one time wanderer

By now, I think I should have a template for such films-"This god-awful mess of a movie was saved just by one woman", and in this case, it's Rohini ma'am. I don't think I would have even managed to finish this movie if it were not for her. It's just pathetic that one of her best performances, for which she got a Special Mention in the National Film Awards, had to be from this pathetic, patriarchal and toxic movie that serves no purpose except to damage your braincells a bit more. Do people really love visually pleasing stuff so much that they'll call just about anything a "masterpiece"?  Watch it if you must, or don't. Rohini ma'am gave a fabulous performance in Magalir Mattum (1994) as well, go watch that instead. 

This was exactly the kind of movie I needed to watch- I've been feeling quite off these days, and this came as a pleasant diversion indeed. I loved how light and fun it was, while never being vapid like most rom-coms are from the 00s. But well, 2007 really was a superior year for Bollywood, as I've been saying for ages now. All the actors (including Ameesha Patel) do such a good job that even when the film lags a little, you're never bored or tired of watching it. While I wasn't really invested in any character, simply because there were too many of them, I did appreciate how even within such a crowd, appropriate layers were given to all our main players. The Madhu (Sandhya Mridul) and Bunty (Vikram Chatwal) storyline hit the closest to home, and I am so glad that there was a refreshing maturity taken on such a "heavy" topic. I do wish the Vicky (Karan Khanna) narrative was given a little more space, but considering how the industry and the rest of the country

Spoilers ahead: One of the most important movies chronicling contemporary India and its anxieties. Aani Maani is both poignant and clever, and doesn't give any easy answers- this can be best seen in the internal tensions within the family. I loved how the relationship between Nazo and Tarannum evolved, with Affi as the common point for their affection and their individual longing for beauty and an ease of life that seems more and more distant as the days progress. Special mention to the "Ghar Ghar Khelein" song as one of the most perfect examples of symbolism that I have ever seen. I think the movie won my heart with this scene only.  I was initially quite ambivalent about the ending, but upon further reflection, I realised that it was actually perfect. Nothing speaks louder about the senseless killings of Muslims (this phenomenon is a pandemic in itself) than the silence that is broken by a father's wail. That is all I can say- for the rest, you have to watch the mov

I understand that the reason this movie probably went over my head is because I have very little idea about Kerala politics, and just slightly more knowledge of Kerala society- it's very difficult to appreciate satire unless you know something about the topic being satirised. All the same, I can't deny that I was very underwhelmed by this movie, despite being excited for Srividya's, Nedumudi Venu's, and Thilakan's performances. And also by K.G. George's reputation as one of the greatest filmmakers in Malayalam cinema. But I guess I'll have to hold my opinion on him till I watch a few more movies- I think Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback , Irakal , Kathakku Pinnil , and  Yavanika  will be more my speed and taste. Also, if anyone knows where I can watch Adaminte Vaariyellu with subtitles, please let me know.

"Classic" David Dhawan madness. Classic is in quotes because very predictably, this has not aged well at all. The way Meena (Karisma Kapoor) falls in love with Rajesh (Govinda) is the most pathetic use of a song ever, especially when the song is as iconic as 'Sona Kitna Sona Hai'. The ideology of the movie is that men are always right, never wrong, and in the marriage market, the man's family is always right, never wrong. The movie should honestly have been titled Patriarchy No. 1 , because that pretty much sums up the events that constitute this movie. Even the songs weren't good? Except for 'Sona Kitna Sona Hai', of course, and 'UP Wala Thumka' to some extent. The only solace was Karisma, and some of the comedy tracks featuring Paresh Rawal, Kader Khan, and Satish Shah. And the fact that this movie wasn't boring at all- cringe most times, downright hard to sit through some times, but never boring. And that's it, I suppose... I don'

I was kind of disappointed by this, I'm not gonna lie. I was expecting some heavy-duty catharsis in the form of a lady cop, but all I could was man-washed feminism. Vijayashanti ma'am being quite simpable almost made up for it though, but the whole experience was underwhelming, nonetheless.  The one thing that irked about me since the beginning itself was the positioning of a male character as the moral compass. It was by his approval or disapproval that we judged Vyjayanthi's actions for the majority of the movie, and I was not a fan of this narrative technique at all. I found Vyjayanthi an interesting character and would have loved it more had I gotten access to her internal monologues more, instead of how she was being perceived by the various men around her. Vijayashanti ma'am killed it with her performance, though. It irritates me so much that such towering legends of Telugu cinema are basically unknown outside- they really do deserve more attention and credit for

Maybe it's just me and my "I don't get art movies" self, but I honestly do not understand the hype around this one. Or maybe it's the fact that I saw this right after Ghilli , so it seemed even slower and unexciting. Whatever the reason, it just didn't work for me.Yeah, the cinematography and all was cool, the basic storyline interesting enough, and the last shot pretty cool, but.... yeah, I don't get it. I didn't care about any of the characters enough to be invested in their dilemmas and struggles, the coward being the least appealing of them all. The eccentric husband was alright, but there was no real development of is eccentricity- I couldn't figure out if he was just acting up because they'd had a guest after a long time, or if he actually was like that, every single day. As for the wife, Karuna, she had the least interesting arc of them all. Which is a real shame because Madhabi Mukherjee was easily the best actor out of the lot, and had

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but my biggest complaint from this movie is... Prakash Raj. I was expecting him to be as pitch perfect as he was in Okkadu (2003)- bringing in the same sinister energy which doesn't let you laugh despite the comic excesses. Here, he was just a comic excess, which undermined the entire purpose of his character. They also didn't do justice to one of my most favourite scenes of all time, the one where Mahesh Babu puts a knife to Bhumika's throat. I have literally gone back to that scene on multiple occasions just to feel something, that's how much I love it. Ghilli could not manage to capture that same intensity and almost rushed through the entire sequence. Try as Vijay might, he couldn't save this scene from becoming a parody of the OG. My man tried his best, though. However, all things considered, I love this movie with all my heart. Vijay and Trisha are both fantastic, and their chemistry just makes everything bette

If you need one film to exemplify what the terms "half-baked" and "half-assed" signify, let it be this one. I saw that this was supposed to be inspired from Serendipity (2001), which I remember liking when I saw it ages ago... but Milenge Milenge just plagiarised its most iconic part and ran with it only to stumble and fall and take the audience down with it. And then Boney 'Wanakam' Kapoor had the audacity to say- "perhaps it was destined that the most romantic film featuring Shahid and Kareena would come after their relationship." Marketing and promotions really will have you saying all kinds of shit huh. However, as objectively terrible as the film is, I still couldn't hate it. Firstly, because I am trash, and specifically trash that grew up and had the most intense Bollywood phase in the early 00s, the period this movie is set in. Secondly, Haider has revived my crush on Shahid and now I can't unsee him as the chocolate hero of my child

If this movie proves one thing, it's that Nicole Kidman can breathe life into even the most one-dimensional of characters. Gail didn't really have any depth to her at all, but the way Nicole sank her teeth into the role makes her memorable, and also makes the movie much better than it would have been otherwise.  I walked into this one with some trepidation, I'm not gonna lie- I had seen this years ago on TV, and I was afraid this wouldn't have aged well, or worse, I would find it boring. But thankfully, both assumptions came out to be negative. I didn't have too much patience with the Chinese therapy thing, but otherwise, all well and good. Even cried a little in the circus scene. Mostly loved Nicole only though- there's something about the 90s and the few white women I love that I cannot outgrow, and I don't want to outgrow. It's like they're at the peaks of their beauty or something for me in that era. Or maybe I really am unhealthily attached to t

