Indian Cinema

Each of the films that Vikramaditya Motwane has directed — Udaan, Lootera, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and Trapped — grapples with the desire to change one’s circumstances; the relentless chase for happiness, love, success…freedom. He surveys the commercial Hindi movies of the last 70 years and picks seven iconic releases, exclusively revealing how each one has guided his own aspirations, especially once he found his métier
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The rugged topography of central India’s Chambal valley is expertly navigated by cinematographer Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s lens in the Hindi movie Sonchiriya. Shreya Dasgupta plays guide for Verve as her well-trained eye tracks the sinuous camerawork, zeroing in on the specific terrains, vegetation and wildlife that get screen time
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It’s the canonical Bollywood romance that established a new cinematic template for modern, multicultural love when it first hit the screens in 1995. Natashja Rathore demystifies the timeless appeal of Yash Raj Films’ Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge in her documentary, Still Rolling — The DDLJ Story (2016)
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Women on the silver screen had just begun to showcase a certain confidence, independence and joie de vivre. And ’90s superstar Raveena Tandon infused each of her performances with her distinguishable brand of physical energy and natural femininity. Paromita Vohra, writer-filmmaker, has a conversation with the accidental actor to examine the space she occupied on celluloid in her heyday, and follows her evolution into an even more self-aware sex symbol since then
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She has danced with her on stage, performed with her in plays and shared many of her life-changing moments, both professional and personal. And now, as her compatriot continues to earn accolades for a game-changing role in a record-smashing film, author and editor Sathya Saran rewinds to some of her friend’s most meaningful turning points
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It’s the coming of age of an unconventional artiste, whose life has been laced with passion, scandal and heartbreak. As she stuns audiences with her latest release Badhaai Ho, she takes Verve through the defining moments of her life
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