Cinema, Karam, Kapi

  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 & Rel...

Huma Qureshi said in an interview to a popular publication recently that she thinks it’s a waste of time to read each comment on her social pages! Well, she may have said it in a different tone altogether but what a 180* turn this is from the days of yore when the artists of yesteryears not only read (or asked someone to read) letters sent to them by their fans, they’d also reply back to most of them, some with gifts and courtesies. I honestly wonder if Huma would have said this if she is not as big a star she is today, thanks to her fans and the fraternity. Not that she has had successful commercial hits, especially with the BO disaster that Kaala alongside Superstar Rajinikanth that was. Well, to each her own. War of Likes is a film somewhat in the same lines, focussing on the lives and mentality of the millennials who believe their social score and public visibility quotient summarise their popularity among their friends and family. The number of followers on platforms such as Inst...

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 ...