Ishita Sengupta
@MadameSengupta
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Film critic @ottplayapp ; Film and culture writer for hire | Words in @hyperallergic @newlinesmag @frontline_india @IndianExpress @IDAorg
Mumbai, India
Joined April 2015
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NEW WORK: For
@newlinesmag
, reported and wrote
on the current landscape of Hindi cinema and how a portion has been in active compliance with the government, leaving the rest to work in a culture of self-censorship. No better day than 15th August to share
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News to me that people in their 20s were waiting since 500 years
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just wanna know the loan amount Sourav Ganguly is struggling to repay
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BAWAAL is what happens when the filmmaker's research for a world war film only comprised listening to that one podcast where the host asked: “Hitler was evil, but who isn’t?”
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i want the confidence of Sidharth Malhotra to show up on a roundtable for MISSION MAJNU
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Wanted to clap more than once while watching JAWAN. Shah Rukh Khan is pissed and has never looked hotter
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For my column She Said She Said this week, I wrote on Adam Driver and the reason women (including me) cannot get over him.
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Still hurts that the most deserving nomination from India didn’t end up winning
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Will never forget that DIL TO PAGAL HAI was the first film my parents took me to watch in theatres and somehow my father thought it was an acceptable idea to convince a 5-year-old that Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit were siblings to justify their playful intimacy
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The film was made by a troll and the social media account is being handled by one
#Animal
remains invictus at the Box Office🪓🔥
Book your Tickets 🎟️
#AnimalInCinemasNow
#Animal
#AnimalHuntBegins
#BloodyBlockbusterAnimal
#AnimalTheFilm
@AnimalTheFilm
@AnilKapoor
#RanbirKapoor
@iamRashmika
@thedeol
@tripti_dimri23
@imvangasandeep
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in another life I hope none of us has to do tax or laundry
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Sandeep Reddy Vanga's ANIMAL is sewage (i am assuming he was aiming for savage). It is all kinds of bad but at this point i am convinced he is enjoying the calling out.
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Spent last week rewatching Varun Dhawan's films and making note of his portrayals. Dhawan has forever inhabited the role of a conservative, entitled man. Except, he is learning to unlearn. For my column
#SheSaidSheSaid
wrote on his malleable masculinity
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Sriram Raghavan refusing to give Varun Dhawan Badlapur’s script and retorting with “if you get the script what will you do, you think you’ll be better?” is everything I expected from him
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NEW WORK: Profiled my fav composer Sneha Khanwalkar for
@TheFederal_News
. I have been wanting to talk to her for a long, long time. Remember going to watch Dibakar Banerjee's Love Sex and Dhoka in 2010 and coming back haunted by the score.
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no one worse than that early 30s guy who founded a start-up, has a tricolour flag on his Twitter bio and spends all his time defending India like the only two films he ever watched in his life are lagaan and gadar
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No better story than besharam rang transforming into a banger after watching pathaan in theatres
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Everything in MERRY CHRISTMAS worked for me. Still entranced by it. Really hope more people turn up to watch it.
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I loved a lot of things in Merry Christmas but this moment refuses to leave my mind mostly bcs how dense the ambiguity is. Is she kissing him as an apology or to distract? We can have our theories (I know I do)
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Merry Christmas is finally streaming on Netflix. Really hope more people watch the film and it gets the love it deserves. Had written this in January:
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Sriram Raghavan’s MERRY CHRISTMAS is already my favourite film of the year
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MUBI doing god's work
JOYLAND. Saim Sadiq’s groundbreaking, universally acclaimed queer love story streams from December 1.
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Kohrra on Netflix might be the most ingenious and ambitious police procedural drama in the Hindi streaming landscape right now
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If there is anything called a ‘Sunday film’ it ought to be Piku. Just gladdens the heart
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Also I’ll say this: there’s a scene in the film where SRK stands hands-tied while Deepika fights the goons. His face glows with admiration, like he knows he’s in safe hands. The moment approximates the reason behind his stardom: a rare male actor unthreatened by female colleagues
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New work: Spent the entirety of Jan, reading up on the history of Bangladesh and marvelling at its music. For
@newlinesmag
I had the most fulfilling time writing about the uniqueness of Coke Studio Bangla, the Bangladeshi edition of the music franchise.
