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Rahul Desai Profile
Rahul Desai

@ReelReptile

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Writer, film critic, Retired Federer enthusiast.

Joined October 2009
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
4 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
2 years
If Kartik Aaryan was gifted a McLaren for the success of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Tabu deserves 10 Ferraris.
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Rahul Desai
9 months
Past Lives (2023) He keeps walking straight, she keeps climbing.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
Beautiful moment.
@navdeepyadav321
Navdeep Yadav ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ (navdeep.bsky.social)
2 years
#Breaking : #IFFI Jury says they were โ€œdisturbed and shockedโ€ to see #NationalFilmAward winning #KashmirFiles , โ€œa propoganda, vulgar movieโ€ in the competition section of a prestigious festivalโ€” organised by the Govt of India. ๐ŸŽค Over to @vivekagnihotri sirโ€ฆ @nadavlapi
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Rahul Desai
4 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
The only thing currently worse than Akshay Kumar's on-screen characters is his off-screen character.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
To score 34347 international runs without a spine is no mean feat.
@sachin_rt
Sachin Tendulkar
3 years
Indiaโ€™s 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
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Rahul Desai
1 year
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.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
"If not Modi then who?" Vote for Twitter in 2024.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
5 months
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.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
"She got the biggest film of her career but instead chose to get married and leave the country." Not sure how this guy has fans.
I wonder what his trash fans have to say now that he himself brought up her name in the interview for no reason and started mocking her
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Rahul Desai
5 years
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?)
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Rahul Desai
3 years
Was celebrating that overthrow till I saw Akshay Kumar and Jay Shah celebrating together.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
Rohit Sharma right now
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@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
5 years
You learn about life by watching films. You learn about yourself by re-watching them.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
3 months
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.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
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.
@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
10 months
the man speaks a lot of sense after 8 pm
@RGVzoomin
Ram Gopal Varma
11 months
Nolan is the only director who searches for the Intelligence in the audiences minds whereas we all film makers cater to their presumed dumbness
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Rahul Desai
2 years
I liked Laal Singh Chaddha quite a bit. Nice update of Forrest Gump, both personally and politically. Review:
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Rahul Desai
3 years
SonyLiv is just the worst platform in the history of streaming platforms.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Exactly five years today. #NeverForget
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Rahul Desai
2 years
both
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@Bollywoodirect
Bollywoodirect
2 years
What actor/actress was completely 100% right for the role?
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Rahul Desai
3 years
HAHA TIM PAINE DROPPED THAT. THE GUY TOO BUSY DOING A PODCAST BEHIND THE STUMPS
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Rahul Desai
8 months
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.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Finally an international cricket series. Some new country called Byju's taking on Australia.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Those Pathaan reviews didn't age so well, I guess.
@iamsrk
Shah Rukh Khan
1 year
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!
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Rahul Desai
5 months
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
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@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
2 years
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...
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Rahul Desai
4 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.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
25th re-watch of Moneyball. 25th time I've realized that it's probably the most perfect film ever made.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Best film I've ever seen.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
3 years
If writing comes easily to you, you're probably doing it wrong.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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".
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Rahul Desai
4 years
The world is a joke, India is the punchline.
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Rahul Desai
7 months
Go well, Matthew Perry. Thank you for being human and superhuman at once. And thank you for sharing your life with us.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Update: Friend in black t-shirt was allowed inside because he wrapped the Indian flag around his t-shirt ๐Ÿ˜
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Rahul Desai
3 years
IPL 2021 be like -
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
13 days
funny thing is if this shot were from a movie, we'd have been like oh boy that CGI is patchy
@Neutralious
Neutralious
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One of the coolest videos from the meteor yesterday in Portugal
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Rahul Desai
4 years
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)
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@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
4 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
2 years
25 years. 25 times.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
2019.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
Kohli at the end of this England tour #toss
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Rahul Desai
1 year
There goes that childhood.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
Three years with @FilmCompanion today. 520+ reviews later, longest (& happiest) marriage so far.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
"Sometimes you lose the moment...but win everything else..."
@iamsrk
Shah Rukh Khan
1 year
At that stageโ€ฆin that ageโ€ฆ..rawโ€ฆ.uncontrolledโ€ฆcraft still undefinedโ€ฆ.surrounded by the best cast & crew in India and a director who I miss every day! Taught me that sometimes u lose the momentโ€ฆ.but win everything elseโ€ฆI am sure somewhere, some world Sunil did too !
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Rahul Desai
1 year
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.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Words are never enough in these moments. But we try. Go well, Irrfan Khan:
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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
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Rahul Desai
5 months
Took me half a day to get through that Fighter trailer.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
Wrote about Konkona Sen Sharma, because it's never not a good time to write about Konkona Sen Sharma. (Rankings are an excuse, you know that.)
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Rahul Desai
7 months
By this logic, BCCI should be banished to Mars.
@ESPNcricinfo
ESPNcricinfo
7 months
๐Ÿšจ 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
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
9 months
Went long on Celine Song's PAST LIVES, a film I've been meaning to write about for a while. Gave me great satisfaction to be able to finally do it:
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Rahul Desai
3 years
If you don't find it frustrating to be an artist in India right now, maybe you weren't an artist to begin with.
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Rahul Desai
10 months
Took my mum to watch Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani. She loved it. I know why. She's tired but happy. I'm happy.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Deepika Padukone reminding everyone that the Filmfare trophy is amazing.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
The multiplexes need to rethink their obscene ticket+confectionery prices. What's the point of making movies accessible when moviegoing itself is so inaccessible?
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Rahul Desai
2 years
Kohli, legend.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Empty vessels make the most noise.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
How many stars?
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Rahul Desai
22 days
Just realised I've been reviewing films for 12 years now.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Best: Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa Worst: Dilwale Underrated: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi/Chamatkar Overrated: Cameo in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
@FilmHistoryPic
Film History Pics
1 year
Shah Rukh Khan Best Film - Worst Film - Underrated Film - Overrated Film - Quote \ Reply
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Rahul Desai
3 years
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).
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Cute to hear Ram Charan and Jr NTR suddenly rolling their R's in America.
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Rahul Desai
4 years
Also, on that note, fuck your blind items.
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Rahul Desai
1 year
Rejoice. It won everything, everywhere. Can't have imagined a film like that getting made, forget getting an Oscar
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Rahul Desai
16 days
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:
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@ReelReptile
Rahul Desai
5 years
Damien Chazelle is within four miles of me for the next few days and I will do whatever it takes. The rest of this sentence is irrelevant.
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Rahul Desai
2 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
4 years
If India is going to lose every game of this Australia tour, the fans deserve something in return. Like Shastri's sacking.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
You can't love cricket if you don't love Pakistani cricket. Trophies are no measure of what this team brings to the game.
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Rahul Desai
5 years
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:
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Rahul Desai
3 years
That Sundar six just won the Nobel prize in literature.
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Rahul Desai
3 years
@timesofindia Abey nalayako, writing is beyond you all but at least read the room.
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