ravenus Reviews

Chup (2022)

Great garnishes, but where's the meat?

[4/10 · 25 September 2022]

Balki may be a deep lover of 'cinema', I don't know, but what I see in Chup is the reduction of that cinema to some shallow 'reference' scenes (some undeniably good) that serve as occasional quirky respite in a trainwreck narrative with wafer-thin characters (two film-lovers cannot recognize each other as such?) and more eye-rolling contrivance than emotional engagement. They might as well have called it 'Dabba', which would have served both as a reference to the celluloid cans we see AND a pertinent self-critique.

Still, brownie points for the lovingly captured Bandra locations, some gorgeous lighting (Vishal Sinha) and the cockle-warming sight of forever-macho Sunny Deol yelling 'B*****d!' like it was the 90's all over again.

1 &1/2 stars from me, I dare ya.

Shree Krishnaparanthu (1984)

Strong supernatural tragic drama of a shaman's fall from divine grace.

[8/10 · 31 August 2022]

Malayalam horror film specialist A. Vincent's 'Srikrishna Parunthu' is a messy but grand tragic opus of a tantrik (shaman)'s fall from grace and the subsequent destruction it wreaks upon him and his clan. Seductive yakshis, forbidden passions, demons, black magic, the works.

Unlike most horror film-makers in India. Vincent seriously tells his stories, not relying on obnoxious comedy or jump scares to sell the movies. There is an almost operatic edge to the manner in which the tantrik (played by Mohanlal) reaches heights of greatness, but his succumbing to his baser instincts leads to his downfall.

Vincent also made the intriguing Vayanadan Thampan (1978), in which a young Kamalahaasan plays a vampiric warlock who manages to live across centuries by seducing maidens and drinking their blood.

Raudra (2022)

Disappointing story and uninspired direction

[5/10 · 10 July 2022]

A rather uninspired low-rent inspiration from the fantastic Tumbbad.

The script is half-baked and performances are variable (Deepak Damle alone is effective, although he seems to be channeling Sayaji Shinde). Visuals are good, but the BGM and songs are overbearing. The end is especially disappointing in its abruptness, almost as if they gave up after realizing they didn't know how to take the story further.

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Mishmash knockoff of Into the Spider-Verse

[5/10 · 4 May 2022]

No Way Home is a movie that probably cost 5 times as much as 'Into the Spider-Verse' but only comes across as a cheap knockoff with writing that would be considered lame in a backyard kids amateur theater night. Where Spider-verse felt fresh and zingy, this one is an mix of awkward scripting and corny dialog. Some of the VFX trickery is great but on the whole it could not stave off the boredom.

Shershaah (2021)

Follows a standard biopic template, missed opportunity for greater dramatic potential

[6/10 · 18 August 2021]

I can't evaluate how true Shershaah is to its subject, the late Capt. Vikram Batra who showed exceptional bravery during the Kargil war. But as a film, it comes off formulaic and pat. As played by Siddharth Malhotra, Capt. Batra's character has FILMI HERO written all over him - he makes cute wisecracks, is loved by all, barely breaks a sweat while putting down bad guys, and has an unimaginative romance track (Kiara Advani trying to make the most of an underwritten part, but then everyone in this movie is). Overall Shershaah has the shallow feel of a feature-length ad film rather than the emotionally involving saga of a brave warrior.

Just skimming over the wiki article on Batra, I'm actually puzzled at the interesting things that were left out from his life to make it fit the generic hagiography template. POTENTIAL SPOILERS DISCUSSED AHEAD.

Vikram and his brother Vishal were twins born just minutes apart. This could have made for an interesting running element in the narrative, but it is only kept for a poorly conceived last minute surprise (especially since it is Sid Mal's voice heard doing the voiceover for the eulogy at the start). Vikram's relationship with his family is depicted in a perfunctory and cliched manner, not even having the emotional attachment that classic Bollywood could be so good at.

