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Anupama Chopra

Anupama Chopra is the editor and founder of Film Companion.

Articles by Anupama Chopra

A one-in-a-billion phenomenon: Anupama Chopra on Dev Anand

The nodding head, flopping arms, casual charm inspired a legion of actors. Yet, in 77 years, Dev Saab hasn’t had a true successor, Chopra says.

Dev Anand and Tina Munim (now Tina Ambani) in Des Pardes (1978), her debut film. ‘I consider him the most dashing hero Hindi cinema has ever had,’ Chopra says.

art culture

Updated on Sep 29, 2023 10:05 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Double tapped for drama: Anupama Chopra on dual roles and Jawan

The dual role has a special place in Indian cinema. It’s roaring back with SRK's Jawan. See who else played a dad, a son, even two sons - all in the same film.

art culture

Updated on Sep 16, 2023 09:39 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Celebrating a crime spree: Anupama Chopra on Raj & DK’s streaming series

Guns and Gulaabs gives us more of the directors’ deliciously quirky characters. Here are the best ones to look out for, in this and their last two series.

Gulshan Devaiah as Chaar-Cut Atmaram in Guns and Gulaabs. He’s an eccentric killer who ends each victim in exactly four slashes.

art culture

Updated on Aug 26, 2023 04:03 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Facing up to the facade: We must do better on mental health in Bollywood

Showbusiness is a brutal field. It wears one down. And while it is always hard to create a mental-healthcare system, it is time to try, says Anupama Chopra.

'Art director Nitin Desai’s death by suicide should serve as a wake-up call. We need an organised effort to provide mental healthcare to Bollywood’s 2 million professionals,' Chopra says. (HT Archives)

art culture

Updated on Aug 11, 2023 08:50 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Returning champions: Bollywood is back, says Anupama Chopra

It is marvellous to see Hindi films dominate the box office again. Blockbusters are good news. But could smart, small films land too?

Pathaan (above left) has swept the box office, but streaming platforms are still doing a better job of nourishing good writers, as gems like Kohrra (above right) show.

art culture

Updated on Jul 29, 2023 02:54 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

A new story? They’re all years: Anupama Chopra on silvering stars

They’re leaping from cliffs, playing stylish maniacs, redefining destiny. In their 60s and at 80,Anil Kapoor, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford are furthering the plot.

(From left) Kapoor in The Night Manager, Ford as Indiana Jones in ...The Dial of Destiny, and Cruise in Mission: Impossible 7.

art culture

Updated on Jul 15, 2023 01:59 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Stream team: Anupama Chopra on the fans, stars and stories at Netflix Tudum

Alia Bhatt, The Archies and the streaming platform’s mega following were all in attendance at the global fan event held recently in Brazil.

Actor Gal Gadot makes her way through a crowd of over 10,000 fans at the event in Sao Paulo. (Vans Bumbeers / Netflix)

art culture

Updated on Jul 27, 2023 04:54 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Fire, family and a fine filter: Anupama Chopra on Manoj Bajpayee

For too long, Manoj Bajpayee’s career was hit or miss. Now, he’s ruling the small screen. He owes it to his decisions to say no.

Season 1 of The Family Man jumpstarted Bajpayee’s career. The actor’s new film, Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai (2023), was such a success on Zee5 that producers decided to run it in theatres too.

art culture

Updated on Jul 27, 2023 10:18 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Koffee and a director’s cut: Anupama Chopra on Karan Johar the filmmaker

He’s a talk-show host, emcee, fashionista, designer, producer… but it’s Karan Johar the movie-maker that we are most eager to see, Chopra says.

‘His cinema has given us indelible characters such as Saba and Ayan of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016) and Tina, Rahul and Anjali of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998),’ Chopra says.

art culture

Updated on Jul 28, 2023 01:00 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

A carpet-bombing at Cannes: Anupama Chopra writes in from the festival

There was so much of India, and cinema, to celebrate. Sadly, Chopra says, many Indians present were there just to celebrate themselves.

