Firsttake

First Take | Dasvi, Bheeshma Parvam, The Eyes of Tammy Faye depict three corrupt leaders and their ideas of individual justice

Abhishek Bachchan in Dasvi, Mammootty in Bheeshma Parvam, and Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye are three unlikely heroes and faces of subverted governance.

First Take | Fresh, Aamis, The Hungry: What do recent films on cannibalism say about us?

There is much more to these jolting films than the shockingly repellent cannibalism. They express a yearning to fulfil a culinary yearning that no kitchen can fulfill.

First Take | While making West Side Story, Steven Spielberg should've taken cues from In The Heights, or even Saawariya

Jon M Chu's 2020 musical In The Heights and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2007 film Saawariya are far superior musicals than Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated West Side Story.

First Take | If Bhutan can go to Oscars with Lunana, why can't India with a back-to-roots film like Kadaisi Vivasayi?

One reason why Indian films always get snubbed at the Oscars is their verbosity. Indian filmmakers are petrified of silences. They make the characters speak constantly to ensure the audience does not lose interest.

First Take | From Hridayam to Jan.E.Man to Bachelor, young actors are taking over South cinema

In Malayalam cinema, we have the wonderful Tovino Thomas flying high in Minnal Murali alongside the Mammootys, Mohanlals, Fahadh Faasils, and Dulquer Salmaans.

First Take | After Gangubai Kathiawadi, tracing the other Fallen Woman in Mandi, Lakshmi, Begum Jaan

Gangubai’s tryst with destiny is a gorgeous metaphor on the ‘Fallen Woman’, a favourite prototype of Hindi cinema since Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa. Except that Gangubai refuses to fall

First Take | Badhaai Do, Moothon, Single All The Way, I Carry You With Me — a latest quartet of commendable LGBTQ films

Badhaai Do succeeds in doing what no other mainstream Hindi film has done -- it confers dignity and credibility to the LGBTQ community without getting hysterical or self-righteous.

First Take| Reflections on watching not so comforting pandemic films — Help, Locked Down, Together

So many films and serials based on the Pandemic have begun to make their way onto various OTT platforms, that it (the Pandemic) has begun to feel like a formula for excess.

First Take | Of memorable performances by female leads in Shyam Singha Roy, Bhoothakalam, Juniper

The most agreeable part of watching three immeasurably beautiful women take centre stage in three very different films, in three different languages is that there is no sense of self-congratulations in the endeavour.

First Take | Pushpa: The Rise to Kurup, why do we make films about criminals and sociopaths?

I feel sorry for those who get entertained by the endless surge of villainy and the tiresome torrent of tyranny that is unleashed by the volley of unscrupulous villains with sundry mafia-like agendas.