March 2009 - Posts - First Cut

March 2009 - Posts

Charlie and the Indian lunatics

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
I'm in Bangalore and The New Indian Express says that a group of young people are opposing the building of a Charlie Chaplin statue on a beach in Udupi. Why? Because he was a Christian silly. A film unit had laid the foundation of the statue for a movie they were shooting when around 10-20 activists of the Hindu Jagarna Vedike (don't ask me...

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My ongoing relationships with men who write

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Wrote this in Lounge today: When you pick up the latest book by Roth or Rushdie (or Ghosh or Auster), there's always that comfort factor of knowing what you're going to get. The backstory--your admiration for the author's body of work--is already in place. If it's a Cormac McCarthy novel, you know it's going to be a bleak ride through...

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Where's Bollywood's Cate Blanchett?

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
Plan to watch both the Kate Winslet new releases, Reader and Revolutionary Road, this weekend. Meanwhile, wrote this for tomorrow's Lounge : Most Indian film-goers know Cate Blanchett as the powerful actor who has done two Elizabeth movies with Shekhar Kapur in the last decade. But if you see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , you're likely...

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What's your favourite Amitabh Bachchan film?

Posted by Priya Ramani at 
As part of a special package to celebrate 40 years of Amitabh Bachchan (go here , here and here to read the stories), Mint and Lounge reporters recently asked some people what their favourite Bachchan film was and why. I would have to agree with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's pick below---Bachchan's portrayal of a husband who can't handle...

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