The Awful & Awesome Entertainment Wrap

On Awful and Awesome this week, we bring to you from the archives Abhinandan in conversation with Sabrina Dhawan, who has written Monsoon Wedding, co-written Kaminey, Ishqiya and Rangoon and been a consultant for Haider. She also teaches screenwriting at New York University. The movie Monsoon Wedding shot her to stardom at a very young age in her career.They talk about the factors that make a film successful, what works and what does not.Films like Kaminey and Ishqiya did well at the box office while Rangoon didn't. Abhinandan questions what could be the reason behind a film's fall and success. Sabrina says: "Unlike writing a book, a film is an intensely collaborative medium. So the writing is one part of it. Even the directing is one part of it. Any one element can sink a film. Eventually, it is a good story that is well told. Because you can have a good idea but if it isn't well told, then that doesn't work. That said, even a great script is not director-proof, it's not casting-proof."Furthermore, she says it is a "miracle" if a movie does well because that means everything came together.Talking about the screenwriting course that she teaches at New York University, she discusses how screenwriting is a "craft" similar to carpentry or plumbing. She acknowledges that one needs to have stories to tell, nobody can teach you that. "What I am teaching them is how you actually craft your idea, a lot of it is also teaching them how to externalise or dramatise something because unlike a book, a script is a story told in pictures."Regarding Monsoon Wedding, she recalls the time when she pitched the idea to a bunch of executives. Her idea was appreciated but the executives felt the movie wouldn't be commercially viable."But we made that film, super low-budget and it ended up finding audiences throughout the world. This taught me a really important lesson, that it's really important to write the story you want to write and write it as truthfully and authentically as possible,” she adds.Abhinandan asks about her challenges when she rewrote the script of Monsoon Wedding from film to theatre. Initially, she thought that since the film is a musical, it would only be a change in formatting because a film and play have different formats. "But it doesn't work like that at all. Going from screen to stage, the fact that you don't have a camera changes everything. You can't cut to location. Of course with sets and production like how many transitions and how do you transition, you can't just keep coming back to the location."Sabrina mentions her love for Zoya Akhtar’s film Luck By Chance. "I thought it was brave and incredibly compassionate. It had this great look and was very satirical and very dark. And the fact that it was made by someone who is an insider in that world and to look into the perspective of an outsider is incredible.”Other films lined up in her list of favourites are Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and Deewar.Tune into Awful and Awesome for more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Awful and Awesome this week, Abhinandan and Rajyasree are joined by our very own Deepanjana Pal (DJ). This time, she's back as a guest to talk about her first novel Hush a Bye Baby, a thriller about a gynaecologist, Dr Nandita Rai, who is accused of conducting sex-selective abortions.Sekhri and Sen question DJ about her choice of genre. In response to which, Pal says, “So, at a very basic level, I think it’s fair to say that Hush a Bye Baby is kind of in the middle of many genres. It is a thriller, I hope. But it is also a social drama like you’re describing. It does have a lot to do with the society in which all of this is taking place. It isn’t a conventional murder mystery which is what most thrillers tend to be. There are no dead bodies in this. In many ways, it’s a little bit of a cross-genre kind of a thing.”After having discussed the novel extensively, and DJ’s view on abortions and a woman’s autonomy over her own body, Sekhri and Sen move on to discuss the bizarre, shocking, and extremely disappointing comments made by Bollywood celebrities on rapes in India.The greatest superstar of the country, Amitabh Bachchan, also the brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, when asked to comment on the Kathua rape case, said: “‘Don’t bring up this issue, it is terrible to even talk about it.”While it is a disgusting incident, that doesn’t mean you don’t comment on it. As Sekhri commented: “He is a superstar and we respect him but he is like every other uncle.”Next in line is Saroj Khan, who had something to say about the existence of the casting couch in the industry: “Tum film industry ke peeche kyu pade ho. Woh kamse kam roti toh dedeti hai. Rape karke chorh toh nai deti”. To Sen, the justification that she is making is hardly some salvation.While Bachchan’s and Saroj Khan’s old age can be held up as an excuse for making such statements, what reason does Ranbir Kapoor have? Speaking about the casting couch, the Rockstar actor said: "I don’t know if it exists. I have never been expected to do it” and then laughed!Sen had a very obvious remark to make to that, “For everyone who comes from a level of privilege in their sphere of life, to say I’ve never seen this deprivation is ridiculous.”Moving on, the duo discusses the teaser of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Rajkumar Hirani. Both are highly impressed by the actor’s uncanny resemblance