‘Tu Jhooti Mein Makkar’: So Boring Despite Stars
By Shubhra Gupta Luv Ranjan’s latest ‘Tu Jhooti Main Makkaar’ is basically every Luv Ranjan film till now: the guys, they’re the best, the gals, well, they gotta learn their lesson. That, and the one thing no Luv Ranjan movie can do without: the monologue. The plot, basically an excuse to hang this one-line philosophy […]
Unique Violin-Viola Duet Vibrant Varnam to Tantalizing Tri-llana
By Abhishek Balakrishnan and Sudha Mani The Classical Arts Society of Houston opened their 2023 season with a grand concert. The Houston music lovers were gifted with a treat, nay, a double treat of sorts: A Violin and Viola Duet by Sri Vittal Ramamurthy on the violin and Sri VVS Murari on the Viola. They […]
Indo-American Association Presents Berklee Indian Ensemble: The Shuruaat
HOUSTON: The Berklee Indian Ensemble is bringing its genre-bending sound to Houston for the first time ever! Fresh off the release of their GRAMMY nominated debut album, Shuruaat, the Ensemble is on the road with a slate of originals, new arrangements, songs from the album, and, of course, audience favorite classics. Join some of the […]
‘Gulmohar’: Family Drama with Sharmila Tagore and Manoj Bajpayee
by Alaka Sahani What turns a house into a home? Ironically, Gulmohar tries to find an answer to this just when the Batra family is moving out of their plush Delhi bungalow, which is going to be knocked down to make way for a high-rise. When we meet the Batras the night before they have to […]
Beyond Bollywood — 15th Indian Film Festival of Houston Celebrates in Style
From a phenomenal opening sequence featuring a NASA astronaut welcoming the audience to the 15th Indian Film Festival of Houston, featured screenings of 3 world premieres and an Oscar-nominated film, Q&A with filmmakers, to an elegant Awards Night and black-tie sit-down dinner at the Asia Society Texas Center, guests were treated to what was fittingly […]
Mavla Group Celebrates 393rd Birth Anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji
By Rahul Ghag Mavla Group celebrated the 393rd birth anniversary of the great Maratha warrior King Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on February 19, 2023 at the energy capital of the world Houston, Texas. The birth anniversary of the great Maratha king Shivaji is celebrated as Shivaji Jayanti every year. The founder of the Maratha Kingdom, Shivaji […]
‘Lost’: Nicely Atmospheric, but Ultimately Dissatisfying
By Shubhra Gupta A young man who does ‘nukkad naatak’ on Kolkata’s teeming streets, goes missing one fine day. His sister and mother are bereft, because no one, least of all the police, seems interested in searching for him. A journalist with a fine nose for sniffing out trouble is on his trail, asking tough […]
‘Shiv Shastri Balboa’: Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta Save Forgettable Film
By Shubhra Gupta Middle-aged ex-banker from Bhopal Shiv Shastri (Kher) arrives in the US, all set to start a new innings. His doctor son (Hansraj) has done well for himself, in possession of a wife, two sons, a neat suburban home, all the trappings of success. As he begins finding his feet in an alien […]
ICC’s 50th Celebration of the 74th Republic Day Resounds in New Venue
By Jawahar Malhotra HOUSTON: This year, if you drove, by force of habit on auto-pilot, to the India Culture Center’s Republic Day celebration figuring it was at the Stafford Civic Centre on Cash Road, you would have been wrong and very much confused. The organizers probably did not leave any posted signs there to re-direct […]
Hindu Singles Meet at Event by Hindu Vivah
By Jawahar Malhotra HOUSTON: After a gap of 5 years, the Dallas-based non-profit Hindu Vivah once again held an event to bring together Hindu singles for a speed-dating type of event held at the main auditorium of the Radha Krishna Temple on Beechnut near Kirkwood in Alief. But unlike the event of 5 years ago […]
