ICC Builds Bridges Across Communities at Packed Cultural Event
By Parul Fernandes HOUSTON: WOW! WOW!! WOW!!! The cultural show, “Building Bridges by celebrating Diwali” was a breathtaking show that the India Culture Center put up at VPSS Hall at 11175 W. Belfort Village Drive. What a show and what a unifying concept of Building Bridges! Asian countries like Vietnam, Philippines and China participated because […]
“Tere Siva Jag Mein” Video Released
Tadap is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language romanticaction drama film directed by Milan Luthria and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala under the Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment banner, with Fox Star Studios serving as distributor and co-producer. A remake of the Telugu film RX 100 (2018), the film stars debutant Ahan Shetty and Tara Sutaria. The film is scheduled […]
‘India Sweets and Spices’: Gossip, Secrets and Biting Laughs
By Lisa Kennedy In Geeta Malik’s comedy-drama “India Sweets and Spices” the aunties maim. At least emotionally. The wives and mothers who live in an upscale New Jersey enclave of Indian Americans like their gossip spicy and don’t seem to care who feels the burn. (The scotch-drinking, suit-clad uncles aren’t laggards in that department either.) […]
“Drishyam 2”: Mohanlal’s Malyalam Film is a Solid, Satisfying Sequel
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Murali Gopi, Saikumar, Asha Sarath Director: Jeethu Joseph Rating: Three stars Where’s the body? No body, no case. That was the point where we bade farewell to prime suspect Georgekutty (Mohanlal) in ‘Drishyam’, Jeethu Joseph’s smash-hit 2013 murder mystery. In the sequel, which opens six […]
Hindus of Greater Houston Supports BIPOC Yoga Teachers
By Pooja Salhotra Houston: In response to calls for racial justice last summer, Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) donated about $8,000 to fund yoga-teacher-training for four Black students, each of whom is, in their own way, spreading the mind and body practice to marginalized communities. Last summer, a 46-year-old Black man named George Floyd died […]
How Netflix’s Rom-Com “Namaste Wahala” Breaks New Ground
By Bernard Dayo Namaste Wahala has now arrived – but you might not realize how it breaks new ground. Nigeria and India have always shared interesting parallels. Both were colonised by Britain and geopolitically, they are each other’s biggest trading partner. During the ‘90s video boom in Nigeria’s Nollywood, the industry’s brush with horror borrowed […]
TSH Celebrates Centennial of Tagore’s Visit to Houston – Feb. 13-14, 2021
By Partha Sarathi Chatterjee Tagore Society of Houston (TSH) held 100 years commemoration of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Houston on February 13, 1921. On February 13, 2021, TSH organized a socially distanced event at the Tagore Grove in Ray Miller Park in west Houston. Due to Covid restrictions, City of Houston allowed only a few […]
‘Madam Chief Minister’: Strictly Passable
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Richa Chadha, Manav Kaul, Akshay Oberoi, Saurabh Shukla Director: Subhash Kapoor Rating: 2 stars Can your film portray a chief minister of UP, who is Dalit, female, short-haired, spunky, ambitious, and claim that the character does not resemble Mayawati? The lead player in Subhash Kapoor’s ‘Madam Chief Minister’ is all of […]
‘Maasaab’: Average Route to Enlightenment
By Archika Khurana The story centers around the state of education in India especially in the primary schools in the rural parts of the country. Set in Khurand village of Uttar Pradesh— ‘Maassab’ means teacher in local dialect in and around north and central rural India—the narrative revolves around Ashish Kumar (Shiva Suryavanshi) who has […]
‘White Tiger’ Review: It is Truly Adarsh Gourav’s Movie
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav, Vijay Maurya, Mahesh Manjrekar, Swaroop Sampat Director: Ramin Bahrani Rating: 3 stars ‘The days of the White man are over. It is now the time of the Brown man and the Yellow man’. Ramin Bahrani’s savage, darkly comic adaptation of Arvind Adiga’s prize-winning The White […]
