Students on De Montfort University’s Music, Film and Entertainment Journalism module pick the films, plays, music, TV shows and books that shaped them
My favourite film
2001’s Lagaan. In 1893 during the British Raj, a farmer named Bhuvan accepts the challenge of the village’s British captain to beat his team in a game of cricket and enable his village to not pay ‘lagaan’ (taxes) for the next three years. What transpires is 3 hours and 45 minutes of what Indian cinema should be. It’s a tale of resistance, love, revenge, power and betrayal that I’ve watched a hundred times over. Actually, maybe more.
The last film I saw
I’m having a musical biopic phase, so the last film I saw was Back to Black. This Amy Winehouse film had a great soundtrack of jazz classics as well as classic Winehouse tunes. However, it felt incredibly exploitative and downright strange to watch all the worst parts of a woman’s life.
The worst film I saw
Kate and Leopold. Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman in a historical rom-com, what could go wrong?
Everything. Everything could go wrong. Weirdly, Meg and Hugh had little to no chemistry, the story progression was strange, and the original version of the film got complaints from critics for hinting at Ryan’s character committing incest.
My favourite TV show
One of the big themes with the content I consume is that I love nostalgia. So, my favourite TV show is the classic sci-fi series, Doctor Who. My grandad watched it back in the 70s, my mum in the 80s and my brother in the early 2000s. The baton has now passed for me to carry on the legacy.
My favourite book
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman follows the title character as she becomes enamoured with a young singer and is determined to start a relationship with him. I picked up this book by accident after mistaking it for another novel. I was 16 when I read this for the first time and quickly realised the importance of having strong support systems around you. The book was a slap in the face to my teenager idea that ‘I didn’t need anyone.’
A lyric I love
“I am the one thing in life I can control. I am inimitable I am an original. I’m not falling behind or running late. I’m not standing still. I am lying in wait.” (Sung by Leslie Odom Jr and the cast of Hamilton).
Overrated
Love Actually. I didn’t want any of the couples to end up together (apart from Colin Firth and his housekeeper). It’s weirdly creepy, wildly inappropriate and I just don’t understand why everyone seems to be obsessed with it.
Also, Slumdog Millionaire. Please, for the love of all that is pure, watch a real Bollywood film.
Underrated
The 2014 remake of Annie starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz is such a heartwarming film, and it angers me that it didn’t get the reception it deserved because society was too worked up that Annie was a black girl with an afro.
My guilty pleasure
Buying books and then never reading them.
