Hindi
Parched…Dry run at box office
MUMBAI: Leena Yadav’s Parched debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. Ever since, it has been on the festival circuit extensively till its theatrical release this week.
Parched is about the state of women in the hinterland. The injustice meted out to women is a part of all societies; while the urban tales do not usually come out, rural stories abound but taken as a way of life till, a film or a story is made on it.
Parched is about three women in arid Rajasthan, each having her own woes, mainly men-inflicted.These women find solace on the shoulders of each other. The women eventually gather courage to chart their own lives instead of submission.
Tannishtha Chatterjee is playing a widow with a son of marriageable age. However, the lad is unwilling. Radhika Apte, Tannishtha’s confidante, is not better off either as she is labelled a ‘baanjh’ by her alcoholic husband and subjected to a regular dose of beating. Sharing her pain with Tannishtha is the only solace in her life.
Surveen Chawla is playing a prostitute. Seemingly liberated, she too has her own problems as she is losing out on business to her younger rivals while also bearing the brunt of the anger of her pimp and others. Surveen has this idea that why all the foul words in Hindi are addressed to women and why can’t they be reversed and used for men?
Nobody is aware of the desires of women; they seek care, love and, also, sex. Tannishtha has but some solace in a secret admirer who keeps calling her on phone. And, there is this sage like figure, Adil Hussain, who helps Radhika experience a fulfilling life while also assisting her get rid of the social stigma of ‘baanjh’.
Parched has worthy contribution from all actors. Leena Yadav has rightly chosen a subject that needs a bold approach and executed it well. Her handling of the subject is deft. The cinematography by the American, Russel Carpenter, captures the surroundings well while also justifying the essence of the film. Editing, also entrusted to a foreign technician, Kevin Tent, keeps the process taut.
This women-centric film is for performers. Tannishtha, Radhika and Surveen do full justice to their roles, while Surveen excels.
Parched, having already made it to about a dozen film festivals, is one for the laurels while commercially it would appeal to a few at the high-end multiplexes.
Producers: Ajay Devgn, AssemBajaaj.
Director: LeenaYadav.
Cast: RadhikaApte, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Surveen Chawla, Laher Khan, Adil Hussain, Riddhi Sen.
Days Of Tafree: In Class; Out Of Class….Lacks class!
Days Of Tafree: In Class-Out Of Class is a youth oriented film with a college background. It is a remake of the Gujarati film, Chhello Divas: A New Beginning (2015).
Though many Hindi films have been adapted from Gujarati stage plays, the recent ones being OMG: Oh! My God (2012: Kanji Virudh Kanji), Waqt: Race Against Time (2005: Aavjo Vahla Fari Malishu), Super Nani (2014: Baa ae Mari Boundary) and Aankhen (2002: Andhalo Pato), instances of Gujarati film remake in Hindi are rare if not non-existent.
The film is about a group of college friends whose behavior in class and on the campus is unlike that of other college boys you would see in real life or in films. They hoot behind the teacher’s back, they talk filthy language as if it was the new in-thing. They are loud and always chasing girls and lady instructors. And, the bunch also has one Big Moose kind of brainless hulk which also makes the boys feel invincible.
The pranks of these boys are supposed to arouse laughter. What really happens through the film is that only those on screen keep laughing failing to take the audience along. The film also makes jokes on physical deformities which is rather rude.
The film is a flashback into the college life of one of the boys. There is no drama or conclusion as there is no story in the film. The music is loud in keeping with the tone of the film but non-appealing. Direction is amateurish and the editing is poor. The performances are over the top.
Days OfTafree: In Class Out Of Class is poor in all respects.
Producers: Anand Pandit and Rashmi Sharma
Director: Krishnadev Yagnik
Cast: Nimisha Mehta, Ansh Bagri, Sanchay Goswami, Sarabjeet Bindra, Anuradha Mukharjee
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