Indian Film Festival of Houston Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary
HOUSTON: The Annual Indian Film Festival of Houston (IFFH), begun by its Founder and Executive Director Sutapa Ghosh in 2009, keeps getting better and better. This quality event screens features, shorts, and documentary film with Q & A sessions with filmmakers. There are bonuses as well. No wonder IFFH was voted as the “Best Film […]
‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’: Naive, Insidious
By Shubhra Gupta Looking back at historical figures with the benefit of hindsight can be an interesting exercise. Rajkumar Santoshi posits a question in his ‘Gandhi Godse Ek Yudh’: what if Godse’s lethal attack on the Mahatma had failed? What if the two were given untrammeled time to converse with each other? Would there have […]
‘Pathaan’: Shah Rukh Khan is Back with Patriotic Spy Thriller
By Shubhra Gupta Hindi movies have been constructing the ‘desi’ equivalents of the Bond-Bourne franchise for a while now. Tiger has been ‘zinda’ in a pacy double-bill, Agent Vinod has done his bit, BellBottom has flexed and flared, but it is ‘Pathaan’ which has got the spy movie-laced-with-heavy-doses-of-patriotism bouncing off the screen, with Shah Rukh […]
‘Kuttey;: Lacks Both Bark and Bite; Watch for Tabu’s Performance
By Shubhra Gupta In 2009 came ‘Kaminey’, in which Vishal Bhardwaj offered us a compendium of crooks in a plot so entertaining that it practically begged an encore. Sadly, 2023’s Bollywood feature in theatres, appropriately called ‘Kuttey’, and directed by Vishal’s son, Aasmaan, is not that film. By all rights, it should have been. By […]
Malabar Gold & Diamonds Launches 300th Global Showroom in Dallas
This is the 3rd showroom of Malabar Gold & Diamonds in the USA Luxurious shopping area spread across 5,000 sq. ft Extensive jewellery collection with over 30,000 designs from 20 countries DALLAS: Malabar Gold & Diamonds, the 6th largest jewellery retailer globally, with a strong retail network across 10 countries, is all geared up to […]
Vadh: Pulp Fiction Story of a Noble Murder
By Shubhra Gupta There’s something noble about the word ‘vadh’, as opposed to, merely, murder. The latter can be tawdry, ordinary: the former is used as moral justification to end a life. But is a murder, even if it is of a monster, ever justified? Schoolmaster Manjunath (Sanjay Mishra) and wife Manju (Neena Gupta) are middle-aged, […]
JLF Houston 2022 Achieves Perfect Blend of Physical and Virtual
HOUSTON: After a hiatus of 2.5 years, JLF returned with its fifth edition to the city of Houston in a perfect blend of the physical and the virtual in September 2022. A festival of literature from all over the world, JLF Houston was an event unlike any other. The literary extravaganza invited people from Houston, […]
‘Naam Tha Kanhaiyalal: Documentary about a True Artiste
By Pradeep Anand This morning I saw one of the most moving documentaries in my life. It was about Kanhaiyalal, an actor who was type-cast into playing harsh roles of a munshi or a clerk, a bearer of bad news or deliverer of monetary harassment to the heroic main characters of Hindi movies. Before there […]
‘An Action Hero’: A Mostly Fun Caper
By Shubhra Gupta An Action Hero is pretty much what its title says it is: it is about an action hero, and his unexpected adventures, during which he learns the difference between reel life and real life. The film is stuffed with meta jokes, in-house gags, and a running jibe against the shouty TV shows […]
11th International Maheshwari Rajasthani Convention (IMRC) in Houston
By Trusha Chandak HOUSTON: The Maheshwari community of Rajasthan came together this Thanksgiving weekend to relive their culture and connect with each other at the 11th International Maheshwari and Rajasthani Convention (IMRC). The well attended event was hosted by the Southwest chapter of MMNA (Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America) and held at the Marriott Marquis […]