‘The India story of the year, for me, was actor Sunny Leone, who wasn’t there just to glitter but went to Cannes with a film, Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy,’ Chopra says. (Photo courtesy Film Companion)

art culture

Updated on Aug 03, 2023 02:30 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Always on location: Anupama Chopra on filmmaker Mani Ratnam

Forty years in, the auteur still tours theatres to check on their sound systems. This dedication to detail is part of what makes his movies unique.

From the 1987 gangster classic Nayakan to last year’s Ponniyin Selvan 1, Ratnam’s filmography brims with brilliance, courage and vitality.

art culture

Updated on Aug 04, 2023 09:14 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Why doesn’t India have an award even half as prestigious as the Oscars?

We make more films than any other country in the world. Yet, trying to create a world-class prize for cinema is the stuff of black comedy, says Anupama Chopra.

At the Oscars, protocol is strictly obeyed. Artists show up to applaud their peers. These are moves rarely seen at Indian awards. (AMPAS via Getty Images)

art culture

Updated on Aug 03, 2023 02:00 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Playing by new rules: Anupama Chopra on streaming platforms and stories of women

‘Bollywood continues to discriminate, but streaming platforms are thankfully making more room for women — on screens, behind the scenes and in boardrooms too.’

Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon in Shehzada. In the mainstream, male stars whose films tank continue to get big paydays. Women in this position seldom do.

art culture

Updated on Aug 12, 2023 03:36 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

A rebel storms the screen again: Anupama Chopra on Gulmohar

Sharmila Tagore plays Kusum, an elegant, wise, defiant matriarch, in the new film. It’s the ideal role for an actress who has always, inspiringly, done things her way.

Sharmila Tagore as Kusum, seen here with Manoj Bajpayee, who plays her son Arun.

art culture

Updated on Mar 11, 2023 02:02 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Maar daala: Anupama Chopra looks back on courtesans that lit up our screens

Eyes that mesmerise, lips that spout poetry, hearts full of yearning... tawaifs return in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new series, drawing from cinema’s best.

A poster for Bhansali’s upcoming Netflix series Heeramandi, which traces the lives of six courtesans in pre-Independence India.

art culture

Updated on Aug 12, 2023 04:02 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Are OTT platforms changing streams, asks Anupama Chopra

February has a dazzling, star-studded line-up. But will big-ticket projects edge out quieter narratives, lesser-known names?

Raj Nidimoru says Shahid Kapoor was cast in Farzi because the project started out as a film with that actor. ‘Volumes in OTT are very high. One can’t have only stars,’ he adds, reassuringly.

art culture

Updated on Aug 10, 2023 05:18 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

A new blow for Bollywood: No Hindi film in India’s Top 5 earners of 2022

Movies made in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, even English feature among the year’s top five grossers in India. The first Hindi film, Brahmastra, comes in at No. 6.

art culture

Updated on Aug 10, 2023 05:49 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

What will stardom look like in 2023? Kannada superstar Yash provides clues

His is a story of talent, humility, vision, perseverance, ambition and lots of hard work. We need more dreamers and doers like him, says Anupama Chopra.

‘My vision is, let me work with people who are hungry and passionate. (Not) people who are looking at my box-office numbers,’ says Yash, seen here in a still from KGF 2.

art culture

Updated on Dec 24, 2022 07:04 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Behind the scenes, at the roundtable, with Anupama Chopra

It can be heartache fixing a date. Even the seating can become controversial. But it’s worth it to have the best talent all in one place, excited to talk about the magic of filmmaking.

Anupama Chopra at a roundtable in Chennai with Gautham Menon, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kamal Haasan and SS Rajamouli. (Courtesy Film Companion)

art culture

Updated on Dec 10, 2022 09:51 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Great expectations: Anupama Chopra on how films now depict pregnancy

Indian cinema has typically deified mothers and ignored pregnancy. That’s changing, with hope for even-realer tales to come

In the recent release Yashoda, Samantha Ruth Prabhu plays a surrogate battling sinister forces in the luxurious prenatal facility to which she has been taken.

art culture

Updated on Nov 26, 2022 12:52 AM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

No fireworks, no fizz in Bollywood this Diwali, says Anupama Chopra

The festival face-off used to be a spectator sport. Now it’s a contest of bland vs bland, with sloppy storytelling all around.

Both Akshay Kumar’s Ram Setu and Ajay Devgn’s Thank God feel like endurance tests. They’re symptoms of a deeper malaise in Hindi cinema.

art culture

Updated on Nov 04, 2022 03:04 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

When demi-gods show the way: Anupama Chopra on Kantara

Rishab Shetty’s new Kannada film is primal, authentic. And its blend of folklore and masala just shattered the language barrier in real time.

Actor-writer-director Shetty plays Shiva, an impulsive villager. The plot makes room for love, comedy, family drama, and trauma overcome with a bit of divine aid.

art culture

Updated on Oct 21, 2022 02:11 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Rebuild, reboot, rethink Hrithik: Anupama Chopra on Vikram Vedha

Roshan’s character, Vedha, is maniacal yet charismatic, violent and unhinged. It’s an astonishing pivot from his lover-boy image.

In an interview in 2019, Roshan described to Chopra what the early years of his career felt like. ‘I was running fast because there was a dog after me. It’s very recently that I started to look back and the dog was not there,’ he said.

art culture

Updated on Oct 08, 2022 12:21 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Critic’s choice: Anupama Chopra lists her favourite responses to bad reviews

Online, there are anonymous threats and accusations. Offline, there are implications of bias. But every now and then, a filmmaker or actor will take it in their stride in amusing ways. One such instance was literally a scream.

When Anupama Chopra bumped into Ram Gopal Verma after giving his film, Agyaat, a bad review, he didn’t say hello. He just “looked at me, screamed, and ran in the opposite direction. It was hilarious,” she says.

art culture

Updated on Sep 24, 2022 06:24 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Finally, a price correction begins in Bollywood

As films led by superstars continue to flop, A-listers are taking pay cuts and there is talk of budgets going towards storytelling instead, says Anupama Chopra.

‘Amid a series of flops — most recently, Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan (above) — a leading producer tells me that star prices have dropped by up to 35%,’ Chopra says.

art culture

Updated on Sep 09, 2022 06:34 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Private jets, Biserli baths:Anupama Chopra on the escalating A-lister’s wishlist

As moviestars look to outdo one another, demands are ballooning. Some want an entire food truck on set, even when they’re fasting. Others will only travel via Boeing, not Airbus.

Production houses are having to deal with the kinds of demands we gaped at agog in the showbiz mockumentary 30 Rock, featuring the likes of spoilt-brat star Tracy Jordan and his eccentric entourage.

art culture

Updated on Aug 27, 2022 03:58 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

It’s big change that’s needed in Bollywood, not big bucks, says Anupama Chopra

The ₹150-crore Shamshera is built on a story that gives way in the first hour, leaving its lead, the talented Ranbir Kapoor, floundering. Meanwhile, small gems continue to hook audiences, including Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films made on tiny and even crowdsourced budgets.

Rajat Kapoor’s RK/Rkay is a witty and whimsical take on making movies, on questions of authorship, destiny and free will. The film crowdsouced its <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>2-crore budget, with about 800 people contributing between <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>100 and <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>50,000 each.

art culture

Updated on Jul 30, 2022 03:19 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

Add to watchlist: Anupama Chopra picks 2022’s best films on streaming so far

At the half-year mark, a look at rare gems, indie releases, regional hits and little films that could, and did.

Malayalam film Hridayam is about growing up and coming to the understanding that despite the heartbreak, the missed opportunities and failures, it is glorious to be alive.

art culture

Updated on Jul 16, 2022 07:17 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

SRK and the art of spreading the love

Even in a mediocre film, there is a specific kind of joy that Shah Rukh delivers. The world could do with more of that, says Anupama Chopra.

SRK at Davos. When Shah Rukh Khan stretches his arms out in that signature pose, it feels like he is embracing the world, Chopra says.

art culture

Updated on Jul 01, 2022 10:46 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

What makes a movie too long, asks Anupama Chopra

There is no science to film duration. But even a good idea stretched too far will snap, as a new crop of filmmakers is finding out.

The new Kannada release 777 Charlie, a heart-rending tale of a man bettered by his dog, is let down by its runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

art culture

Updated on Jun 18, 2022 08:01 PM IST

ByAnupama Chopra

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Anupama Chopra

Anupama Chopra is the editor and founder of Film Companion.