In a more important dramatic omission, before his last battle (for point 4875), Vikram was physically unwell, down with fever. It was when he saw that the enemy was gaining over the Indian forces, that he volunteered despite his illness to fight and several of his colleagues pleaded to go with him. If true, this was a much more intense narrative than the bland tick-marking manner in which his Kargil conquests are depicted on the screen.

Chudail Story (2016)

The promised sizzle fizzles out

[4/10 · 13 November 2020]

Not that one had high hopes with such a title, I was just hoping for a campy horror flick with some skin show (Preeti Soni could be a contender for this generation's Jasmin in a Veerana sequel). CS on paper could have been better, it at least circumvents the convention of weird stuff happening only in the night, and in that sense can claim some kinship with The Shining or The Amityville Horror, but it is executed so poorly in terms of the direction and acting, that even at a 100min, it's a chore with more moments of unintentional humor and eye-rolling than spooky thrills.

Shool (1999)

Furious new avatar for the Angry Young Man

[9/10 · 12 July 2020]

Other than Govind Nihalani's Ardh Satya, Shool is the only worthwhile spiritual successor to 1973's Zanjeer. In some ways it takes the template to even greater extremes. Shool's cop as played by Manoj Bajpai is not just angry, he is white hot furious. He displays an almost pathological level of intolerance for the rot in the system, even as he pays a heavy price for it. The story & screenplay are credited to Ramgopal Varma and E Niwas, both of whom never before or after achieved anything approaching this level of emotional intensity (I suspect Anurag Kashyap, who is credited for the dialog, had more actual contributions to the script). I know the world has its share of fans of RGV's gangster movies, but hell no, I will stand my ground that none of them are anywhere near the brilliance of Shool. Every scene and character are so well-written, and without any compromises. The direction is terrific, maintaining the grounded nature of the film's setting (or at least consistent to the universe's logic, it's not slavish to the cause of realism). Every scene right down to the item number has its logical place and doesn't look like it was bunged in from somewhere. This is a movie where you don';t divide the cast into lead and supporting actors because everyone is playing a character. Bajpai smolders in the lead making a whole new mold for Angry Young Man, Sayaji Shinde as the main antagonist sends a shiver down your spine (before he replayed those mannerisms ad nauseam in a thousand movies), Ganesh Yadav and Vineet Kumar offer are solid as Bajpai's colleagues. Even Raveena Tandon does a good job. The end is unrelentingly bleak in keeping with the movie's structure. See it now. If you've seen it once before, see it again.

Chatrapathi (2005)

Cliched Hero Worship

[4/10 · 4 July 2020]

I guess Chatrapathi came when SSR was still working out his own formula because it is as generic as it gets.

In the lead, Prabhas is Shivaji aka Chatrapathi, yet another messiah of the masses, ideal son to traditional mother (a dowdy Bhanupriya) and dashing lover to typical Telugu movie imported decorative heroine (Shriya Saran). Most of the surrounding cast exists purely to marvel at how awesome Shivaji is. There's a glimmer of interest in the form of a vengeful step-brother who does all he can to poison the bond between the dowdy maa and adarsh beta, but the writing is flimsy and inconsistent, making the character a pompous buffoon. The Srilankan origin of the lead characters is ignored once they reach India, reducing them to standard oppressed basti-walas. Bollywood's Narendra Jha and Pradeep Rawat appear as unlikely Telugu speaking Northie baddies who run the vaguest form of criminal enterprise. I think they're supposed to be brothers, but one is called Bajirao and the other is Raas Bihari, go figure. Without a real script, SSR just bungs in a load of assorted elements. There's an odious parallel comedy track with an obnoxious guy doing assorted movie parodies (in one lengthy scene he apes Vikram's Anniyan performance). Apart from the by-the-numbers hero-heroine songs, there are two item numbers with women who have no other role in the film. The action scenes, with flailing of axes and pipe-wrenches, are mildly interesting but SSR is yet to develop the visual rhythm he brandished in the Bahubali films. Prabhas' introduction scene is at least amusing in terms of having the most unconvincing shark-fighting scene in cinematic history with Playstation1 quality CGI, but the bulk of Chatrapathi is just tedious twaddle.

Gulabo Sitabo (2020)

A beautiful story, a terrible movie

[4/10 · 16 June 2020]

Two of my closest friends and reliable cultural barometers had entirely contrasting views on Gulabo Sitabo. One found it so intolerable he couldn't last even half the movie, and the other was moved by what he described as a terrific layered and nuanced experience.

After seeing it for myself, I'm gonna split the difference and say it was a potentially beautiful story that turned out a terrible movie. Unlike my previous Shoojit Sircar experience with Piku the tone here (like Amitabh Bachchan's oversized prosthetic nose) struck me as completely wrong. What should have been a bleak vehicle about a pathetic rat-like scavenger with grandiose dreams, where the humor should come in biting irony, is painfully shoehorned into a sitcom with grating "comedy scene wala" background music. Ayushman Khurana's character exists solely because someone wanted to sign on Bachchan and Khurana and put it on the marketing blitz.. It's a part not worthy of the actor and dilutes the film's anchor, which is Bachchan's Mirza character. Even the end of what feels like a 5 hour slogfest is ruined by an imbecilic coda.

I say Amitabh is surprisingly good as a wizened wretched geezer. If they had made it with the right tone he had the chops to give a moving performance. But now that's just a load of coulda-shoulda-yada-yada.

Aval (2017)

The Horror Movie Cliche Next Door

[4/10 · 14 April 2020]

I recall this one got a decent review from my favorite critic Baradwaj Rangan. In retrospect, I wonder if the fact that he was pally with the director and lead actor led to a softening of his otherwise sharp critical reflexes. Rangan made a lot of the fact that the film is a "pure" horror, not mixed with other potboiler elements. But apart from the fact that there are no song elements and comedy tracks, it's not particularly different from the standard Vikram Bhatt horror feature.

Siddharth and Andrea Jeremiah are a very-much-in-love married couple who set up home in a picturesque remote hillside (which must mean a really long work commute for the husband who works in a state-of-the-art hospital doing surgical "deep brain stimulation" procedures). They get a new set of neighbors in Atul Kulkarni and his family which includes his second wife and one daughter from each marriage. The elder daughter, who is infatuated with Sid (causing justifiable irritation in his wife, especially since Sid doesn't seem to be bothered to even politely tell the kid to back off) starts to show weird behavior and there's talk about evil spirits asking them to leave the house. Since she's a depressed adolescent with stepmum issues (and of course reads horror books) they first try to look for a conventional reason and after a pseudo-exorcism (Prakash Belawadi, pleasantly restrained) goes spectacularly wrong, they delve into the history of the house (hinted at in the prologue). More stereotype horror movie w*nkery till the end.

THND goes through a battery of tired horror movie stereotypes - stuff that goes bump, someone walking past in the mirror, ghostly face at the window, followed by levitating furniture and stuff that gets hurled around. There's little here that's fresh or, like with the entertaining first instalment of The Conjuring, done with enough energy to transcend the cliche. The stray good scene, like when Sid must try to ignore visions of ghosts while he's trying to do a delicate brain procedure, provides too little relief. The screenplay is predictable to a fault and while the camera captures some interesting colored lighting that harks back to Dario Argento's Suspiria, the imagery (CG or otherwise) to depict the ghosts is unimaginative. On the whole this Grudge is a drudge.

Alai Payuthey (2000)

Lazy manipulative romance drama

[4/10 · 4 April 2020]

By God, what a terrible movie. A vella software guy stalks a medical student till she falls for him and they get married in secret. When the secret is spilled, both are turned out by their families. They discover that romance is sometimes not everything. Then an event occurs that throws everyone into turmoil.

Utterly manipulative script dependent entirely on the charms of the cast. Madhavan's Karthik comes across as a consummate lout during the courting phase (more than Arvind Swami in Bombay, and that's an achievement). I am still unable to comprehend what the heroine Shalini's medical student Shakthi finds so irresistible about him (the sequence in which he follows her to the medical camp where she's interning, I imagined would end in her telling him to stop being a hangdog and focus on making something of himself. Instead, she's suddenly so in love with this wastrel she wants to get immediately married, even if it means having to hide the marriage from their respective families). The manner in which he and his friends search for the missing wife (pointlessly hanging around train platforms and delaying contacting the police and hospitals till the last moment) is horrifyingly inept. Even more so than other Maniratnam "cute" movies every scene has a manufactured quality to it, and the item song (September maadham) seems to have been transplanted from another film altogether. Thoo!

Shiva Ka Insaaf (1985)

Bollywood Zorro meets Superman...in 3D

[6/10 · 4 April 2020]

Released in cinemas in 1985, Shiva ka Insaaf (SkI) was touted as the first Hindi 3D movie (since the 1984 Chota Chetan - which remains for most Indians in that era the defining 3D experience - was only dubbed into Hindi from the original Malayalam). While I never actually saw it in 3D at the cinemas, I did see it on VHS in that period.

SkI is a comic book type movie, with Jackie Shroff playing a masked vigilante hero called Shiva and his mild-mannered alter ego Bhola; of course in 80's Bollywood, mild-mannered translates. The obvious inspirations for Shiva are of course Batman (parents get murdered by a criminal, and hero trains for a life dedicated to crime-fighting) and Superman (mild-mannered employee at a newspaper).

SkI is all about broad strokes - locations are defined as "gaon" (village) and "shahar" (city). Shiva is brought up by a Hindu-Muslim-Christian triumvirate (while he is shown to visit all the religious shrines, the Hindu component appears dominant, given the avatar he dons and the batarang style mini-tridents he hurls at his enemies). Heroine Poonam Dhillon plays an editor that goes by herself to cover stories, which usually involves sneaking into a shady location, then getting caught and having to be rescued by Shiva. The evil mastermind villain (Shakti Kapoor) runs a poorly defined crime empire, and gets his jollies setting off bombs using a TV remote.

For the action scenes, 3D means there's a good bit of pointing guns, swords and sticks towards the screen, and in the climax Shakti Kapoor and his son (Gulshan Grover) inexplicably start firing flaming arrows at the hero. There is some hilarious use of toy cars, dolls/puppets and very obvious miniatures. Apart from one decent romance number, RD Burman's score is wholly forgettable. But for nostalgics of 80's action masala SkI is not a bad way of spending 2 hours.

Silence (I) (2016)

Not quite the Last Temptation

[7/10 · 24 November 2019]

For anyone that doesn't know, Silence looks at the struggle of Christian missionaries in 17th Century Japan and the actions of Japanese officialdom to root out the foreign religion. The film is seen primarily through the eyes of Rodriguez (everybody's favorite Catholic Andrew Garfield), who undergoes repeated crises of faith when he is asked to renounce his God with the threat of having his followers tortured. It's a story with a lot of potential and to be sure there are several interesting moments (especially when the characters discuss the relevance of Christianity in Japanese culture) and some terrific shoreline imagery, but I didn't feel as successfully involved with it. While it may be historically true I felt the Japanese officials were came across as caricature villains - it didn't help that Issey Ogata as the Inoue (governor?) sounded like a cross between Kenneth Williams of the Carry On series and Yoda. Also, Rodriguez's visions and messages from Jesus were very on-the-nose and cheapened the experience for me. So I think I'll stick with Last Temptation of Christ, so far as Marty's religious filmography goes.

Asuran (2019)

An intense beginning let down by cliched second half

[5/10 · 5 October 2019]

The first half of Dhanush's new movie Asuran is bloody good, marrying the intensity and visceral edge of a Bala movie with a more commercial edge (and not in the schizophrenic rudderless manner Bala himself did in Avan Ivan). The second half loses that sharpness and drives into bog standard 80's rural potboiler area, and even the caste angle appears to be played in a very superficial hero-glorifying manner (especially jarring is the token social message about education being the upliftment of the exploited masses). These are disappointing shortcomings especially since the film has some genuine strengths, mainly in the unvarnished setting (no item numbers, no out-of-place gloss) and a genuine regard for the great Indian masala drama. Also, Dhanush gives the role his all - with his body language and mannerisms he is able to convey a much older character and in a more subtle and nuanced manner than Vikram would have done.

