Poonam Saxena is the national weekend editor of the Hindustan Times. She writes on cinema, television, culture and books
Articles by Poonam Saxena
Remembering the first Satyagraha: 100 years of Champaran
This is the latest event to commemorate the centenary of Gandhi’s landmark struggle for the rights of indigo farmers in rural Bihar.
Updated on Apr 17, 2017 02:21 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Himanshu Rai, the boss of Bombay Talkies, and his two wives
An Australian has inherited a priceless archive of India’s pioneering film studio. A story spanning 90 years, two continents and film legend Himanshu Rai’s secret first wife
Updated on Feb 19, 2017 10:34 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
‘Devika Rani must have known about Himanshu Rai’s first wife’
An interview with film historian Amrit Gangar on Himanshu Rai, the founder of Bombay Talkies, and his two partners
Updated on Feb 22, 2017 07:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
An Unsuitable Boy: What went into the making of Karan Johar’s memoir
The co-author of filmmaker Karan Johar’s memoir, An Unsuitable Boy, Poonam Saxena recounts the experience of collaborating with the busy filmmaker, and getting drawn into the story of his life.
Updated on Jan 21, 2017 04:59 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Foreign shows: The only panacea for Hindi entertainment TV channels?
Are foreign shows the only answer to the crisis of content on Hindi entertainment television channels? Where are the homegrown innovative shows?
Updated on Nov 06, 2016 10:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Beyond orientalism: An American-Indian photo jugalbandi in hand-coloured prints
An exhibition of hand-coloured black-and-white photographs brings Rajasthan to gorgeous life
Updated on Oct 08, 2016 08:28 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Thumri: The feminine voice in Hindustani classical music
Thumri, the feminine voice in music, has a dedicated exponent in Vidya Rao.
Updated on Sep 24, 2016 01:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Inside the mind of Raman Raghav, Mumbai’s serial killer of the 60s
Raman Raghav, who terrorized Mumbai in the 1960s with a series of random murders, remains a psychological puzzle. Anurag Kashyap’s edgy new movie is the latest take on the criminal
Updated on Jun 14, 2016 07:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
The love story of Anita and Mohan Rakesh
Anita Rakesh, widow of Mohan Rakesh, looks back at how she fell passionately in love with one of Hindi literature’s most brilliant writers.
Updated on Mar 14, 2016 01:39 PM IST
The brilliance of Manoj Bajpayee: With Aligarh, he’ll redefine himself
As actor Manoj Bajpayee takes on the role of a lonely, homosexual professor, he proves yet again why he’s one of Hindi cinema’s most exciting actors.
Updated on Feb 21, 2016 11:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
The wonder years: Flashback to the glory days of satellite TV in India
The early years of satellite TV in India were like the start of an exciting new affair. But then the affair turned sour. What happened?
Updated on Jan 10, 2016 12:35 PM IST
“Poetry is all around us,” says poet Sudeep Sen
Poet Sudeep Sen talks about the influence, craft and tradition of poetry, and its market.
Published on Dec 30, 2015 06:47 PM IST
Small Screen must watch: #Supernatural is sexy even after 10 seasons
TV shows come and go. Some do a healthy number of seasons. Some are axed after just a couple of years. But there are very, very few shows lucky enough to last beyond ten seasons. The CW network’s Supernatural is one of them.
Updated on Oct 23, 2015 02:32 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Small Screen must watch: What if you could live Forever?
What would it be like if you were immortal? The TV show Forever, currently showing on Colors Infinity, tries to answer this impossible question in a riveting drama set in New York.
Updated on Sep 10, 2016 06:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Meet Ravish Kumar, the chronicler of love in Delhi
Television journalist Ravish Kumar’s personal journey in the city finds an echo in his collection of vividly told very short stories, writes Poonam Saxena.
