Deepa Deosthalee is a film critic and reviews movies across Bollywood, Hollywood, regional Indian cinema, feature films and international language films.
Deepa grew up to the masala movies of the '70s and has been writing about Bollywood for 15 years. She still can't decide if she likes it! Goes over the fence frequently to the side of Hollywood and world cinema, but always slinks back to home base. Loves Smita Patil, hates mushy romances and can talk films till her head spins... literally!
Deepa's extensive collection of reviews can be found on her site - Film Impressions - which aims to offer well-argued criticism, insightful interviews and a historical perspective to celebrate cinema.
Deepa is a regular contributor to India News Bulletin's Cinemascope column. If you are a movie buff, you will enjoy reading her unique take on movies.
Chakravyuh is a ‘Bollywood political thriller’. Which is a shame, because the issue that Prakash Jha and his writer Anjum Rajabali address is among the most critical ones of our times––the rise of Naxal insurgency and its increasingly vocal and often violent clash with the establishment. Read more
1959 -- It was the year Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt were born. Jawaharlal Nehru was India's Prime Minister. Television finally arrived in the country with the setting up of the state-run Doordarshan. Bajaj Auto got a manufacturing license for producing two and three wheelers. Guru Dutt released his ambitious Kaagaz Ke Phool. And B.R. Chopra launched his younger brother Yash as director with Dhool Ka Phool. Read more
Set in the turbulence of 1930 British India, Bedabrata Pain's film Chittagong is an inspiring version of Ashutosh Gowariker's dud Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey. It corrects the crucial narrative and stylistic lacunae of Gowariker’s film. Read more
Rani Mukherji-starrer Aiyyaa is lacklustre. It's not the quality of humour, weakness of screenplay or slow pace that ultimately gets to you. It is the crudity and the pelvic thrusts which force you to look away. Read more
English Vinglish Review -- Ignore the cliches of the Mind Your Language-type institute and try looking at life through a woman's eyes for a change. Sridevi's English Vinglish is refreshing, to say the least. Read more
Umesh Shukla's Oh My God! based on his own successful play Kanji Viruddh Kanji, which in turn was inspired by the Australian film The Man who Sued God (for once the makers acknowledge their source) isn't interested in any serious engagement with the question of god's existence or the purpose of human suffering. Read more
Madhur Bhandarkar’s Heroine is another nail in the coffin––while you've been thinking there's no space left to hammer more nails! And it probably isn't the last one either. Read more
It is nearly impossible to translate the subliminal magic of director Anurag Basu’s Barfi! into words. Ranbir-Priyanka-Ileana’s Barfi! is a film to be experienced and surrendered to. Read more
“World events revolve around five things – M-O-N-E-Y" quips Gekkoesque billionaire fund manager Robert Miller (Richard Gere) to CNN on the eve of his 60th birthday in the 2012 Hollywood drama Arbitrage. Read more
Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur Part 2 takes off from Part 1 and the saga of absurd violence and relentless homage to Bollywood continues all the way till the gory climax. But the sense of history and of real, pulsating characters seen in Part 1 was missing. Read more
