Schitt's Creek will (hopefully) win Emmys next week, but the show has meant the world to me at a time the world has lost a little meaning.
Wrote a personal-ish essay about why I was destined to discover the Rose family during this pandemic. Read:
I'm at the Wankhede stadium today. The colour Black is being banned (t-shirts, caps, anything) because it's a "symbol of protest".
Fuck you, MCA. Fuck you very much.
I will never, for as long as I live, forget those two sixes off Haris Rauf in the 19th over. That's just PlayStation cricket by Kohli, against all odds, against everything we think we know about cricket. GOAT stuff.
Indiaโs sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants.
Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation.
#IndiaTogether
#IndiaAgainstPropaganda
Parents have been separated for years, but dad keeps sending flowers+cake on every wedding anniversary (today) without fail. Used to scoff at it, but now I'm in awe.
Most of our journeys as Hindi film people - as people - are inextricably linked to that voice. He took playback singing into a realm that changed not just how music was heard but how stories were told. KK expanded the grammar of film; he was never just a medium of words.
Given the way he smokes and drinks and eats, I've always expected my dad to reach the ICU at some point. But expecting it is one thing, and seeing a ventilator keep him alive is another. I'm angry with him, but would also like a final shot at the father-son life.
Strangest thing about
#SOTY2
: A woman outside the matinee show approaching every moviegoer with: "Hi, I'm from Dharma Productions, would you mind giving the film a positive review?"
(Am I out of date or is this normal practice?)
Chopra won despite the system, not because of it. Remember this when Modi starts pasting his face all over the currency of an Indian athlete's success:
I'm just angry. This Indian test team doesn't deserve our time. We lost the moment Kohli bullied Kumble out of the coaching job to pick a cocky cheerleader instead. The Kohli-Shastri combo has turned a talented generation of batters into vacant "intent" hogs. We deserve better.
It's going to be a year since my best friend passed. Not an hour goes by, and all. My life has been lesser since. I'm different degrees of lost. All I seem to be doing is picking up the pieces and wondering where they fit. I miss him a lot. And the part of me that went with him.
He passed away last night. We didn't travel together again, but every visit to him in the last 2.5 years was its own journey. He showed me his hometown and his hospitals, his courage and his calm.
I will miss him so much. I will miss the part of myself that he became.
My closest friend (& travel partner) has been battling leukemia for months. He's up for a transplant soon. Not sure why I'm tweeting, but don't know what else to do.
Guess this is my way of saying he's my pride, and there isn't an hour I'm unmoved by his spirit. You got this.
After watching Toofaan, I wondered if a "boxing movie" can feel new again. Sarpatta Parambarai screams Yes โ new, old, fast, slow, big, small, all at once. What a film. Feels like the GoW of Indian sports dramas...where the sport itself is just a physical medium of protest.
Some days, grief is standing on an empty platform and watching several trains pass by. Other days, it's being on a train and watching empty platforms go by. The worst days are when grief is both at once.
In a not-so-parallel universe, SAMRAT PRITHVIRAJ is destroying a mosque to build a temple, waving a flag, inciting a riot and ruling a 'democracy'.
Review:
This "black" ban has now inadvertently put the spotlight back on CAA right in the backyard of the mute Indian cricket team. Thanks, government. Job well done.
What a magnificent new home for the people who uphold our Constitution, represent every citizen of this great Nation and protect the diversity of her one People
@narendramodi
ji.
A new Parliament building for a New India but with the age old dream of Glory for India. Jai Hind!
Fav Hindi films of 2023: Goldfish, 12th Fail, Three of Us, Joram, Pokhar Ke Dunu Paar, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani, Jawan, Mast Mein Rehne Ka
Fav Hindi shows: Trial By Fire, Kohrra, School of Lies, Farzi, Dahaad, Mumbai Diaries 2
I wish I could spend my life writing only about sports documentaries. I genuinely enjoy exploring that bridge between sport and life, body and heart, purpose and person. Here are some of favourite docs (and their reviews) in recent years...
