Happy birthday Robin Williams wherever you are. And you were spot on when you said: “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” You changed my world and that of millions of people with your own, unique brand of humor. You brought us laughter, happiness and joy and made our… Continue Reading
Matthew Heineman’s Cartel Land is an intense, immersive, unsettling and at times nerve-wracking film that takes you into the center of Mexican drug cartels. Heinemann shows us how citizens in Mexico and the US are waging a war of their own to control the violent and corrupt consequences of this drug war. The lack of… Continue Reading
Who was Amy Winehouse? Yes, we all know she was a talented and a 6-time Grammy winning British musician, who died tragically at the age of 27. But, who was the real Amy Wineshouse? How did she die and how did this happen in this day and age in London? These were some of the questions… Continue Reading
Finally, it is here – the first full length trailer of Steve Jobs by director Danny Boyle. Michael Fassbinder essays the role of Jobs, and he is practically unrecognizible. Seth Rogen plays Steve Wozniak, co-founder and the tech wizard of Apple. The film is based on Walter Isaacson’s book Steve Jobs. The book was blessed by… Continue Reading
What Happened, Miss Simone by Liz Garbus is a powerful and riveting film that will leave you in a reflective and pensive mood. In the film we see the many avatars of this gifted & volatile singer, composser and activist, who cast her spell on us. We see “The High Priestess of Soul,” during her good… Continue Reading
Last week I interviewed filmmaker MayaForbes about the making of her debut film “Infinitely Polar Bear.” In this video highlight Forbes talks about the title of the film and her sister China Forbes of Pink Marini’s contribution in the film. She also talks about the early support she got from director J.J.Abrams. “Infinitely Polar Bear,”… Continue Reading
Pixar’s “Inside Out,” is funny, absorbing and packs quite a punch that leaves you thinking. Thinking about what you ask? Why, those little voices inside our heads that we ignore. You know joy, sadness, anger, disgust and fear? The film brilliantly captures the various voices of 11 year old Riley Anderson and how they shape… Continue Reading
Over forty years ago on June 17, 1972 five men broke into the Democratic Party’s National Headquartes in Watergate Building, Washington DC and that set off a chain of events that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. This was the first time an American President resigned from office. The “burglars” as they came to be referred were eventually captured and that… Continue Reading
Oscar winner AR Rahman did not disappoint his audience, and it was surreal to watch and hear the adulation that he got from his audience in Silicon Valley. AR Rahman’s Intimate Concert Tour was a sold out event on June 11 and June 12 in San Jose. AR as he is known is on a… Continue Reading
I missed the screening of Paul Feig’s “Spy,” which I was so looking forward to watching. Well, I made up for it by watching it on the first day. I was not disappointed, and neither was the audience in the theatre. It was a houseful show as they say in India when you have a… Continue Reading
Meet Bombay Jayashri, an Oscar nominated singer from India. She composed and sang the opening lullaby in Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” which was filmed partly in India. Jayashri trained as a tradiational Carnatic or South Indian classical musician.What is unusual about Jayashri is that she sings traditional South Indian classical music, Indian film music and has… Continue Reading
Bill Pohlad’s “Love & Mercy,” is a compassionate film about Brian Wilson, the gifted and creative co-founder of the Beach Boys. This California band defined American music in the 1960s, and were a huge source of inspiration and influence to many musicians in the US and around the world, including the Beatles. We caught up with Pohlad at this year’s San Francisco… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Prashant Bhargava passed away on May 16, 2015. He was 42 years old. Bhargav was a young, talented filmmaker, who is deeply mourned by his fans, friends and family. Bhragava had a brilliant eye and ear for stories, details and colors. His films like “Patang,” and “Radhe Radhe,”were visually stunning. I had an opporuntunity to interview Bhargav… Continue Reading
“San Andreas” is a new disaster film starring Dwayne Johnson. I won’t even want to go into the storyline since it is so predicatable. Johnson’s personal life is in shambles and he is the middle of a divorce, when California is hit by a swarm of massive earthquakes. So, while the Golden State is falling apart… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Alex Winter talks about his new film “Deep Web: The Untold Story of Bitcoin And The Silk Road,” that premieres on EPIX on Sunday, May 31, 2015. The film looks at Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, his arrest and the charges filed against him. The film also looks at drug war, fourth… Continue Reading