It honestly felt a little surreal watching a movie that released before Independence. I feel way out of my depth trying to write a "review"- not only am I going through a creative block (for lack of a better term), but also, I just don't know enough about pre-Independence Tamil culture and society to comment on this movie with any conviction or authority.  I will, however, say that the music is excellent and makes the movie-watching experience that much more enjoyable. The film's political engagement was very obviously pro-nationalism (NOT the contemporary kind please, I can't believe I even have to give this disclaimer god, what a fucking dystopia we are living in) and I personally think this movie should be shown in schools as part of the history curriculum since it brings to life just how ordinary people were engaging with Gandhian values, and the struggle for freedom in general. I definitely would have been more interested in both the movie and the academics,

It is unimaginable to me that a woman directed this movie, and another one wrote it, because I wanted to slap a male author every single time Sanjay Dutt said the word "Aurat". Is this the extent to which we have internalised and glorified the male gaze?? However, at this juncture I must add that it's not just the women who were badly written- the men were equally terrible surface-level caricatures with zero depth to them. Mayhaps the director and writer have just never interacted with other human beings? That would honestly make a lot of sense, because this movie wasn't just a bad movie, it's the kind of movie that makes you indifferent towards it as it progresses. Which is a huge shame, because the final few scenes are actually good and made you wish for a better movie. Considering how numb I was feeling by the time it ended, that is quite an accomplishment in itself. Another thing that I couldn't get over was how SRK lite Zayed Khan was. 90% of his dialogue

I honestly did not know what to even expect from a movie that came out 48 years before I was born, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this has actually aged quite well (much better than some films that released 2 years ago, I must say) and still stands as a fun and entertaining watch. Of course there are parts, especially the ending, which made me feel a little off, but overall I had a good time. Especially because I was mostly invested in Vyjayanthimala's scenes, who not only made her debut with this movie, but also became its best and most memorable part. I don't think I have seen many Vyjayanthimala movies, but judging even from this, it's easy to tell that she had a charming yet commanding screen presence, which would only get more refined and beautiful with time. Simple scenes like her reading a book (not so simple actually, considering how many women in Indian cinema are actually shown reading) or dancing in her room acquire magic just because she's t

It feels weird commenting on a movie from a time and place I know nothing about, but I must say that despite that my lack of context, I found this movie to have aged pretty well. Nagesh sir pretty much carried the movie on his shoulders, but K.R. Vijaya ma'am and R. Muthuraman sir gave him excellent company too. The three of them added so much emotional depth to the movie that I quickly became invested in their journeys, and stayed that way till the end. One thing I really appreciated about the movie was how it let Radha (K.R. Vijaya) have a certain agency when it came to following and acting on her desires, or lack thereof. If this narrative (with some alterations) had taken place in a contemporary movie, people would have been falling over themselves proclaiming it as the wokest movie ever or something like that. Yes, such is the state of Indian feminism today. I also loved the no-holds barred bromance between Raghavan (R. Muthuraman) and Sundaram (Nagesh). I would have of course

I was quite intrigued by the premise, and the opening sequence kept my faith (and expectations up). Apart from this, I don't really have much to say, because I found the movie excruciatingly boring. I tried very hard to be interested because the three Bokuls individually were great characters, performed by equally talented actors. But honestly, they deserved a better movie. Really, that's all I can tell you. 

I don't even know how to write about this movie, where to begin, where to end. All I know is that it felt so fucking good to finally see authentic representation of Uttarakhand and its people in a Hindi film. This sentence feels like such a weird understatement- I was ecstatic while watching the film, to the point where I actually burst into tears when some characters sounded exactly like members of my extended family. Those characters weren't even saying anything serious or sad, they were joking around, but that accent and that very, very typical pahadi sense of humour just got to me and I couldn't stop my tears. Bela Negi has left no stone unturned in ensuring that the mountains and its people are represented truthfully, in all their tragicomic (mostly comic) glory. It's what my soul yearns for- thank you Ms Negi for satisfying that yearning the way you did.  In conclusion, I cannot recommend this movie enough, especially to fellow Pahadis. And also to anyone who has