Was watching PIKU again, and oh my, what a wonderfully occupied film. Directing the space/rhythm of a culture is deceptively hard. That was a pleasant revisit.
Wrote, as a broken-hearted Federer fan, about the indisputable legend of Rafa Nadal. I see him better than anyone else, because I respect him more than everyone else:
The more we hype up an ordinary cricket match, the more we amplify the sociopolitical divide and historical tension between two nations. It's just a game, projecting it to be any more than that is playing into the hands of those who use sport as a "mauka".
My closest friend (& travel partner) has been battling leukemia for months. He's up for a transplant soon. Not sure why I'm tweeting, but don't know what else to do.
Guess this is my way of saying he's my pride, and there isn't an hour I'm unmoved by his spirit. You got this.
Indian fans suddenly realising how good this Pakistan T20 team is reminds me of (us) Bollywood enthusiasts suddenly discovering Malayalam & Tamil cinema. Not acknowledging "them" doesn't mean they don't exist.
A reader who shared my Schitt's Creek essay on Insta was also kind enough to share with me the great
@danjlevy
's message.
I don't usually do this, but if "David-ah" Rose writes back with best wishes & warmest regards then it's a win-win for the world. (ngl 2020 got better)
Schitt's Creek will (hopefully) win Emmys next week, but the show has meant the world to me at a time the world has lost a little meaning.
Wrote a personal-ish essay about why I was destined to discover the Rose family during this pandemic. Read:
At that stageโฆin that ageโฆ..rawโฆ.uncontrolledโฆcraft still undefinedโฆ.surrounded by the best cast & crew in India and a director who I miss every day! Taught me that sometimes u lose the momentโฆ.but win everything elseโฆI am sure somewhere, some world Sunil did too !
For all his commentating flaws, Gavaskar is the only one not afraid to criticise the Indian batsmen. No sugarcoating. "Bad shot by Kohli" is not easy to say in this entitled era. Players can't even retort with their petty "Who are you to speak?" comebacks. Baap hai tumhara.
When we went to cinema halls, they told us to leave our brains at home. Now that we're stuck at home, are we to parcel our brains to cinema halls? WHAT DO WE DO
๐จ Just in: Sri Lanka Cricket has been suspended by the ICC board with immediate effect
ESPNcricinfo has learned the decision was taken in response to what it believed was extensive government interference in SLC administration, which resulted in the board being dissolved
The Indian team can be very proud today. Given the circumstances, the injuries, the opposition and the context, the sheer spirit they've shown in Sydney is something that was missing from Kohli's India. Some fight is all we ask for. This is what Test cricket is about.
19 years in Mumbai today. It's never felt like I've lived here because I've only survived here. I cannot romanticise this city. I'm still discovering what it means. For better or worse, it's made me who I am. But I don't think Mumbai is my forever-land. Maybe it shouldn't be.
The multiplexes need to rethink their obscene ticket+confectionery prices. What's the point of making movies accessible when moviegoing itself is so inaccessible?
Indian twitter, don't let the Razdan incident distract you from the fact that there now exists hard evidence of Arnab being a parasitic mouthpiece for the ruling party. (Not that it matters...but it does).
Many Indian cricket fans lost their love for the sport after the match-fixing scandal in 2000. For me that moment was the 2023 "home" world cup. Sharda Ugra lays bare the reasons in this piece, the way only she can:
If you couldn't handle "love storiyaan" in Kesariya, wait till you hear the frequent use of "light" in conversations between allegedly adult people. Just one gripe among the million I have with this Fantasy For Beginners movie.
Review, Brahmastra:
Might be the jetlag or maybe not, but I was overwhelmed by how much I enjoyed GULLY BOY. Some movies need 5000-word pieces (don't worry this isn't that long, I promise). Review: