one time wanderer

I half suspect that this movie was only made so that Salman Khan could play around with CGI effects. I can see him bullying Sohail Khan into writing, producing and directing this movie, and then getting Arbaaz Khan on board too, to play what might possibly be the best role of his life. Also, Sohail Khan wrote the dialogues too. So let's start from there. The dialogues are as 13-year old schoolboy as you would expect them to be, given the people involved. The film is full of crude jokes which were apparently intensely hated by Salim Khan (I want to know the exact words he used on Sohail when he saw the movie). The storyline is... well, if you insist on such things as "logic" when you watch a late 90s Bollywood movie starring Salman Khan, then I'm sorry, you've already lost the game. Honestly though, within the universe of the movie, things were pretty fine. No, I'm not kidding. I'm pretty sure worse movies exist, and I was honestly expecting this one t...

This is my new favourite movie of all time. This is actually the best that Bollywood has to offer, and I am not exaggerating. A movie so far ahead of its time, so insightful, so brilliant, that it resonates more than 60 years after its release. Everything that happens in this movie is timeless- this is what our society is, was, and will be. But this movie offers strong, shining rays of hope, that pierce through the depressing mess that is society, reminding one of the love and kindness that still exists. It leaves you warm, yet never in a way that is fake. And this, I believe, is the point of art. Watch this, please watch this. 

This movie is a severely underrated gem of Bollywood. It belongs on the God-tier of movies: films that are so bad that they are Golden. Other worthy members of this category include Ajnabee  (2001), Prem Aggan (1998), etc. This is honestly the Gone Girl of Indian cinema, in the worst way possible of course. I still don't understand why Shamita's father in the film was this creepy weirdo. Or why Shamita was categorized as "crazy" by nearly everyone in the movie when she had a strictly non-mental health-related disorder? And what was UP with Arbaaz Khan's character? Why was he so... what I imagine his dear elder brother Salman Khan, aka "Bhai" to be in real life? Some questions remain unanswered. Oh, and the bizarre sub-plot with Satish Kaushik was so not funny. The real comedy lies in Arbaaz Khan's dialogue delivery. And the abortion joke in the beginning of the movie, DUH.  Which reminds me, RIP @ Sonia. You delivered the only intentionally funn...

Oh man. Those Tumblr posts are really starting to make sense now- the ones that go I just want to go and live inside a Studio Ghibli movie. Can I just say that this is the perfect movie to watch on the first day of a 21-day long lockdown? It will transport you to this beautiful world, and for 2 hours, you can forget the dreary reality of the world. Loved the random Ramayana reference hehehe. And the adorableness of it all. Delightful is a common adjective grown-ups use to describe media and literature intended for kids, but if one movie deserves to be labelled "delightful", it's this one. I already can't wait to rewatch it one day, hopefully with my girlfriend. Also, I totally need a vacation to Laputa. Just saying. And if I ever go back on Twitter, I'm so using Laputa as my location.

In all honesty, I only watched this movie because it promised Alan Rickman. I think I should have gone with the TV movie Rasputin (1996) instead, because this one was an excruciatingly uncomfortable watch. Alan Rickman as Captain Hook kinda sorta made up for it though. Hugh Grant too. The protagonist of the movie, Stella, was frankly unbearable. I understand all the trauma she had in her life, but even with that, ugh, could she be more annoying? I see a lot of people praising her, but all I felt was irritation. Hugh Grant, meanwhile, shone in his portrayal of Meredith Potter, the antagonist full of biting sarcasm who just happens to be gay (the fact woefully eludes dear Stella, who is in love with him). I would 100% watch a movie about Meredith's life. Would have given it a half star, but Hugh Grant has shook me. One star for him, specifically, and half for Alan Rickman. Really wishing I'd just seen Rasputin  instead. 

