Category: India

Filmmaking Returns | RRR (2022) Review

June 20, 2022

One of the joys of exploring movies from different countries is encountering new cinematic languages. I buckled at the deliberative pacing of K-dramas before giving myself over entirely, and went into Shu Qi-starrer The Assassin assuming it was an action movie before leaving perplexed but intrigued. It’s strange, especially for a critic, to think “I don’t really understand what I’m seeing.” Yes, the image is crystal clear, of an extremely muscled man straining against the bonds of an ensnared tiger and screaming back into its roaring face, but nothing in my career of watching historical dramas has prepared me for this. Am I supposed to be registering some level of irony? Can they do this, even? And of course, subtly suggesting that I myself discovered RRR is a willful misguidance, as it came at the urgent recommendation of my QNA cohost Donovan – our own friendship highly reminiscent of Rama and Bheem’s, complete with underwater Predator handshakes. … More Filmmaking Returns | RRR (2022) Review

COVID India Relief

May 1, 2021

The worldwide crisis has become acute in India, where according to CNN, as of May 1st, “just over 2% of India’s 1.3 billion people have been fully immunized with one of two vaccines — significantly lower than the United States, where 29.8% of the population are fully immunized.” Hospitals are at capacity, 300,000 new cases are reported every day. There is an oxygen shortage. … More COVID India Relief

Battle of the Warrior Queens Part II

December 13, 2020

Something that strikes me is the notion of international law as it pertains to imperial conquest, that you have to contrive a legal basis for something morally illegal. The British East India Company wouldn’t annex Jhansi unless Rani Lakshmibai’s heir was considered illegitimate. But why? Were they worried about a rebellion? Either way, I think that speaks to the time, the mid-19th century — that even empires were run by gentlemen, and that’s either inherently contradictory, or more true than they realized. But first, I think a recap is in order. … More Battle of the Warrior Queens Part II

Battle of the Warrior Queens Part I

March 21, 2020

2019 was a big year for Rani Lakshmibai. She had two movies, a TV show, and an appearance in a third movie. This isn’t the first time there have been movies and TV shows about the Queen of Jhansi, but why this sudden interest? It’s the kind of thing that would happen in Hollywood once upon a time, where a more mercenary studio would produce a movie to capture some of the craze generated by a big blockbuster: Carnosaur in 1993, or Leviathan and DeepStar Six in 1989. I know why this doesn’t happen anymore, because there’s no market for movies that can be made quickly and cheaply, but it’s fun to see multiple interpretations of the same subject matter, especially with that mercenary edge, and especially when that subject matter is something rare like dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs, and I can hardly think of anything I’d want to see more in a movie. Except for maybe a warrior queen. … More Battle of the Warrior Queens Part I