Monthly Review: August 2022
August is one of the months this year where I didn’t have plans of doing anything — be it watching movies, meeting people or any activity except one — a trip to Tiruvannamalai.
But it turned out to be one of the best months for me regarding movies I watched, people I met, and places I travelled. Though there were plans of visiting Kerala on workation, we postponed the workation to November to avoid the unpredictable rains in Kerala this month.
Let’s get started with the movies :)
Movies
Nobody
Since Better Call Saul is about to finish, I stumbled upon a YouTube video that happens to be an action scene from Bob Odenkirk starrer Nobody, written by the same writer who worked for John Wick. I love the John Wick series, so I watched this film without delay. I loved this one too!
With the stylish action sequences and an actor like Bob who can suave us with his acting & dialogue delivery, this film has my liking. Would recommend it to people who love watching action flicks.
Darlings
Dark comedy is one of the less explored genres in Indian mainstream films. Alia Bhatt starring and producing the movie made me excited to watch. I saw the trailer before the film, and it was interesting too! It isn’t an entirely dark comedy film but it has dark moments. Thankfully they didn’t whitewash Hamza, and as the saying goes, “A dog’s tail will never be straight.”
I loved the actors’ performances, and I rewatched the scene where Zulfi gets played by the mother-daughter duo while purchasing the mixer. It’s funny, and I enjoyed all the aspects of that scene.
Sita Ramam
I like Krishna Gadi Veera Prema Gaadha, and it happens to be the first film I watched on my mobile :) And Hanu comes from the school of Chandrasekhar Yeleti, whose films I respect a lot.
I was waiting for the commercial success of Hanu, and when the poster of Sita Ramam was released, with the lead cast, honestly, I was disappointed. I felt that no one’s going to watch the film from a flop director with non-Telugu actors. I even pitied Swapna Cinema for backing this project as I expected it to be a commercial flop.
Cut to the movie getting a positive response and soothing songs that made me watch it the next day of its release. Went to the cinema hall, and there were hardly 50 people inside.
The movie started, and I was totally immersed in the world. I loved the film and cried multiple times while watching the film. It’s pure magic. I cursed myself for over-analysing and being pessimistic about it!
I won’t give away anything about the film but wanted to share this thought that popped into my head as soon as I watched it: This film is pure and pristine as the water flowing from the Himalayas just after melting from a glacier.
I sent my parents to watch it, and they loved the movie too! My father and I discussed the film over dinner for an hour the next day :)
Pokiri
We were kids at the time of Pokiri’s release. To celebrate Mahesh Babu’s birthday this year, fans organised special shows, and I feel there’s no other movie of MB than Pokiri that can do justice to mass euphoria. I saw people jumping all over when the songs were being played.
Okay, I didn’t watch it in the theatre. With FOMO troubling me, I watched the film on YouTube and discovered many things my childhood self wasn’t mature enough to observe and understand. Perfect commercial film of Mahesh Babu.
Thiru (Thiruchitrambalam)
I haven’t watched a Dhanush film in the theatre in the past. So, when the movie was released, and people started praising it, I asked my friend Revanth whether we both can go to this movie. He agreed, and we went to the movie, enjoyed its moments, discussed it, and even wrote our thoughts in a Notion document. It reminded me of these Selva’s films: 7/G, Aadavari Maatalaku Arthale Verule, Varna.
While this may be longer, here are my thoughts on the film:
- Dhanush doesn’t get any heroic moments is one of the unique points of the film. He neither gets an elevation during the fight nor gets a breakup song after proposals with Raashi & Priya don’t end fruitfully.
- Dhanush is so relatable with his fears, his failed proposals, under-confidence, trying to be away from fights, and his world. It’s so good to see the actor who unleashed a beast with an award-winning performance in Asuran can pull this off and bring us joy.
- Selva Raghavan’s associate directed the film. Hence I drew parallels. Prakash Raj is paralysed — Arya’s father in Varna is also paralysed.
- Facing Revathi’s family is an emotional scene where Prakash Raj is full of guilt, but her parents treat them with utmost love and respect.
- The cinematography in the song “Megham Karukatha” is lively and pleasant. It doesn’t hold back in making us feel that we are present in that location. Colour patterns reminded me of Selva again!
- Thankfully music underplays and doesn’t dominate any scene in the movie. It is used as much as required, not making us forcefully emote.
- I’ve not seen Raghuvaran B. Tech, but my friends mentioned it to be in the same zone.
- Even after Prakash Raj is paralysed, the reality is brought in. Dhanush neither immediately changes his attitude towards his father nor does he help him. It builds on slowly, and there is friction between them that doesn’t go in a jiffy.
