Monthly Review: November 2023
I started writing this blog post just before I went to vote. By the time this is published, the voting will be over.
Now, speaking of November, I had a good time and did many activities. I’ve got to watch good cinema, read books slowly, a few pages every day, and meet friends and family, spending quality time with them. Let’s look at the movies first!
Movies (Theatrical experience)
Three of Us
I looked at the poster of the film and was wondering how long it has been since I saw a poster as feel-good as it gets. From the first poster to the trailer, everything increased my interest in the film. We, a group of 8 friends went to this movie and liked it. The raw emotions, sarcastic conversations between the couple, the nostalgia, and the way we expect women to do all things — everything is portrayed beautifully. Not to forget the native village locations and the coastal Konkan area. I was immersed in the movie and felt like I was there with the characters while they conversed, laughed, cried, and walked along the beach. The slow-paced editing and static camera made the film as realistic as possible, giving a vibe.
Jigarthanda Double X
This is one of the honest and mainstream works in Indian cinema this year. I had good expectations of the film and wasn’t disappointed, even a bit. One of the best theatrical experiences I’ve had this year, watching this movie with the Tamil audience on a weekday in a packed theatre.
There are peak moments, emotional scenes, and terrific performances by the lead actors. I liked how Karthik Subbaraj made a straight political film while sticking to his strong zones of introducing the characters in his typical silhouette-celebrating way and giving them a character arc. SJ Suryah and Lawrence stood out for me and my love and respect towards both increased multi-fold while watching the film.
I’m writing down my detailed thoughts on this movie in another blog post, will publish soon.
SSE Side B
I watched SSE Side A in Hyderabad and was looking forward to the second part from then. This movie made me emotional, and I felt that Manu is that one candle that melts while giving light to others. This is more intense than the first part and the scene intercuts worked here as well, like they did in the first part’s climax. I was prepared not to cry and was trying to hold my emotions until the climax but couldn’t resist myself at the end. After Sita Ramam and Ante Sundaraniki, this is the film that made me cry with its poignant story and memorable characters with love.
Movies (on OTT)
Jawan
With all due respect, I couldn’t continue watching this after the first half. No man, I just couldn’t. While watching the first half, I was reminded of many movies and I was unable to continue. I love SRK, Atlee, and Nayanathara but not this collaboration of theirs.
Kannur Squad
I couldn’t watch this movie during its theatrical run and a few of my friends suggested that I watch this film. Last Friday I watched it on Hotstar. Initially, I wasn’t completely into it and felt people unnecessarily hyped the movie but my interest in the movie increased with every scene as the story unfolded and towards the end, it felt like a personal victory. At times it reminded me of Karthi-H Vinoth’s Theeran, perhaps due to the realistic portrayal of Police and their struggles, without glamorising it by taking cinematic liberties.
Tiger Nageshwar Rao
I have a soft corner for Ravi Teja that makes me watch his every film, either in theatres or on OTT. After watching the trailer, I wanted to watch this film in theatres but couldn’t. It is unbearable. The movie is all over the place and there’s no sync. It’s partially a biopic but never feels like it. Not even a single scene with wow-factor that held my interest. Not even a song or a scene.
And what’s up with Ravi Teja objectifying his heroines in every movie? I don’t understand this! It’s on the face and I wonder why the filmmakers can’t write/think beyond that or why Ravi Teja agrees to do these kind of scenes where he teases the heroines, gropes them, stalks them, and have songs glorifying these activities.
Johnny Gaddaar
I’ve been a fan of Sriram Raghavan from the time of AndhaDhun but haven’t watched his other films except for Badlapur. At the time of ‘Monica, Oh my darling’ release, my friend suggested that I watch Johnny Gaddaar. I watched this movie last week and I was thoroughly impressed by it.
This is a neo-noir film and Sriram builds tension with the way he directs crime scenes. He doesn’t use any background music and uses environment sound to give us chills. Also, the characters involved in the crime scene are not experts, making it even more interesting. I observed this in both, Johnny Gaddaar and AndhaDhun. The characters are grey, they are selfish and have their motives. The murders they commit are accidental and they repent for those murders, making the characters humane.
Also, I revisited a few films:
Ante Sundaraniki — Entha Chitram song, the proposal scene right after the song where the camera slowly zooms in, the music pauses when Leela asks Sundar, Sundar’s expression as the camera slowly zooming in, with Vivek Sagar taking it to the next level by his soulful music. I’ve always admired this scene, and couldn’t stop myself from appreciating the entire team.
Django Unchained — only the famous dining table scene and the aftermath of it, to observe Christoph Waltz and Leo. I think I’ve to revisit the entire film soon.
Anand (Telugu) — the uncut version available on YouTube that has scenes that were deleted in the theatrical version. One scene involving the entire Rupa’s friends seemed to be off with comedy and there’s one where Rupa daydreams of romanticizing Anand. The latter scene worked for me. There are other scenes as well that weren’t present in the version we watched either on screen or on Television.
Books
I’ve read two good books and reading another one now.
Directors Diaries 1 & 2:
This book has a series of conversations of the author, Rakesh Anand Bakshi with the filmmakers, mostly working/worked in Hindi Cinema. I completed the first book and only read a few interviews in the second book. The conversations with a few directors were full of insights from their experiences of working for films. After a point, the set of questions bored me but I kept going, only to finish the book. I wish it had the questions as per the filmmaker’s experience rather than asking the same set of questions to every director. I compiled notes from a few interviews. Mahesh Bhatt’s interview stood out for me, because of the way he philosophically approached filmmaking.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
I bought this book for a very low price during Covid and haven’t touched it until last week. I started reading the book and discovering the behind-the-scenes of the Mac and Apple devices we are using today. I love it so far, and I hope I don’t abandon this book.
Also, I listened to a lot of good interviews and podcasts in November. The one that stood out for me, and made me a subscriber to is Nikhil Kamath’s WTF series on YouTube. I watched only two podcasts so far and oh boy, they are brilliant. More than three hours with lots of insights, candid conversations, jokes, suggestions, and the experts’ advice for aspiring folks who want to start a restaurant or be a social media / digital influencer. I’d recommend everyone to watch these episodes.
Now, coming to the song I listened to the most in November — En Anbe from Sathyam. I rediscovered this song recently on Twitter and regained my lost love for this gem. Such a melody from Harris Jayaraj!
Speaking of songs, we have Spotify Wrapped list, and ARR topped my list for the consecutive third year. This time it’s even special because all the Top 5 songs are composed by ARR and I had a chance to witness his live performance in Chennai!
Travel
We are in the festive mood these days owing to the wedding season. Apparently, 38 Lakh weddings are happening in November-December this year in India! That is huge and I wish no wedding is against the choice of the bride or groom (but in reality more than 60% are not according to their will).
I was in Mysuru for 3 days in November, to attend a special wedding. While I was there, I explored the city on a two-wheeler and started loving the city. Will plan a longer trip next time as there are many places I couldn’t cover this time.
And… next month, in December, I’ll be traveling to many places. Watch out in this space for interesting travel stories.
Here, we are, towards the end of the blog post. I couldn’t spend time writing blogs in November but have no regrets as such. Was onto something more interesting and exciting for me, will reveal details when the moment is right.
November, reflecting, was great — I had quality time with family, friends, kids, and elders. I tried new things that I’ve not done so far and I’m learning things about myself that I wasn’t aware of. We are nearing the end of 2023, with one month left and I hope we all get time to spend December with happiness and start 2024 on a good note.
Until next time…
