Monthly Review: July 2023
July had it all, starting with bright sunny days and ending with incessant rains and floods. The whole month had a mix of many things for me as well. I traveled for half of the time, was alone at home for the rest of the days, read books, watched movies, played with kids, and had good conversations with elders, among many others.
Let’s get started with books.
Books
Something like an autobiography by Akira Kurosawa
I was reading this book to learn more about the films of Akira Kurosawa but got to know more about him than his films. I liked reading the book and shared my thoughts here. It was a good read throughout.
Mahabharata by C Rajagopalachari
I purchased this book in 2021 and haven’t read it since then. Soon after completing Kurosawa’s book, I saw this book on the shelf, wanting to get it in my hands. I embraced it and started reading last week. Although I know the story, Mahabharata is known for its subplots, and the author’s perspective greatly matters.
There are stories like Devayani — Kacha and the revenge of Drona and Drupada against each other that I wasn’t aware of, making this reading experience interesting. I’m reading a few chapters daily as a habit before closing for the day. Let’s see how it goes!
Audio Books
I tried listening to two audiobooks this month, but both were in vain. One was the Telugu translation of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse; I don’t remember the other one. Anyways, let me see if I can complete them soon or switch to others!
Movies
Samajavaragamana
I watched this movie with my Karthik in Bengaluru. Happens to be my only theatrical visit this month. It turned out well.
I wasn’t hoping to watch this film in the cinema hall. Hence I saw the trailer before the movie’s release. It’s not that the trailer sparked my interest or anything; we went to the cinema because we had time, and I decided to experience a Telugu movie in a Kannada place.
Before the movie, I didn’t have any expectations about it and was looking forward to a time pass movie, but there are scenes that made me smile. The script is organic, and there were popular memes and movie references that generate comedy, although the filmmaker had his own comedy scenes that worked out well.
Naresh is the hero in the first half. He’s one of the good actors we have who can easily do comedy. Most of his scenes worked well for me — his expressions, dialogue delivery, and body language were fun! After Sammohanam, this is the movie where I enjoyed a lot watching him perform.
Then comes the interval twist.
The film’s second half has a conflict native to Telugu culture. I wonder how this is so normal here, and the filmmaker generated fun out of this. I don’t want to give away what it’s about. Every actor had at least one scene that added to the laughter moments of the story. All aspects complemented each other, but the songs weren’t as good.
They wanted to make it a commercial entertainer, hence adding a fight and one or two emotional scenes that didn’t work for me. The movie was a flow of humor; suddenly, these things feel out of place. Overall, I enjoyed this good time pass film on a cold Bengaluru night.
Iratta
While we were on our way from Bengaluru Airport, my colleagues Nihas and Bharadwaj talked about good Malayalam movies and discussed Iratta in particular. It was the second time Nihas suggested I watch Iratta, and this time, I couldn’t not watch the movie.
I returned home and watched Iratta one Friday night and slept in shock. The movie is good and disturbing. It’s like Mahanadi, where you appreciate the movie but can’t go and watch it again. Not for the faint-hearted people. Joju was in top form throughout the film, and every actor performed well.
Lust Stories 2 (Konkana’s part)
With the successful Lust Stories first edition, Netflix released Lust Stories Part 2 with different filmmakers but the same producers. Although the response was mild from the audiences and critics alike, Konkana’s part was met with great applause. My friend Suresh suggested that I watch Konkana’s part as it’s too good.
It was fun and wacky. There’s the sensibility of the director coming into the picture and the weirdness of humans depicted. I enjoyed watching it. Viewers’ discretion is advised as this has 18+ content.
Web Series
Kohraa
I wasn’t aware of this series until my friend Bharat suggested it’s one of the best thriller series on Netflix. Started watching it over the weekend and completed it last weekend. The series is good but seems to drag a lot. It’s a slow-burn thriller that doesn’t have any bangers. The makers touched upon the crime world of Punjab too.
Travel
I was out of the station for almost half of the month. I was in Bengaluru and Goa (3 days) at the beginning of the month. I was in Bengaluru at my brother’s place and then had an offsite in Goa for 3 days. Realized firsthand why Goa is not a good place to roam around in Monsoon!
Towards the end of the month, I went to Vijayawada on a weekend. I went to an area called Lenin Street and saw many bookstores selling all kinds of books. As usual, I purchased books, this time four, and gave one to Sameera. While the books on my shelf are looking at me with anger, I added three new people there so that they can share the anger and calm down 🙂
Coming to the interviews that I watched this month, there are three conversations that I liked:
- Sree Vishnu with Ram Venkat Srikar for Film Companion South
- Abbas with Baradwaj Rangan
And this is the third one — good to watch Chris Nolan ♥️
Many places were submerged under water due to incessant rains causing floods in the last ten days. People couldn’t step out, and school kids were at home as the government declared holidays. Nature is really unpredictable.
With that, we are towards the end of the blog. I perhaps have met many people this month — my friends, colleagues, father-side relatives, mother-side relatives, and family friends, and it feels good to have conversations with them 😀
Overall, July had both extremes. In the first week, we saw the bright sun and waited for more than a week towards the end of July to see clouds unmask the Sun. I had good times, doing things I like and meeting people, and I had a few challenging days, similar to the weather the whole month!
Until next time…