Manta Ray (2018)

A modern masterpiece, a blend of humanistic values with gorgeous visual sense

[10/10 · 19 December 2018]

I saw Manta Ray (Phuttiphong Aroonpheng) at the Mumbai Film Festival in October 2018. This Thai directorial debut was a slow but engaging and eventually hypnotic blend of reality and fantasy, highly reminiscent of the films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee, Cemetery of Splendour). A Thai fisherman searching for gemstones in the forest (for an intriguing purpose) comes across a battered half-dead person (hinted to be a Rohingya refugee). He brings the man home, tends to his wounds and slowly nurses him back to health. In all this time the stranger does not utter a word, but there is an emotional connect between them. One day the fisherman abruptly disappears and the stranger from that moment carries on life in the manner the fisherman taught him. Even the fisherman's wife who had abandoned him for another man returns and moves in with the mute stranger, as though she has accepted him as a substitute for her husband. Already we are going into spoiler territory so I will not discuss the plot any further but the beauty of the film is in its rhythm and its evocative mix of real and imagined elements, coming across as a fable of sorts. And towards the end there are some sequences that are rapturous pure audio-visual experiences. This is a brilliant assured debut from a maker whose future work I will be looking forward to (There was a QA with the director after the screening, a shy unassuming gentleman who said that it took him almost 8 years to get the resources for making his film. I hope we won't have to wait that long for the next one).

Badhaai Ho (2018)

Cliched story saved by strong performances

[7/10 · 21 October 2018]

There is little that feels new and much that appears contrived in this tale of a mother of significantly older children (Neena Gupta) discovering that she is pregnant again and deciding to go on with it against health and financial odds simply because she feels abortion is a sin. Her sons sulk till the specific moment they decide it's all okay and go rah-rah-maa with a "baby shower". The mother-in-law (Surekha Sikri) is such an archetype tyrant you know later they're going to give her a speech in which she defends the bahu against a sneering samaj (which makes you want to slap her for not covering the DIL's back earlier when her own grandsons turned theirs). Ayushmann Khurana plays one of the confused sons from his comfort zone, while Sanya Malhotra as his girlfriend is written as a walking cliche of contemporary liberal youth whose every glance and utterance is as meticulously designed as her couture and coiffure.

But, and I won't blame you if you sniff at me and snatch away my cinephile card, I was hooked. It was mainly the performances that worked. Neena and Gajraj Singh look the part of a long-time middle-class couple and their interaction has a warmth that overcomes cliche (plus, she looks so lovely in those dilli-wale sweaters). And yes, I was blubbering into my hankie when cranky gran put down her khandaan for cocking their noses up at her sanskaari paanv-bhari bahu.

Tumbbad (2018)

Best Indian Horror Film

[9/10 · 12 October 2018]

Tumbbad is IMO the best Indian horror movie ever, with a strong script and incredibly good shadowy visuals and great sound design (although I will cut a point for the loud RGV-esque background score). Focused direction and a solid lead performance from Sohum Shah (who also produced the film).

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 (2018)

Next time please, Saheb, Biwi aur ek Script-writer

[4/10 · 29 July 2018]

I was expecting SBG3 to be a complete turd, and only went because a friend insisted on us seeing it. There are occasionally interesting moments, mainly because of the returning actors - Jimmy Shergill and Mahie Gill - who are comfortable in their roles even if by now the characters have become cardboard conspirators instead of the more nuanced personas of the first film. These are mixed with heaped helpings of non-sequitur and unintentional hilarity. Sanjay Dutt looks like age, plus a lifetime of booze and hedonistic living have addled his brain to the point he has a perennial slur (or perhaps he was drunk throughout the shoot). Chitrangada Singh is seen as a second-fiddle nautch girl character whose accent suggests she studied her mujra craft at Cambridge, or perhaps Yale. Other characters come and go with less-than-basic regard to continuity and coherence, like no one thought to do a second draft on the script or perhaps even wrote it up as they shot on set.

