LiveStrong

The loss of Tom Alter, is a big blow for the theater and film fraternity. A lot of people having been sharing how he was a guiding force for their careers, on stage and on the celluloid. Actors like Anil Kapoor , Anupam Kher and the likes, remember Tom Alter as an actor, who gave his best and changed our perceptions of a white man in Indian cinema.  Tom Alter - born to parents who were American Church missionaries in Mussorie, was cultured and educated in the prestigious Woodstock school. He was always awed by cinema and in particular, acting in theater, which was always his first love. The early '70s in India, had many superstars and Rajesh Khanna was one of them. Alter has gone on record to say, how Rajesh Khanna and his acting histrionics made him take to arts and acting in particular, leading him to join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in the mid '70s. This was to become his second home, and oracle of education.  His dict...

                                                                Photo via VisualHunt #ToiletEkPremKatha #TEPK (2017) is an satirical take on the open defecation issue that has plagued the nation for centuries. With a toilet as the central figure of the movie, actors Bhumi Pednekar and Akshay Kumar , along with a watchable support cast, etch out some memorable performances.  What important to note is that over 60 percent of India, especially in the rural areas, defecate in the open, due to age old traditions and rituals, which debar toilets from being built in houses. This tradition is considered as hogwash for many, however forced upon people in rural areas.  Due to the lack of proper sanitation facilities for women, they travel miles during dusk, to relieve themselves, which also leads to cases of ev...

                                                                    Photo via Visual Hunt Some movies make you stand up and take notice. They blend into the system, just like it were "us" on-screen. They have an element of simplicity, making it real to the core.  #RealOnReel I was stoked to watch ' The Lunchbox '  (2013)  and must admit certain directors and artists are God-gifted. The ability to pick up a normal story and give it a humane touch is spectacular.  #EpistolaryRomance Set in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai and based on an one-in-a-million error by  The Mumbai Dabbawallas  - the food lifeline of Mumbai, these food messiahs have been honored by The Harvard University and even acclaimed by Prince Charles.  Ila (Nimrat Kaur) , a typical Indian housewife, cook...

                                          Photo Courtesy : www.visualhunt.com Labelled as one of the most controversial movies of the year 2017, the release of Lipstick Under My Burkha highlights something that is always kept under wraps in our society, #womansexuality  Censored by the Indian Film Censor Board, because of the stern language and explicitly titillating scenes, where women call the shots, the release ( no pun intended ) on July 21, 2017 is a victory of sorts, for a part of the modern society in India, that understands the flip side of the coin. What simply baffles me, is because of the mostly patriarchal societies we live in, the needs of women and their intimate drives towards the *S word* have been shunned for generations. The way they dress, the way they sit, the way they speak has always been cocooned with certain notions, created by civilizati...

                   Courtesy: Google Search There are legends of *Indian cinema* and then, there is *#Sridevi*. *#Brilliance*🌠 Returning to the celluloid, after close to 2 years, Sridevi delivers a scintillating performance as Devki, the stepmother of an 18 year old girl, who finds it tough to admit her as her mother, after the young girl, loses her biological mother to circumstances. 😕😣😞 With the backdrop of the national capital *Delhi*, which unfortunately also has the moniker of being the 'rape capital' of the nation, the young girl is sadistically raped, in a moving car, by a few horrible men, who try to take revenge, since she doesn't pay heed to their advances at a night club *#RememberNirbhaya* 💎📡🌛 The group of men (socialites, a school going chap, and the gate keeper of a night club) take turns in compromising on the girl's modesty for over 3 hours. The depiction of this sinful act, makes the viewer cringe wi...

Everyone knows the *Mahatma*, the *naked fakir* who once addressed the House of Commons, in nothing but a loincloth! A man who sacrificed his whole life, just for India, to see the daylight of Independence, against an empire that once took pride in ruling half of the world. 👑 The Mahatma wished that once he lost his life, that his ashes be segregated in separate urns and immersed across 12 riverbed locations across India. 🍃💦 #RoadtoSangam thrives on the last wishes of an internationally acclaimed figure. 😇 👥 The movie, resting on the shoulders of *Paresh Rawal*, takes the *immersion of the#Mahatma's ashes* as the main theme and weaves a *soul touching story* around it.  Playing the character of *Hashmat Ali*, a car mechanic in Allahabad, the museum authorities get in touch with him, to repair, rewire and rejig the engine of a #FordV8, which would be used to carry the ashes of the #Mahatma towards the Ganges. 🙏 💧 The movie thrives on the #HinduMuslim b...