Neeraj Pandey has a natural flair when it comes to making films revolving around India’s internal security or tackling threats from neighbouring countries. Having directed films like A Wednesday, Baby, Naam Shabana (he wrote the screenplay), it’s a turf that feels like home to him. Having enlisted Shivam Nair as the director, Pandey’s latest offering is an eight-episode strong slow-burning espionage thriller Special Ops, that has released on Hotstar. With cinema halls shut across the country and all major film releases postponed owing to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s a good time to stay at home and watch what’s available on OTT platforms. So how worthwhile is it to spend time with Special Ops? That’s exactly what this review will proceed to explain. Tune in! VO: RJ Stutee Music: Big Bang Fuzz

News and Views

888: ‘Special Ops’ Keeps Us Hooked Despite Its Uneven Pace

A spin-off to the much-loved Hindi Medium, Angrezi Medium makes us realise right at the outset how much we missed seeing Irrfan Khan on screen. It's where he shines his brightest. Taarika (Radhika Madan) is an average student, who shares an endearing bond with her dad and has big dreams of travelling the world. Champak soon realises that no matter how much he tries and keeps her aspirations in check because of his own fears, she is likely to leave him, his unconditional love for the daughter eventually makes him relent. The only problem - he unintentionally commits an act that jeopardises her scholarship to a university in London. So, if Taarika wants to study in the UK in the college of her choice, it would be a financial burden borne solely by the family. Host: Stutee Ghosh Producer: Zijah Sherwani

887: Review: ‘Angrezi Medium’ Is Irrfan’s Show All the Way

A largely unfunny, plot-heavy film, Baaghi 3 is a fusion of mainstream elements of Hindi cinema. There's family drama, there’s action, and there's terrorism. Starring our new age ‘king of action’ Tiger Shroff, Riteish Deshmukh, and Shraddha Kapoor, this Ahmed Khan directorial is an adaptation of the 2012 Tamil film Vettai. It also stars Vijay Varma as a Pakistani pickpocket Akhtar Lahori and Jackie Shroff in a brief cameo as Tiger Shroff and Riteish Deshmukh's martyred police officer father. Now, if you've seen the trailer, you probably already know the plot. Want more? Listen to the podcast for the full review! Host: Pankhuri Shukla Editor: Ashish Maccune

886: ‘Baaghi 3’ Review: An Unfunny Yet Heartwarming Tale of Brotherhood

Amrita’s (Taapsee Pannu) life has a routine. A very specific tightly knit routine. She wakes up, opens her front door to collect milk, picks up the newspaper, makes chai, shuts off the husband’s alarm, serves him chai as he lazily rubs his eyes, checks on the mother in law, has a quiet moment sipping from her cup of morning tea, clicks a picture from her phone as the day breaks, smiles at her neighbour, packs the husband’s lunch, runs after him as he scurries to his car, carrying his wallet, bag, tiffin and then catches her breath! Tune in to this podcast for the full review! VO: RJ Stutee Music: Big Bang Fuzz

885: 'Thappad’ Leaves a Lasting Impact Without Sermonising

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj talks to The Quint about his support to the anti CAA-NRC protests going on across the country. He raises some pertinent questions about patriotism and people’s inability to agree to disagree. During the conversation Bhardwaj also takes a dig at Akshay Kumar’s Canadian nationality. Host: Nishtha Gautam Editor: Deepthi Ramdass

884: Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj Opens Up on Prime Minister, Protests & Patriotism

There are some very common tropes that we associate with the horror genre and debutant director Bhanu Pratap Singh pretty much ticks most of the boxes. With some, he genuinely excels but by the end of this two and a half hour saga, the film loses steam. In 'Bhoot', the moments of dread are as important as the buildup. But this unrelenting ominous journey has its fair share of hits and misses. Host: Stutee Ghosh Music: Big Bang Fuzz

883: Vicky Kaushal Shines in Psychological-Horror Drama ‘Bhoot’

'Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan' makes many smart moves and most pay off. The addition of Ayushmann Khurana and Jitendra Kumar and the “normal” way their “love” is shown. It begins at a point where it almost seems like the two confide in us that they can’t stay without each other. There is just as much explanation provided for this attraction as there would have been if say Ayushmann and Bhumi Pednekar were paired opposite each other (The latter makes a small cameo appearance in the film). But that how it is, na? They are in love. In fact, it’s deliciously entertaining how the DDLJ tropes are used to legitimise their actions. Host: Stutee Ghosh Music: Big Bang Fuzz

882: ‘Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan’: A Sincere, Filmy Tribute to Love

In 1967, India fought China to protect its land and won. But why was this crucial victory forgotten? Probal DasGupta, the author of ‘Watershed 1967: India’s forgotten victory over China’, weighs in.

