Half-way through director Siddharth Anand’s mega actioner War, I quickly recalled the Bollywood essentials for the said genre. There’s the national security which is randomly at risk thanks to a bunch of over-styled terrorists (Muslim, of course). You have a leading man who has got no family but instead he […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
“Nirmal Anand Ki Puppy”… A minimalist marital drama with a canine twist!
Punny film titles are to die for. For starters, I do not remember the last time we had one for a Hindi feature film – let alone doing it right. A film about two warring individuals gets titled as War and one about an obsessive fan is called – wait […]
Read Time : 5 Minutes
“Paangshu”… A quiet, nuanced study of a mother’s perplexed mind!
In what must be the easiest generalization ever, a mother’s love knows no seams. Or at least, we would want that belief to remain unperturbed. The mother in director Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s Sinhalese language film Paangshu is one such. Babanona’s (Nita Fernando) life goal is seeking a definitive closure to her […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
“Blinded by the Light”… Gurinder Chadha’s glowing Bruce Springsteen tribute has a beating heart!
The most vivid image I have in mind of Bruce Springsteen’s music is that of a bewildered Courtney Cox climbing up the stage as the rock star grooves to an era’s anthem ‘Dancing in The Dark’. Clearly, I am not a fan here even though there’s a complete understanding that […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
“Bhayanakam”… An anti-war masterpiece, high on visuals and implied violence!
Director Jayaraj’s famed navarasa series has always been of great intrigue. Some were a class apart (Shantam), some middling (Bhibhatsa) and some wholly unremarkable (Veeram). In his 2018 film Bhayanakam, the filmmaker attempts to depict the air of mammoth fear which prevailed in Kerala during the terrifying period of World […]
Read Time : 11 Minutes
“Chintu Ka Birthday”… Family love in times of war and devastation!
Sometimes it works like magic to step into a film screening knowing nothing else but its name and those of the principal cast members. I mean, at most, what can you expect from a film titled Chintu Ka Birthday and headlined by Vinay Pathak, Tillotama Shome and Seema Pahwa. At […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
“Missing Johnny” is a languid yet nuanced portrait of young lives in Taipei!
Set in modern-day Taipei, debutant filmmaker Xi Huang’s Missing Johnny comes with a fascinating plot device – the title character, Johnny. He who never appears in the film is omnipresent in the film’s plotline thanks to his friends, family and relatives relentlessly dialling a certain wrong number. The number belongs […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
“Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish”… Bombay in blue and red hues!
In the days of wading through daily hazards of Mumbai, the residents of the city would feel a sudden respite upon seeing a flicker of ‘Bombayness’ – albeit in a film. I’m referring to bittersweet flavour that Bombay used to emanate – even to stark outsiders who merely knew the […]
Read Time : 9 Minutes
“Dream Girl”… A terrific cast saves this familiar small-town comedy!
Okay, so the leading man in Dream Girl has an unusual vocation. Essayed by Ayushmann Khurrana, his real name is Karam – something that is barely registered until the film’s third act. The young man is better identified as Pooja – by us and by his numerous dial-in lovers. In […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
“Chhichhore” projects campus bonhomie on a fluffy, nostalgic canvas!
Back in 2006, I remember watching the Malayalam film Classmates, only to emerge over-awed by its magic. One that narrated a layered campus story set in the ‘90s, the film felt fresh as its release period did not witness too many films milking nostalgia to obscene levels. Lal Jose’s film […]