- It has quirky comedy with dialogues, which work most of the time. The dialogues are not filmy, and they are natural conversations.
- Dhanush’s character doesn’t confront Raashi & Priya after they reject his proposal & advances. It’s such a controlled performance, making the character organic and relatable.
- Nithya Menen is lovely throughout the film. Her character is mature and honest. Mesmerised with her performance.
- Dhanush and Prakash Raj’s relationship parallels the 7/G father-son characters, but for different reasons.
- Dhanush and Anirudh can give us mass songs like “Maari” and also breezy songs like “Megham Karukatha” ❤
Documentary — Life Itself
A journalist, Ram Venkat Srikar, mentioned a documentary on critic Roger Ebert called “Life Itself” on Twitter. I downloaded the documentary but didn’t get interested in watching it until yesterday. I watched it yesterday, and it was an emotional one documenting the life of Roger from his early days as a famous critic to his final days. Would recommend it to people interested in movies like me!
Web Series
Better Call Saul
It’s so sad to see the series end. One of the most loved characters ever, Saul Goodman, aka James Jimmy McGill, aka Gene Takovic, has a heartwarming ending. I loved the finale and the entire series, except for how our charmer Lalo dies. I’d recommend people to watch Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul anytime :)
Delhi Crime
I believe the first ever web series I watched was Delhi Crime season 1. I was new to the format and was intrigued by its making. Last weekend, Season 2 started streaming on Netflix, and on the same day, I binge-watched it.
In this season, they took gruesome murder cases, and the story is about nabbing the criminals and bringing them to justice. There are sub-plots for each character, and they don’t digress from the core plot. The story, on a subtextual level, deals with the popular contrast — a lifestyle of the rich & aspirations of the poor from Delhi.
The performances are brilliant. I witnessed Shefali Shah for the first time in S1, followed by Darlings, and then this. She pulled off the role effectively. In one scene, she walks with an angry face, and a constable wishes her. Immediately she has a subtle smile to wish her back, followed by immediate anger again. Close-ups of her are intense.
Rasika Duggal, too has good scope to perform, balancing work and personal life. Most working women can relate to her character. Helpless, focused on work, striving to make married life successful.
Tillotama Shome gives me shivers with her performance. She looks terrific. Looking forward to her performances in future.
Reflects upon how our society conducts media (social media) trials against a suspect. It’s quite the opposite of how our judiciary delivers justice.
I’m glad that the web series touches upon the subjects that mainstream films can’t due to censorship and outrage issues. A history-sheeter could lead a life without crime, but the first suspect is always them all the time a new crime is committed.
Books
While returning from Bengaluru, I purchased a “Shoe Dog” book on a train. I started reading it last month (July), and finally, I finished reading it yesterday. I loved the book and would recommend it. The book is a memoir of Nike’s founder, Phil Knight, from the day the crazy idea of the shoe business got in his mind to the day of its IPO.
The entire book covers the highs and lows of the business from its humble beginnings, and he draws parallels between running a business and running on a track. In the epilogue, the book made me emotional after knowing about the state of the early employees of Nike, who built a mammoth organisation ground up.
Travel & Other stuff
I visited Kanchipuram and Tiruvannamalai this month, and the trip went well. I’m writing a dedicated blog on my experience of the solo trip, which will be out soon (it would have been out last week if my procrastination didn’t creep in).
I went to Hyderabad once this month and met amazing people. I met Revanth, my batch mate and a close friend from IITH, and we watched Thiru together. He’s a film buff too! He suggested an idea to maintain a document on the cloud where we dump our thoughts on movies and series and discuss them when we meet. Why you may ask! We don’t know as of now how it goes on. He has a YouTube channel where he breaks down the movies he finds interesting. Do check it out now.
Also, I met fellow WhatsApp group members from the last two years — Harish, Suresh, and Prudhvi. We met for the first time (except for Suresh, whom I had met already). It was great interacting with them. I made friends — Apurva, Susruth, and Nageshwar, and had good conversations with them. I loved talking to them so much that I was awake until 5 am! Had I opened my WhatsApp at that time, my parents, after checking my last seen, would have thought, “Puthrudu prayojakudayyadu” :p
August was excellent, except I didn’t publish blogs as promised. Will try to be consistent on this front.
Oh wait, before ending, I need to mention this — I saw a short film made by a friend, and it is brilliant. It’s not out in public, but I had the privilege of watching it and asking questions about the filmmaking. As someone said, “Cinema is alchemy.”
Until next time…
