A rebel looking for a cause

Disclaimer: This is not a movie review. It is an out and out a tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput straight from the heart. On the afternoon of June 14th, while I was sitting in my room planning to bake a cake for my father's birthday, I received a forward on Whatsapp which said actor Sushant Singh Rajput is no more. At first, I thought it was just a silly rumor doing rounds on social media so I searched on Google for the news. I was shocked to read that it was indeed true and I ran into the living room to turn on the television. My parents were sitting there and I told them that this had happened so turn on the damn TV. My mind was not able to process this information and it still hasn't. My heart still doesn't want to believe that he is no more. My heart grieved hearing this news and it still hasn't sunk the information completely. I have no idea why but I got so affected by the news of his demise even though I wasn't his fan per se but his death felt like a personal ...

A few years ago I remember to have commented something I considered "funny" at that time on a Facebook post which made fun of men and the problems they face on a daily basis. One of my brothers messaged me saying that was outright offensive and that I should be sensitive towards the feelings of men as well and how would I feel if a similar offensive joke was cracked on a woman. I was immensely immature and the little rebel and the then so-called woke liberal (lol) in me retaliated by saying don't tell me what to do, this is my personal life and I will comment on whatever subject I want to and will make fun of whatever topic I want to because even women are made fun of so I am just restoring the balance of the Universe. A few days later when things got back to normal and my temper was restored and when I was in the condition to listen to people, he patiently explained it to me how men have feelings too and how it is offensive to make fun of anyone and how one should be res...

Hindustan Unilever's Fair and Lovely has changed its name to Glow and Lovely * insert facepalm *  As kids and adults, we all have come across such advertisements on television where dark or brown-skinned people are mocked by their friends or relatives or even strangers for their skin tone, they lead a sad and depressing life, get rejected by potential life partners, get rejected in interviews, all thanks to their dark skin and how the tables turn after they apply skin lightening product. It has been systematically fed to us that light-skinned people are indeed happier and successful than dark-skinned people. In a country such as India where we naturally have brown or dark skin, how is fair skin even natural? Why are we made to believe that fair-skinned people are superior to their dark-skinned counterparts? Why is colorism so inbuilt in our DNA? Why all kinds of media aggressively market such products and make us believe that only the color of our skin will decide whether we are su...

It would not be wrong to say that I have been an ardent and a loyal fan of Hindi films since time immemorial. I have always been into films and the process of filmmaking, in general, like what inspired the writer to write a script, how did they get the idea of making a movie, who composed the background score, how do they do the cinematography, etc. As a kid, I remember watching movies on DD National when we had no cable at our house and whenever my parents used to take us (my brother and me) to watch movies in theatres I used to get so thrilled. Watching a movie on the big screen still excites me except the part where I start questioning everything.       Image courtesy Getty Images Earlier, the audience was not so critical of the movies as they are now because they did not have anything else to compare it to. Films, Television and Radio were the only sources of entertainment in the lives of the people. There was neither high-speed internet nor was there any OTT pla...