'I have nostalgia for Ladakhi culture, which is common to both Muslims and Buddhists.' 'It is kind of a Buddhist way of life. You are compassionate and nice to each other.' 'You are good human beings.'
'The problems that the film explores still remain. It was a different time when we made the film. We were young and we thought we could change the world.'
Aseem Chhabra lists must watch films, many classics, some relatively new and several personal favourites.
'Find a name that changes the words honor killing and hopefully it includes the word murder.' 'If you use the words, you are trying to justify the murders.'
'Hope is about being more accepting of each other, the kind of solidarity and friendship that even our families may not be able to give.'
Rediff's critics -- Raja Sen, Aseem Chhabra and Sukanya Verma -- make Oscar predictions!
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
'Pandi was promised something, that is not happening, so his anger is not of a villain's.' 'That's how all normal humans would react, or they stay silent.' 'Our violence is our silence. So in this world, everybody is innocent.'
'Usually, we are always worried that we are missing out something in life.' 'We are very keen for the audience to have this as a cinema experience in theatres.' 'You get the rare chance to be patient.'
Rocky Aur Rani is definitely Karan's most subversive project, discovers Aseem Chhabra.
If there is one lesson we get from Depp vs Heard, it is that the American legal system is deeply flawed and the court of public opinion and social media make it harder for victims to get justice, observes Aseem Chhabra.
'I never got respect as an actress.' 'But when I became a director and worked with actresses like Cate Blanchett and Jessica Chastain, I felt such pride of being an actress.'
'I thought of a suppressed country and a free world.' 'If we travel from one to another, what will that road look like?' 'What colours, music there will be? What kind of people would you see?'
'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.'
Kohrra is a terrific ensemble piece but the two fine leads keep show glued together, applauds Aseem Chhabra.
2023 was a good year for international cinema with many strong films premiering at the Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto film festivals.
'This was a film, a story that had never been told before.'
Aseem Chhabra Raja Sen, Sukanya Verma make their predictions.
'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.'
Check out who Rediff critics are rooting for this year!
'When the phone's battery is running out, it will make a charming statement like "I'm feeling a little low. Please recharge me".'
'What the film shows is an India, which was headed in a completely different direction than where we are headed.'
Aseem Chhabra and Sukanya Verma -post their predictions for the major categories.
'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.'
'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.'
'Agra is about sexuality and sexual repression, and the relationship of sexuality to the physical spaces that we are in.'
'One afternoon, I spotted Karan Johar and film critic Rajeev Masand having tea with Nina Gupta, the head of NFDC, and barged into their meeting.' Aseem Chhabra's IFFI diaries...
Aseem Chhabra rates the movies he's watched in 2023, and tells you where you can watch them!
There are hundreds of fan clubs -- in Jalgaon, Beed, Chennai, Kolkata, Akola, Yavatmal, Bengaluru, Sitamarhi, New York, Canada, Nigeria etc. Every Indian city/town or a major country has a fan club for the man whose fan base has been estimated at 3.5 billion by Time Magazine.
'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.'
The underlying message is clear: Please do not question Shah Rukh Khan's loyalty to India. He is Indian, loves his motherland. And he will continue to entertain India for as long as he can, applauds Aseem Chhabra.
Filmmaker Nisha Pahuja, whose widely acclaimed documentary opens in Indian theatres on June 6, in conversation with Aseem Chhabra.
'People riot against power cuts, get beaten up, killed,' Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar, who have made the powerful documentary Katiyabaaz, tell Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
'He killed so many people, doing the kind of horrible things he did, and yet, he believed he was making the right choices.'
Aseem Chhabra picks his favourite films from the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival.
'Once I left my photographs at Ram Gopal Varma's office.' 'I told a friend I was concerned no one had contacted me. My friend said, "Itni jaldi nahin hota idhar. Time lagega".'
In between meditating in the Himalayas and attending prayer sessions, Khyentse Norbu finds time to make films that satisfy his creativity.
India is shining, although I will argue that it is a temporary acceptance until India once again makes a mega-successful film like RRR or another beautiful, moving, documentary like The Elephant Whisperers, notes Aseem Chhabra.
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