As Imtiaz Ali's Jab Harry Met Sejal releases, Aseem Chhabra feels it's the best time to revisit the Hollywood classic When Harry Met Sally, which tries to answer the question in the title of this feature.
'No country has moved from bigotry to equality fast, and India, with its leisurely, elephant-like pace for the most non-controversial of things, will only take longer.'
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
'The Maoists want the tribals to boycott the election while the police think the election is a farce and do not want to risk going deeper in the conflict zone.' 'Newton (played with sincerity and deep felt passion by Rajkummar Rao) wants to make sure that the locals cast their vote, a right given to them by the Constitution.'
Salman Khan features in five of these movies!
There is a group of La La Land haters -- especially jazz aficionados who feel the film gives too much importance to a white man who sets out to save the musical genre associated with the African American community, points out Aseem Chhabra.
While work on his most ambitious project Bombay Velvet is on, Anurag Kashyap's taut and gritty thriller Ugly screened at the ongoing New York Indian Film Festival.
'I swayed my arms in the air with strangers when George Michael sang Careless Whispers' 'I was in heaven.'
Aseem Chhabra salutes the late Italian Master and his cinema.
Anurag Kashyap has a lot of talent, says Aseem Chhabra. He just needs to stop making films that are very similar.
If anyone thinks that the Golden Globes are insignificant, the Hollywood studios are out to prove them wrong.
Twitter broke down the barrier between movie stars and their fans, says Aseem Chhabra.
'There is never a safe choice in the movie business.' 'Everything is chance.'
'I sat down and asked them what they would want in their new school. One student said a football field, another one asked for computers. One little girl came and sat next to me and said, "A separate toilet for the girls." I think these small things make a huge difference in the future of education in India,' Nita Ambani tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
'We went around with the story, but no one came forward to finance it. They would say 'Who would want to watch this?' Or they would say 'Ek to ladka dal do is me.' We said no, we didn't want to compromise.'
'It was difficult, but we wanted to show an honest portrayal.' 'I was not trying to tear him apart.'
Aseem Chhabra attends an unusual medley of movies and literature in Chandigarh.
'... and committed.' 'Priyanka had so much happening in her personal life...' 'Once we started, Priyanka rose to it.'
India scored at the recently-concluded Telluride Film Festival, reports Aseem Chhabra.
Bengali film Asha Jaoar Majhe is a must watch, a once in the lifetime kind of work that should be supported by film lovers and experienced on the big screen, writes Aseem Chhabra.
'2016 was the year when Shah Rukh Khan took risks and traversed along the path that would ensure the actor could shine more than the star,' says Aseem Chhabra.
Can a film and the voice of its actor really influence us, and change our lives? I like to believe so, says Aseem Chhabra.
'The way the winners react and the speeches they deliver.' 'That is where the fun happens, when the actors and other winners let down their guard, challenge the system, talk about issues that should matter to us,' says Aseem Chhabra.
'In Boyhood, I saw the father that I had been to my son: Not always perfect, but never giving up on the child I helped to bring to this world.'
The characters drawn for the 2016 film have an edge that wasn't present in the 1967 version. This is perhaps why The Jungle Book has been given an U/A certificate in India. For once, Pahlaj Nihalani may be right, feels Aseem Chhabra.
Of all the Indian films screened in Toronto, three stood out for Aseem Chhabra -- A Death in the Gunj, Mostly Sunny and An Insignificant Man.
Bollywood's biggest overseas event, the IIFA Awards, will be held in the US for the first time. Aseem Chhabra reports.
'Medha had been so alive, smiling in the pictures she posted on Facebook and the comments she left on my profile page. I did not think she would leave us so soon.'
Fans of the Before trilogy have grown up with Celine and Jesse... The films, says Aseem Chhabra, are charming, funny, romantic and very talky, but also close to real life.
'The news that the once dashing, absolutely handsome, utterly charming Shashi Kapoor is no more makes me feel terribly sad.' Aseem Chhabra, author of Shashi Kapoor: The Householder, the Star, pays rich tribute to the iconic actor.
Drones are of course, remotely controlled and modern ships are also chip-driven.
'There are too many things that haven't gone out of you. So even though the years may have gone by, you are still close to the films in terms of the making.'
Bombay Velvet spends too much time on period details and loses focus, notes Aseem Chhabra.
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Anand Gandhi's directorial debut is a film we've all been waiting for.
Pran lived a full life, entertaining and scaring the hell out of many people, writes Aseem Chhabra, in his tribute to the legendary actor who passed away on July 12.
It reminds us why we like to watch films, writes Aseem Chhabra.
'I have had a US passport for 26 years. I have a Hindu name. But none of that matters it seems.' 'Today I have also become an immigrant from Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria.'Today I am Changez Khan and Rizwan Khan.' 'All of us brown people have been put in the same boat by Trump,' says Aseem Chhabra.
Aseem Chhabra mourns the passing of the gentle and knowledgeable Mr K D Singh, who owned a quaint bookshop in New Delhi.
'We asked Shashank Arora to go at nine in the morning and shit on the beach. We wanted him to sense what it feels like to have no personal space.' 'We wanted my father not knowing what he was doing, because it reflects on the kind of character he is in the film. Not giving him the script added to the situation the actor is in.' 'We would not say good or anything encouraging to Ranvir Shorey after each shot. We would not even talk to him.' 'We were always trying to get people out of their comfort zone. I think that's when the acting stops and something organic starts to come out.' Kanu Behl -- who has directed one of the most awaited films of the year, the most unusual movie Yash Raj Films has ever produced -- discusses Titli with Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
'It is a very uncomfortable film to watch, and that is what makes it so good. A good film should be able to get into our skin, challenge us, shake us up and Talvar does all of that.' Aseem Chhabra reviews Meghna Gulzar's film on the Aarushi murder case, the first of our reviews on arguably the most controversial movie of the year.
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