The nodding head, flopping arms, casual charm inspired a legion of actors. Yet, in 77 years, Dev Saab hasn’t had a true successor, Chopra says.

The dual role has a special place in Indian cinema. It’s roaring back with SRK's Jawan. See who else played a dad, a son, even two sons - all in the same film.

Guns and Gulaabs gives us more of the directors’ deliciously quirky characters. Here are the best ones to look out for, in this and their last two series.

Showbusiness is a brutal field. It wears one down. And while it is always hard to create a mental-healthcare system, it is time to try, says Anupama Chopra.

It is marvellous to see Hindi films dominate the box office again. Blockbusters are good news. But could smart, small films land too?

They’re leaping from cliffs, playing stylish maniacs, redefining destiny. In their 60s and at 80,Anil Kapoor, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford are furthering the plot.

Alia Bhatt, The Archies and the streaming platform’s mega following were all in attendance at the global fan event held recently in Brazil.

For too long, Manoj Bajpayee’s career was hit or miss. Now, he’s ruling the small screen. He owes it to his decisions to say no.

He’s a talk-show host, emcee, fashionista, designer, producer… but it’s Karan Johar the movie-maker that we are most eager to see, Chopra says.

There was so much of India, and cinema, to celebrate. Sadly, Chopra says, many Indians present were there just to celebrate themselves.

Forty years in, the auteur still tours theatres to check on their sound systems. This dedication to detail is part of what makes his movies unique.

We make more films than any other country in the world. Yet, trying to create a world-class prize for cinema is the stuff of black comedy, says Anupama Chopra.

‘Bollywood continues to discriminate, but streaming platforms are thankfully making more room for women — on screens, behind the scenes and in boardrooms too.’

Sharmila Tagore plays Kusum, an elegant, wise, defiant matriarch, in the new film. It’s the ideal role for an actress who has always, inspiringly, done things her way.

Eyes that mesmerise, lips that spout poetry, hearts full of yearning... tawaifs return in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new series, drawing from cinema’s best.

February has a dazzling, star-studded line-up. But will big-ticket projects edge out quieter narratives, lesser-known names?

Movies made in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, even English feature among the year’s top five grossers in India. The first Hindi film, Brahmastra, comes in at No. 6.

His is a story of talent, humility, vision, perseverance, ambition and lots of hard work. We need more dreamers and doers like him, says Anupama Chopra.

It can be heartache fixing a date. Even the seating can become controversial. But it’s worth it to have the best talent all in one place, excited to talk about the magic of filmmaking.

Indian cinema has typically deified mothers and ignored pregnancy. That’s changing, with hope for even-realer tales to come

The festival face-off used to be a spectator sport. Now it’s a contest of bland vs bland, with sloppy storytelling all around.

Rishab Shetty’s new Kannada film is primal, authentic. And its blend of folklore and masala just shattered the language barrier in real time.

Roshan’s character, Vedha, is maniacal yet charismatic, violent and unhinged. It’s an astonishing pivot from his lover-boy image.

Online, there are anonymous threats and accusations. Offline, there are implications of bias. But every now and then, a filmmaker or actor will take it in their stride in amusing ways. One such instance was literally a scream.

As films led by superstars continue to flop, A-listers are taking pay cuts and there is talk of budgets going towards storytelling instead, says Anupama Chopra.

As moviestars look to outdo one another, demands are ballooning. Some want an entire food truck on set, even when they’re fasting. Others will only travel via Boeing, not Airbus.

The ₹150-crore Shamshera is built on a story that gives way in the first hour, leaving its lead, the talented Ranbir Kapoor, floundering. Meanwhile, small gems continue to hook audiences, including Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films made on tiny and even crowdsourced budgets.

At the half-year mark, a look at rare gems, indie releases, regional hits and little films that could, and did.

Even in a mediocre film, there is a specific kind of joy that Shah Rukh delivers. The world could do with more of that, says Anupama Chopra.

There is no science to film duration. But even a good idea stretched too far will snap, as a new crop of filmmakers is finding out.

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