Filmmaker Alex Winter’s new film “Deep Web:The Untold Story of Bitcoin And The Silk Road,” highlights the story of Ross Ulbricht the founder of Silk Road, the underground marketplace, his arrest, the charges brought against him, his trail, bitcoin, and the intersection of technology, privacy and law. A final veridct on Ulbricht’s case is expected from… Continue Reading
Summer is here, which means a whole lot of new films are coming your way. And if you live in the San Francisco Bay area you are in for a treat with a clutch of film festivals ranging from San Francisco Green Film Festival (May 28-June 3, 2015), SF DocFest/SF IndieFest Festival (June 4-18, 2015) to the… Continue Reading
Indian actor Dhanush’s Tanglish song “Why This Kolaveri Di,” went viral in November 2011. It has over 90 million views on YouTube. This Tanglish (Tamil and English) song became quite the rage and spawned all sorts of remixed and new versions right from an R&B number to an Arabic version of the “Shorba Song.” There… Continue Reading
Here is our first look at Danny Boyle’s new film on “Steve Jobs.” Written by Aaron Sorkin, the film stars Micahel Fassbender, Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels and others. Earlier this year Boyle and his crew spent a couple of months in various parts of San Francisco bay area shooting their film. The film is… Continue Reading
With a title like this “The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,” your interest is piqued. Your interest is further kindled when you hear the opening lines of the film. Pardon me if the dialog is not verbatim, but it went something like this. “No one has meant to me… Continue Reading
There I was waiting for “Piku” to start. Instead, I was sitting through a series of Bollywood trailers. All of a sudden I heard a very exciting exchange between a group of women seated right behind me. “Every Friday there is a new movie.” “Such good movies too, nah?,” responded another. “Summer holiday right now… Continue Reading
Director Shira Piven’s new film “Welcome To Me,” made me laugh and also made me a bit sad. We caught up with her at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where her film was shown. In this interview we spoke to Piven about how she came to direct this film, Kristen Wiig and the… Continue Reading
I had no idea what “Piku” was about. All I knew is the film starred Deepika Paduknone, Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. The film is directed by Shoojit Sircar, whose previous film “Vicky Donor,” I enjoyed watching. The other bit of information I knew was that Juhu Chaturvedi wrote the story of “Piku” and “Vicky… Continue Reading
Over the years I have seen pictures of Iris Apfel in various magazines. How could you not notice her? She jumps out of the page with her eclectic, colorful, stylish and layered ensemble paired with those over- sized jewelry and glasses? And then there that energetic aura about her. Most often, you will find her smiling… Continue Reading
Alex Winter’s new documentary “Deep Web: The Untold Story of BitCoin & The Silk Road,” screened at the San Francisco International Film Festival, which is where we caught up with him to talk about the film. The film is about Ross Ulbicht, Silk Road, an underground market place, the war on drugs and privacy. Ulbricht… Continue Reading
This is our final episode with Dr. Salman Akhtar about the history of Bollywood or Hindi cinema. We talk to him about the label “Bollywood,” used to describe the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai. There are those who don’t like the term, while others see nothing wrong in using the term. What does Dr. Akhtar… Continue Reading
What is it about mountains that strikes that primordial chord of awe, wonder, respect and admiration? These were the questions running through my mind as I sat in my comfortable seat and watched “Meru,” a mesmerizing and award-winning Sundance film. Meet Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, three well-known and experienced climbers, who decide to climb one of… Continue Reading
There are some books that are easy to read, and then there are some books that are dense and at times confusing to understand. One such book for me was Thomas Hardy’s “Far From The Madding Crowd.” Hardy’s book was our assigned reading for our literature class in high school and I can still vividly… Continue Reading
With one more week to go, here are my 3 picks from this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23-May 7, 2015). These are films that I have seen. There are lot of films I have not seen, and would like to see them. These include “The Diplomat,” “The Deep Web” “Tangerine” and “The… Continue Reading
We continue with our history of Hindi cinema or Bollywood with Dr. Salman Akhtar. We pick up the threads of our conversation and look at how Bollywood films underwent a change during the 1980s. The films made in 1970s belonged to the angry young man genre and were marked with narcisstic rage. Concerns about the market… Continue Reading
The Kamla Show 