"Maiki"

It may have been the reason for “Housefull” signs in theatres again, but the first instalment of Ayan Mukerji’s much-awaited fantasy trilogy met with mixed reactions. The dialogues in particular, which were intended to polish the film’s aspirational edge, came under fire because of the purported inauthenticity of their phrasing. We explore the film’s relationship to language and how Dharma Productions, an industry powerhouse that has successfully employed Hinglish in several of its productions, failed to do the same thing in its most globally ambitious project yet
Read more

The recently released Tamil-language film Gargi featured scenes of sexual assault that raised questions about its sensitive portrayal on-screen. Feminist historian and activist V. Geetha speaks to Verve about the ethics of picturising such violence, the function of trigger warnings, the rape-revenge genre, as well as imagining a visual narrative outside of the criminal justice framework
Read more

Tales from the Border, cultural bonding, unexpected windfalls and archival footage. Culture know-all, Anil Dharker, looks at the rediscovery of India with wry amusement
Read more

Vidisha-Fadescha, founder of the New Delhi based anti-caste, anti-racist, trans*feminist art and social space Party Office, reflects on challenging heteronormativity and capitalism through partying and on creating safe spaces for the DBA and LGBTQIA+ communities
Read more

The following is an exclusive excerpt from Nilanjana Bhowmick’s ‘Lies Our Mothers Told Us: The Indian Woman’s Burden’, which takes a closer look at middle-class Indian women and the structural inequalities that frame their lives. The book will be out on July 5
Read more

Much has been written about Ranveer Singh’s untraditional off-screen persona, so on the heels of ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ we instead deconstruct the actor’s displays of masculinities across his filmography to understand how he has chipped away at the toxic convention of a “mass hero” — whose contemporary avatar has increasingly been playing to the Hindutva imagination — and the innate gentleness that underpins several of his roles
Read more

‘Sharmaji Namkeen’ marked a pivotal departure for mainstream Indian cinema with the casting of Paresh Rawal as the same character played by Rishi Kapoor, who passed away unexpectedly during the filming. We consider the willing acceptance of this unconventional solution — likely encouraged by Ranbir Kapoor’s personalised introduction before the opening credits — and what it says about Indian spectatorship, celebrity culture and the audience’s relationship with Bollywood’s “first family”
Read more

Economist and author of the popular book ‘Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India’s Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy’, Shrayana Bhattacharya breaks down her findings on romantic desire and freedom, fantasising as a form of self-care and how the Bollywood superstar’s icon interacts with the socio-economic structures that define our deeply capitalistic notions of romantic love
Read more