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Jawan (2023)
An absolute entertainment
A perfect example of a stress buster movie which might be far from reality but did not fail to speak about societal evils in a simplistic way that can reach the mass and not just a niche of society.
It was a culmination and product of star studded cast, fast paced plot, amazing action sequences, peak cinematography and editing; along with OUT OF THE WORLD Background score and dance numbers. Although I would say the age rating should be changed and there should be warning sign as a lot of scenes are very graphically depicted in the movie which I felt is not suitable for certain age group that I found in theatre.
There are references from popular movie culture to hit the right spots of nostalgia and laughter.
Overall it's a go to one time watch with friends to feel the rush and enjoy the craftmanship of the movie.
Charulata (1964)
The Broken Nest
Charulata - A lonely wife, based on the short story written by Rabindranath Tagore's "Nashta Nirh" - A broken nest remains a timeless art piece of created by Maestro Satyajit Ray. It's a testament on how a male creator, of such a period, could depict the complex female character with such profound honesty and justice.
Charulata is a story of a woman stuck in her lonely married life. Although Bhupati (Charu's husband) is caring and loving, his involvement as the editor of "The Sentinel" stems as the cause of his failure to give his wife the due attention. Moreover the different worldview and interest of the couple is also a depiction of how unintentionally Charu finds herself falling for her brother in law (Amal) due to the shared interest for literature.
The story also depicts the political climate of Bengal at that time and the different social and psychological aspect of slightly different classes despite of the camera not showing much outside of the four walls in which Charu has found herself to be living forever.
In Amal she not only finds a friend, but her love and desire stands as a push for her to find herself beyond the four walls. The fact that her writing gets published and critically praised showcases how so many female potential were lost because of social dogmatism that was laid on women.
The story leads us into a reality of how passion for a work (of having a successful journal), for love (of finding partnership in Amal), and for a passion (of writing and being a part of literary world), of Bhupati, Charu and Amal respectively is affected by the reality of economy, society and expectations. And yet life goes on.
Bad Buddy (2021)
A guide on how to narrate a simple story without overused tropes
In the first glance it seems like every other love story told since the beginning of the time, a modern day Romeo Juliet maybe. But its crafted with such care and affection, especially considering that it is a Thai mainstream BL production.
First - writing. The storyline consists of childhood (neighbour, schoolmate) enemies to friends to lovers. But what actually makes this simple overused genre so special in this series, is the narration and flow. The assembling of the scenes in a natural flashback situations made me as a viewer so connected with the lead characters. Taking the overused tropes, calling it out on face and giving the characters and the viewers a good chuckle, was done with nothing but absolute finesse.
Secondly the backbone of any production- DIRECTION! I will not say much but the director takes the crown.
The acting was done with such subtlety and the way it was captured speaks more about the skill of the director than what I can ever express in words.
Lastly - Acting. These young boys who are barely twenty have such chemistry that it feels real. I would especially mention Nanon and his nuanced performance of emotional scenes. Without doing much he brought the emotions of the character alive. At one point it even made me teary and confused about exactly what it was that struck a nerve within.
Special mention to the good music, inclusion of a positive female character and breaking the usual tropes. Breaking the curse of 11th episode unnecessary drama to make the plot interesting. Not defining heteronormative gender roles to the couple.
Overall its feel good, genuine and more than just a simple love story despite of holding on to simplicity at its core.
The Eclipse (2022)
Storyline felt non existent.
From my understanding of the show the creators were trying to send a message about power dynamics and accepting change in the world while showing how someone can be brainwashed into the system without realising. But it sounds better on paper than it did in the series, because it almost felt like the writers did not do anything. The actors might be the face of the project but a good production is built on the shoulders of writing in the most primitive stage.
This show had a good cast, with genuine chemistry and acting ability but the story just didn't seem to take off. There's only so much you can do with long never ending stares without a proper storyline.
Completing it did feel like a task and most of the time I felt uninterested to even know what was happening because the mystery was not created well. Moreover the climax to the stretch also felt underwhelming.
Saddest part is it felt pointless.
Eternally Confused and Eager for Love (2022)
Eager for something more
The show follows a confused boy/man's internal monologue dealing with most basic social interactions in his life. The show had a lot of inert potential, a lot of which has been explored but not enough. Although the dialogues were witty and the anxiousness although far fetched but relatable due to the inner monologue and convincing acting.
Rahul Bose and Suchitra Pillai are phenomenal actors yet their potential was heavily underused in the story. At times the conversation with Wiz tilted towards schizophrenic tendencies but it was never addressed. Also Varun (Ankur Rathee) had Bi-tendencies in the beginning of the story which was never hinted or addressed to in the latter episodes.
