many other reactions, he has also reacted to my review of Sarkar Raj!!!! Of course, he wasn’t very happy about some of the comments and has pointed out 5 observations ...
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This is Part 2 of Gul Panag’s interview taken on 5th April 2008. Read about Gul’s journey so far and how she chooses scripts in Part 1A motoring enthusiast, an adventure sport lover, an avid traveler and of course an actor who has impressed us with movies like Dor and ...
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Dor and Manaroma Six Feet Under - both belong to the “different” genre, the genre which is slowly changing the face of the Hindi cinema. The kind of cinema that I look forward to. So, as soon as I spotted Gul Panag, the one common factor in these two movies, ...
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How often have you come out of the theater shaking your head in despair and saying/hearing, “the first half was good, but they completely @#$%&* it up after interval, man!!!” This is what I call the first half-second half syndrome. Of course, there are times when the movie becomes more ...
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This is the third post in a series about about the film appreciation course I did last summer. The first post was about the overall experience. The second one discussed the selection of movies and what I liked and the very little I did not. This one is about the ...
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MAMI International Film Festival 2008 - II 28 movies in 7 days - What more could one ask for? The 10th film festival conducted by MAMI was a very satisfying experience overall. I don’t think it would be fair to review all these movies when I have seen 4 a ...
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Update: This post was written at the end of day 2 of the festival. My thoughts at the end of the festival are posted here. * * * I could see my excitement wane away as I sat through some pretty boring - very mediocre movies, and just a couple ...
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d is a very close friend of mine. She wrote this piece as a gift to me when I put up my first 'about' page. Having Meetu for a friend is never having to consult the local yellow pages again! From where to find the freshest iceberg lettuce to which ...
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This is the second in a series of posts about the film appreciation course I did this summer. The first post was about the overall experience. This post attempts to discuss the selection of movies, and what I liked, and the very little that I did not. (Update: The third ...
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I love movies. I almost always find at least one thing to like in a movie and cannot, just cannot leave a movie half-way through, even the crappiest one. My favourite genre is comedy, I think a good comedy is the most difficult to make. But, slapstick is comedy for ...
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A huge thank you to all who participated in wogma’s first birthday celebrations. Without much ado, let me announce the winning entry submitted by Rashmi Kannan. (This choice is from the list here) Rashmi’s top five movies were - CHAKDE! INDIALage Raho MunnabhaiGuruCheeni KumDhoom 2 The top five movies according ...
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He comes across as an awesome person and an awe-inspiring personality from the things he says and his body language, in his interviews and stage shows. The life he puts in his dances, both on and off screen, is truly energizing… … what I can’t handle though, is his acting… ...
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It’s party time!!! Join the celebration and win prizes…I turn one today. meetu is too busy being sentimental to write me a ‘happy birthday’ note. So, here I am doing the honors. I thank Navin for pushing her to create me, edit me, and in general be my CTO. *High ...
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This is the first in a series of posts about the film appreciation course I recently did. This post describes the overall experience at the course. Later posts will have details on the structure of the course, the content, more on the movies screened, etc. (Update: The second and third ...
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Due to a technical glitch, the review of Aap Kaa Suroor posted yesterday, carried a rating of “Must See - on the big screen”. That was, of course, a major blunder - which was hopefully obvious to anybody who actually read the review. The correct rating is, without a doubt, ...
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Among other things, the application form for the film appreciation course I am doing at National Film Archives of India (NFAI) required the applicant to name five movies that s/he liked and why. It was easily the toughest question to answer. At the end of an extremely long yet enjoyable ...
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About a month ago I heard that I got into the crash course on Film Appreciation conducted by National Film Archives of India (NFAI) - Yay! NFAI conducts this month-long course which starts on May 21, 2007 in collaboration with The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). I feel ...
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I had seen Deepa Mehta's 'Water' on video a couple of months ago and had written a video review. The movie is a passionless portrayal of the state of widows in the 1930s. A subject that could have been dealt with a lot more sensitivity. It has some excellent performances ...
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So, what does make a movie enjoyable? There is no blanket 'one-line' to answer that question. It does depend… While watching a drama, the constant nagging thought has to be, “What’s going to happen next…How are they going to get out of this one?â€. You should be at the edge ...
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This site has been nominated for an indibloggies award in the entertainment category! indibloggies is a website that organizes awards for best Indian blogs in various categories every year. This has come as a very pleasant surprise and is most certainly a huge morale-booster since I started writing only in ...
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Thank you so much for your feedback! I am truly overwhelmed by the time and energy some of you have spent in penning your thoughts down and sending them to me. Of course, I have received a lot of feedback for my latest review Black Friday, and for good reason. ...
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The top and bottom line of enjoying a movie is, “Expectations make or break the experienceâ€. Now, by definition -> remakes involve comparisons -> the very base of comparisons is expectations. Add to this equation the fact that today’s remakes involve Amitabh and Rekha in the originals and you have ...
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Songs are certainly not necessary, but they have a purpose, that of entertaining. Some do just that. Some take the story forward. Some express a situation. And then there are the ones that exist just because…these, of course, are the irritating kind. I love songs in Hindi movies. But, when ...
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