The Lower Meniscus

Gangs of Wasseypur : A Marvel that Straddles Parallel & Mainstream Cinema Paanch saal baad, ek baar fir karenge vaar. The Hindi film industry predominantly known as Bollywood, is a princely capitalist state arguably ruled by film dynasties and heavily guarded by their cronies. For Anurag Kashyap, who came to the industry with just one aim; to bridge the gap between planes of world cinema and Hindi cinema, drawing a linear graph was something that cost him the asset of time. It took 11 years for him to disrupt the very mainstream territory, since his directorial debut Paanch in 2001. With the magnum opus Gangs Of Wasseypur( GoW) , the filmmaker touched new heights of success; both commercially and critically. The two part film series regarded as one of the modern classics of not just Hindi but Indian cinema, is something that appeals to all minds. As the film completes half a decade  on  22 nd  June,  let’s look at what makes it so special : S...

Movie Review: Hacksaw Ridge Immediately after the title, the movie opens with a shot of lifeless bodies lying on the war torn Hacksaw Ridge. The succeeding slow motion shots capture the beauty of chaos: cover smoke, open fire, burnt/ battered bodies flying across the frame and faint screams. As these things start settling over your retina, a gentle voice-over recites verse 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st of chapter 40 from the book of Isaiah. The V.O. seeps into the amorphous deposits and you get a fair idea about how stunning this Millefiori is going to be. From Hacksaw Ridge to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, the film soon transports you back in time to tell the story of Desmond Doss, a combat medic of the US army. Some people are made of a different substance and Desmond was one of them. A man who stands by his principals no matter how gruelling (both mentally and physically) the situations become, Desmond proves the strength of his nerves that are made of tun...