Queen is Dead - A Film, TV and Culture Podcast

Tis' Nolan Month! Dhruv and Amartya conduct a full retrospective of the director's work, with returning guest Varun Bhakay (@cinephilestock), and new guest, Prithwish Roy (@little.lord_fauntleroy) joining in for all the discussions. In Part 1, we discuss the director's humble beginnings before he took on the "Batman" franchise. Focusing on "Following," "Memento...

In this special episode, Dhruv and Sanjeet invite guests Devi (@FilmTrance) and Yadhu (@Immersive Cinema) to discuss Director/Cinematographer Rajeev Ravi's directorial filmography. We touch upon his style & characters that conform to generic templates but still feel consistently expansive because of his unique ability to project them through his varied experiences of Kochi's diverse cu...

In this special episode, Dhruv invites Atlanta-based singer, actor, and cinephile Matthew Cody Lang to discuss the hypnotic allure of Slow Cinema -- a broad, relatively new cinematic movement characterized by filmmakers' use of varying aesthetic strategies usually NOT prioritized by mainstream cinema. We first discuss our introductions to it, what we categorize as 'Slow Cinema,' and wh...

In this very special episode, Dhruv interviews Sidharth Jain -- the chief storyteller and producer of "The Story Ink," India's biggest book-to-screen adaptation company, and founder of the production house that gave us one of this year's TV shows, "Trial By Fire." We discuss the conception of both his companies and how they both serve the industry's need for stories...

In this episode, Aryan and Amartya discuss the ending (and critical moments in Season 4 that led to it) of what they describe as "one of the seminal shows of modern Television." Everything from "The Sopranos" to "Game of Thrones" (spoilers for both!) to "The Godfather" films gets a reference as they draw these parallels to explain the tragicomic brilliance o...

In this episode, Dhruv and Aryan invite returning guest Ashwani Kumar Tiwari to discuss Anubhav Sinha's COVID-backdropped social issues drama "Bheed." Before that, however, Sanjeet joins them to talk about two other films directed by filmmakers frequently appearing in the "Special Thanks" section of every Sinha film -- Anurag Kashyap and Hansal Mehta. These three films -- &...

In this new episode, Sanjeet & Dhruv discuss Ari Aster's new nightmarish surreal comedy, "Beau is Afraid." We juggle between praising his filmmaking and critiquing his indebtedness to the many inspirations -- ranging from Powell & Pressburger's "A Matter of Life and Death" to Guy Maddin's "Cowards Bend The Knees" -- that overpower that very filmmak...

On the eve of Paul Schrader's latest film's release, Dhruv invites fellow cinema studies student and writer -- Gordon Glasgow Goodman -- to discuss thier obsession with writer-director Paul Schrader. Explicitly focusing on "First Reformed," the two talk about the unifying themes of his work that seems to begin at a point of hardboiled noir -- God's Lonely Man -- before transc...

In this episode, Ahendrila, Dhruv, Amartya & Sanjeet champion the new Amazon Prime show 'Jubilee", directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Delving deep into Atul Sabharwal’s divisive teleplay, the four discuss key character motivations, and structural elements that not only fit the era’s style in which the show is set, but also, metaphorically, recreate India and Pakistan’s painful Partitio...

In this episode, Aryan and Amartya guide you through the entirety of the Wick-verse, mainly focusing on the latest installment, which they deem thier favorite. Plenty of detours are taken along the way, only to explore the varied inspirations for the precisely choreographed balletic genius of "John Wick: Chapter 4." From the Japanese "Zatoichi" series to Buster Keaton's sil...

In this very special episode, Amartya & Dhruv welcome back Varun (@cinephilestock) to discuss the rotten pulsating heart of Classic Film Noir. We begin by discussing the origins of noir in German Expressionism, then move on to extensively investigate its emigration to Hollywood and, finally, observe its mutability in the East. This informs the choice of the three films we have chosen for the d...

The QID gang gets together in this annual episode to comprehend this year's Academy Awards nominations. There's exasperation, annoyance, disappointment, and (some) acceptance about the merits and demerits of the most prestigious Awards Show for Movies. Listen to PART 2 (of 2) to hear our favorites not nominated in the main categories. We also discuss what we think will win and what we would like t...

The QID gang gets together in this annual episode to comprehend this year's Academy Awards nominations. There's exasperation, annoyance, disappointment, and (some) acceptance about the merits and demerits of the most prestigious Awards Show for Movies. Listen to PART 1 (of 2) to hear our favorites not nominated in the technical, acting, and writing categories. We also discuss what we think will wi...