‘Tribhanga’ Review: A Relatable Chamber Piece
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Kajol, Tanvi Azmi, Mithila Palkar, Kunaal Roy Kapoor, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, Manav Gohil, Kanwaljeet Director: Renuka Shahane Rating: Three stars A life-changing event draws together three generations of women to look back and introspect: were they right in their actions, and the things they thought about each other? Renuka Shahane’s directorial debut […]
‘Tandav’: India’s Answer to ‘House of Cards’
Tandav has been billed as “India’s answer to House of Cards” by the Amazon Prime Video. Tandav will premiere on Friday, January 15 on Amazon Prime worldwide. All nine episodes will drop at once, which means fans can watch the series in one go. Sacred Games star Saif Ali Khan stars as Samar. Speaking about […]
Cultural Arts Spring Festival Kick Off with Devotional Fervor: Vishaka Hari
Houston: Vishaka Hari needs no introduction. She narrates stories from the Hindu Puranas (Katha) in many languages (including English), making them come alive with musical compositions (Keerthana) of famous singing saints of India. Her narrative style is simple which she uses skillfully to make esoteric ideas come within everyone’s reach. The musical and expressive elements […]
‘Kaagaz’: Pankaj Tripathi Shines in Movie of a Bygone Era
By Pallabi Dey Purkayastha Story: In order to keep his band-baja business afloat, Bharat Lal (Pankaj Tripathi) approaches a local bank in Uttar Pradesh for a loan. Soon after, he realises that his uncle and his sons have declared him legally dead and snatched his share of the piece of land that the family had […]
Tamils Host Nationalist Thinker Sri Anand Sahu
Pearland: Houston Tamil Studies Chair (HTSC) hosted the visit of Sri Anand Sahu, from New Delhi, who spent two days in Houston as a part of his USA program. He is a Nationalist visionary thinker and Board member: Ministry of Finance & Labor & Employment, Government of India. His Houston program, coordinated by HTSC President […]
“A Call to Spy”: Radhika Apte-starrer is Un-showy and Un-bombastic
By Shalini Langer Cast: Sarah Megan Thomas, Radhika Apte, Stana Katic, Linus Roache, Rossif Sutherland Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher Rating: Four stars, Streaming on Amazon Prime A Call to Spy is a rare World War II film that doesn’t seek to strike awe and fear — the requisites now to win battles. Quite in character […]
“Torbaaz” Movie Review: Sloppy Execution Mars Sanjay Dutt Film
By Shubhra Gupta Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Rahul Dev, Nargis Fakhri Director: Girish Malik Rating: One and a half stars A refugee camp is the unlikely site for the formation of a rag-tag cricket team. To use the healthy competition sports engenders, in order to vanquish hatred, is a great idea. But consistently sloppy execution mars […]
India’s Oscar Entry ‘Jallikattu’: About Seething Brutality of Everyday Life
By Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta During a period of COVID-induced self-isolation this year, I watched Malayalam movies. They were like a balm. The backwaters are beautiful; the people are engagingly real. The stories are intensely local, set on the blurred boundaries between rural and urban that is so peculiar to Kerala. These are ensemble stories, perhaps […]
Serene Singh is Crowned 2020-2021 National All-American Miss
Orlando: Serene Singh, 23- years-old, has won the coveted National American Miss pageant held in Orlando, Florida at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. Singh represented her home state of Colorado competing in the world’s largest pageant with this year’s numbers totaling over 700 women from across the country. “I woke up realizing my dream of many […]
“Sir”: Soul-stirring Tale of Emotional Intimacy, Dreams, and Belonging
By Renuka Vyavahare Story: Soulmates are found in the most unexpected places. Two people divided by societal norms and united by their quiet love, understanding and mutual respect, empower each other as they exchange meaningful glances, speak through silences and wonder what lies ahead for them. Review: The male protagonist of the film — U.S […]
