True Review
Movies

The Flashback Experiment

Film historian Dhruv Somani revisits Cinema Cinema, the 1979 underappreciated documentary by Krishna Shah and Shahab Ahmed, on the genesis of our popular cinema. Cinema Cinem...

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Movies

APARAJITO: A PARODY MASQUERADING AS A ‘TRIBUTE’

Pandering to the Bengalis’ juvenile fondness for wallowing in nostalgia, Anik Dutta’s film is a monument to artifice. Nothing, not even Jeetu Kamal’s strikin...

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Movies

Salty and Spicy

Film historian Dhruv Somani marvels at Gulzar’s women-centric flavored Namkeen (1982). A lonely house looks so dilapidated that only some miracle seems to be ...

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Movies

Those Haunting Melodies

Film historian Dhruv Somani, laments the end of the melody-laden songs of the suspense-packed whodunits, which enthralled right from the days of Aayega Aanewala in Mahal (1949...

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Movies

Finding Ganga

Film historian Dhruv Somani, recounts the arduous process that was involved in the casting of Mandakini in Raj Kapoor’s biggest hit Ram Teri Ganga Maili. Mandakini, bes...

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Movies

The Forgotten History of Human Civilization

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: A film based on a Badal Sircar play is rare. Rare still is a debutant filmmaker adapting one. That too in a moribund film industry. Which is what makes...

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Movies

Scent of a Killer

Film historian Dhruv Somani, revisits Rajesh Khanna’s slasher film Red Rose, which was a flop on its release in 1980 but commands a cult following today. When producer ...

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HIT MACHINE

Film historian Dhruv Somani tracks the unique success story of Jeetendra who completed his 80th last week - in a welter of Hindi films made in Bombay and the south. The South...

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Movies

The Gone Girls

Film historian Dhruv Somani focuses on yesteryear’s gutsy Sheetal and Leena Das, who have vanished into a limbo today. They never quite made it to the A-list but they w...

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Movies

Back on the Burning Train

Film historian Dhruv Somani, takes you back on a ride to India’s first disaster movie directed by Ravi Chopra, which had its taut and terrifying moments but unfortunatel...

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE HUMAN FACTOR

Writer Ranjan Das Gupta reflects on emotional intelligence as a human, ethical and socia...

March 6 2026

A LAST CALL FOR THE PLANET

In this in-depth conversation with Vinta Nanda, Fr. Kureethadam Joshtrom reflects on eco...

March 5 2026

FORGOTTEN DANCING QUEEN OF HINDI CINEMA

The Last Dance: Tragedy of a Dancing Queen - Khalid Mohamed narrates the rise and fall o...

March 3 2026