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NEW WORK: For
@frontline_india
I wrote an essay on the actor of the decade: Alia Bhatt. Delved deep into career and argued that her contribution to the way roles are being written for women of late is immense.
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Pathaan is silly and smart, featuring the most fun post-credit scene. In Shah Rukh Khan we trust. Review:
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NEW WORK: For
@IDAorg
I wrote a long form piece on Vinay Shukla's While We Watched and other Indian documentaries which have won big at International film festivals but are receiving no distribution offers back at home.
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Really, really liked Kho Gaye Hum Kahan and super impressed with Ananya Panday. Eager to see more of her
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did not expect the Imran Khan daddy era to arrive this soon
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Kiran Rao’s fun, revisionist Laapataa Ladies is streaming on Netflix. Glad that more people are watching it now
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Unreasonably excited for Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light; every video from the premiere is making me smile. Hope it wins 🤞
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On this note, find yourself editors who not just give you a free rein to write 1300 words on your one true love but even find ways to sustain it.
@swethar__
@nadsatspeak
designed this insane creative and gifted me my new phone wallpaper ♥️
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Like a true bengali I’ve bought mutton biryani to cheer myself from watching and writing ANIMAL after listening to rabindra sangeet all evening
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There is so much to see and admire in PS Vinothraj’s Pebbles. I wrote about the film which is presently competing at the ongoing
@IFFR
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lots to like and love in Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies
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You can like or dislike Luv Ranjan’s films but how can you defend his misogyny with the absurd logic that the one time he didn’t depict women as absolute trash, the film didn’t work so now the onus is on us to suffer his stilted growth as a filmmaker
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Hindi films trying to be thrillers really gotta do the casting smartly. Half the twist is revealed by who they choose to cast and how
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finally got around to writing about Gehraiyaan, a film i liked a lot. say what you will but Shakun Batra's recent outing alters the discourse around infidelity by treating it as a moral issue and not ethical failing.
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Find someone who looks at you like Colin Farrell looks at Jenny
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Did not like Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar at all but still liked it more than Luv Ranjan likes women. Because, he really just hates them. Review:
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Sanket Upadhyay: "Could you have predicted the UP results?"
Prannoy Roy (not even looking up): "Oh, 100%"
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some professional update: my short, year-long stint at News9 has come to an end. After months of contemplating, I have decided to start freelancing and not work full-time anymore. That I quit without a plan is the most adult thing I have done.
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should be sorry for opening that mouth
Sorry to say but if you are scared of all men then you are the reason.
My mom, my sis never scared of me or my dad.
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Imtiaz Ali's Amar Singh Chamkila shines. Really liked it.
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Earlier this year I had this crazy, and a little nutty, opportunity to speak to Wim Wenders. It’s all a blur now but I remember him being v kind even when I overshot my time. We spoke about his new film, PERFECT DAYS streaming on
@mubiindia
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Varun Grover’s All India Rank is earnest in the best way possible. Quite liked it
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Killer Soup is whimsical, inventive and an anti adaptation of Macbeth if there ever was one
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Nishtha Jain’s terrific Farming The Revolution, documenting the 2020-2021 farmers’ protest, premiered at the ongoing Hot Docs recently and won the top prize-Best International Feature Documentary Award. For
@IDAorg
i spoke with the filmmaker
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NEW WORK: for
@newlinesmag
I wrote on on the stupendous work that is currently being done in Bangladesh. A young crop of filmmakers are telling rooted stories, evoking interest about Bangladeshi cinema in the global scale and bringing home awards.
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You know what is better than not meeting your heroes? Holding them accountable
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2022 has been a conflicting, comforting year. Changed jobs and then plunged into the uncertain world of freelancing. Wrote some pieces in the year that I am happy with despite the soul-sucking process that is writing. A thread:
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Last month my parents and I tested positive for Covid-19. What followed was a difficult, exacting month. For
@ieopinion
I wrote on caregiving and why it is a heartbreaking prospect irrespective of the result.
