IN Media Freedom | 2018-09-06
Patwardhan expressed concern that the decision was an attempt to impose YouTube’s sovereignty over the law of the land.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |13/04/2018
Actor Sri Reddy’s stripping protest on April 6 against the sexual exploitation of aspiring actresses in the Telugu film industry has led to the institution of a Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) in the industry, announced on April 12…
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |11/04/2018
A Supreme Court ruling and the debut of a film on Netflix together signify a push back for censorship by society and the state. On April 10 the SC criticised the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee for imposing restrictions on the film "Nanak Shah Fakir" and cleared its release on April..
Rajinikanth steps into TN’s reel- to-real life politics
BY BP SANJAY| IN OPINION |02/01/2018
The film star’s promise of a new ‘’spiritual politics’ may sit uneasily in a state where rationalism and atheism have held sway for 50 years.
IFFI begins, minus Nude and S Durga
BY MANJULAA| IN CENSORSHIP |19/11/2017
The directors are indignant at their films being dropped but the reasons are somewhat more complicated than simple ‘censorship’..
Film tribunal’s rulings: good, bad and arbitrary
BY PRASHANT REDDY THIKKAVARAPU| IN CENSORSHIP |16/11/2017
The FCAT is doing a good job of overruling the CBFC’s bizarre diktats but it could be less arbitrary about its own orders?
MIB drops films, jury head resigns
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |14/11/2017
NDTV reports that Director Sujoy Ghosh, head of the jury for the Indian Panorama section at the 48th International Film Festival of India, has resigned. Last week the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reportedly removed two films from a list picked by the jury to be screened at the festival. Missing from the..
Good sense returns to the CBFC
BY MANJULAA| IN CENSORSHIP |09/09/2017
Under Prasoon Joshi, the CBFC is trying to handle film certification without cuts and make life easier for filmmakers..
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |22/08/2017
Film maker seeks an early verdict on documentary showing the impact on farmers and water supplies of Coca Cola bottling plants.
Lipstick… Should it have made it to the screens at all?
BY MANJULAA| IN OPINION |29/07/2017
Do filmmakers like Alankrita Shrivastava have the maturity to decide what their audiences will watch as Shabana Azmi contends..
Why short films have begun to make it big
BY MANJULAA| IN SPECIAL REPORTS |27/07/2017
Short films have taken time to get to centrestage in India but looks like they are here to stay..
Taking quality cinema to smaller cities
BY MANJULAA| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |30/06/2017
There has always been a disconnect between good cinema and B towns. The Jagran Film Festival which begins in Delhi on July 1 aims to end that.
Visual tales born out of conflict
BY SEVANTI NINAN| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |18/06/2017
All three films not permitted to be shown at the short film festival in Kerala which is currently under way, are now on YouTube. Did the GOI really feel threatened by these?
Truth telling from the frontlines
BY NUPUR BASU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |11/03/2017
“Velvet Revolution” is a 57-minute international documentary which profiles women journalists who have paid a high price for speaking truth to power.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |04/10/2017
Under its new head the CBFC has been handing out U/A certificates to films which you would expect to be certified 'U'. Newton, which is about a polling officer's efforts to conduct elections in a Chhattisgarh village, has got U/A certification. So has Chef, starring Saif Ali Khan, because the..
Newton and Maoism: mass media finally gets it right
BY SHUMA RAHA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |24/09/2017
Newton is a quiet film which delivers a ringing satire on the nature of state intervention in Naxal areas and the sham elections that are held there.
BY GEETA SESHU| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |25/10/2016
It all comes round again - political thugs dictating what film, play, or concert can go ahead. Karan Johar is just the latest to surrender to threats.
Film ‘31 October’ battles opposition to release
BY PALLAVI BHATTACHARYA| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |15/10/2016
The PIL is only the most recent hurdle for a film which revisits the 1984 riots and its aftermath in a commercial release.
BY PALLAVI BHATTACHARYA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |27/09/2016
The film with a strong feminist message has sparked off multiple debates. But what kind of impact can it have on men and behaviour?
Baahubali critics, get a grip, please
BY ARUNODAY MAJUMDER| IN OPINION |25/05/2017
Critics who have got their knickers in a twist over the film betray their ignorance and expose the poverty of cinema commentary,
‘Snowden,’ a picture of the cybersecurity state
BY SANJAY GOEL| IN PRIVACY |20/09/2016
The extent and scope of intelligence agencies’ ability to intercept communications and collect information is mind-boggling.
Does social media chatter help a film succeed?
BY PALLAVI BHATTACHARYA| IN DIGITAL MEDIA |10/09/2016
Both controversies and a marketing push lead to a buzz on social media for a film. But should such manipulated discussions influence movie goers on what to watch
Is a film with no PR destined to be a flop?
BY PALLAVI BHATTACHARYA| IN MEDIA BUSINESS |30/08/2016
The answer is usually yes because so many films are vying for attention. But sometimes, a film can make it on its own steam.
The Odisha casting couch smears the ruling BJD
BY PRADEEP MAHAPATRA| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |01/07/2016
Allegations of trading sex for roles in the film industry and shady business practices cast a shadow over Odisha’s Ollywood.
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |16/04/2015
The Vogue My Choice video starring Deepika Padukone makes gender equality look
deceptively easy.
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |07/03/2015 ?