What this is, is a full-blown anxiety attack that lasts for an hour and 10 minutes. And the end, well, it gives you the exact kind of catharsis you need after such an overwhelming event- nothing grand or overstimulating, just a simple reminder that maybe things will work out for the better after all, even after the most draining of days. That's what worked best for me in this movie, the realisation that things keep on piling up and tumbling down, but through it all, the undercurrent is always present that whatever happens, happens for the best. It's a reminder that I keep close to me, it's one way for me to stay sane. So when I see a fellow chaotic bisexual come to the same realisation, albeit more cinematically than I do, it's a relief that makes the anxiety attack so worth it (purely as a movie-watcher I mean, anxiety attacks are never worth it). As for the representation part, Emma Seligman got it so spot-on that I honestly have nothing left to add, except to urge al

Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu is, essentially, an amazing album that saw the collaboration of two geniuses (M.S. Viswanathan and Ilaiyaraaja), with a semi-engaging plot thrown in to connect the songs together. The story is as messy as they came in the 80s (just kidding, it's quite decent compared to the atrocities that were being churned out in that decade), but it holds up thanks to the music, the beauty of rural Tamil Nadu, and of course, the brilliant actors. Whatever I say about Amala's talent is less- she was given a really weird character to play here, but managed to flesh it out and make it interesting anyway?? I love my underrated queen so much, just might stanning her son too. She is so cute here, and such a good dancer, it was a treat in itself to watch her- which worked out well for me, because she is the primary reason I decided to watch it in the first place. However, I liked Mohan's performance too, especially that scene where he bursts into "Vaa Vennila&quo

I wish I had more knowledge and a better understanding of rural Punjabi society, so that I could have appreciated this film a lot more. I'm afraid a lot of nuances flew past my head- guess I should have read the book first. However, I must say that all the performances were invigorating, and to be honest, made me want to read up more on the caste hierarchies prevalent in Punjab. That's the best part about a good social issues film, I think, that it makes even the ignorant person want to find out more about the themes it addresses. The music and camera-work are flawless- the songs will stay with you long after the movie is over, as will the beauty of Punjab, which is both stark and vibrant at the same time.  PS- Deepti Naval in the ending sequence is beyond beautiful. I just wish we had more of her throughout the movie.   

The best part about this movie was its length- I only had to endure 1 hour and 20 minutes of TamBrahm nonsense, which is always a win. Other enjoyable parts were Sweetie smashing caste patriarchy when her husband (useless fellow) tries to defend his asshole father, and Radha ma'am's dances. That's it. The story was horrible, especially because it had a lot of potential to be truly radical about caste and patriarchy and toxic Brahminism but nah. Not one institution was confronted, nothing. Big old disappointment. Even as a love story it was very boring, and failed to move me in any real way. Well, I did get infuriated when Sweetie turned up at the end, there was absolutely no need for that. Let her stay away from her loser husband and his pathetically cringe family. I wish I had stayed away from them too. Another example that just because a film is shot nicely and has good music, doesn't mean it necessarily needs to be celebrated.

One of the greatest films to exist, ever. It warmed up my heart so much to see "the film remains an international cult classic" written on its Wikipedia page, because that is exactly the kind of treatment it deserves. It is one of the earliest cinematic narratives to depict same-sex attraction between women, and god bless my gay heart, Mädchen in Uniform  does it better than most contemporary films on the topic. It was directed by a woman, based on a play written by a woman, and has only women as its cast members- I'm not kidding, not a single man was to be seen anywhere. The authenticity of the sapphic relationships and yearnings here... unmatchable, methinks.  If there's one white woman lesbian romance you need to see, it's this one. The good news is that it's on YouTube with subtitles, so there's literally no reason for you to not watch it asap. PS- how BEAUTIFUL were Manuela and Fräulein von Bernburg!!!!! I can't get over them, and that kiss omg an