Overall the show is perfect for a quick binge and laughter, with a little relatability to a certain niche but mostly far fetched in its own way (which is not necessarily bad)
6ixtynin9: The Series (2023)
A flight that refuses to take off
The title of the review pretty much suggests how subpar and uninteresting it was to watch this series, especially because the trailer and plotline had grabbed my interest quite a bit.
Thriller-mystery genre is easy to nail because of the fast pace of story, easy and attention grabbing plotline; and the nail-biting, heart escalating curiosity to conclude and reach climax. But unfortunately the story did not have a single quality as mentioned. It will be an understatement to say the least, that I felt like giving up straight after the first episode because the pace was slow, storyline felt weak from get go and failed to hook our attention and create the need to root for any character. You can literally skip majority of the scene (maybe even episodes, considering there there are only 6) and have no effect to the flow or continuity of the story. That is exactly how much the script lacks.
Despite of this issue I continued though the suffering in hope that it will pick up the speed.
Neither I got to know about the motivation of characters behind any action, nor could the storyline build any connection with any character that we should be invested in. The mystery component remained predictable and pointless to the highest extent. The adult and gore content that was shown barely had anything to do with the plotline. So much so that as a viewer it is impossible to decide where to label this series in terms of genre. There was a supernatural element attached to the story which also seemed pointless. The only redeeming quality was probably the camera work and to some extent the acting of the main lead. Over all it was a snooze fest and felt like a task to reach the end rather than entertainment
Overall the series could do better as a 20 minute short movie with the amount of plotline it was able to show over the course of 6 episodes.
Friday Night Plan (2023)
Sid and Adi will tug your heartstrings
I am extremely biased towards a good movie that narrates a story of a siblinghood and its small nuances. The story is uncomplicated and the narrative is pretty straight forward and essentially carries the essence of innocence both in dialogue, framing and overall flow of the story.
A huge reason why a lot of us (including me) watched this movie is because of Babil Khan, and the reminiscing memory and image of his wonderful extraordinaire father, Late Irfan Khan. And it's no question that despite of this immense pressure to keep up his father's name, Babil does extreme justice to his effortless acting legacy. Moreover the best part is, even if he was not the son of such great persona, the viewers would still love his performance.
Now coming to the movie it is a simple flowing story of an introvert overthinking older brother, Siddharth who has a stark contrasting younger sibling Aditya living with their single Mom (Played by ever gorgeous Juhi Chawla), and the chaotic story that takes place in a single day in their everyday life in absence of their mother. The chemistry of two brothers is a spitting image of everyday reality of many (if not all) brotherhood. It is warm, fuzzy, nostalgic and if you're away from your sibling, it will make you want to call them to reminisce your childhood days.
Special mention to the scenes where Amrith Jayan has given a spectacular performance of hyping his older brother up as a reflection of exactly how much he looks up to him.
A brilliant light hearted movie that can be rewatched more than once.
Guns & Gulaabs (2023)
An execution of a great potential
The best aspect about the series is, hands down the acting and cinematography. It is edited well and the performance kept the momentum up to reach the climactic end.
The few aspects that, in my opinion, was lacking was the motivation of the plot. The storyline could be a little more defined structurally. Also Gulshan Devaiah is a profound actor and, his character could be delved into more. I felt that was underused. I felt there was a supernatural aspect to his character arc in the end, which did not sit well with me.
The character arc of Chandralekha (T. J. Bhanu) was not defined well. I was unable to understand her motivation behind her actions or stances regarding a certain issues. Also the beginning plotline of the series was not answered in the forthcoming episodes as much as the built up was created. Especially considering the story of Tipu's (Raj Kumar Rao) father.
Also coming to the concluding episode, it had a lot of timeline jumps to conclude the story and felt a little unnecessary. And also the plot came to a conclusion very conveniently which made the fiction a little too fictitious.
A special mention to Adarsh Gourav as Chhota Ganchi. His performance can take the crown in this show.
Overall a good watch if you enjoy the Gang-Mafia drama genre.
TharnType (2019)
Storyline needs major work and there should be necessary warnings
BL dramas generally do not contain a great plot but we watch it for guilty pleasure. Still I think there should be accountability and credibility in the storyline and writing.
Now coming to the positive aspect, the lead actors have good chemistry and did not shy away from challenging scenes.
But assault, stalking, physical abuse scenes normalised in the name of love should not be okay. At least there should be a written warning when something like this is shown. If you can publish warning message at an eavesdropping scene (about how it is wrong) then I'm sure assault and non-consensual scenes require warning messages as well. Non-consensual intimacy is not romantic whether it's done by the main lead or a side(negative) character used as a roadblock. Still considering even if it is used as a plot point, necessary warning message and later on redemption arc in storyline should be present to connect well with the character that we are supposed to root for.
There was a plot which involved gang-rape of a minor, and it was dealt with such casualty that it was borderline traumatising.
Good writing can be achieved without deep diving into problematic scenarios and making the story a little close to reality so that the viewer and connect and appreciate more.