Author: Sanjay Shah

Usually, I don’t feel like writing about a movie trailer. Most such ‘reviews’ feel like marketing gimmicks dressed as opinions. But after watching Aamir Khan Productions’ Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos announcement, I can’t help myself. This isn’t a teaser, and it isn’t exactly a trailer! It’s Aamir Khan’s (with Vir’s) mind at its quirkiest and most brilliant. In under four minutes, Aamir and Vir Das take us through a rollercoaster that’s part comedy, part chaos, and entirely hilarious. The setup is simple: Aamir is furious with Vir for making a ‘bad movie.’ The conversation kicks off: Aamir: “Kya banaya tune?”…

She said, “Just add an Indian touch to it and you’re done.” The flood of vertical shows, or microdramas, is rampaging through the entertainment industry like never before. Who would have imagined, just three or four years ago, that capsule-sized episodes, two minutes long, 40–50 in a series, would create such a storm? But it’s happening. Everywhere. Everyone is either making a vertical show or writing or acting in one. That means a sudden surge of work and opportunities, right? Yes! But the same trend is also snatching creativity away like never before. The craze began when Douyin, China’s TikTok,…

The boy who dreamt of becoming an actor in Class 9 turned that ambition into reality with absolute conviction. Dharam Paaji didn’t just achieve his dream—he carved his name into Bollywood with a force and permanence very few ever manage. “Ma, I want to be a hero. I’ll go to Mumbai.” “Have you lost your mind? You’re the eldest son. You carry responsibility.” In a tiny, barely noticeable village named Dangon in Punjab’s Ludhiana district lived the Deol family. The father, Kaival Krishan, was a schoolteacher, and the mother, Satwant, managed the home. They had seven children, and Dharam was…

One of the most engrossing sessions at WAVES Film Bazaar 2025, held alongside the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, was the technical conversation around the Netflix web series ‘Adolescence.’ The session brought together the show’s visual backbone — DOP Matthew Lewis and Camera Operator Lee David Brown. In a discussion moderated by UK-based actor–writer Rajdeep Choudhury. What unfolded was a rare, enriching masterclass on how difficult, delicate, and beautifully complex the art of cinematography can be. Why this session stood out at the Bazaar Amid the deals, pitches, and high-energy co-production buzz of Film Bazaar, this…

This series, inspired by a foreign show, could have easily been much more entertaining. Thanks to the lead actress, who looks good on screen, it becomes somewhat bearable, but even then, one has to push themselves repeatedly to watch it till the end. Earlier in May, a British television series called The Game was released, though it may not have been easily accessible here. On a similar note, a Tamil series with the same name was released on Netflix in October. Directed and co-written by Rajesh M. Selva, this crime thriller revolves around a professional woman whose work and straightforward…

મુંબઈમાં વસનારા શરૂઆતના કપોળોમાં તેમના પિયર અને શ્વસુરપક્ષના પરિવારો સામેલ છે. આજીવન સેવાનો ભેખ ધરનારા પતિની જેમ આ વડીલ ૯૧ વર્ષે પણ સેવારત છે “મારાં દાદી વીજળીબાએ લગ્ન વખતે મને શિખામણ આપેલી કે દીકરી, જ્યાં જાય ત્યાં બધે સાસરિયાનું સારું બોલવાનું. સાસરિયા સાથે દૂધમાં સાકરની જેમ ભળી જવાનું. એમની વાત મારા સ્વભાવમાં વણાઈ ગઈ. પછી જે થયું તે બધું જાણે દાદીના આશીર્વાદની પરાકાષ્ઠા…” ૯૧ વર્ષનાં હંસાબહેન બાલકૃષ્ણ મહેતાના મલબાર હિલ સ્થિત ઘરમાં ગજબની નિરાંત, સકારાત્મકતા વર્તાય છે. હવા પણ એવી વહે છે જાણે એ કહેવા માગતી હોય કે જ્યાં સંતોષ છે ત્યાં ખરી શાંતિ છે. વિવિધ અગ્રણી સંસ્થાઓમાં જૈફ વયે…

President Donald J. Trump, who returned to the White House earlier this year, has once again reimagined how the world crosses borders: not with visas alone, but with invoices and, apparently, monuments. When the administration announced the new $100,000 H-1B fee, many assumed it was an accounting error. They were wrong. The price tag is real. The solution? Barter — a bold new plan that some aides have cheekily called the H-1W (World Wonders) Visa. H-1W: World Wonders Accepted Here Under the scheme’s unofficial brochure: UNESCO’s new memo reportedly begins: “Fragile history inside — do not drop.” Visa or Villa?…

First thing first. Henceforth, there is no need to call Aryan Khan “Shah Rukh Khan’s son” any more. At 27, he has arrived on his own. Not as an actor following in his father’s footsteps (who would have refused to sign him as an actor?!) but as a director. That too with a series mounted on an extravagant scale. His is a show headlined by top young and veteran actors, supported by super A-listers alike! If I am not mistaken, no Bollywood director in recent memory has made a debut under such watchful eyes. After all, he is SRK’s son.…

આસપાસનાં કેટલાંય ગામોનાં માંદાં-બીમાર પશુ આ સંસ્થાને મોકલાવાય છે. જોકે માળખાકીય સુવિધાઓના, નાણાંના અભાવે સંસ્થાએ ઘણીવાર પોતાને ત્યાંનાં પશુ કોઈક મોટી પાંજરાપોળે મોકલાવવાં પડે છે. એ માટે એની પાસે વાહન નથી અને થતા ખર્ચને પહોંચી વળવાની ક્ષમતા નથી નોંધઃ અહીં જણાવેલી માહિતી, પશુઓની સંખ્યા, વાર્ષિક ખર્ચ તથા સંસ્થાની આર્થિક જરૂરિયાતો વગેરે બધું ઓગસ્ટ 2017 મુજબ છે. સંસ્થાની હાલની સ્થિતિ વિશે વાચકે સ્વયં જાણકારી મેળવી લેવી. આ લેખ પ્રસિદ્ધ કરવાનો એકમાત્ર ઉદ્દેશ સંસ્થાનાં તથા સમસ્ત મહાજનનાં સુકૃતથી વાચકોને પરિચિત કરાવવાનો છે. લીલો અને સૂકો બેઉ દુકાળ કુદરતની માનવજાતને લપાટ છે. એ લપાટ ઘણીવાર અબોલ પશુઓને પણ ભરખી લે છે. તાજેતરની હોનારતે…

Have you caught Inspector Zende on Netflix yet? It’s a new Bollywood film about a Mumbai cop chasing the infamous criminal Charles Sobhraj. It’s watchable once, but don’t expect to be raving about it. The mix of crime and comedy doesn’t quite hit the mark, with the writing and execution missing the punch they need. Let’s chat, like we’re sipping chai together, about why Inspector Zende feels average and whether it’s worth your time. A Cop Who Made History Mumbai Police has some big names, and Inspector Madhukar Zende is one of them. Why? He nabbed Charles Sobhraj, a notorious…