Spoilers ahead… The idea that it takes a village to get two underprivileged boys into school could have made for a powerful underdog story. Instead, we are left with something that feels like a fairy tale. Towards the end of Lenin Balakrishnan’s Article 21, Joju George makes a speech. He plays a writer and social […]

Spoilers ahead… The refreshingly unmelodramatic and female-skewing screenplay gives the feel of ‘Little Women’ or ‘Pride and Prejudice’ as rewritten by RK Narayan. Human beings are like fruit, the narrator says. We may think we have free will, but ultimately – like mangoes – we have no control whether we are going to end up […]

Spoilers ahead… In many ways, the film feels like a heartfelt throwback to the heydays of the Chopra-Johar-Barjatya sagas, i.e. the pre-‘Dil Chahta Hai’ era. Note: This film review is based on an almost-complete cut seen on June 6. It had temp music, and post-production was still on. Some of the things I mention here […]

You find economic forces at work in the unlikeliest of places. One of my kids got me into playing Fifa 23, a fairly popular football (or soccer if you prefer) video game. One possibility in this video game is to play Ultimate Team, in which you build your own team that you gradually improve and […]

By Karthik Iyer If nothing else, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has changed the way I look at raindrops. There are only two shots of them in the film: one at the beginning and one at the end. Everything that happens in between changed my perspective. Nolan gave Cillain Murphy, who plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, one note about how […]

By Madhumithaa Jai Bhim, Viduthalai, Por Thozhil. This is just a quick list off the top of my head. There are definitely more movies that will effortlessly make it to this list. There’s a disturbing pattern that I notice in these movies, and an even more disturbing pattern with the audience. The disturbing pattern is […]

I came across this novel idea of using photographs to teach cross-country differences in real per-capita GDP in the Journal of Economics Teaching. It draws on over 44,000 internationally comparable photographs (of households and their living conditions). Most courses focus… Continue reading →

By Vishnu Mahesh Sharma Many a times, in his interviews, Imtiaz Ali has shown his reverence and respect for Shyam Benegal’s filmmaking. In fact, at one instance he even moderated a discussion about Benegal’s Junoon. Hence, if one finds impressions of Benegal School of Filming in Ali’s work then it should not a surprise. These […]

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Nicely put together video from the IMF that looks at a definition of economic growth and how it is measured. It explains why it matters but also discusses the limitations as a measure of standard of living in a country.… Continue reading →

See here for what this series is about. Director’s note: My friends and I made this short film/skit for the final assessment of the Spoken Japanese course in our college. I wrote the screenplay in English in two and a half hours and was so pumped up by the mere prospect of directing it with some […]

See here for what this series is about. Director’s note: A meandering narration that appears to be about nothing more than a dreary existence is in fact concealing something unmistakably palpable. Structured as a conversation with the viewer, this film explores the narrator’s descent into the depths of his idle mind, as he wallows in existentialism […]

Spoilers ahead… He’s an IT professional. She’s a doctor. They’re married, and they have a fantastic, fantasy-prone sex life. Nirmal Joshi’s Goodnight Giggles depicts sex in a way we’ve never seen in an Indian context (though the director is from the US). The act is utterly un-self-conscious — as are the brilliant actors, Chakori Dwivedi […]

In the A Level syllabus FDI is part of Unit 11. One way that developing economies can achieve a rise in investment is to attract multinational companies. A multinational corporation (MNC) is defined as a firm that operates in more… Continue reading →

I have been doing exchange rates with my AS class and we talked about the problems some countries have when they are blessed with natural resources – the resource curse. Africa may have enormous natural reserves of oil, but so… Continue reading →

Spoilers ahead… In this thriller starring Vijay Antony and Ritika Singh, the narrative struggles to live up to the visuals. Balaji Kumar made an impressive debut with Vidiyum Munn, in 2013. Ten years later, he is back with a film that at least looks impressive. Kolai – based on a true-life murder case – feels […]

Spoilers ahead… The film feels like an early draft of ‘Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum’, the brilliant Dileesh Pothan movie that combined crime and humour and satire. Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu is one of the great debut features in recent times. Suresh Sangaiah’s second feature, Sathiya Sothanai, is stitched from the same cloth. Here, too, we get a […]

Spoilers ahead… This is a solid, old-school biopic – but it’s more dutiful than dazzling, more admirable than awe-inspiring. When Christopher Nolan announced a biopic, of all things, I was curious. It’s like Hitchcock making a Fred Astaire musical. It’s like Spielberg making Saw. It’s like Scorsese making a screwball comedy or a Western. There’s […]

Spoilers ahead… Despite a clunky and messagey closing stretch, Nitesh Tiwari’s film is an engaging mellow-drama In a late scene in Nitesh Tiwari’s Bawaal, Ajay and Nisha (the married couple played by Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor) play a drinking-game where they reveal things about one another: favourite books, favourite films, that sort of thing. […]