Before anything else- trigger warning for rape (in the movie). And also for forced abortion. I was so not prepared for this, and fast-forwarded all these scenes. Moving on, I think the best way I can categorise this movie is as- "fanfiction in movie form". I could almost swear that I'd read this before on fanfiction.net. And no, I am not looking down on fanfiction- the lord knows my deep connection to it. That's just how I felt, even before the halfway mark of the movie. I feel what this movie needed more of was nuance. And it was too slow at some places for my liking. And there was a bit too much of melodrama at times. Also, while Anna Paquin was convincing as Dr. Jean Merkham, Holliday Grainger was not. She was lovely, nonetheless, but not gay lovely. And the ending was a total disaster. Gosh, the things we do for gay content.  Anyway, watch this movie I guess if you're really starving for gay content (ofc u r). Or if you've ever wondered what i...

And so with this movie, my streak of watching movies that literally blow my mind away comes to an end. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. Not that this movie was bad , per se, I just feel that it had a lot of potential that it didn't end up doing justice to. The lead actors did their job pretty well, but it was ultimately the script that was lacking. I could see the "girl getting high and lowkey admitting her true feelings" bit coming from miles away. And again, clichés are not necessarily a bad thing, it depends on what you do with them. Overall, I'd call this a fun watch. It won't annihilate your brain cells like most of Bollywood, but it won't necessarily change your life either. Watch it for the banter, and of course, the unbelievably GAY scene when Jaya (Parvathy Thirovothu's character) meets Anjali (Neha Dhupia's character) for the first time and loses her shit. Honestly, the gayness pouring there alone makes this movie worth a watch. And...

I really wish that I knew all the fancy cinema jargon so that I could describe this movie and do it justice. I am at a profound loss of words after watching it, and I think the word that comes close to conveying how I feel while and after watching it is "breathless". Yep, for a movie where pretty much nothing happens, the dialogues are minimal, and the story is relatively easy to follow, I am still breathless. And now, I will try to tell you why. For one, the way the camera moves, the way it tells a story without resorting to words for long stretches of time, it's quite unlike anything I have ever seen. It reminded me a lot of Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love  (2000) at places. And the direction combined with the sheer EXCELLENCE of the background score made the movie an almost tangible experience (MOVE OVER 4D!) I know it'll sound weird, but watching this movie honestly soothed me, it was that good. Like, this is the vibe that I'm always after- slow, bu...

First things first: I didn't know till now that Keira Knightley as a manic pixie dream girl was all that I needed in life. What perfection. What astounding perfection. I mean, I have mostly hated the very idea of the stereotype, from Zooey Deschanel's Summer in (500) Days of Summer  (2009) to Margo Roth Spiegelman, the protagonist of John Green's Paper Towns  (2008)- for me, this stereotype is as harmful and dehumanising as any other for women. But Keira, ugh. Keira just proves that she can elevate a whole trope all by herself, and I am honestly here for it. Also, I need all the outfits she's wearing- speaking of which, the movie deserves bonus points for the impeccable fashion sense of ALL the characters. Now, before this post turns into an unabashedly gay love letter for Keira (hey I have had a crush on her since 6th grade, when I head the Hat Song on Wizards of Waverly Place and looked her up on the Internet), I would also like to express my immense gratitude to w...

does anyone else go through those days when you discover a new favourite song, like the ones that leave an imprint on your soul, and you kinda want to fade away from real life for a while and just exist within that song because real life... pales in comparison to the life in that song? the song in question is i hear the bells by mike doughty. go and listen to it. and zone out. i think i'll go make some coffee now, the weather demands it.

No offence to lesbian movies with white protagonists (notable examples include  Carol  and  Imagine Me and You ) but Saving Face  was the representation that my soul had been craving. Not to say that those other movies were terrible, but they just seemed so far removed from anything that I had ever known, or even imagined, that I just couldn't relate to them beyond the gay context. And that's why even as I respected them, I couldn't really enjoy them or see myself coming back to them. It made me feel like I was missing out on something, because these movies were widely applauded and celebrated on the Internet, within the gay and film communities alike.  But Saving Face-  my god, what an experience. First of all, it's directed by a woman, and that makes all the difference in my opinion. The direction, the cinematography, the acting, the sets, the soundtrack, everything just came together to create one of the most perfect movies that I have ever seen. If th...