Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Betrayal is the worst outcome a human can take. It pains. It makes you feel weak. It makes you feel numb. And most importantly, makes you feel so dumb and helpless that one actually gave themself in to the plot, most often unknowingly. Jolt is all about a woman’s betrayal. Lindy Lewis (Kate Beckinsale) grows up as a normal kid. But over time, takes over her parent’s characteristics and grows up aggressive. At one stage, she is termed “harmful” for the society and is sent to a special school to tame her mind. Sadly, it doesn’t help. She goes through medical treatment, where the medics get harmed by her tantrums. She’s sent to join and train at the Forces, where she ends up hurting even the most skilled personnel. She’s put in lock and key but her aggressive nature makes her the most vulnerable at her tipping point and she gets unexpected energies which cannot be controlled by iron and chains. Finally, Dr. Ivan Munchin (Stanley Tucci) finds a solution for her sake. She’s wrapped up with

Revenge is not worthwhile, they say. Well, it depends on the cause after all. Sometime, getting back at someone is not to get even but to gain peace. For some please, ignoring or shrugging off is the best solution while a few go to any length to get even, take revenge, at times risking what they have, wondering whether it was all worthwhile. Like the film’s protagonist Stephanie Patrick. To each, their own. Stephanie (Blake Lively) is a happy kind in a family of four with her sister and parents. Even as she reminisces the good old times she’s had, we hear a voice asking her to go to the front bedroom for a Client is waiting. With a “ drugged for several years-look ” and ready to strip to get laid as a prostitute in downtown London, Stephanie asks the client to first pay and borrows a Cigarette. Only that the “Client” is there to – well, talk to her. Rather, talk her out. Keith Proctor (Raza Jaffrey) is a freelance Investigative Journalist and tells her that her parents didn’t die in a

  I have been watching films on Netflix only for about a year, though I have honestly had the account for the past 3 years intermittently. Thanks to the theatres “locked down”, I would’ve watched at least 50 movies on this OTT platform since Apr. ’20, while washing vessels during the first lockdown, late nights after stressful work days, while on travel or simply finding a slot on a normal day to catch up some “me time”. So, watching Jagame Thandhiram (JT) today at home on the Tv was a natural progressing. And the film lived up to my preferred genres – Crime, Thrillers, International Politics, Refugee situation and of course, some gunfights. Only that JT packs almost all of these genres in one single movie over 158 mins. The whole narrative was so international that at many moments, I felt I wasn’t even watching a Tamil movie.  Dhanush’s Jagame Thanthiram is the first Tamil film to be titled “A Netflix Original” after the producers backed by S. Sashikanth, YNOT Films & Reliance Ent

I simply happened to see the Trailer and was fascinated with the mere thought of listening to a Bengali family’s tales for over 2 hours and decided to watch the film. Having worked in the sweet city, having mishit doi and a kathi roll for dinner with my mere savings for a year, I felt at ease living in the city of join 20 years back. I have made some friends for life and still in touch with many but have never seen a full-fledged movie ever. This was the chance. And in less than 1 year, my colleagues at work ensured I learnt conversational Bangla. So the movie’s trailer was intriguing enough for me to catch up last Sunday.  Switzerland – yes, that’s the movie name is about a family of four, a couple and their two little daughters who dream of travelling to the European country. Rumi (Rukmini Maitra) is a school teacher in downtown Kolkata and teaches Geography. Shibu (Abir Chatterjee)  is a salesman at a Mahindra dealership and has a love marriage, the bride being from a very rich fami

The end does not justify the means, goes an old adage. That Lord Rama killed Vaali, the King of Monkeys while hiding behind a tree, an episode in the epic Ramayana is a topic of great debate in local circles even today. Whether the Demon King Ravana was a hero or a villain is still a point of discussion and Director Mani Ratnam went on to make a movie in his name (in 2010) eulogising the great King’s antics through a subtle characterisation of a kidnapper which was incidentally played by Abhishek himself. The makers of “The Big Bull” have merely attempted the same through this film which premiered on Disney+Hotstar OTT platform in April 2021.   I was watching a hindi film after ages. And one feat. Abhishek Bachhan – I don’t really remember what was his previous film I saw – may be it was "Dum Maaro Dum" (2011). But boy, this guy has matured so much in his acting (no, really I mean it) over the years. Atleast in this film, I saw the same expressive eyes of his Bengali Mom and

I have always believed in my own coinage ‘Artificial Intelligence, Natural stupidity”. Netflix’ own production “Outside the Wire” is just that. When humans start depending more and more on machines and lesser on human values, we’re only headed for a major apocalypse. And this film once again reveals why is it so.   Harp (Damson Idris) is a drone pilot operating from a US Marine base and has a successful career as a drone pilot (the films is set in 2036). During a mission where Marines are fighting against an ambush, Harp decides by himself to strike a missile from the drone instead of listening to his superior’s order to hold back; the guys on ground want to save 2 wounded soldiers and are trying their best but Harp chooses to push the missile to save the 38 soldiers instead as there is a fully loaded van which is about to blow up. Subsequently, Harp is reprimanded; escapes a Court Martial and a jail term thanks to a benevolent boss, though he is sent to Camp Nathaniel in Ukraine to un

