Shahrukh Khan
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DUNKI (Dir. Rajkumar Hirani, 2023, India) – Home & Away

* * Many contemporary mainstream Hindi films fall short in comparison to their big budget South Indian counterparts. While the latter exhibit technical prowess, such films have regrettably started to trade in a troubling blend of toxic hyper-masculinity and nationalist jingoism. It’s likely that you’re acquainted with the specific films I am alluding to. In Continue reading
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FAN (Dir. Maneesh Sharma, 2016, India) – Star Studies
Fan is facilely about the political and psychological chasm between stardom and fandom. On paper, this seems like a very tasty proposition indeed; especially considering SRK has not made a good film in quite a while. The doppelgänger, a ubiquitous motif, suited to the fragmented, interruptive form of popular Hindi cinema, is familiar to the Continue reading
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RA. ONE (Dir. Anubhav Sinha, 2011, India)
The first rule of stardom – never believe your own hype. Not unless you are SRK who has not been making the best career choices of late. When was the last time SRK really made a great film that he can lay claim to? You might have to go back to Paheli, Swades or even Continue reading
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CHENNAI EXPRESS (Rohit Shetty, 2013, India) – Postmodern Masala
This is an uneven action comedy from the Manmohan Desai school of filmmaking. Director Rohit Shetty is one of Hindi cinema’s most bankable directors and while it is tempting at first to lump him together with the likes of Sajid Khan, his postmodern sensibilities are much more palatable. While competency may not seem much to Continue reading
