Articles

Schedule Our day actually started around midnight after the power-nap sometime during the last screening (take a look at the schedule and you would know why we needed that nap). We would begin with "healthy" discussions about the screenings over cups of not-so-hot Café Coffee Day coffees. These would eventually … Read more »

I finally watched Ijaazat. My thoughts on watching it as a 46-year-old. Read more »

A counterpoint to Meeta's review of Aiyaary and a comparison with the other film that released on the same day The Shape of Water. Read more »

This piece is fanboy material by design - it is for the most part about the influence of his - the Joharian school of cinema -  on me, as someone who grew up in the late nineties as also on our popular mainstream culture - something that our man isn't credited for often and not nearly enough with. Read more »

No fanfare, no bells and whistles. Just plain happy to be 10. Read more »

Is it just that Alia Bhatt is a good sport? A very good sport? Is that the only thing that makes her self-parody awesome? I think not. And here's why. Read more »

happy birthday to me happy birthday to me happy birthday dear wogma happy birthday to me! Read more »

Whether or not you are caught in the exam fever, it hits the cinema freak in you! You are kept away from theaters because there are barely any releases in this season. And pretty much no 'high-profile' films. wogma brings you a 'Beat the Exam Lull' Contest! Read more »

For someone whose most intense personal relationships are the ones with the strangers who occupy the remainder of the seats in a darkened cinema hall, for someone who believes that life begins when the lights are dimmed, for someone who quite simply lives and breathes the movies, a film festival is like Christmas. On crack. The recently concluded 14th Mumbai Film Festival wasn't any different. In fact, just the thought of watching the cinema of masters like Loach, Kiarostami and Haneke on the big screen was exhilarating, to say the least. True, some highly anticipated films were underwhelming while some films sneaked up on you and made you fall in love with them. So, below, in no particular order, are 10 international films that were my personal favourites at MFF 2012. And in true wogma spirit, I've given nothing away! Read more »

There's a basic lack of sensitivity to the requirements or even existence of others in a public environment - a basic lack of civic sense. From driving sense to business deals being closed on mobiles in theaters - the 'me' and 'my' is of over-powering importance compared to the inconvenience being caused to others. In fact, there is a very bright chance that you'll be yelled at for asking someone to put their phone on silent in a movie hall. Read more »

It’s not that cinema's role is to educate us in the nitty-gritty of all medical conditions that it refers to. But, in this area of our lives specifically, writers and directors need to be a little more responsible in sensitizing us to the plight of others. Read more »

Sports films are action films which have stunts that SHOULD be tried at home. Read more »

Rating: The keen must watch on screen; else DVD (Action/VFX buffs might prefer a theater watch) Quick Review: Ra.One is a good concept that packs in enough set-pieces to make it a fair enough one-time watch on the big screen. However, the film will not make you truly go WOW, because it lacks the emotional punch to do so. The VFX are of a level that a good chunk of the Indian audience would not have been exposed to before, but still fall short of international standards. The music, the good looking cast and some scenes make the film watchable, but not unmissable. Read more »

How about you win prizes for telling me about your favorite films? Awesomeness, right!? So, here's how you go about it Read more »

And the winners of the FilmyTee Design Contest are .... Dhai Kilo Ka Haath; Mere Paas Maa Hai; Eyes of the Future; Picture Abhi Baaki Hai Mere Dost Read more »

Five years. Five years! That is a long, long time, no? The highlight of this birthday is some spontaneous gifts given by people who care about wogma. Read more »

Design a t-shirt!! And win awesome prizes!! 1st Prize: Rs. 5000 + Your winning Tee + Royalty 1st Runner Up: Rs. 3000 + Your winning Tee + Royalty 2nd Runner Up: Rs. 2000 + Your winning Tee + Royalty Read more »

If you loved the The Social Network, you will enjoy sitting through this feast of a documentary about the film’s making. It’s a fitting tribute to a movie that is set to rule the Oscars this year. The documentary is available as a bonus disc on the film’s DVD and is as gripping, interesting and informative as the film itself. Students of cinema, movie buffs, budding actors and script-writers, you will have attained David Fincher-nirvana after you’ve seen this one. The most paisa-vasool home video purchase in years! Read more »

This article was written for Pune Mirror for their 2011 new year issue. The topic assigned was Bollywood and Hollywood - 10 years gone by 10 years to come. * January 1, 2001Imagine the world of a half tech-savvy/gadget freak. No Wikipedia. No iPod. And google barely existed.About 10 years … Read more »

It's that time of the year, sorry decade. As unbelievable as it may sound, I feel like I have seen far fewer films this year compared to the past 3-4 years. I've heard, "You haven't seen this one! Come on, how could you miss it?" way more than I'd like. … Read more »

User is kinng! So, what if it is my site, it doesn't mean only opinion should matter, right? You there nodding your head in agreement, I have something very special for you. Now you can leave your 100-character review and rating for each film. No-no, no registeration, login, etc. Read more »

Here's the second roll out of new features at wogma. We have two to announce today and an update on the "Listen to wogma" announced earlier this week Read more »

Happy Brithday, dear wogma! Here is a bouquet of new features for your readers!! Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

'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 … Read more »

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. … Read more »

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. Read more »

In the recently conducted Indibloggie awards, wogma won the Best Entertainment Indibloggie award. We are of course, mighty pleased. Read the entire list of nominations and winners here. Read more »

happy birthday to me happy birthday to me happy birthday dear wogma happy birthday to me! Read more »

Aaja aaja flu nichodein Raat ko H1 todein Koi good luck nikalein Aaj N1 ko phodein Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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" … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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. … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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, … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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. … Read more »

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, … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

- 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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

…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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 1 A motoring enthusiast, an adventure sport lover, an avid traveler and of course an actor who has impressed us with movies like Dor … Read more »

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, … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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. These days, I'm also trying my hand at short stories at minusi.com. Do leave a comment there with your feedback. Having Meetu for a friend … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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… … Read more »

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. … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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, … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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?”. You should be at the edge … Read more »

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 … Read more »

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. … Read more »

The top and bottom line of enjoying a movie is, "Expectations make or break the experience". 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 … Read more »

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 … Read more »