Apart from the leads, the film's casting seems to have been decided based on a "Kahan gaye woh log?" Bollywood trivia quiz so you have appearances from Kabir Bedi, Nafisa Ali and Deepak-fricking-Tijori.

A Gentleman (2017)

Agent Vinod: Bourne Again

[8/10 · 28 August 2017]

A Gentleman is another recent mainstream Bollywood movie I enjoyed a great deal. When I booked the ticket all I had in mind was "Hey, it's made by the same guys that made 99 and Shor in the City". After I booked I remembered, "Hey, didn't they also make Go Goa Gone and Happy Ending? Crap!" On the face of it, there was nothing else remotely promising. And the first 20 odd min had me regretting my decision with its wobbly pacing and stale humor. But then the movie started coming together, running multiple plot strands that (without spoilers) converged with a skillful timeline swerve that will either have you pleased or scratching your head going "समझ में नहीं आया". After that the movie is a tight and racy action comedy that stays within formula but milks it well. And Siddharth Malhotra is genuinely good in his part, exuding both toughness and self-deprecating humor. I've never seen any previous film of his but he generally seems to be cast as a depressed romantic fool a lot of the time. But here he conveys the ass-kicking buffed up hunk without it ever dipping into smug douchebag territory. The action sequences are immensely well done (including a nice riff on a Mission Impossible style heist, that includes rappelling down a glass-fronted tower building) and brutal hand to hand combat never gets old. Also the humor offers a continuous counterpoint to the violence (Amit Mistry seems to be continuing his role of Kuber from 99).

Sadly, like Jagga Jasoos, this is another cool movie that seems to be starved of an audience and likely to fizzle out pronto. Cinema on a weekend night was about a quarter full.

Jagga Jasoos (2017)

Dazzling joyful musical ride

[9/10 · 31 July 2017]

In the "Holy Gaumata, How Did This Turn Out So Good?!" category: I'm not being even slightly sarcastic or condescending when I call Jagga Jasoos a dazzling, humorous, joyous and warmhearted trip with tons of lovely visual touches, a wonderful combination of the Tintin-flavored globe-trotting adventure and a musical that embraces the form in its core. All the people that talk about how music is an integral part of the Indian film experience should watch this one to see how beautifully songs can be made a part of the script and create the rhythm of the film.

One of the most entertaining movies I've seen all year, Two Thumbs Up!

Hind Ka Napak Ko Jawab (2017)

Better than previous sequels, but not the magic of MSG

[5/10 · 11 February 2017]

It was more fun than all the other sequels of the very messy MSG time-line (Lion Heart and its sequel are unrelated to the previous MSG films), but still far short of the zeitgeist of the original MSG. The fact that Pitaji is now playing a character other than his interpretation of himself makes this series less resonant. The other issue is of pacing. Pitaji is needlessly stretching out the Lion Heart plot(?). Thankfully no flashbacks this time, but several mundane sub-plots and once again the climax is a cheat - we get a "to be continue...(sic)" notice. Also, it looks like the budgets are more like those for the Dev Anand films, which means watered down action spectacle (most of it is remote, with bad CG explosions). But the villains are a tad more memorable than than have been in the last 2 films, and moments like Pitaji operating a helicopter and missile drones with a Playstation controller, the idea of (howlariously inept CG) St Bernards as vicious attack dogs (they seem to be licking their victims to death)...are gold.

Ventilator (I) (2016)

Decent film in the Sai Paranjpe / Hrishikesh Mukherjee vein

[6/10 · 15 November 2016]

Ventilator is about what happens when the head of a large family is admitted to the ICU, the impact it has on the people around, humour and drama arising out of situations and the idiosyncrasies of the characters. The film had a special resonance for me, since part of it had been shot at the hospital where my dad had been in ICU a few months back, before he passed away. But even without that connection, many of us will identify with the events in the script - the rush and babble of relatives, the formalities that have to be attended to, the endless retelling of "What happened?", unasked second opinions and overwhelming sympathies, hidden motives and bickering that well up. The writing and direction have some real gems in this aspect. Also of note are the performances of the ensemble cast. Ashutosh Gowarikar has a major role playing (surprise, surprise) a successful film director and nephew of the ill man, and who also doesn't get along with his own father. Jitendra Joshi as the patient's son who resents his father for not respecting / accepting him is a revelation of good acting. In fact, most of the very large cast fit well in their roles and leave their mark.

