News and Views

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s latest directorial venture opens with the caveat that it’s a work of fiction based on true events. Also, we are told that the people we see on the screen at the refugee camps aren't just actors but actual refugees who were displaced and rendered homeless during one of the most tragic chapters in our country’s history - the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.It is Chopra’s most personal work so far and also his most restrained. The screenplay by him, along with Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi weaves a tale of love and longing. An ode to Kashmir, to all the goodness, that it once stood for.Tune in to the podcast!Music: Big Bang FuzzVO: RJ Stutee

Two purposeless vagabonds with loads of money meet in Goa and decide to have fun in Malang. Soon, the viewers are in for a treat. There is a method to this madness. The free- spirited girl Sara we thought had no higher calling tells us she has many fears in life that she wants to conquer . For example she quips, “I want to be with a stranger and have fun.” Ahem.Not just that, she wants to bungee jump and do a host of other things. But there was one particular ambition of her’s that really spoke to me. That was - “I want to have everything I can eat in a day.” Really ? Eat everything ? Was she simply hungry ? Was that the reason she was prancing around so much? Well, we had to give up that strain of thought soon because no one pursued it . The saga of a hungry heroine would have been so much fun, but instead we have an angry hero.Tune in to the podcast for the full review.Music: Big Bang FuzzVO: RJ Stutee

On the night of 19 January 1990, all hell broke loose in Kashmir — a place many think of as ‘Heaven on Earth’. Several mosques in Srinagar played the Azaadi slogans, asking the Indian security forces to quit: ‘aey jabiro, aey zalimo, Kashmir hamara chhor dou’ . They didn’t. Those who were in barracks and bunkers and at the borders were brought down to kitchens and bedrooms by the deafening chants. It triggered the exodus of the minority Kashmiri Pandits — who had started to move out in smaller numbers months prior. They call it ‘Holocaust Day’.The following day, CRPF machine guns left over 50 Kashmiri Muslim demonstrators dead and scores injured in a peaceful procession at Gawkadal. Kashmiri Muslims remember 21 January as ‘the beginning of the genocide’ — ‘the first massacre’.These were turning points in Kashmir’s post-1947 political and cultural history that changed its socio-political landscape.But the metamorphosis didn’t happen overnight. Tune in to the podcast for the full story! Voiceover and Narration: Ahmed Ali Fayyaz Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz

At a time when the country is going through an economic crisis and requires big, bold reforms, Budget 2020 serves to be one that is ordinary. Many experts have even called it ‘disappointing’ and ‘disastrous.’ The share market fell sharply in the last five days, incurring losses of four lakh crores. There were expectations that the budget would provide the much needed respite, but that didn’t happen.The Quint's Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia analyses Budget 2020 to decode whether the steps taken by the government will help alleviate the economic crisis faced by the country. 

Let’s start with a short rant about how trailers of films these days leave nothing to our imagination. That the girl our hero “picked up” from the pub could be his daughter. That there is at least 33.333% chance that it is true . In fact, the trailer also confirms it for us . We even know that Jazz (Saif Ali Khan) is running away from committing to relationships as resolutely as he is trying to defy his growing age. So when we finally watch Jawaani Jaaneman, there aren’t too many surprises for us . However, director Nitin Kakkar and writer Hussain Dalal have taken a smart approach - they don’t depend on plot twists to hold our attention. The plot borders on the expected, even faltering frequently.Listen to the podcast for the rest of the review! Host: Stutee Ghosh Producer: Zijah Sherwani 

Have you seen ABCD and ABCD 2? Faithfully consumed different types of dance reality shows? Then why even bother with Street Dancer? That too 3-D... Sigh. Remo D’Souza‘s latest offering as a director has Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor dancing it out in London. Both can’t stand each other and belong to warring teams. Sahej is an Indian and Inayat a Pakistani, and their meeting ground is Anna AKA Prabhu Deva’s restaurant. From showing off their films based on their dance forms to indulging in donut fights, the eatery has seen it all.For a film about dance, that too helmed by a well-known choreographer, Prabhu Deva’s inclusion seems only natural. Both Varun and Shraddha are known to wring their bodies into various enviable positions with grace. And this film also has some familiar faces who have wowed us in dance reality shows over the years like Dharmesh Yelande, Punit Pathak and Salman Yusuf Khan. Nora Fatehi, known to set fire to the stage, is a formidable presence. It’s another thing that she is completely sidelined and her track totally lost in the most absurd fashion.The dance quotient is great even though there isn’t much that we haven’t seen or heard for that matter, considering it’s teeming with remixes. But some might argue that no one ever tires of watching Prabhudeva in ‘Muqqabla 2.0.’ Listen to the podcast for the FULL review!Host: Stutee Ghosh

Sunetra has been a journalist for many years and is currently the Political Editor for the Hindustan Times and the “confessions” that she writes about are Sunil Gupta’s own from his time in Tihar, where he was a jailer for 35 years.In this podcast Gupta recalls the first day of his job when he bumped into none other than one of India’s most feared serial killer Charles Sobraj.During his time in Tihar, Gupta also witnessed eight executions including those of terror convicts Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon and rapists Billa and Ranga. Much has been reported on these criminals and their cases and a lot is still being reported. For instance, recently, J&K DSP Davinder Singh who Afzal Guru had accused of torturing him in police custody was arrested in the company of militants.Does Sharma think executions are necessary or should India do away with it?Tune in to this podcast, for the full interview with Sunetra Choudhury and Sunil Sharma who share anecdotes about prison superstitions, fetishes and the anatomy of an execution!Producer and Host: Shorbori PurkayasthaGuests: Sunil Sharma and Sunetra Choudhury, co-authors of “Black Warrants: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer”Editor: Shelly WaliaMusic: Big Bang Fuzz

Panga is a film about a woman trying to live her dream. A dream she put in abeyance because life took an unexpected turn. It would be reductive to call Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s latest film just a sports drama. A kabaddi player trying to be back in the team is one thread that holds it together. However, unlike other such movies where everything is a lead up to that big athletic moment of adrenaline rush, Panga ‘s beauty lies in its soft, almost non-confrontational resistance against all odds to fulfill one’s desire. Tune in to the podcast for the full movie review!

Subhash Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj – or Indian National Army (INA) – is a crucial chapter in India’s freedom struggle. How did an army comprising prisoners of war and formed on foreign soil fight for India’s freedom? On Bose’s 124th birth anniversary on 23 January, we charted how the Azad Hind Fauj came into being, the war campaigns it fought, and the role it played in India’s Independence.Host: MaanviEditor: Vishnu GopinathWatch the video explainer here.Check out other podcasts from The Quint.