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Meher Manda on Muck Rack

Meher Manda

  • Culture Critic, Writer and Editor, Freelance
New York
As seen in: The Guardian, Bustle, Firstpost, Foreign Policy Magazine, Scroll.in, Homegrown, Better Photography India, The Juggernaut, Helter Skelter
Covers:  Cinema, Television, Music, Literature, and Contemporary Culture at Large. Interested in reviews through a feminist lens, and specialized focus in South Asian culture and artistic tradition.
Writer. Fierce Atheist. "Busted Models" (@nodearmagazine). Writer @jamunkaped. 📚 rep’d by @daniellechiotti & @kan_writersside

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Meher Manda’s Biography

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My name is Meher Manda and I'm a culture critic, poet, short story writer, and educator from Mumbai, India, currently based in New York City.

After an undergraduate degree in advertising and journalism from Mumbai University, I spent over four years writing for some of India's leading publications in English. I covered independent and global cinema, television, music, literature, and contemporary culture at large, extensively through op-eds, long-form features, essays, reviews, and interviews. …

Meher Manda’s Journalist Portfolio

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'Dhadak 2' Is About Love, Death, and Caste in India

'Dhadak 2' Is About Love, Death, and Caste in India

A new film shatters the Bollywood fantasy around romance and family.

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Japanese rockers Kikagaku Moyo: 'Watching people board a train - that's psychedelic!'

Japanese rockers Kikagaku Moyo: 'Watching people board a train - that's psychedelic!'

When we think of psychedelic music, we think of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the 13th Floor Elevators, blurry…

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'Sabar Bonda': A Marathi Queer Drama Triumphs at Sundance | The Juggernaut

'Sabar Bonda': A Marathi Queer Drama Triumphs at Sundance | The Juggernaut

Rohan Kanawade's feature debut offers a radical undertaking on love.

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'Santosh': When Justice is a Performance | The Juggernaut

'Santosh': When Justice is a Performance | The Juggernaut

In Sandhya Suri's Oscar-shortlisted film, a widow finds freedom and power in a police uniform - but at what c…

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'All We Imagine As Light': Sisterhood and Survival in Mumbai | The Juggernaut

'All We Imagine As Light': Sisterhood and Survival in Mumbai | The Juggernaut

Payal Kapadia shares how her award-winning film offers a radically refreshing depiction of India's busiest ci…

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What's Really Killing Bollywood | The Juggernaut

What's Really Killing Bollywood | The Juggernaut

The decline of Hindi cinema isn't just about streaming or bad scripts - it involves something far more sinist…

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Articles

Before ‘RRR,’ There Was ‘Anniyan’

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By Meher Manda
| The Juggernaut Verified
Recently, while doom-scrolling through Instagram, I came across several videos of young Indians braving waterlogged streets during monsoon showers. They head out to buy groceries, only to find their roads flooded. Cue: the sad lullaby music from Shankar’s the 2005 vigilante anti-corruption drama starring Vikram, Sadha, and Prakash Raj. In the movie, a young girl falls into knee-deep water with loose electrical wires and is electrocuted to death.
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What’s Really Killing Bollywood

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By Meher Manda
| The Juggernaut Verified
“Recession ho raha hai. That’s why they’re re-releasing everything!” actor Kalki Koechlin says in a painfully honest podcast interview. “There’s no content! Everything is stalled, everything is stuck.” Bollywood is over! I’m not saying it — everyone else is. Look around you: on Reddit, YouTube, social media, or wherever die-hard fans of Hindi cinema are found. The sentiment (and frustration) feels ubiquitous. The stars are registering like PR-generated brand placements.
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‘Sabar Bonda’: A Marathi Queer Drama Triumphs at Sundance

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By Meher Manda
| The Juggernaut Verified
In India, death’s aftermath can be a fairly ritualistic affair, almost clinical to a fault. In Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda, 30-year-old Anand (Bhushaan Manoj), a Mumbai call center employee, loses his father after a prolonged illness. Before he’s had a chance to process the loss, he must visit his native village of Kharshinde with his mother Suman (Jayshri Jagtap) and his father’s body for the customary 10 days of mourning.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

It was an internship at Hindustan Times, one of India's leading national newspapers in English, at the age of 17.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes!

How is social media changing news?

It's making it more dynamic and instantaneous. Which means everyone covering it is obligated to a fresh take, a different perspective.