We cannot erase our past, but we can ensure we erase our future so it doesn’t erase our past. Yeah. Read again. And again. If you can get what I’m saying, well, then that’s Tent for you. Tenet was the first big budget outing that will be remembered for being released worldwide in theatres even as the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world all through 2020. Be glad that there is no direct or indirect connect to China. For Christopher Nolan is known to intertwine not just screenplay but also multiple geographies in his films.  In Tenet, he has stuck to just 7 countries (or geographies) including Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Norway, the UK and the US as well as amchi- Mumbai displaying a brave bungee jumping act among others in Mumbai in an Antillia-like structure. Later, they gatecrash a part of Oslo Airport with a Cargo Airliner with minimum destruction to the structure (ser, perhaps!).  Tenet is fantastically (and fanatically written and conceptualised) by Nolan, someone who has always belted m

A young muslim boy aged 7 was distributing newspapers in a quaint town of South India many decades back. His school teacher who was a Hindu, identified him as a bright young man in the making and encouraged him to study well, though the boy had to still make ends meet for his poverty stuck family. Today, the entrance of Rameswaram, the town that he lived and grew up has an edifice of his lifetime work in the name and style of “Kalam Memorial” where a rocket that he commissioned in his early years stands proudly showcasing his years of work and dedication, before he eventually became the First Citizen of India and made his homeland proud. Other than this, there are many many such examples of people who have come up, literally from the rags and have risen to higher echelons of the society, in the professional, entrepreneurial and even political space. The White Tiger, now streaming on Netflix is about this phenomenon – Poverty Porn – as the name that has been coined for this as a referen

unhinge   verb past tense:  unhinged ; past participle:  unhinged   make (someone) mentally unbalanced. "the loneliness had nearly unhinged her"      deprive of stability; throw into disorder. "a chain of events unhinges the structure of his family" Three things I learned early in my life to lead a better life – use PST liberally and without any hesitation or shame as the situation may be: Please, Sorry & Thank You. In many occasions, this has come in handy; in some it didn’t. After all, it requires a lot of grace to say these three words. And a lot more to accept them.   Unhinged   is all about one of these words. And how someone can bully another. Who bullied who? Later in this article. Rachel, very well played by Caren Pistorius, a single mother (in the making) is a distressed person due to various reasons and lives with her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman who is in real only 14 years younger to her). While she’s rushing to drop her son to the school as she over-sl

Prof. Selvam was a big inspiration when I was still in school. In the climax of the film “Nammavar”, a title which Mr. Kamal Hassan’s supporters  have been liberally using for his political posters, advises the young ones that “Change” will take time, but one shouldn’t expect immediate results as the system has been corrupted for a long time. 25+ years later, Prof. John Durairaj also concludes in the film with a similar message. That we should keep trying for improvements and never stop becoming better – at things around us as well as ourselves. While everything was reasonably good with Vijay’s Master, the Kutti story that was intended was a tad too long – spanning almost 180 minutes.  Lokesh Kanagaraj, who’s “Kaithi” feat. Karthi had a great outing a year back has been on the news ever since his “Master” feat. not one but two Vijay namesakes was announced. Along with the veteran Vijay (Sr.), we also have Vijay Sethupathi who plays a negative role yet again after Vikram Vedha (with Mad

Well, I decided to call it “Nayak” myself as the film is all about the Nayak and his Khalnayak. Or the other way around. So it sounded all the way from frame 1 till the climax with a twist. With the way the film ended, I won’t be surprised if the makers end up making a sequel to the movie. Rather, a prequel, up to where Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor argue on a stage where Anurag teases Anil to the hilt and their admonishment of each other not just amuses the live audience, rather shocks them with the turn of things in the first few mins of the film rolling on.  AK vs. AK is supposedly a “real-life movie” starring Director Anurag Kashyap and Bollywood Superstar Anil Kapoor as themselves. Apparently, there’s a former rivalry between the two and things take an ugly turn with Anurag kidnapping none other than Sonam Kapoor who appears as herself in the “movie”. He sets a deadline unto sunrise next morning by when the actor has to search for his daughter all across Mumbai city and it’s subu

  “You are a Socialite, I am a Socialist”, quips Nedumaran Rajangam when he is offered to be bought out even before he begins his airline business by a character who goes by the name Vimal Balaiyya. In another scene, Paresh Goswami tells his team that Vimal’s luck in the business is only until his father’s wealth remains. Later, we see Maara and his friends break away the Business Class Seats to depict clearly they are against the Capitalist system. Below the belt dialogues and scenes, but well, that’s what Sudha Kongara’s latest outing “Soorarai Potru” is all about. Hard hitting, agenda led and drama. And all this, with least reference to the main character on whom the biopic is all about, Capt. Gopinath, Former IAF Pilot and Founder of India’s first low-cost airline, Air Deccan. Sadly, the real life hero is given credit only at the end of the film with some of his real life photos and lifetime achievements. Atleast in theatres, some people watch the scroll till the end while on Amazo