Writing Portfolio
In October of 2019, thousands of Chilean people took to the streets to protest the government. Anger long beneath the surface was triggered by a metro fare hike of 30 pesos ($0.04) in the capital city of Santiago. 30 pesos may not seem much of a fare hike, but Chile’s neo-liberal policies made it intoContinue reading “The 30 Pesos that Triggered Chile’s October Protests”
Funny Boy(cott) ‘Cultural Diplomacy is Foreign Policy’ wrote Eelam Tamil journalist Sinthujan Varatharajah in an Instagram story last week. Varatharajah is at the frontline of boycott calls for Deepa Mehta and her film adaptation of ‘Funny Boy’. They have three ‘Instagram Story Highlights’ on Mehta’s directorial history of reducing Sri Lanka to a country thatContinue reading “The Trans-National Politics of Deepa Mehta’s Filming History in Sri Lanka”
First published on The Local Stew. Before I read the book, I read the New York Times feature, ‘Mieko Kawakami Cracks the Code of Being a Woman in Japan’: “Kawakami said she would be pleased if her novels provided solace that readers ultimately outgrow. ‘Maybe I will be happy if they look back from theContinue reading “Book Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami”
First published on Gaysi Family. July 3rd 2020 saw a reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club (BSC) via a Netflix series. Its predecessors include 213 books from 1986 to 2000, a TV series in 1990, a movie in 1995 and an ongoing graphic novel series. A two decade time jump introduced lots of little (and some big) changes inContinue reading “The Baby-Sitters Club: A Nostalgic Trip To The 90s And Early 2000s For Millennials And Older Gen Z Kids.”
First published on Gaysi Family. ‘Masaba Masaba’ is a semi-fictionalised docuseries based on mother-daughter duo, Neena and Masaba Gupta. The series is set 10 years into Masaba establishing her own fashion label ‘House of Masaba’, and navigates us through the label’s creative journey of putting up a new collection with a tight deadline. On theContinue reading “‘Masaba Masaba’ With It’s Laundry List Of Cameos And Uncomfortable Acting, Seems To Fit Perfectly With Netflix’s Current Rebranding”
First published on Gaysi Family. Celebrities: we love them, we hate them, and some times the queer in us awakes because of them. Whether it is the character they played, their art and activism, their eyes, the context in which we were exposed to them, or just their torso, a lot of us within theContinue reading “Celebrities That Were Our Queer Awakening”
First published on Gaysi Family. When it comes to black, queer lives, more often than not -commercial and indie filmmakers alike- give the audience an equally heart and gut wrenching narrative of loss, jump cuts and monochrome lighting, complete with somber music in the background. As if only spoon-fed tragedy is capable of having aContinue reading “Film Bonde Is Different, It’s Not Sad.”
The recent adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women had potential. Right from the start, Gerwig makes it clear that her adaptation will be different from its predecessors. She starts with lively music and Jo negotiating a deal with a male publisher. She chooses this over the traditional opening scene of quiet domesticity inContinue reading “Little Women and it’s not so little problems”
Mumbai, for the outsider looking in, is the gothic buildings of St. Xavier’s, panoramic sunsets at Marine Drive, the steps leading up to the Asiatic library and drives on the Bandra-Worli sea link. This is Mumbai seen through a filter of money and privilege. For every person who can afford these luxuries, there are thousandsContinue reading “Democracy in Art Spaces: of the People, for the Rich, by the Artist”
Sakshi Raikar 