Analysing films

One thing that remains clear after watching Sherni (it streams on Prime Video); never judge a film by the trailer. I remember a Srijit Mukherjee film (not a big fan anyways of his film) Zulfiqar released in 2016 and it had a promising trailer to boot. The trailer had created so much anticipation about the film and eventually the film turned a big Dud. With Sherni, the trailer did not hold, and I was only hoping to sit for a couple of minutes to see through the proceedings. However, the film just took off. Amit Masurkar took his own time after his debut, Newton launch his second outing and he continues to hold his mettle. Sherni is an important film not just for the context of the plot but also for understanding what happens when mankind and animal kingdom clash. This has been a phenomena affecting the animal kingdom globally. A brilliant documentary on Apple TV, The year the earth changed showcases when the humans where locked up at home in 2020, nature started reclaiming it's rig...

  Mandela has to be one of the definitive films of 2021. Mandela and Karnan (featuring Dhanush and another 2021 release) trudge the same path of caste based oppression but the genre of the two remains starkly different. While Karnan pretty much follows the age old path of revenge, violence and the down and out protagonist fighting back; Mandela takes a completely different route to addressing the issue of caste based oppression. In a small village Soorangudi (Tuticorin district) a small time low caste barber suddenly becomes the most important man in the village, as his only vote will decide the future of the village elections and the gram panchayat. The village has a history of conflict with the northern and southern part of the village at loggerheads (a caste based divide). Both the sides have their respective leader and who are ironically the sons of the local panchayat head. The head has strategically married two women from the two different sides of the village, but it still d...

Titli released in the summer of 2014 after having earned rave reviews in the international film circuit. A heavily awarded neo-noir and Kanu Behl's debut film, it is definitely not for the faint hearted. It opens to a title of the film in blood red and that pretty much sums up the sequence of events. Titli has a very Fargo kind of feel from the Coen brothers. Fargo plays out in the cold and mountainous North Dakota and Titli is set in the very rustic and dusty part of Delhi. It does intermingle with the narrow and shabby by lanes of North East Delhi where the buildings and the people are virtually breathing down on each other. Titli takes us into the lives of three brothers and their father. The relationship amongst them breathes the parochial and patriarchal mindset which is to say the least, toxic. The elder brother played brilliantly by Ranvir Shorey understands only one thing which is what he inherited from his father and thereon. The language of physical abuse and an extremely...

  Dibakar Banerjee with his first outing, Khosla ka Ghosla was fantastic, with his second, Oye Lucky he was good in parts and with the experimental Love Sex aur Dhokha (LSD) he was at his best. And after that he lost it. In between he did produce the amazing little gem, Titli. But after, LSD he has not reached the scale, which he did with his first three outings. Interestingly, if you chance to see a few other directors who came to the scene along with Dibakar, also have similar filmography. Shoojit Sarcar, Onir, Tigmanshu, Nadvdeep Singh etc. The first 3-4 films remain their bete noir and then lose plot in the later tales.  Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (SAPF) falls in the same category of Dibakar. It starts with a great plot and context but loses out eventually to some bad casting (especially the two leads) and in the later half with lack of plot. One had expectations with Varun Grover as the co-writer on board. Or maybe the Director did not find a better way to close the plot. S...

On the sidelines of Disciple's release on Netflix, it is important to visit, Chaitanya Tamhane's debut film, Court. Why I say it? Because Court brings in a new perspective to film making which has been something novel to me and not seen in a long time at least in Indian Film Industry. And before you watch Disciple, Court remains an essential viewing, to set the context. What sets Court apart? First, the narration; which are episodic and is based on sudden cuts which when passes away makes the viewers connect to the earlier scenes. Court revolves around three main characters and four if you include the protagonist; who coincidentally has been a watermark to the proceedings with the three leads forming the crux of the conversation around him. The plot revolves around Narayan Kamble (a teacher and protest singer whose alleged provocative songs has forced a manual scavenger to commit suicide). The rest of the film revolves around the court proceedings where the police have arrested...

  Nayattu premiered on Netflix on 5th April and it has reached straight at No. 2 amongst the most watched in India. It is a compelling thriller and leaves the audience on the tenterhook right till the end and then you are left wondering whether it was a social message that was being passed or was it still the thriller genre. Three cops on the chase by the cops because of a series of mis-happenings that was happening since morning. All this in the backdrop of pitched election fervor and eventually it all leads to a major fiasco at the end of the day. And three cops, brilliantly underplayed by Kunchacko Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan (in a completely different avatar after the fantastic Great Indian Kitchen) are spot on. The main protagonist of Nayattu remains the context which is politics and its under current and the antagonist perhaps are these three characters.  Nayattu starts with the lives of these three characters and the challenges they face at home and at w...

  The brand new show from TVF, Aspirants Pre...Mains...Aur Life debuted about two weeks back on YouTube and their own channel too. Fresh from the success of Panchayat and earlier Kota Factory this one is take on the UPSC aspirants. While Kota Factory was targeted to the parents, aspirants and everybody who spent time in Kota (preparing) this one looks at the civil servant aspirants. As each episode ends the creators kind of converse on the same lines. However, I thought the series is for all of us who are looking to do something in life. And it comes out very clearly in the first episode where one amongst the three protagonist talks to the incoming batch about dedication, patience and perseverance (not necessarily following any order but you have the flexibility to place it accordingly).  I remember when I went to college in 1986, civil services was considered hallowed and was told that the hub of aspirants were in the Western part of the city and the go to coaching college wa...