Death of the StarCinema May Be Losing Its Stars. But Is That a Bad Thing? Cultural commentators both in Bollywood and the West are lamenting the death of superstardom. But it also signals the fall of patriarchal stardom. By Amlan Sarkar
Misleading Propaganda‘The Kashmir Files’ Is a Harmful Film — Reducing It to ‘Propaganda’ Misses Why A film festival jury head called called Kashmir Files "vile propaganda." While the movie was hateful, dismissing a film for being propaganda can complicate how we view other political art. By Amlan Sarkar
Watchmen of CinemaBro‑y Directors Can’t Be Our Only Defense Against Marvel Amid criticisms of Marvel taking over cinema, a crop of auteur filmmakers have emerged as the vanguard against it -- but they're part of the problem too. By Amlan Sarkar
family is family in church or in prisonHow Queer, Anti‑Caste Narratives in Pop Culture Challenge the Sanctity of the Family Recent movies like Maja Ma and Natchathiram Nagargiradhu critique how families propagate conservative notions at the cost of individual liberty. By Amlan Sarkar
Magnum NopusIndian Filmmakers’ Bid to Churn Magnum Opuses Is Rooted in Hypermasculinity The desire to leave the biggest, grandest legacy is rooted in masculine individualism, and hurts storytelling. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Epidemic of InvisibilityMuslims Comprise Only 1% of Characters on Popular TV Series, Finds New Research "Not only is this radical erasure an insult, but it also has the potential to create real-world injury for audiences," the researchers said. By Saumya Kalia
Oppression Says BooHow Representation in Horror Films Creates Space for Our Most Urgent Fears Now, the terrors -- racism, sexism, climate change -- aren't so imaginary. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Call Out the Cop OutWhy ‘Copaganda’ Makes For Bad Entertainment An upcoming Hindi series called 'Indian Police Force' glorifies cops the way many other films have in the past -- but the ideological undertones are sobering. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Not EnoughIndian Women Hold Only 10% of Directing, Writing Positions in Films and TV: Report The lack of women in industry positions eventually translates into a lack of representation on screen. By Saumya Kalia
Here and NowThe Multiverse as a Storytelling Device Fails to Capture the Anxiety of the Present. Where Does Fiction Go Next? Shows like "The Boys" and "The Umbrella Academy" explore the surreal in our own world -- grounding us in our damning reality. By Eisha Nair
Whose Story Is It Anyway?The New Marilyn Monroe Film Forces Us to Examine Which Women Carry Timeless Intrigue — And Why The movie promises to let us "see" her just as a Princess Diana biopic did earlier -- but why are only certain women immortalized for their damage? By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Diminishing JoyrideWhy Martin Scorsese’s Criticism of the Marvel Franchise Continues to Be Relevant A combination of streaming, franchising, and marketing thanks to the Marvel model has changed how movies are made — not necessarily for the better. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
Crusading For What?What Are The Batman’s Politics? Understanding the politics of the newest reboot may help place its relevance in the“post covid” cinema landscape. By Rohitha Naraharisetty
License to ChangeWhy a ‘Female’ James Bond Could Be a Constructive Part of Gender‑Bender Cinema “If Doctor Who could finally imagine a female Doctor, maybe Ian Fleming’s written-male super spy could support a gender-bending twist.” By Saumya Kalia