The Slumdog Millionaire star has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his turn as Saroo Brierley in the critically acclaimed Lion. The film has earned four Golden Globe nominations, including one for Nicole Kidman.
'I guess things happen when they have to happen.' 'And the film got delayed by COVID a little bit. But yeah, it's been a decade which I do not regret.' 'I feel like I have grown so much, as an artist, as well as just a human being.' 'So much life experience to channel into films that I think is an advantage almost.'
Soumitra Chatterjee -- one of the finest Indian actors of our time -- meant so much to Aseem Chhabra.
'I went to a school in Baroda, where if the boys harassed us, the teachers pulled the girls aside and said, "Oh, your skirts are too short".' 'They made us feel ashamed of having any sexual feelings or having bodies that were growing up to be a young women.'
The fascinating story of this man was one of the most searched topics on Google after the trailer was launched with Irrfan's Tomar, his gaze fixed at a journalist interviewing him, mouthing that iconic dialogue "beehad mein baaghi hote hain, dacait milte hain Parliament mein".
Lovers Rock is sexy, romantic, charming and hugely entertaining -- a perfect gift for movie lovers in these tough times, feels Aseem Chhabra.
As 2022 readies to bid adieu, Sukanya Verma raises a toast to the 10 high points of the year.
'This was a film, a story that had never been told before.'
'The idea of this movie is to trace these journeys and not to blame.' 'We could have talked what happened in 1948. This is what the Israelis did. This is what the Palestinians and Arabs did.' 'We didn't want to go there.'
The hits and misses of the week.
The hits and misses of the week.
Salman Khan's big Eid release Tubelight is also a major loser.
Salman Khan's much awaited Eid release Tubelight turned out to be a damp squib at the box office. Distributors stand to lose on their investments.
'When democracy first came to Bhutan people had no idea and they were like 'What is that?' Oh it's that thing they have in India where the leaders are always fighting and arguing.' When I screened the film to Bhutan's film committee, they thought my film was good but they were concerned about that line. They wanted me to change that line. They said, 'We don't want to offend India.' I tried to tell them that Indians have a great ability to laugh at themselves but they insisted I change it.'
A look at the hits and misses of the week.
Like Slumdog Millionaire, RRR will remain a one-time phenomenon until another big, larger-than-life, Indian film connects with the critics in the West, predicts Aseem Chhabra.
'Agra is about sexuality and sexual repression, and the relationship of sexuality to the physical spaces that we are in.'
Twists and turns, shocking revelations, explosions, chase sequences and a lot of moodiness make The Batman a riveting movie going experience, notes Aseem Chhabra.
The Dhoni biopic is all set to lead the charts!
'...and showcased in their original beauty.'
'What an incredible opportunity to bring back one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema on the big screen.'
'Love will always be a mystery.' 'The day it stops being a mystery it won't exist.'
The hits and misses of the week.
I have heard cynics say that Priyanka Chopra Jonas as we know her today is the creation of a PR machinery, but that is rather a poor reading of a determined woman and the work she has done to get to where she is. Aseem Chhabra salutes the movie star on her 40th birthday on July 18.
A look at the hits and misses of the week.
A look at the hits and misses at the box office this week.
'You made me realise that it is great to be brown, even if we are currently living under Donald Trump's false definition of America.' 'In my 36 years in America there have been few instances where I have laughed and cried so much watching a show about brown people.'
'Ishaan Khattar, with the please-fall-in-love-with-me looks in his eyes, carries the first episode,' observes Aseem Chhabra.
Two men smiling, eyeing each other as they briefly let their guard down, with no care of what the world around them is thinking, that has almost never been shown in a Bollywood film, notes Aseem Chhabra.
'The only violence I have had in any film of mine is a slap.' 'When Nikhil narrated the film to me, I was blown away.' 'I was literally screaming out of my chair.'
'He killed so many people, doing the kind of horrible things he did, and yet, he believed he was making the right choices.'
'A progressive judgment could have moved India forward, given hope to millions of young homosexual men and women, by telling them that there is nothing wrong with them, their feelings and emotions are fine, that it is natural and alright for them to be attracted to people of their own gender and to express love as they wish to. 'But instead, the Wednesday ruling does not protect the rights of a large minority. And that is indeed shameful and hugely disappointing,' writes Aseem Chhabra. 'Instead the Supreme Court judges did not step in to protect the rights of a large minority. And that is indeed shameful and hugely disappointing,' writes Aseem Chhabra.
The hits and misses of the week.
'Sri Lanka has a large military presence in the north and east, where it is very difficult for the war-affected civilian population to move forward.' 'Right now the military is doing jobs that should be for the civilians. I would like to see Sirisena consider demilitarisation.'
'It's everyone's dream to have their pictures show up on Google.' 'In the beginning, you're not used to it.' 'It's a bit weird and even now it's weird.'