My favourite thing about Percy is undoubtedly Kurush Deboo's magnificent performance as the eponymous protagonist. It would have been very easy to exaggerate the "loser" aspects of this character and reduce him to a trope or a joke, but the way Mr. Deboo humanises him is sheer brilliance. Percy is such a well-written film that I'm afraid it would take me a rewatch to properly express just how much I enjoyed it. I loved how they invoked the past- those moments feel quite fresh for some reason, probably because Indian cinema has a very "tried and tested" approach to showing flashback sequences. Here though, the past and the present weren't distinct entities- they both flowed into each other, and reinforced Percy's emotions and feelings. His dynamics with his mother were also very genuine and interesting. This is the kind of "realistic" cinema I want, one that doesn't pretentiously show only sadness and pain as a part of real life, and foc

The very first thing that blew me away was Dimple Kapadia's introduction scene. I love how she didn't utter a word, she didn't even move, and yet managed to establish her character and immediately make you feel drawn towards her. I wanted to know this woman- I wanted to know what exactly happened to her that a phone call where she doesn't even utter a word can end up rattling her so much.  Objectively and subjectively, there can be no doubt whatsoever that Mrinal Sen's Antareen is a poetic masterpiece. It might seem slow-paced, but honestly, every moment is so relevant, and infused with so much depth (both from the acting performances and the story itself), that you never feel like you're about to doze off. Every expression, every gesture, it all helped us see more depth into the character than even dialogues would have allowed. Plus, everything felt so relevant and relatable, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. I loved how Anjan Dutt was more concerned with his ca

Infuriatingly bad. Can't believe this actually won awards and acclaim? For what exactly? The characters were nothing but caricatures, the writing was pathetic and needlessly triggering, and the colouring unnecessarily depressing. What could have been an interesting, thought-provoking story full of love was reduced to the elite Indian definition of "art cinema", which is devoid of any human warmth or feelings whatsoever. No, thanks. I have grown out of my need to be pretentious years ago, fortunately. 

The first thing I noticed about this movie was that Ashok Kumar was so effective as the casteist asshole that I couldn't even recognise him in the beginning. The second was how strongly anti-caste it was (for a Bollywood movie)- this also explains why I had literally never heard about this movie till I started digging through Waheeda Rehman's filmography. I decided to watch it because the poster intrigued me a lot, and I'm glad I did because it not only reaffirmed my love for Waheeda ji (and made me realise just how happy her presence makes me) but also for Sunil Dutt. Till now, I saw him more as an exemplary human being, but now I have an appreciation for his acting too. And when two legends like Waheeda ji and Dutt saheb come together, the result will obviously match their talents. Zindagi Zindagi is not a perfect film (is there a perfect film??), but I don't see why it seems to have slipped under the radar for so many years. Many issues that it addresses (casteism, e

It is astounding to me just how relevant this movie still is to the Indian socio-political context 21 years after its release. However, it is not surprising that it did not fare well at the box office, because well, no matter how GOOD a movie is, phir bhi dil hai hindustani only. I don't see many people appreciating the sharp satire, the commentary on broadcast journalism, and especially, the separation of patriotism from jingoism. I'm just glad it released when it did, because I don't see it being made today (or Juhi Chawla being involved in it, for that matter), or if being made, receiving severe backlash and even state persecution. Yeah, I wish this was hyperbole, but it really is not. In other news though, I consider PBDHH to be one of the finest mainstream satires that Hindi cinema has ever produced. Even after so many years of first watching it, this movie is still capable of surprising me with its cleverness, and I always notice something I hadn't seen before. I

What can you even write about a movie in which references to Ek Villain (2014) are the highlight? It's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?  Okay, I don't want to make it sound like there was nothing good about this movie except Ek Villain . It was a wholesome and endearing little tale about growing up, falling in love, and becoming more sure of who you are; and it didn't pretend to be something other than that either. I think I would have appreciated it a whole lot more had I seen it in high school or college, because I was really into this kind of stuff back then.  My biggest problem with the movie was that the conflicts weren't intense enough, they didn't make me feel enough of anything. It's not the same as being half-hearted though, because you can see that the movie was made with a lot of sincerity. I don't know, maybe it's a personal preference, but I just didn't feel as invested in the stories as the knowledge of the basic premise led me to

