Debiparna Chakraborty

Austria, India, London

Film and TV critic, Entertainment and Pop Culture Journalist, Editor at Freelance

Film & TV Critic | Ent Journalist | feeding into the great sucking maw of the Internet | https://t.co/smXdgE5Q5U

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Articles

Incel Culture & Item Songs: Misogyny In Music, Bollywood And Beyond

1 week ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Bollywood’s love affair with the item song is as old as commercial Indian cinema itself. From the smoky cabaret performances of the 1960s (dotted with burlesque and jazz influences) to the aggressively choreographed club bangers of today, these songs have been one of the most consistent elements of our cinema. Even as these catchy songs—with their provocative imagery and lyrics—evolved, they routinely commodified and reinforced the sexualisation of women.
Misogyny: Bollywood's Favourite Plot

1 week ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Art & Entertainment Netflix's 'Adolescence' is unflinching in its portrayal of how young men are socialised to feel entitled to women’s attention and affection, and yet, it isn’t exactly breaking new ground.
The White Lotus and India's Brown Fetish: Desi Love-Hate Obsession with Incest

1 week ago | thequint.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Incest is ostensibly taboo in India but 'bhabhi' or 'bhai-behen' porn thrives in the shadows of digital desire. Indian porn searches have long been dominated by incest-related keywords. Aunty, bhabhi, bhai-behen, father-in-law, daughter, bahu—no equation is spared. Yet, Ranveer Allahabadia gets mauled in the public court of opinion and riles up the authorities over a tangentially incestuous, recycled joke that has been circulating on the incel corners of the internet for ages.
Novocaine Review | Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota Redux

1 week ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

At its core, Dan Berk and Robert Olsen’s Novocaine is your classic boy-meets-girl story where a boy falls in love with a girl and goes to heroic lengths to save her when she's taken hostage at a bank robbery. Novocaine is dressed up in the action-comedy aesthetic that has dominated the genre post-MCU, post-Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and post-Ryan Reynolds making a career out of winking at the camera. Basically, if you’ve watched any action-comedy in the last decade, you know what you’re in for.
Remembering Val Kilmer: A Life in Characters

2 weeks ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Val Kilmer in The Doors Photo: IMDB Val Kilmer in The Doors Photo: IMDB A man of contrasts, Val Kilmer, whose performances ranged from the genius of Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991) to the coolest wingman in Top Gun (1986), died on April 1, 2025 in Los Angeles. He was 65. According to a statement from his family, the cause was pneumonia.
Marlon Brando 101: The Maverick, the Monster and the Myth

3 weeks ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Art & Entertainment From Johnny Strabler in 'The Wild One' to Colonel Kurtz in 'Apocalypse Now', Brando’s filmography is studded with paradigm shifting roles. On his 101st birth anniversary, remembering the icon of rebellion that he was, on-screen and off.
Nadharer Bhela Review: A Silent Subversion In Unsettling Slowness

3 weeks ago | outlookindia.com | Debarati Gupta |Debiparna Chakraborty

Nadherer Bhela Still Photo: IMDB Nadherer Bhela Still Photo: IMDB At a time when the Bengali film industry is grappling with both commercial and artistic decline, the International Film Festival of Rotterdam spotlighted three Bengali feature films this year, including Pradipta Bhattacharyya’s third film, Nadharer Bhela (The Slowman and His Raft).
The Faults In Our Stars: Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak And The Possibilities Of Stardom

3 weeks ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Art & Entertainment Charmed by the recently re-released Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, I ponder about the takeaways from the film, the state of film viewing, as well as film stardom. Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak Still Photo: IMDB Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak Still Photo: IMDB If you can read this, you’re standing too close.
Holland Review: A Knock-Off Stepford Wife Awakening In Sloth Mode

3 weeks ago | outlookindia.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Holland Still Photo: IMDB Holland Still Photo: IMDB There’s nothing wrong with a slow burn story. Give me nothing but weird, atmospheric vibes and actors chewing the scenery like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, and I’ll lap it up. Some of the best horror/psychological thrillers—be it Zodiac (2007), Nope (2022), or Hereditary (2018)—take their time, letting the tension simmer until it explodes into something unforgettable. But that’s not Mimi Cave’s Holland (2025).
CBFC Proves Santosh isn't 'Singham' or 'Mardaani' Enough for Bollywood

3 weeks ago | thequint.com | Debiparna Chakraborty

Tackling Male gaze in Non-Mardaana Ways Through Suri’s lens, Santosh also tackles the male gaze with an ingenuity that is both powerful, complex, and comical in certain wry ways. This is a riveting way of treating a topic already tackled multiple times (albeit unsuccessfully) in Hindi cinema before. There is this scene where Santosh chews up and regurgitates her food to the disgust a man who would not stop staring at her. This is not only effective but also refreshingly irreverent.