2006 IIFA Awards – Dubai

  If nothing else, the event that took place on June 16th this year  was  an incredible change from the dishevelled confusion of most filmi award shows that take place in Bombay. For the UAE event, everyone actually looked like they showered and combed their hair before leaving the house, the sets were shiny and […]

Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman

  Like so many movies set in Bombay, G.P. Sippy’s 1992 release  Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman has at its center a young man leaving his family home (in this case, in Darjeeling) to make a bade admi out of himself in the big city.   The very likebale local hero starts out on the right […]

Happy Birthday, Helen

You had me at the pelvic thrusts and the white flaps-o-fabric, er, garment you wore for the legendary  Yeh Mera Dil number in Don.   How did you manage to dance the way you did in something that had  such a wardrobe-malfunction risk potential, and with such authority? According to Jerry Pinto’s  joy-filled tribute, today […]

Bombay

  For the past month, this city’s been in my head almost every day.   The days I spent  there earlier this year just reinforced my initial impression that it’s so thick with  striving people and quirky architectural details, and moments of beauty exist cheek by jowl with  ugliness.   On the train to and […]