Recent Reviews by Nonika Singh
The Tribune, Hollywood Reporter India
Nonika Singh is a journalist, art, and film critic of considerable repute. She has been at the forefront of covering art, culture, and entertainment extensively, with a deep passion and profound knowledge of her domain. In particular, she excels in reviewing movies and profiling well-known personalities connected to the entertainment, visual, and performing arts. She writes for leading dailies in the country, including The Tribune and The Hollywood Reporter India.
Films reviewed on this Page
Shahkot
A Cross-border Story With a Heartening Message on Love
One could argue that harsh realities are glossed over, but the film — even without the bombastic moments like in Gadar — touches you.
Beyond religious divides, cross-border love is not new to Hindi or Punjabi cinema. Back in 1999, the National Award-winning Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh was set in the backdrop of the Partition. So, can the controversy of Shahkot being pro-Pakistan — which also follows a theme similar to Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh — be put to rest? However, haters will be haters, and the detractors who whipped up a storm before Shahkot’s release might continue to spew venom. Only as popular singer Guru Randhawa makes his acting debut in Pollywood, his launch vehicle steadfastly refrains from hatemongering or demonising Pakistan and Pakistanis. The period the film refers to is uncertain — mobile phones are not yet in vogue, and the relationship between India and Pakistan is not hunky-dory. But, for this detail, the timeline does seem contemporary, yet quite in sync with the milieu of Pakistan it cares to depict. Director of Photography Vineet Malhotra, rises to the occasion and captures the time aesthetically.
Sucha Soorma
A Sloppy Film Unworthy of the Punjabi Folk Legend
Instead of hammering the audience with a convoluted sense of honour and heroism, the creators of Sucha Soorma need to look within, reflect and ponder.
Watching a Punjabi film, let alone reviewing it, even for a diehard Punjabi, comes with its own set of misgivings. Sadly enough, as we sit through Sucha Soorma — touted as famous singer-actor Babbu Maan’s comeback film after a gap of four years — doubts turn into a deep, gnawing realisation about said misgivings and a discomfiting feeling. It’s near impossible to rationalise why we are making such films in this day and age, which do not reflect upon the changing matrix of our society; or if they do, god help us. Undoubtedly, this Amitoj Maan directorial is a period film set sometime during the British rule in India, in the early 20th century, even though the only date definitively stated in the film is the year in which the hero, Sucha Soorma (Babbu Maan), was hanged. The very first scene deludes you to believe that here, perhaps, was a warrior who stood up for the downtrodden.