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Sofia Coppola makes Bill Murray look like the guy everyone would want to sit with
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Sitting through Ae Watan Mere Watan feels like a survival sport
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When i started the She Said She Said podcast, my sole objective was to have an accessible platform for female writers to talk about films and themselves. For the last seven months i approached colleagues who gladly agreed spending their time and energy talking to me.
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VERY excited to have started a fortnightly podcast
#SheSaidSheSaid
where i will talk to female writers about films, shows and everything pop culture. For the first ep, i chatted with
@PouloCruelo
about Mai and had a ball
You can listen to it here:
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Hear me out, Khel Khel Mein is quite funny and Akshay Kumar is hilarious
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Wrote on Gulzar. Went a little overboard
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Rain, fever and paracetamols later we have taken the Decision To Stay
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Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, the most personal film of the year, helped me understand my celluloid-stricken uncle better. Wrote about it here:
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What makes the scene for me is Sethupathi’s eyes and the way his character crumbles every so lightly after being kissed. Like he can exhale after holding his breath for too long
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Rooney Mara gently saying no to Jessie Buckley when asked to stand during Women Talking win has given introverts our new meme
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Bade Miyan Chote Miyan has ended me
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A little late
@sundancefest
update but super chuffed to say I made my
@hyperallergic
debut with a piece on
Saim Sadiq's crushing JOYLAND
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Shamelessly moved every time a politician is coming on deKoder and expressing their appreciation for Prannoy Roy
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I write on films, music, books and relationships. Did I say personal essays?? Please do consider commissioning me work. My DMs are open and my mail id is- isengupta1
@gmail
.com. TIA!
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Asim Abbasi’s Churails is a rare series that does not view patriarchy as a problem. Instead, it acknowledges it as a reality, one that we have to live with. Here retribution is futile and resistance is the way forward. Wrote on it.
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Watching hindi shows every week deadens your senses. They look and feel the same. Which is why I am really glad something like BARZAKH exists. It might not be perfect but it's ambition is something else. Enjoyed writing this for
@TheFederal_News
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happy to report I will be reviewing Hindi films and shows for
@ottplayapp
(and reuniting with my all-round fav editor
@nadsatspeak
)
First up wrote on Zakir Khan’s new comedy special Tathastu. It has been a while but I haven’t recovered still. What a set.
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Damn, so bummed about ALL THAT BREATHES not winning. Was really rooting for it
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Enjoyed Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani a hell lot. Ranveer Singh is a riot (show me another Hindi film actor who does the Delhi-boy nonchalance better than him) but was mostly moved by Karan Johar’s willingness to look back so that he can truly look ahead
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Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun is all kinds of sublime and tragic. I watched it twice and rarely has a film refused to make sense and then opened itself up in such quick succession. It is streaming on
@mubiindia
. Reviewed it for
@TheFederal_in
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i was not a fan growing up. back then it was difficult to see what SRK stood for given all actors spoke in a homogenous politically correct way. I admire him now for continuing to stand up for who he is even when the idea of politics has changed, leaving no space for correctness
Thread alert! Let's talk about why India needs a cultural icon like
#ShahRukhKhan
𓀠
#Pathaan
#SRK
𓃵
#ShahRukh
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my favourite literary trope is two young people deeply in love and unable to convey it to each other and even if they do, they are unable to be together
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nothing sweeter on the internet than Vijay Sethupathi calling Shahrukh Khan "sexy" with a little blush
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No better evidence of Anupam Kher being a good actor
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Growing up, I have always seen Baba, sometimes tangibly, often endearingly, struggling to articulate words that needed to be whispered rather than screamed.
For Father's Day, wrote on my (al)most favourite person, and on his this struggle.
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I am sure a lot of things will not make sense this year but nothing can top Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya's existence
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not a font snob but gotta say garamond does make you look smarter than you are
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Stop everything and watch Lukas Dhont's heartbreak-shaped CLOSE, streaming currently on
@mubiindia
. Even the trailer breaks me. Had written about the film earlier this year
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one of the more underrated pleasures of FOUR MORE SHOTS PLEASE is watching Neil Bhoopalam getting more unhinged with each season. Big fan
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