Updated on Apr 14, 2017 08:29 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Small Screen must watch: Historical dramas The Borgias, Rome
The Borgias is set in 16th century Renaissance Italy and tells the story of the Borgia clan while Rome has well known characters like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra but essentially is the story of two Roman soldiers.
Updated on Sep 10, 2016 06:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Small Screen must watch: Wayward Pines' creepy mystery
I recently finished seeing Wayward Pines, the 10-episode TV series he produced (he also directed the pilot), and I was hooked.
Updated on Sep 10, 2016 06:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Small Screen must watch: #Fargo's bloodstains in the snow
This is a strange, surreal show that sucks you into its icy-white unsettling world. And now that you've watched the finale (shown on Colors Infinity on the weekend), you know that the Bad Guys have been finally overpowered by the Good Guys (more of that later).
Updated on Sep 10, 2016 06:46 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Small Screen must watch: The glamorous men and women of Suits
Let’s start this week with one of my favourite shows, currently showing on Comedy Central: Suits, a legal drama set in New York.
Updated on Aug 10, 2015 09:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Filmindia: A glimpse into hindi cinema's early years
A new book on Baburao Patel and his wife Sushila Rani who edited the influential magazine Filmindia provides interesting insights into the early years of Hindi cinema and film journalism.
Updated on Jun 30, 2015 01:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
How to translate a favourite novel: Poonam Saxena
Because moving from one language to another is challenging, it requires not just translating words but an entire culture
Updated on Apr 18, 2015 01:42 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Up Close with Haider's scriptwriter, Basharat Peer
Adapting Hamlet to the conflict-torn Kashmir of 1995 was an intense, painful process for Basharat Peer, author of compelling memoir set in Kashmir, Curfewed Night. He talks about the pressures of scriptwriting and whether it was worth it.
Updated on Oct 12, 2014 12:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
I wanted to sing, beat up bad guys but was terrible at it: Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah's soon-to-be-released autobiography, And Then One Day, is elegantly written and also brutally honest. In an interview with Brunch, he talks of his years in Ajmer to his tryst with cinema.
Updated on Aug 31, 2014 06:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Hum Log: Revisiting that 80's show
It's been 30 years since Hum Log, India's first TV soap, mesmerised audiences. Hindustan Times speaks to some members of the cast to find where life's taken them in these years since the TV show.
Updated on Jul 22, 2014 02:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Michael Jackson: the man who was king
An interview with Michael Jackson's bodyguards Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard who have written a moving account of the pop star's final days. They talk at great length about the 'lonely', 'protective' and 'misunderstood' music legend.
Updated on Jun 29, 2014 05:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Satyamev Jayate: will the second season work?
As Satyamev Jayate returns with a second season, the questions remain: what's it doing on a Hindi general entertainment channel? Also, will the show have as much of an impact in its second season, asks Poonam Saxena.
Updated on Mar 09, 2014 11:18 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Letter from the Editor, Brunch, Poonam Saxena
Time is an odd thing. Five minutes can seem like an eternity and years can fly, like the landscape from the window of a very fast train.
Updated on Feb 22, 2014 08:31 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Book review: The Dwarf's Moon
Arnab Mitra’s debut novel, set in a post-liberalised India, features characters who may be shaped by their past but whose lives are profoundly impacted by the sweeping economic reforms of the early Nineties.
Updated on Nov 30, 2013 02:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena, New Delhi
Of Doordarshan and the baker street regulars
One of the seriously lamentable fallouts of the satellite TV explosion has been the death of a certain kind of programming. The chances of seeing a show on classical dance or music on any of the private entertainment channels is zero. The chances of seeing Indian films – in languages other than Hindi – is zero.
Updated on Nov 09, 2013 01:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena
Fixed on killer suits and demon hunters!
There are few things more addictive in the world than well-made, absorbing TV shows. And while they might be in somewhat short supply on our Hindi entertainment channels, there’s no such deficiency on the English channels.
Updated on Oct 19, 2013 12:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Poonam Saxena