Cinema Bandi (2021)

Cinema Bandi is a classic example of a movie whose intentions are infinitely better to their execution. I loved the concept of "everyone is a filmmaker at heart" and I loved the idea of an honest depiction of a culture so in love with cinema- but everything just fell flat. Don't get me wrong, there were funny and heartwarming moments here and there, but they simply weren't enough, and everything that happened in between was not very well done at all.

My main problem with the movie though was that it tried too hard to be both thought-provoking (in the social justice warrior kind of way) and quirkyTM. Let's look at the first one: since the movie takes place in a village, it is obvious that it will raise certain issues that rural India faces on a chronic basis at this point in our history. However, the way the movie dealt with said issues felt like they were just ticking points off of a checklist, and trying their bare minimum to be organic about it. As for the second bit, that felt so off to me at so many places. I wish they had spent more time fleshing out their characters instead of trying their hardest to make them qUiRkY!! Why I say this because there genuinely was a lot of potential in the characters' development, and it was sadly all lost thanks to myopic writing. 

My favourite part of the movie though has got to be Manga. I was so in love with her character that I wanted her to be the protagonist. I am not even kidding when I say that the women of this movie carried it on their shoulders, because they were honestly the ones I was most interested and invested in. The absolute best part of the movie was at the very end, though- Thatha's iconic last line will always be the most memorable part of this movie for me.

In conclusion, this was too basic for a feel-good Telugu movie. If you know, you know. 

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