I'm surprised that I liked this movie as much as I did considering how sloppily it was edited, and more importantly, how its soundtrack didn't really do anything for me. Probably my biggest reason for watching old Hindi movies is the album, and if that doesn't work... safe to say, nothing else will. But Baarish was a lovely exception to the rule. While I didn't "love" the film, I did enjoy watching it, especially Nutan and Dev Anand's chemistry and both these legends by themselves too, creating magic and showing how it only takes two madly talented actors to elevate even a shoddy movie (the script was honestly not that bad, but lost itself in the execution or editing or something). Nutan ji though, was such a delight. Her vivid charm made me sit through the movie with ease, and as mentioned earlier, her chemistry with Dev Anand warmed up my cold lonely heart. I can't wait to watch more (and better movies of hers). In conclusion, I want this movie's

Any film with an excellent Devdas reference will always be a winner for me, no cap. Plus, it also has Rajinikanth on the cusp of his demi-god stature doing a meta satire on what it takes to achieve stardom, while also being an excellent friend to kids who need a gentle hand to help them more than anything else. And then there's Gauthami with her amazing screen presence (too bad all that talent is now being sucked out by BJP) and of course, the kids, and especially Baby Shalini being the wise middle-child, yes that is exactly the plot point I have waited to see all my life. Basically, it's difficult to get bored while watching this movie- it's filled with so much action, jokes and romance that you are entertained one way or another. And there's Raghuvaran as the villain to spice things up, more with his killer good looks than anything else. I also actually really liked the way they incorporated social messaging into the narrative. It might seem too extra and obvious, but

I just want to give a quick shout-out to the universe for making this my first movie of Pride Month. There is one delightfully gay moment where Salma talks about how much she wants Nargis, and I felt that so deep in my bones because yes, everyone does want Nargis.  Speaking of Nargis, she literally carries this movie on her four very capable shoulders. I watched this on occasion of her 92nd birth anniversary, and also learnt that this was the first double role by an actress in Hindi cinema. What a trailblazing queen that woman was, sheesh. The way she enacts both the well-brought up Roop and crass Mohini is a lesson in acting for many contemporary actresses who can barely do justice to the one role they're given. I loved watching both Nargises interact with each other- those scenes honestly had more fire than the rest of the movie. The romantic scenes between Raj Kapoor and Nargis were also quite nicely done, and I was dangerously close to sobbing when Raj told Roop "Mohabbat

There are two kinds of films that feel longer than they actually were: the ones which are so badly shot that you feel like you've been stuck inside them forever, and the ones that manage to pack in layers and depth in such a short span of time that you feel like you just walked out of a long conversation with the most interesting person who was telling you all about that one phase in their life. Rafiki , thankfully, belongs to the latter category. It's tender, colourful, heartwarming and hopeful all at once, and it made me so engrossed in its little world that I immediately began seeing traces of mine in it too. Wanuri Kahiu is the true star of the show here. She has done such an incredible job with this movie that it's hard not to want to hug her once it ends. All the choices she has made are perfect, and you really can't miss all her attention to detail. I loved the colouring of the movie, and honestly, it was a large part in why I was attracted to it from the start i

Very early on, I knew I would love this movie because of the scene where Lata (Parveen Choudhary) and Anand (Manoj Kumar) flirt over the phone even though she has called him up to inform him of an urgent case at the hospital.  The rest of the movie is as flawless and memorable as this scene. Raj Khosla and K.H. Kapadia (the cinematographer) have depicted that nothing is as treacherous as the human mind so brilliantly that the film feels fresh and exciting 57 years after its release. I say "fresh and exciting" as if the movie didn't completely horrify me, but all three feelings are absolutely correct. It has aged like fine wine, and is much better than most of the trash being marketed as "horror" or "thriller" these days. I felt like I was going a little crazy too, and that's the only marker of a truly good psychological drama. Plus, there was an actual thunderstorm going on while I was watching Woh Kaun Thi? , which just added to everything it was