881: 1967: When India Fought China to Restore Its Self-Respect And Won

In 1960, Bollywood saw the release of director K Asif's ambitious film Mughal-e-Azam starring Madhubala and Dilip Kumar. It was the widest release of any Indian film at that time that also left behind a whole lot of nostalgia. Fifty-six years later, in 2016, theatre and film director Feroz Abbas Khan made an equally ambitious adaptation of this cult classic in a grand Broadway style musical. And he’s back again with yet another musical – Raunaq & Jassi, inspired from Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Feroz Abbas Khan and actress Neha Sargam, who’s playing the role of Jassi in this musical, joins us in this special News and Views podcast, where they discuss the art of making a musical and tell us about their desi version of Shakespeare’s love story. Tune in! Music:  Raunaq & Jassi Mughal-e-Azam - The Musical Big Bang Fuzz Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Feroz Abbas Khan, Theatre and Film Director Neha Sargam, Actor Editor: Shelly Walia

880: 'Mughal-e-Azam' to 'Raunaq & Jassi' — The Making of a Musical

In this episode of Rajpath, economist and former Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia speaks to The Quint’s Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia on a range of issues pertaining to the state of the Indian economy, and also looks back on his years in government. What does the current economic situation need? How will India be able to make its way through this slowdown? Sanjay Pugalia sits down with Montek Singh Ahluwalia to get these answers. Guest: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Chairperson, Planning Commission Host: Sanjay Pugalia, Editorial Director, The Quint

879: Interview: Montek Singh Ahluwalia on The State of The Indian Economy

Flawed characters are enticing and their relatability makes them endearing. Love and relationships we all know are complicated... Is it chemistry, is it biology? Does it develop over time or does the first flush of romance leave an indelible mark forever? Such questions are ready fodder for any film about the conflict of the head and the heart. Ali himself has always had such emotionally fragile and flawed characters. While his films like Jab We Met and Rockstar have excelled, he has also ended up making the same kind of film over and over again. But none of his previous films have been as outdated and frustrating to watch as his latest endeavour. VO: RJ Stutee Music: Big Bang Fuzz

878: Review: Clumsy Script and Cliches Disappoint in ‘Love Aaj Kal’

Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s latest directorial venture opens with the caveat that it’s a work of fiction based on true events. Also, we are told that the people we see on the screen at the refugee camps aren't just actors but actual refugees who were displaced and rendered homeless during one of the most tragic chapters in our country’s history - the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. It is Chopra’s most personal work so far and also his most restrained. The screenplay by him, along with Rahul Pandita and Abhijat Joshi weaves a tale of love and longing. An ode to Kashmir, to all the goodness, that it once stood for. Tune in to the podcast! Music: Big Bang Fuzz VO: RJ Stutee

877: Sadia and Aadil's Performance Gives 'Shikara' its Soul

Two purposeless vagabonds with loads of money meet in Goa and decide to have fun in Malang. Soon, the viewers are in for a treat. There is a method to this madness. The free- spirited girl Sara we thought had no higher calling tells us she has many fears in life that she wants to conquer . For example she quips, “I want to be with a stranger and have fun.” Ahem. Not just that, she wants to bungee jump and do a host of other things. But there was one particular ambition of her’s that really spoke to me. That was - “I want to have everything I can eat in a day.” Really ? Eat everything ? Was she simply hungry ? Was that the reason she was prancing around so much? Well, we had to give up that strain of thought soon because no one pursued it . The saga of a hungry heroine would have been so much fun, but instead we have an angry hero. Tune in to the podcast for the full review. Music: Big Bang Fuzz VO: RJ Stutee

877: 'Malang' Just Another One of Those Thrillers You Forget About

On the night of 19 January 1990, all hell broke loose in Kashmir — a place many think of as ‘Heaven on Earth’. Several mosques in Srinagar played the Azaadi slogans, asking the Indian security forces to quit: ‘aey jabiro, aey zalimo, Kashmir hamara chhor dou’ . They didn’t. Those who were in barracks and bunkers and at the borders were brought down to kitchens and bedrooms by the deafening chants. It triggered the exodus of the minority Kashmiri Pandits — who had started to move out in smaller numbers months prior. They call it ‘Holocaust Day’. The following day, CRPF machine guns left over 50 Kashmiri Muslim demonstrators dead and scores injured in a peaceful procession at Gawkadal. Kashmiri Muslims remember 21 January as ‘the beginning of the genocide’ — ‘the first massacre’.These were turning points in Kashmir’s post-1947 political and cultural history that changed its socio-political landscape. But the metamorphosis didn’t happen overnight. Tune in to the podcast for the full story! Voiceover and Narration: Ahmed Ali Fayyaz Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz

876: A Kashmiri Journalist Explains the History of Militancy in the Valley

At a time when the country is going through an economic crisis and requires big, bold reforms, Budget 2020 serves to be one that is ordinary. Many experts have even called it ‘disappointing’ and ‘disastrous.’ The share market fell sharply in the last five days, incurring losses of four lakh crores. There were expectations that the budget would provide the much needed respite, but that didn’t happen. The Quint's Editorial Director Sanjay Pugalia analyses Budget 2020 to decode whether the steps taken by the government will help alleviate the economic crisis faced by the country.

875: Does Budget 2020 Find Solutions For India’s Economic Slowdown?

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