The ban on 'India's Daughter' is unjustified. It breaks no law and is a criticism of India rather than a defamation, ??
Leslee Udwin no, Honey Singh yes
IN OPINION |05/03/2015
Since there is so much outrage over a film which is documenting reality, why is there none over the entertainment industry's contribution to misogyny,
Film-maker challenges film certification rules
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |02/02/2015
Documentary film-maker Pankaj Butalia's The Textures of Loss provokes an SC judge to comment on balanced portrayal.
IN CENSORSHIP |01/01/2015
Vigilante Hindutva groups have perfected the art of violent protests
BY TERESA REHMAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |28/11/2014
The scramble for TRPs distorts the truth and hinders justice.
Haider: to depict or not to depict...
BY SANJAY PULIPAKA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |10/11/2014
...that is the question posed by Vishal Bhardwaj's film. Why is it that women are portrayed as marginal and Kashmiri Pandits have been neglected by film makers,
BY VIKRAM JOHRI| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |04/10/2014
The second Urban Lens film festival in Bangalore dwelt on how the poor create space for themselves, and offered insights into urban development.
Gulabi Gang: Truth tales re-told
BY Geeta Seshu| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |07/03/2014
While Bollywood appropriates the story and releases it as a feminist film for March 8, other film makers feel it does the original Gulabi Gang a disservice.
Resisting Censorship: Kolkata screening of 'Musalmaner Katha'
IN MEDIA FREEDOM |08/10/2013
The struggle to protect the right to show and speak about truths uncomfortable for the State is an ongoing one,
What's stalling Thalaiva's release??
BY MAYA RANGANATHAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |17/08/2013 ?
In a state known for its media-politics nexus, the struggles that Thalaiva is facing for release, points to yet another dimension, ??
Filmdom's Friday 'take offence' game?
BY Geeta Seshu| IN CENSORSHIP |13/08/2013 ?
Come Friday and a big release and there will be another actor lurking in the shadows: the offence-taker. At least four films in the last two weeks have run into some trouble or the other, over dialogues or song lyrics.
BY ANAND VARDHAN| IN OPINION |05/07/2012
Reviewers in the Hindi press have exposed the lack of reality in the"realistic" Gangs of Wasseypur.
BY hoot| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |15/08/2011
The problem with Arakshan is not that it is needlessly provocative,but that it is such a disappointing film. .Free speech battles should be fought over more deserving material.
BY Nishant Upadhyay| IN OPINION |31/08/2010
Peepli [Live] has ended up trivializing a very grave issue and fails to highlight the real plight of the farmers or the dimensions of the agrarian crisis.
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |15/08/2010
A farmer is about to commit suicide! TV reporters, politicians from the bottom to the top, and finally the agriculture ministry in Delhi all become caught up in the rip-roaring chase that follows.
BY Ajitha Menon| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |11/12/2009
Journalists often have a tendency to the sweep legal aspects of the situation totally under the carpet, and a sub plot in 'Paa' satirises this point.
BY B.P. Sanjay| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |17/06/2007
Rajni has had a love hate relationship with the media including a unilateral media boycott in the late 1980s to protest his so-called arrogance.
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |12/11/2007
How did they take a story as dramatic and unforgettable as that of reporter Daniel Pearl, and reduce it to a story about his pretty wife?
BY IANS| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |27/11/2006
It is a story not just about Pearl and Omar Sheikh but also about the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Pakistani spy agency.
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |10/10/2006
Between them, Doordarshan`s dutiful telecast and Patwardhan cinematic style shattered Sunday morning`s peace.
The smoking Don – does it matter?
BY gulati| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |04/09/2006
If entertaiment is used to promote a negative behaviour, it has much stronger influence and catches on real fast.
Women, disability and films in India
BY Rema Sundar| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |26/06/2005
Mainstream Indian cinema rarely addresses the issue of disability, and it is rarer still to find a film on the plight of the disabled woman.
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |21/01/2005
National award-winning filmmaker Joshy Joseph questions the media’s tendency to sensationalize in his film ‘A Day from the Life of a Hangman’
Alternatives to mass market escapism
BY Frederick Noronha| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |05/12/2004
Stories from the real India jump out of the cine-reel at the 35th International Film Festival of India, held at Goa
Screening documentaries in Rajasthan
BY Sanjay Maharishi | IN MEDIA PRACTICE |16/06/2004
A film maker takes to the road with films disqualified from the Mumbai International Film Festival.
A "bring your own film" festival at Puri
BY byoff team| IN REGIONAL MEDIA |31/01/2004
This is to take place on the beach at Puri. No entry formalities, no selection process, no hassles. Just land up with your films. Documentary. Fiction. Animation. Rushes. Rough cuts....
BY Subhash Jha| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |30/05/2003
No matter how conveniently the arc lights have deflected her way Aishwarya Rai hasn’t sought the limelight. She is in fact enormously wary of being written about.
India: At last some strong screen women
BY shahla raza| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |22/12/2003
After a long gap, viewers are feasting on films that have handled women characters sensitively and boldly.
Mani Ratnams problematic take on adoption
BY Lalita Sridhar| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |03/05/2002
The noted filmmaker has taken up the subject of adoption only to orphan it at the altar of commercial concerns.
Film roles that pave the way for politics
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |09/09/2002
Tamil cinema produces a rash of movies where the male lead is a roughneck who cares about the poor. Such roles are a stepping stone for a career in politics.
