Gerald D'Cunha

E very great epic is a simple story, told very, very well. So, from this yardstick, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Iliad, Old and New Testament – are, first and foremost, are well-told stories, And, imagine the kind of shelf-life these stories have had and continue to have! One reason why I loved the latest Hindi movie ‘Raazi’ is for its brilliant story-telling. It’s a traditional – time-tested – way of story-telling. As I was coming out of the theatre, after watching ’Raazi’, my mind went back to some of my favourite movies, both Hindi and English… ‘Sholay’, ‘Deewar (Yash Chopra), ‘Shakti’, ‘’Munna Bhai’ (Both), ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Lagaan’, ‘Black’, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Ten Commandments’, ‘Ben Hur’, ‘’Enter the Dragoon’, ‘The Sound of Music’ and many more. I had loved these movies for the way their stories were told.   In fact, years later, the stories have lived in my mind… With ‘Raazi’, young director, Meghna Gulzar, has carved a permanent place for herself in the league o...

Pic.: Anima D'Cunha S econds before my wife and I walked into the theatre, last evening, I received a phone call from one of our friends, a lady. When I told her that we were walking into the theatre, she asked, “Which movie?” “Udta Punjab,” I replied. “It’s a dark movie,” our friend warned, “It might disturb you.” Both my wife and I knew ‘Udta Punjab’ would be a hard-hitting and a no-nonsense movie and we were prepared for it… So, I did not let our friend’s view cloud mine… My wife and I both loved the movie. And, yes, we both have been great fans of Alia Bhatt… and, here was one more reason why we had to admire her even more. To me, the movie is about ‘hope’ and ‘despair’ of individuals… There is this one scene where Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, who were deeply addicted and who were on the run, meet at a hiding place. They click. Shahid, despite tasting stardom as a rock star, now has resigned as a ‘Loser’… He has even declared it ...