Indian doctors are everywhere but you wouldn’t have expected one to be right on the glittering stage of the 2021 Academy Awards! Dr. Meena Makhijani was in the elite group receiving the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Oscar. This year the winner of this prestigious award was the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF) where Makhijani is physician and the Chief of Staff. Yes, she actually held the iconic Oscar in her hand and recalls with delight: “It had heft!”
Browsing: Cinema
The much-awaited New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) which is presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) – a must-see during the summer – is once again coming to town. This time, with the changing times, it is a hybrid model with films being shown by zoom and also in person.
It is a pleasure to have a bit of respite and see ‘Pad Man’ – a film which is a true story about a very different kind of man, a man who respects all women and wants to make their lives easier, better and full of dignity.
What can $1.99 buy you?
In today’s day and age – not much. Not even a slice of pizza, not even a burger, not even a Metrocard!
But $1.99 can buy you romance, drama, comedy and magic, happiness and laughter, a trip to foreign lands for a full 30 days.
The secret is BigFlix.
Lavina’s Picks – Stories from Around the Web. Tributes to Shashi Kapoor are pouring in – here’s an endearing one which showed his generous, down-to-heart nature.
ow does a 21st century, modern Indian transform himself into a 19th century British Raj clerk, a servant of Queen Victoria?
In ‘Victoria and Abdul’ the story of an unusual friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim, this was the challenge for Ali Fazal, boy from Lucknow, Bollywood actor from Mumbai who had done a cameo in ‘Fast and Furious’.
1384 people reached on Lassi with Lavina FB page Lassi with Lavina Guide to Upcoming Events…
She is Bollywood’s Sweetheart for everyone in the cinema halls, from front benchers to the elite. But don’t let those dimples fool you – Preity Zinta is one of the smartest women in Bollywood who takes on tough challenges, is fearlessly outspoken and is the proud co-owner of the IPL Kings XI Punjab, along with ex-boy friend industrialist Ness Wadia.
The two are very much in the news, due to the FIR lodged by Preity Zinta, accusing Ness Wadia of molestation. The media is agog with all the details. While all that works itself out, I thought I’d share a chat I had with her some years back.
Can a film be just over six minutes – and still get you emotionally enmeshed? Our Bollywood movies are usually three hour plus juggernauts of drama, romance and comedy but this little film – over in the blink of an eye – shows that length has nothing to do with the impact of a film. Especially if it has a volatile mix of India, aspirations and the love of a father and son – and is directed by that ace director, Nagesh Kukunoor.
Here’s ‘Sapnon Ki Udaan’ – a father and son love story.
Yes, Bollywood in all its avatars is eternal and continues to take audiences on a seductive, addictive emotional roller coaster ride. Long live the 800 pound gorilla!
Cinema can be a powerful way of creating awareness of culture and issues. The Sikh community has been very successful in doing this by telling stories about the community and the faith.
It’s not every morning that you get to chat with a big Bollywood star even before you’ve had your morning cup of tea. So there I was, a bit bleary-eyed with the hot star Riteish Deshmukh on the phone, me in New York and he in Mumbai.
His big movie, the Ram Gopal Varma film ‘Rann’ is being released this month, and so Riteish was chatting up the international media. We talked about Rann, Amitabh Bachchan, and how Riteish developed his passion for cinema