to Sanjay Dutt, but the teaser fails to make a mark on them.According to Sen, “I didn’t think much of the teaser. I thought it was a bit farcical. Like they had just slapped it together. And for some reason, I got the feeling that it was making a hero out of Sanjay Dutt’s stupidities. Because I do think he’s a silly man. He came from the lap of privilege and went wayward. That has been made into a virtue.”Sekhri, however, is less harsh in his opinion on the teaser, “What they’ve attempted is very clever. His life is more tragic than comic. But rather than make the trailer tragic, they attempted to make it almost farcical. I don’t think it works. But it was a clever thing to have tried.”Next, the new Durex Kohinoor Meetha Pan condom ad is reviewed. For Sekhri, the ad is "wrong in all sorts of ways". He also adds, “Ever since Pooja Bedi’s Kamasutra ad, nobody has come up with a classy condom ad. All condom ads have been sleazy.”Talking of advertisements, the next topic of discussion is a print ad commissioned by the ministry of health, to promote healthy eating and being slim. But of course, it’s only directed at women. No surprises there.Sekhri brings out the fallacies that this ad, which shows two women of different sizes, displays.Lastly, Sen talks about an Amazon original that she watched, written and acted in by Sumukhi Suresh, called ‘Pushpavalli’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Awful and Awesome is back this week to give you a dose of the latest pop cultural updates. Rajyasree and Abhinandan take you through three Hollywood trailers, two films (A Quiet Place and October), the National Awards and Beyonce’s performance at Coachella.Starting with ‘A Quiet Place’, the duo believed it wasn’t half as good as the trailer promised. Regardless, both Sen and Sekhri did appreciate the skill required to direct and act in a horror film with minimum dialogue. Abhinandan says, “I won’t say I hated it but when you take up such a difficult job, you have got to be super brilliant to pull it off.”Then we have Sen reviewing Shoojit Sircar’s ‘October’ alone because Abhinandan has pledged to not watch a Varun Dhawan film again (the last Dhawan film he watched was ‘Judwaa 2’, that must explain it). Sircar’s direction and Juhi Chaturvedi’s writing is back after Piku in this film. Dhawan plays a grumpy and disgruntled hotel trainee, Dan. When one of his fellow trainees goes into a coma after an accident, he suddenly finds a purpose in life. Sen finds it difficult to relate to this unusual obsession but liked the way Sircar portrays Delhi. Commenting on Varun’s acting, she says, “He has acted better than he has acted before.”Rajyasree and Abhinandan also discuss the National awards, which started off with understandable awardees such as Newton for best Hindi film and Baahubali for best action, direction and special effect. But Sridevi getting the best actor female award for Mom, according to the two, reeked of sentimentality.Moving on, both our reviewers were highly impressed with the trailers of ‘The Wife’ starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, and ‘Can you ever forgive me?’ starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant. For the former, Sekhri says, “It is one of the most compelling trailers I have seen in a long time. Think it is going to be great. I hope it is not like ‘A Quiet Place’ where the trailer was 20,000 times better than the film.”However, the two were quite unhappy with the trailer of ‘Solo’, next in the series of Star Wars. A new Star Wars film every year is a ‘money-making machine for Disney’, feels Sekhri.Sen then discusses Beyonce's performance at Coachella and how this was the first time since 1999 that a black woman had headlined the fest. But that wasn’t the only reason why Coachella was making news. Philip Anschutz, the owner of Coachella’s parent company, is, in fact, a Republican donor and a huge supporter of anti-LGBT groups. Which has been all over the news lately. Regardless, Beyonce’s two-hour-long power-packed performance, in which she went through five outfit changes (and also nail polish changes), was definitely worth a watch.Listen up now for all this and more at The Awful and Awesome, and as Sen rightly said, “Pay for free news and better jokes”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Awful and Awesome has a lot in store this week. A special treat for all book lovers is Rajyasree Sen’s interaction with Seema Goswami, author of ‘Race Course Road’, followed by a discussion on the IPL, Salman Khan, ‘Missing’, and Russell Crowe’s genius.Starting off with the book, Goswami’s past work experience with ABP and Sunday Magazine is reflected in her approach towards politics in this fictional political thriller, which starts off with the assassination of Prime Minister Birendra Pratap Singh, and goes on to answer the questions -- Who was behind it? Who will become the next PM?Although fictional, Rajyasree finds the characters mirroring many Indian politicians and doesn’t hesitate in naming them. According to her, these characters are obviously inspired by real-life personalities -- there’s an Arnab, a Barkha Dutt, and there is definitely, definitely a Mamata Banerjee. Sen feels that the book surpasses other thrillers by dealing with themes like the invasion of privacy, the treatment of women in politics, and the role of media.Moving on, we have our dear own Abhinandan Sekhri joining Sen. The ‘Awful and Awesome’ duo makes it a point to discuss