In this latest episode, Dhruv and Aryan welcome fellow Spielberg fan and blogger Varun Bhakay (@cinephilestock) to discuss the comfortingly complicated magic of "The Fabelmans" - the Master's semi-autobiographical recollection of his filmmaking roots. Before reaching this (seemingly) final stop in the director's illustrious career, we try to remember the various places where his cinema worked its...

In this annual year-end episode, Dhruv and Sanjeet welcome two returning guests -- Devi (@film.trance) and Maheedhar (@maheedumb) -- to discuss each of thier top 5 favorite Indian films (best is only for the title, it's always subjective!) from the past year. These include films from all Woods - Bolly, Tolly, Kolly, Molly! The four extensively discuss films that overlap -- a LOT of time is dedicat...

In this episode, Ahendrila, Aryan, Dhruv & Sanjeet discuss Netflix's latest, potentially best Indian Miniseries, "Trial By Fire," created by Prashant Nair & Kevin Luperchio. The four champion the show's largely unsentimental depiction of a real-life tragedy that keeps its focus squarely on its victims and thier families. Avoiding the cheap sensationalism that has become part-and-parcel of...

In this very special, looong, delayed episode, Dhruv welcomes back Devi (@film.trance on Instagram) to gush about both seasons of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's extraordinary series that is very close to both their hearts. Do listen to the full episode for a spoiler-filled discussion about the series's deep emotionality that has stayed with us throughout! We especially detail the evolution of the 4th wall...

In this episode, Dhruv, Amartya, and Sanjeet (again!) discuss two newly released Netflix films - GDT and Mark Gustafson's stop-motion iteration of "Pinocchio" and AGI's auto-fiction diary film "Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths." Listen to the full episode to hear the three collectively champion the idiosyncrasy of one of these films while being at polar opposite ends about the other!...

In this episode, Dhruv welcomes back Mike to discuss the latest tragi-comedy from British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director Martin McDonagh - "The Banshees of Inisherin." As the film celebrates the director's reunion with two key cast members from "In Bruges" - Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson - we decide to look back at McDonagh's 2008 directorial debut too, mainly to note how much mo...

In this episode, Dhruv and Sanjeet discuss the filmmaking excesses of two recent Hindi features currently streaming on Netflix - Vasan Bala's "Monica O My Darling" and Anvita Dutt's "Qala." They talk about the merits of stylization to cover up for a lack of "new" substance and its potential limitations. Also features an extended pre-discussion about soon-to-be-released high-profile Netflix release...

In this episode, the QID gang discusses the head-spinning and heart-breaking pleasures of the Cannes-Best-Director winner! Listen to the full episode for Amartya's in-depth dissection of the film's narrative, with Aryan, Sanjeet, and Dhruv regularly interjecting to also champion its zig-zaggy editing, wonderful score, and terrific performances! Do hit 'Follow' on Spotify and rate us if you haven't...

We're back! Dhruv and Sanjeet return to discuss (& disagree on) Cannes Top Prize Winner "Triangle of Sadness" - another "Eat the Rich" satire. Listen to the full episode for an in-depth discussion about the film's impressive formal touches, namely its Priyadarshan and/or Godardian roots, that fascinated both the hosts and their disagreement over bits Sanjeet found funny while Dhruv didn't. We...

In this episode, Dhruv and Amartya discuss the latest Netflix release that everyone loves to hate right now. They try to review the film for what it is vs. what they want it to be—still, concluding that Dominik's technically proficient but painfully unsubtle approach fails to show anything that hasn't been shown before in shorter, more viscerally compelling films. Listen to the full episode to hea...

In this episode, Dhruv and Aryan respectfully disagree about the merits of the latest Bollywood release that takes a stab at film critics and their volatile relationship with the filmmakers and thier films. Whereas the former takes issue with both the dramatization and the muddled messaging, Aryan finds value in some of Balki's filmmaking. He also defends the film's ultimate message that, for him,...

In this very special episode, Dhruv and Amartya welcome another Filmstagrammer they have long admired - Anisha Roy, creator of the Instagram handle Maze of Mumblings - to discuss a specific, less talked about part of a filmmaker's filmography whose other work is otherwise consistently discussed. Post-setting up the political context of 1970s Calcutta, all three speakers discuss Ray's "oblique" app...