One problem with the film is that it tries way too hard for its own sake. The script could definitely have done with some trimming and excision (a running gag with a fat kid is especially obnoxious), and the current 2.5 hour running time can be a slog. Especially towards the end, when the humour gives way to drama, you have a series of emotional climaxes coming one after the other and it gets a bit tiresome.

But overall it is still a worthwhile watch with the entire family. The film is obviously aiming for more than the usual Marathi speaking audience, since it is screened with English subtitles. They could think of expanding the audience further by dubbing it in Hindi and other languages. But for God's sake please do not remake the film with stars, that would just destroy its spirit.

Titli (2014)

Fantastic movie about small-time vicious crime family

[9/10 · 1 November 2015]

The film centers around a family of petty gangsters in Delhi that lead an incredibly sordid life, and what happens when the youngest, the relatively sensitive lad named Titli gets married and the complications arising from that relationship in his family trade. It loosely reminds me of the Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom, but is original in the characters and events. Direction is very strong and the performances are terrific all around. The one thing that bothered me was the low grade digital photography (looked like it was shot on mobile phones), which made any scenes not shot in full daylight look very drab. But a terrific movie that deserves to be watched.

Killa (2014)

Lovely film, reminiscent of Swami & Friends.

[8/10 · 9 October 2015]

Last night I caught this charming Marathi film 'Killa - The Fort'. I feel sorry over having missed this in the cinema. Oh well, at least DVD. Captured from the world-view of young Chinmay (Archit Deodhar) after he moves to a new town on account of his widowed mum's job transfer, the film strongly reminds me of RK Narayan's wonderful novel 'Swami & Friends'. With that literary classic it shares a gentle observational tone, the episodic nature of events told and the ability to see things from a child's point of view. The performances of the young actors are spot on (as also the adults, especially the lovely Amruta Subhash as Chinmay's mum), and although there's never any major unpleasantness, it doesn't try to sugarcoat / idealize the behavior of the kids or talk down to them. It also reminds me slightly of Francois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows', though a lot more positive in its outlook.

Director Avinash Arun is also the DoP and he does a fabulous job, especially when capturing nature. The shots of dark clouds overhanging the titular fort and the subsequent shower are hugely atmospheric. Editing is also unobtrusively fine, and while there are no songs (thankfully) a lovely melodic instrumental score permeates several moments of the film.

The DVD from Video Palace is good. The image is somewhat soft but seems intentional in the cinematography. No extras, which is a bit of a bummer, but there's a short message from the director on the inside of the (nicely done) digipack talking about his childhood and how it inspired him to make the movie. On the whole highly recommended, unless you only see 100 crore movies.

Haunted - 3D (2011)

Yawn-ted 3D

[4/10 · 7 May 2011]

Having seen this movie on a 3D screen yesterday, my remarks: If you've seen one Vikram Bhatt horror movie, you've pretty much seen them all. The man is just shuffling and recycling elements from his earlier films, which weren't great to start with. As expected, the horror elements never get particularly nasty, and an abundance of songs and treacly romantic elements bring the pace to molasses slow. Mimoh or Mahakshay as he now likes to call himself should be given an award for the longest period an actor has carried a single expression...in this case, the entire movie. As a fellow movie-watcher pointed out, if there is anything at all notable about this film, it's that a South Indian character, an Aiyar, is for the first time presented as a raging villain instead of plain comic relief. The 3D does give a sense of depth to most of the visuals, but very little use of it is made in the story and there are all too few of the "throw things at the screen" elements that make a cheesy horror film in 3D fun.