as much of ‘awful’ as ‘awesome’ and comments on the glamorisation and commercialisation of cricket, which Sekhri does not even consider a sport (thank you, IPL!). The grand opening ceremony with performances by Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandes, and Mika Singh are not spared, with Hrithik Roshan being the only one praised by our hard-to-please reviewers. If all this isn’t enough, there are two awards -- ‘the most stylish player award’ (Gautam Gambhir seemed as disgusted receiving it as Sen and Sekhri felt discussing it), and the ‘Star Plus nayi soch award’ (what does that even mean?). Abhinandan had one answer to all this, “We just fuck up everything.”Further, Sen and Sekhri have both had their own shares of torture this week, watching ‘Midnight Sun’ and ‘Missing’ respectively. The former has nothing to offer except a cliché teen story where nothing bad happens. The latter, on the other hand, is a disappointing psychological thriller about a child who goes missing during a family ‘business trip’ to Mauritius. As Sen says, Missing can easily go ‘missing from the halls’.Next, they go on to discuss the new iPad advertisement that shows the gadget's use in homework for children -- much to Abhinandan’s distaste, and the commonwealth film by Edelweiss Group, which again fails to impress Mr Sekhri due to its ‘terrible writing’.Of course, this week had to have a discussion on the media coverage of the conviction of our beloved Bhai. It was, as Sekhri puts it, ‘news as entertainment about an entertainment superstar’. Apart from Khan’s non-discrimination among species and colour of skin, unnecessary details (his popularity in China, his earnings from Big Boss) given by the media are discussed. Priya Gupta, co-producer of movies like Blackmail, gets a special mention for her defences given for the superstar.Sen goes on to enlighten us about the innovative method that Russell Crowe has come up with to pay his divorce alimony of 20 million dollars by an auction called the ‘Art of Divorce’, that, ironically, he opened on the day of his wedding anniversary.All in all, the awful and awesome will take you through all this and more, including books, movies, advertisements, and mastering the art of divorcing your wife in style. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we bring you a full dose of entertainment and cinema. Rajyasree discloses her illegal access to cinema, while Abhinandan’s habit of name- and place-dropping is pointed out by Aditi, our Awful & Awesome enthusiast.Sekhri and Sen review Call Me By Your Name, which was banned from being shown at the Beijing Film Festival for no good reason. And they discuss James Ivory’s comment on the lack of full frontal nudity and normal sex scenes in the film.According to Sen, “The film stars a very beautiful man called Armie Hammer whom we’ve seen play the Winklevoss twins in the Facebook film, it also stars Timothée Chalamet, whom we saw in Lady Bird as the rebel boyfriend." She also gives us a sneak peek of the plot, “Timothée Chalamet plays a boy called Elio whose father is a professor. Armie Hammer plays Oliver, is a graduate student of Elio’s father...It’s about the love affair that starts between both of them” and is an “extremely well scripted, beautiful film”. Sekhri and Sen also discuss the significance of the year 1983, which the movie is set in.There’s also talk of why the trailer of Nude was in the news and why it was pulled from the International Film Festival Of India in November. According to our Awesome & Awful duo, the film has a “spectacular trailer”. Sekhri says, "It makes you watch the film. The plot unfolds with a brilliant cast, it’s beautifully shot with perfect lighting. It has a promise to make a political statement but not an in your face sort of political statement.”There’s a little insight about the trailer of the film, Dundee, with Sekhri giving millennials a bit of context about Crocodile Dundee which was a pop culture phenomenon when he was in school (in the Dark Ages).Then, of course, there’s the man for all seasons, Salman Khan’s Being Human summer campaign – Look Good Do Good - where he promotes people who are trying to change the world by doing noble things. Sekhri says, “Salman Khan is ‘looking good’ and others are ‘doing good’”…The purpose of this campaign is to change Salman’s image.”Unsurprisingly, Tetley’s green tea advertisement starring Deepika Padukone is Sekhri’s favourite campaign of the week. There’s an interesting anecdote from Sekhri about Tea and Egypt!There’s also Anurag Kadhyap’s Karta, a short film presented by Kashyap and directed by Randeep Jha – which Sen quite enjoyed. The pièce de résistance though, is a musical rendition of a Punjabi song by Sekhri, while commenting on Punjab government’s proposal to set up a committee to eradicate vulgarity from Punjabi songs. And there’s Sen’s question with an un-Googleable answer (or so she hopes) at the end.Much to look forward to this time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Films, ads, magazines, trailers, radio shows, adult film stars and playmates. There's much to discuss this time around. Rajyasree has a lot to say about Rani Mukerji's comeback film, Hichki. There's the Pulse candy and Star Sports commercials, both of which Abhinandan shockingly seemed to like. There's much excitement over a new show on the "Eton of India" and can't decide whether it's a documentary or a reality show.There's movie talk with Cobra Kai, Missing and High Jack's trailer and a new radio show on Radio Mirchi with Pooja Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt named Bhatt Naturally. And how could they possibly not discuss Stormy Daniels' and Karen McDougal's interviews with Anderson Cooper. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Music, movies and more. Abhinandan and Rajyasree have a lot to say about the remix version of Ek Do Teen and Daler Mehendi's side-business of human trafficking. Sekhri shows us why he could be a music producer, if it wasn't for his day job at Newslaundry. There's movie talk with Omerta's trailer and Danny Boyle's new gig directing a woke James Bond. From the world of Netflix, there's the brand new stand-up special by Ricky Gervais Humanity and documentary Wild Wild Country about the cult leader, Osho, his Oregon ranch and the deadly team of ladies who managed his Ashram. And there's Kunal Kamra's excellent new stand-up show, Fresh Thoughts. And let's not forget Snapchat's disastrous ad which tried to make a buck off Rihanna being beaten up by Chris Brown, only to find the tables turned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a surfeit of women on this episode thanks to International Women's Day. Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss Barbie's new "woke" range of dolls, Jane Walker whisky, the strange housewives of Maggi's new ad and Reliance Fresh's #JeeLeZara campaign. There's movie talk with Coco, which Sen finally watched and recommends, and Rajnikanth's new film Kaala's trailer, which they have a lot to say on. There's a new ad-cum-music video for Apple directed by Spike Jonze. Rajyasree also discusses Rajdeep Sardesai's interview with Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan and Abhinandan tells us why he couldn't watch the full interview. All this and more. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Abhinandan and Rajyasree discuss two new advertisements - All Out's # StandByToughMums and Peek Freans ‘Cake Up’. They aren't too pleased by Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, although Abhinandan has a change of heart about Black Panther.It's also awards season with #Oscars 2018 and HT India's Most Stylish Awards. To prove that they both read as well, they discuss Grihlakshmi's cover of model Gilu Joseph breastfeeding a baby, and the backlash to the campaign. And there's Monica Lewinsky's latest Vanity Fair article on the #MeToo campaign. And there's a look at the world of Netflix with Tu Hai Mera Sunday and Icarus which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Meghnad and Rajyasree discuss Sridevi's legacy and the coverage of her death. They move on to discuss Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the extremely tedious Filmfare Awards and why it was the worst award show in the last few years. They also talk about the video of singer Papon kissing a child contestant and Papon's response. There's the video criticising AIB's casting of mainly male characters... and to save the best for the last, there's Amruta Fadnavis' song featuring her husband Devendra Fadnavis, the Maharashtra chief minister, and sundry civil servants. A mixed bag of goodies if ever there was one. Listen up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abhinandan Sekhri is back from America to discuss all things pop culture with Rajyasree Sen in this week's podcast.In this week's podcast, does it all add up when it comes to Tinder, Facebook, Pan Bahar and PNB's new commercials? And there's a very special advertisement starring a superstar and a good friend of Sekhri's and Sen's in it. Abhinandan also explains why Black Panther wasn't all it was touted to be.From the world of Netflix, Rajyasree talks about Ryan Murphy, Chris Rock's Tamborine and Netflix's first Original Hindi film, Love Per Square Foot. And of course, there's the BAFTAs and a new question for all Black Panther fans. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Awful and Awesome, we have Meghnad making his debut. Rajyasree and Meghnad start the discussion with Padman and Akshay Kumar's acting in the film. Rajyasree talks about movie Peter Rabbit and why the "allergy communities" have taken offence. They also talk about a TV series, Swami Ramdev: Ek Sangharsh, web series Breathe, Queer Eye and Lost. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri and Rajyasree Sen start their discussion with Ram Gopal Verma's God, Sex and Truth: A philosophical Treatise of Mia Malkova. Abhinandan talks about RGV's genius-to-insane journey. With reference to it, he talks about a brilliant shot from the movie Shiva. They also talk about Steven Soderbergh's Unsane which was shot on an iPhone, entirely. In addition, Rajysaree talks about critically-acclaimed horror movie Hereditary and Reema Kagti's Gold, in which Akshay Kumar plays the role of a Bengali. Apart from this, she talks about advertisements and Superbowl and Justin Timberlake's hologram tribute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this wrap, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri review Padmaavat. They discuss the 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony and the recently launched trailer of HBO documentary Andre The Giant. They also discuss the Jaipur Literature Fest, recent trends in poetry as well as new Netflix series Dirty Money and Manhunt. This, Amruta Fadnavis and India Today's Rahul Kanwal's piece-to-camera at Davos, Vanity Fair's cover and more. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri review The Darkest Hour and talk about Saif Ali Khan's comment on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. They also discuss the recently-launched trailer of Welcome to New York featuring Karan Johar in a double role. Apart from this, they also talk about Prakash Raj's comment on Hinduism and Shah Rukh Khan's speech at Davos. Rajyasree also discusses Neha Dhupia-hosted BFFs with Vogue's latest episode. This, Stormy Daniel's Make America Horny Again and more. Listen up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Awful and Awesome, Rajyasree Sen joins Abhinandan Sekhri to review Anurag Kashyap's Mukkabaaz and Steven Spielberg's The Post. They also discuss Karan Johar's show, Calling Karan. Apart from this, Rajyasree talks about Black Mirror, David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction and Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Drinking Coffee. Abhinandan and Rajyasree also discuss Sanjay Leela Bhansali's upcoming movie, Padmavat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Awful and Awesome is back after a six-month hiatus! This week, Abhinandan Sekhri and Manisha Pande talk about the Golden Globes and Oprah Winfrey's oh-so-awesome speech. They also discuss some of the winners and their works. Our in-house Star Wars junkie and Art and Design Director Anish Daolagupu joins the duo for a discussion on The Last Jedi and why loyalists were miffed with it. Finally, we'd like to crowd-source Bollywood songs that show how poorly understood the idea of consent has been in films through the years. Listen up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Abhinandan Sekhri talks to Sabrina Dhawan, who has co-written Kaminey,Ishqiya, Rangoon and Monsoon Wedding and been a consultant for Haider. She also teaches screen writing at New York University. The movie Monsoon Wedding shot her to stardom at a very young age in her career. They talk about the factors that make a film successful, what works and what does not. All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Jagga Jasoos, the latest in the Planet of the Apes franchise, War for the Planet of the Apesand the Ava DuVernay-helmed A Wrinkle in Time. The two also weigh in on the IIFA Awards, the new ad Selfie With Didi, and the cuts in Amartya Sen's documentary The Argumentative Indian. And of course, the FIR against AIB. All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri review Sridevi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer MOM and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Sen and Sekhri also discuss Amazon Prime's first Indian web series, Inside Edge starring Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha; Meena Kandasamy's book When I Hit You, a book written by an anonymous author for Bloomsbury, The Incest Diary and the storm it has created before its release, a music video from The Hamilton Mixtape, Immigrants(We Get The Job Done). All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri review Cars 3, Netflix's recent release Okja and a short film presented by Imtiaz Ali, Bruno and Juliet. The two also discuss Hulu's series The Handmaid's Tale by Bruce Miller based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood of the same name, Netflix's new series Gypsy starring Naomi Watts and Poorna Jagannathan and journalist Sagarika Ghose's new book Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister, did we really need another book on Indira Gandhi? Finally, the two discuss Serena Williams' pregnant photo shoot for Vanity Fair, is it stretching a trend too far? All this and more discussed, and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri review Salman Khan's Tubelight and how it failed to do well at the box office despite being an Eid release. The two also discuss the trailers for Madhur Bhandarkar's Indu Sarkar, Arjun Rampal's Daddy, as well as Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma's Jab Harry Met Sejal. They weigh in on the new Netflix documentary, Nobody Speak, on the trial between Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media and how it brought down a media empire. And who is Banksy? All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan starrer, Behen Hogi Teri. Is it worth a watch? They also discuss the trailers of Akshay Kumar's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Kushan Nandy's Babumoshai Bandookbaaz and Marvel's Black Panther. CNN dumping Reza Aslan for his anti-Trump tweet also finds a mention. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the much heralded Wonder Woman with Gal Gadot and also Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut, Death in the Gunj. The two also try to decipher the trailer for Sridevi’s new film, MOM. Then there’s comedian Kathy Griffin’s photoshoot with a decapitated Donald Trump and the resulting fallout, Bill Maher and oh, what was Delhi jazz club, Piano Man casteist turn. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Wasim Akram's acting skill in Geo Tv's new ad. The two also weigh in on the documentary An Insignificant Man based on Arvind Kejriwal, Netflix's Brad Pitt and Ben Kingsley starrer War Machine. Ofcourse, then there's Priyanka Chopra's apperance on "Dirty Laundry" and Shiv Aroor's debut novel Operation Jinnah. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss recent releases Half Girlfriend & Hindi Medium, the Indian remake of Rambo starring - wait for it - Tiger Shroff, Netflix's A Very Secret Service. Also, Ketan Mehta's legal notice to Kangana for ‘hijacking’ his film on Rani of Jhansi, Anupam Kher's new show on Republic TV. All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Meri Pyaari Bindu, the trailer for Kangana Ranaut's Simran and the resultant controversy around it. The two also weigh in on Netflix's Get Me Roger Stone and Miss Sloane. And they'd be amiss if they didn't discuss Justin Beiber's performance in India, and how disappointing it was. Did you know Shah Rukh Khan's gave a TED Talk? Well, listen in to find out more. The Indian Air Force has a new ad and our podcast duo have many thoughts. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the trailers for Salman Khan's Tubelight and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. Then there are ads to discuss, from Tata Tea's Jaago Re ad campaign to the Skore condom one, featuring Chris Gayle. The two also go over the furore over Stephen Colbert's homophobic Donald Trump joke and the blasphemy investigation against Stephen Fry's . All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, the trailers for Behan Hogi Teri, Baywatch and ALT Balaji's latest show The Test Case. And of course, there are so many ads to discuss, from Heineken to Shan Food's, created by Ogilvy India and Ogilvy Pakistan. They also weigh in on Vir Das's debut performance at Conan O'Brien's show and Hasan Minhaj's performance at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and what it says about journalism in the age of Trump. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss The Zookeeper's Wifeand Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Noor, which is based on Saba Imtiaz's novel Karachi, You're Killing Me!The two also discuss Deepika Padukone's new coke ad, Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and Prayaag Akbar's book, Leila. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss Vidya Balan's Begum Jaan and what went wrong with the film. The duo also discusses a short film produced by the India Today Group, This Bloody Line, Raveena Tandon's Maatr woes, Asha Parekh's autobiography, The Hit Girl with a forward written by Salman Khan. And of course the most anticipated trailer of the year--the Sachin Tendulkar biopic, Sachin A Billion Dreams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss This American Life and Serial's new podcast, S-Town. Sekhri explains why every journalist should listen to this podcast. The duo also discuss Pepsi's new ad which they had to pull down and the trailers of Half Girlfriend and Noor. Finally, Sen and Sekhri talk about the recently-concluded National Awards. Did Akshay Kumar deserve the best actor award for Rustom? All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss Rahul Bose's Poorna, Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra's Meri Pyaari Bindu. The two also debate Marna Mana Hai, an episode from the web series "Phir Se Ramsay", written and directed by Sasha Ramsay. Pal had lots to say about the new Vicks' ad Generations of Care and the director Neeraj Ghaywan. Shilpa Shetty has a new cooking show and the two have a lot to say about that. All this and more discussed and dissected on this episode of The Awful & Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, two 'lady-oriended' movies, to quote the Central Board of Certification, were released and of course our two culture vultures have a lot to say about both of them. Rajyasree Sen was surprised to find she really enjoyed Anuskha Sharma's new film with Diljit Dosanjh, Phillauri. Deepanjana Pal has a few bubbles to burst as far as Swara Bhaskara's Anaarkali Of Aarah is concerned. Yet, for all its flaws, it warms the cockles of Pal's feminist heart. Find out what Sen and Pal think of Durex's new product, Durex Jeans, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale and a lot more on this episode of Awful & Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, there are beasts and heroes popping up all over the world of pop culture. The new version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is raking in the moolah across the world. Find out what Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen thought of the retelling of this beloved fairy tale. Hint: they're not very impressed with Belle. However, they've got a lot enthusiasm for the leading ladies of Feud and Big LIttle Lies. As far as Aparna Sen's new film Sonata is concerned, they're a tad bit dubious. Find out why. Sen and Pal also discuss Chetan Bhagat's new plan to become India's Elon Musk and develop an electric car. There's scandal in Bollywood with Nawazuddin Siddiqui taking on Filmfare, a Times of India publication, and asking for an apology because the magazine claims his marriage is on the rocks. Sen is very excited about Spirited Traveller, a new cooking show anchored by chef Kiran Jethwa. All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For reference visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/03/22/the-…wrap-episode-36 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What, dear listener, is freedom? Is it the aghori rolling around on the banks of the Ganges so that the American camera crew films him? Is it watching Lipstick Under My Burkha? Is it something that Randeep Hooda and his curly beard will give you? This week, Rajyasree Sen and Deepanjana Pal ponder on all this while they talk to director Alankrita Shrivastava about her "lady-oriended" film, Lipstick Under My Burkha. Hear their reviews of CNN's Believer With Reza Aslan and Hooda's new show on MTV, The Big F. Also, was Mira Rajput's comment on working women worth this much fuss? And both ladies have a lot to say about the allegations of sexual harassment against The Viral Fever's Arunabh Kumar. Also, Baahubali 2! All this and a lot more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss Hugh Jackman's latest film, Logan. It's Wolverine's last stand and both our culture vultures gave the films two thumbs up. They also discuss Karan Johar blaming Kangana Ranaut for playing the victim card and nepotism in Bollywood. Also, Johar is now a father, which is a good reason to discuss surrogacy in India. On Air With AIB is back. Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Gursimran Khamba and Ashish Shakya chatter about nationalism. Could they be India's answer to John Oliver? All this and a lot more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.Fro references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/03/08/the-…wrap-episode-34 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen go from Bollywood to Oscars, to films the Central Board of Film Certification doesn't want you to watch. Find out what Pal thought of Rangoon. Hear them weigh in on the controversy surrounding the award-winning film, Lipstick under my Burkha. AIB has a new video titled A Woman's Besties, and our two culture vultures have differing opinions on it. And how can they not talk about the Oscars, which celebrated the cuteness of Sunny Pawar and ignored the dark cloud of sexual assault hovering over Casey Affleck? All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a very special episode this week because Jerry Pinto joins Rajyasree Sen and Deepanjana Pal, all the way from America. Pinto has written a new novel, Murder in Mahim. Set in Mumbai, the novel begins with a dead body that’s found in a local train station toilet. As the bodies pile up, it falls upon retired journalist Peter Fernandes and Mumbai cop Shiv Jende to figure out who is responsible for this killing spree. While unspooling this crime, Pinto takes the reader on a walk through Mumbai’s gay subculture, which is forced to lurk in the shadows because of Section 377. Sen and Pal also talk about Riverdale, a new show based on theArchie’s comics. And of course, our resident culture vultures have a lot to say about Kangana Ranaut on Koffee with Karan. Listen up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen have everything from books to award shows on their mind. Find out what they thought of Adele, James Corden and Beyonce's performances at the Grammys. Sen has a crush on Stephen Fry and she might just be turning into a fan of Akshay Kumar after watching Jolly LLB 2. They discuss a bunch of ads, including with Patanjali's ad for a new range of beauty products and Tata Tea's new Jaago Re campaign. Sen and Pal also have for you a quick review of Jerry Pinto's new novel Murder in Mahim. Finally, hear what they have to say about Gurdas Mann's new song, Punjab. All this and more, discussed and dissected in this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/02/15/the-…wrap-episode-31 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen are unimpressed by Badrinath Ki Dulhania but giddy with excitement about Phillauri, Anushka Sharma's new film. Find out what Sen thought of the most expensive film tonne made in China – The Great Wall, starring Matt Damon. There's a brand new series on Netflix - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. And how can we talk pop culture and not mention Lady Gaga’s half time performance at Super Bowl 2017. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/02/08/the-…wrap-episode-30 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss Sanjay Leela Bhansali being assaulted and the demands of the Karni Sena that is offended by Bhansali's Padmavati. Did you think there would come a day when a Hindu Right-leaning group would raise hell to defend the honour of a Sri Lankan princess as imagined by a Sufi Muslim poet? Sen and Pal certainly hadn't. Find out what our resident culture vultures think of Kaabil, Raees and the much-awaited new film from the MSG series. There's also David Harbour of Stranger Things, who brought down the house at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Shah Rukh Khan's free-wheeling interview with AIB on a podcast that's actually a video. Finally, there are two books that have caught Sen and Pal's attention: The Corpse That Spoke by Sidin Vadukut and Dear Left Sock And Other Letters, by (Khushnaz) Lala. From murder mysteries to kiddie books, who else will bring you a range like this? All this, discussed and dissected in this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For references please visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/02/01/the-…wrap-episode-29 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss a new Netflix documentary called The Karma Killings, a new Samsung ad featuring Dangal star Sanya Malhotra, the West Bengal tourism ad featuring Shah Rukh Khan and his new film Raees. And finally, they talk about Vikram Bhatt's new web series Maaya. All this and more is discussed and dissected in this episode of the Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For reference visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/26/the-…rap-episode-28/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Haraamkhor, and Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s Ok Jaanu. They also talk about Sankalp Reddy’s The Ghazi Attack which, as claimed by the makers, is the first Indian film based on and shot inside a submarine. But guess what? They’re wrong. They discuss Karan Johar’s book The Unsuitable Boy and Meena Iyer’s book Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored, co-written with Rishi Kapoor. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/19/the-…wrap-episode-27 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen discuss whether Sansui Stardust Awards compare to the Golden Globes. If you thought that everyone in Bollywood had copped out of making a statement, let Sen tell you how Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan did their bit. Sen and Pal are excited about Rangoon -- listen and find out why. Karan Johar’s new book An Unsuitable Boy is out, but has the media handled it responsibly? Pal doesn't think so. We've also got an early peek at the documentary Saints of Sin, which talks to women who have turned "sins" into virtues. Finally, don't miss the politically-incorrect and hilarious video, Housewives of ISIS. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap.For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/11/the-…wrap-episode-26 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new year is here, and so are our culture vultures, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen. Can Raees do what Dangal did? Also, what's this new avatar that Ranveer Singh has in the new Thumbs Up ad? And if you've been wondering why Hrithik Roshan is dancing in a detergent ad, Sen has an explanation. There's also a dissection of Aaj Tak anchor Shweta Singh's appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show and a discussion on whether KKK. Finally, how can we not discuss Taher Shah’s new video, "Humanity Love"? All this and more, in this episode. Listen up!For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2017/01/04/the-…wrap-episode-25 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Abhinandan Sekhri joins Deepanjana Pal on the podcast, which means we need to preface this with an advisory: some of the language this time is, ummm, strictly PG-16. Find out what Pal has to say about the criticism that some feminists had for Dangal and Sekhri's favourite film of the year. Find out which was the greatest movie of 2016, according to our duo. Sekhri has a lot to say about Priyanka Jagga's exit from Bigg Boss. And then we have the trailer of Blade Runner 2049, ad campaigns by Pampers and Dainik Bhaskar, and All India Bakchod’s high hopes for 2017 as detailed in "Peeke Mat Chala". All this and more, discussed and dissected, for your listening pleasure. For references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2016/12/28/the-…wrap-episode-24 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's in a movie trailer? When it comes to Subhash Kapoor’s Jolly LLB 2 and Anurag Basu’s Jagga Jassoos, a lot. Rajyasree Sen and Deepanjana Pal talk about moustaches and other curiosities as they dissect these newly-released trailers. Both of them are fans of Madonna’s speech, delivered after the pop icon won BillBoard’s Woman of The Year award. They're less impressed by Bindass’ web series, The Trip. And there's total disagreement when the two talk about the new cover of National Geographic. Also, they tell you why Amazon Prime's over-cautious self censoring is a bad sign. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful & Awesome Entertainment Wrap.Up your pop culture game with a little help from these two critics. And as always, there's a question at the end of the podcast. Send us your answers and comments to [email protected] reference visit:www.newslaundry.com/2016/12/21/the-…wrap-episode-23 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen start off with Aditya Chopra’s Befikre, the bizarre characterisation & whether Ranveer Singh & Vaani Kapoor have done a good job. Also, Ok Jaanu’s trailer about yet another couple having premarital sex, Shah Rukh Khan telling us to be his guest in Dubai in a new ad film, La La Land and finally William Dalrymple & Anita Anand’s new book on the Kohinoor. All this and more discussed and dissected in this episode of Awful & Awesome Entertainment Wrap.Up your pop culture game with a little help from these two critics. And as always, there's a gem of a question at the end of the podcast. Send us your answers and comments to [email protected] references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2016/12/15/the-…wrap-episode-22 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's NSFW time on our pop culture podcast, courtesy DJ and producer Nanok's Lay You Down. Deepanjana Pal and Rajyasree Sen have a few questions and a little disagreement about the video that shows Monica Dogra and Anushka Manchanda making out in proud, gay abandon. Also on the podcast, our two culture vultures discuss whether the new Pirelli calendar deserves as much applause as it has got. Find out what they thought of Evan, an American short film made in memory of the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting of 2012. And finally, the Raees trailer is here!Up your pop culture game with a little help from these two critics. And as always, there's a question at the end of the podcast. Send us your answers and comments to [email protected] references visit:www.newslaundry.com/2016/12/07/the-…wrap-episode-21 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.