I have always wondered why Suriya never received the hype that he duly deserved. Not that popularity is a barometer to an actor’s histrionic merits but it is a measure of any artist’s perceived value. Suriya is (arguably) the best-looking actor working in Tamil cinema today. Irrespective of the quality […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Ludo’ review – Anurag Basu sprinkles emotions in a chaotic dark comedy
I never thought a day would come when Anurag Basu, of all filmmakers, would attempt a dark comedy. One of my personal favourites in contemporary Hindi cinema, Basu always brought to us complex human stories. They contained tinges of innocence, soul-stirring music, high voltage drama, and oodles of smiles. In […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘Cowboys’ review – Anna Kerrigan’s genre-bending debut is all about raising a queer child
There is something alarmingly earnest about Anna Kerrigan’s debut feature outing Cowboys. How would one, a conservative parent, react when his/her child turns out to be gender-nonconforming. We are talking about a child, not a teenager facing the so-called hormonal fluctuations. The mom is in denial and the dad attempts […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘Breaking Fast’ review – a refreshing cross-cultural romance
Not very often do we come across films that are specific about their causes and cultures. This particularity (which has numerous layers to it) makes director Mike Mosallam’s Breaking Fast a unique film to come by. The subject of the story Mo (a super-efficient Haaz Sleiman). He is Muslim and […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Summer of 85’ review – François Ozon’s queer romance leaves a distinct sense of déjà vu
Seconds into François Ozon’s Summer of 85, the cat is let out of the bag. Teenager Alexis alias Alex (Félix Lefebvre) – the protagonist and the narrator – is in trouble linking to the death of someone close, presumably his lover. New to Normandy, Alex is capsized while sailing in […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘The Strong Ones’ review – a romantic sojourn to Chilean countryside
I love it when gay romances are not set in an urban setup. It is even more alluring if they are surrounded by sea or an equivalent water body. The lushness of landscapes, the mystery of the sea, and the conservation of the society around are bound to generate a […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Cicada’ review – a personal story that lovingly embraces its characters
It is fascinating when cinema dares to emotionally bare its protagonists. In directors Matthew Fifer and Kieran Mulcare independent fare Cicada, we are invited to the broken world of Ben (Fifer). The young queer Caucasian man with dreamboat looks by his side might look as regular as any person with […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘A Bedsore’ review – a South Korean domestic drama about ageing and loneliness
Old-age is not always as smooth as we would want it to be. In director Hye-jung Shim’s Korean language film A Bedsore, we see life crumbling down for a dysfunctional upper-class family. The trigger to all chaos is what the title suggests – a bedsore. Life is not a bed […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai’ review – Unforeseen days, endearing stories
Let me begin with an ironic confession. Cinema in a short format seldom fascinates me. However, anthologies rank pretty high among my preferred feature film genres. Why this paradox? I would say, it is the link that often exists between the short films that captivates me no end. At the […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
‘Death of Nintendo’ review – a coming-of-age story with delicious ’90s nostalgia
Films that are set in the ‘90s always bring me joy. Those were simple, joyous days and the ones who lived through it would vouch for it. That was when we played 8-bit video games. Children mastered the game of life through trial-and-error whereas technology seldom threatened to overpower them […]