By Shreyasi Deb On a moist work evening in Mumbai, on my way home I decided to drop by at the mall next door without any great purpose. I walked to the multiplex area and while I was wondering how ‘The Vagina Monologues’ would feel in Hindi (our emotions have language?) I hit upon the wonderful poster for ‘Persepolis’ almost hiding apologetically behind its blatantly colorful cousins which spoke of movies I’d turn in my grave to watch. “I must do this” I said and soon I went in (my stomach sorted with a quick sub and a quicker coffee) expecting a ‘private viewing’ of the movie on a weekday late evening show. The theater didn’t have a single soul (although a dozen odd co-viewers did walk in after a while) and what began is a great show about life. Persepolis is based on a graphic novel( or comic as we call them). An autobiographical account of author Marjane Satrapi's childhood, the comic is inked in black and white and tells of her coming of age in the turbulent times of the Iranian revolution. The movie, animated to resemble the book, is co-directed by the author.

By Vidya Pradhan An American on a steady diet of Hindi movies may be forgiven for thinking that most Indian men are called "Raj Malhotra" - a name that is popular in Bollywood these days in the way Vijay used to be a couple of decades ago.  Even the heroines have some pretty standard names - Pooja for the A-list and wannabe A-list, Priya for the low budget movies and Aditi for the offbeat ones.  Kismat Connection tries very hard to be offbeat and quirky, though it does not seem very low budget, and is completely undone by pedestrian direction and a weak script.

How refreshing, that a movie about upwardly mobile young people should actually cast upwardly mobile young people! Jaane Tu...ya jaane na, a romantic comedy about privileged South Bombay kids, is the ultimate multiplex date movie, a sweet confection that entertains even the most jaded of Hindi movie viewers. Abbas Tyrewala, who has written for movies like Munnabhai M.B.B.S and Main Hoon Na, is one of the few original and talented scriptwriters in Bollywood today. He makes his directorial debut with Jaane Tu...and brings the same sparkling dialogues and sense of joi de vivre to this movie.

By Vidya Pradhan Short review – Silly movie, ridiculous plot, kids loved it. Now for the longer one……

By Vidya Pradhan “15 bucks!” was my outraged gasp at the flea-bitten Cinedome East in Fremont yesterday. Yes, inflation is up all around, but over-pricing the already dubiously valued movie ticket is something really hard to stomach in these days of 5 dollar gas and 18 dollar atta sacks at Indian grocery stores. The reason I discovered, courtesy the under-employed youngster at the movie hall, is that the filmmaker has decided this is what the movie is worth, going retro in the age of 99 cent songs and free movie downloads. Not surprising – the movie went over its budget of Rs.130 crores( about $30 million) and is now considered the costliest Indian movie ever made. Well, I shelled out 30 bucks for my 12 year old and myself and entered the theater for a very private screening – there were just 2 of us inside. The same pimply youth at the counter had to be summoned to start the movie. We settled down with popcorn to see if we would get our “paisa vasooled” . We did.

By Vidya Pradhan There was a time when movies from Yash Raj Films(YRF) were the most anticipated events of the summer. Tight scripts, sharp dialogues and crisp visuals were wrapped in a tasty confection decorated with chaste but gorgeous white-clad heroines and Swiss locales. YRF has been responsible for mainstream classics like Deewar and Trishul but lately, the prestigious banner seems to have gone into a prolonged slump. I can almost pinpoint the beginning of the decline. The year was 1995, and young Aditya Chopra has just helmed one of the biggest Bollywood hits of all time, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Thrilled by the success of DDLJ, the elder Chopra passed the baton, content to direct the occasional movie under what was now, for all practical purposes, his son’s production house.

By Vidya Pradhan I watch these movies so you don't have to. Note to Bollywoood - SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING! SCRIPT IS KING! Ajay Devgan, who makes his directorial debut with this movie, obviously did not get that note. He also takes credit for the ...

By Vidya Pradhan If you had any doubts about the survival of the film noir genre in Bollywood, this is the movie to put them all to rest. Mithya, meaning ‘fiction’, is another of director Rajat Kapoor’s eccentric, low-budget experiments and for the right viewer, this tragic comedy (or comic tragedy)is a worthwhile watch.

Director Nagesh Kukunoor’s oeuvre has been relatively small but I would love to see someone come out with a “Best of..” DVD set. In it would be Iqbal, arguably the most uplifting of his movies and Dor, a quiet but polished look at two women brought together by sad circumstances. I would also include Teen Deewarein, a thriller with twists galore, Bollywood Calling, a sly look at the movie industry,  and of course Hyderabad Blues, his debut film, which invigorated many viewers sick of mainstream pap dished out by Bollywood. Not all of Kukunoor’s movies are consistently engaging. Rockford was pretty dull, even for those familiar with the boarding school environment, and Hyderabad Blues 2 stretched the arranged marriage joke a bit too far. Bombay to Bangkok, though being way better than some of the other movies in the theaters right now, falls in this category.

By Rohini Mohan  Simplicity is the one word that amply describes this timeless classic. Ashok Kumar, Pearl Padamsee, Rakesh Roshan, Bindiya Goswami, Deven Varma, Preeti Ganguli and David all deliver understated and natural performances in a very Desi remake of ‘Yours, Mine and Ours’.