Some research pieces, some opinions

Kalki 2898 AD movie review: Summary: The Mahabharata and a dystopian future. A storytelling and visual spectacle. An absolute must watch. Brilliance of Nag Ashwin world building-Prabhas-Amitabh-graphics team ably supported by good character roles, cameos and the rest of the team of Vyjayanthi Movies (Aswini Dutt, Swapna Dutt, Priyanka Dutt and co). India's answer to Marvel verse (till Endgame). Graphics almost as good and story better. Best film of the year. 9/10. Details: (Will give warning before spoilers, not to worry) Positives: 1. The whole worldbuilding: The flashbacks to the Mahabharata events are very well done. The dystopian future where things have gotten worse in the Kaliyuga is also very well thought of and executed - futuristic stuff, technology, weapons, Kashi, Shambala cities, the Complex etc!! 2. Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama is just absolutely brilliant. The best acting in the film. The intensity and energy at this age is mindblowing. Just so good in the fight sc

  Kammatipaadam movie review: Summary: Routine masala movie, especially if you have watched some Telugu or Kannada movies. Can watch once to get to know the full story/for Dulquer. Dulquer is somewhere between competent to good. 6.25/10 Details (no spoilers): Positives: 1. 3-4 action sequences are pretty good. 2. Dulquer shines in some scenes - in both avatars - when younger and when older. 3. Story atleast keeps you interested. 4. Support cast is competent. Negatives or things which could have been better: 1. Routine masala movie. Nothing particularly different. 2. Character sketches not well done/not good for some characters - especially Vinayakan's Ganga

Sachin stats vs Mcgrath in ODIs with all sources: Sharjah 94 6(3?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVYgaPNkLyY&ab_channel=CricketFaB Sachin vs Mcgrath in Mumbai 96 (world cup): 29(20) from ball to ball highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G4UTWzza1A&ab_channel=robelinda Sachin vs Mcgrath Titan Cup Bengaluru 96: 7(15) from: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/titan-cup-1996-97-60991/india-vs-australia-3rd-match-66061/ball-by-ball-commentary Sachin vs Mcgrath Titan Cup Mohali 96: 13(10) https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/titan-cup-1996-97-60991/india-vs-australia-9th-match-66066/ball-by-ball-commentary Sachin vs Mcgrath in 99 World Cup: 0(4) from https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-world-cup-1999-61046/australia-vs-india-1st-super-65223/ball-by-ball-commentary Melbourne 00:  did not face  https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/carlton-united-series-1999-00-61058/australia-vs-india-3rd-match-65589/ball-by-ball-commentary Sydney 00: 0(9) https://www.espncricinfo.com/

Thiruchitrambalam movie review : Summary: Story of a delivery guy (Thiruchimtrambalam aka Pazham played by Dhanush), his childhood friend/best friend Shobhana (Nithya Menon), his quirky grandfather (Bharatiraja), his father (Prakash Raj) and others. A light hearted grounded film with some relatable characters. Definitely worth a watch, even if there are couple of things I didn't particularly like. 7.75/10 (no spoilers) Positives: 1. Grounded film with relatable characters 2. Very good to excellent acting of Nithya, Dhanush and Bharatiraja. 3. The storyline for most part 4. The comedy is good 5. Good job from the support cast Things that I didn't like/flaws: 1. The twist in the pre-climax (not going to spoil) 2. His choice of profession given what happened. (again not going to spoil) 3. Not a flaw per se, but didn't particularly liked the father-son tension being there for so long. Details including spoilers: 1. Bharatiraja is very good as the funny, quirky grandfather Thiru

Charlie movie review: Summary: Charlie is a very good, quirky, interesting movie. Starts off with an unconventional Tessa (played by Parvathy) staying in a room previously occupied by Charlie. Charlie has left some of his belongings including a picture and half-finished picture story. Tessa gets interested in that and pursues the story. By the end, the mystery and non-conventional nature of Charlie (played by Dulquer) eclipses her quirkiness such that you won't even realize what hit you. Brilliant from Dulquer and Parvathy is so very good as well. 8.75/10 IMO. Go and watch the movie if you haven't. (available on Dailymotion website with subtitles) Details (no spoilers) Positives: 1. Dulquer is absolutely brilliant and convincing as the mysterious, quirky, kind hearted Charlie. You only see Charlie, not Dulquer while watching the film. Top 3 performance from him along with the roles in Sita Ramam and Chup (in whatever order) IMO. 2. Parvathy does very well as the unconventional

Family Star movie review: Summary: Liked the first half of Family Star. Definitely good and entertaining. 2nd half is decent. Movie entertains overall, even though it has its flaws. Both Vijay and Mrunal have done well. Definitely worth a watch for timepass entertainment or if you are a Vijay or Mrunal fan. Just don't expect too much logic from a Parasuram (director/writer) film. Overall: 6.75 to 7/10. Details (no spoilers) Positives: 1. Good to little better than good acting by Vijay. Does a good job of showcasing both caring aspect and the crazy aspect of being The Family Star. 2. Pretty good acting by Mrunal in a new kind of role for her. Also her screen presence and looks in the movie!! First time she's done an out and out commercial movie and role in a movie in Hindi/Telugu. Another layered and substantial role here in a Telugu film. But obviously not comparable to the phenomenal roles in Sita Ramam and Hi Nanna. 3. The comedy parts (don't use too much brain type) - wo

 Bramayugam movie review: Watched Bramayugam on OTT with subtitles. Pretty good acting, engaging enough storyline, but falters at the end. A pretty good watch for those interested in this genre (mystery/thriller/horror). I can understand why some would call it a masterpiece, but I personally wouldn't since I found more shortcomings than they did.  7.25 to 7.5/10 IMO. Details (no spoilers): Quick intro to a couple of things: in Kerala folkfore, from what I understood Chathan -> A powerful, lusty and mischevious being. translated as goblin in the movie subtitles, but not quite the same thing. Yakshi -> A seductive, tricky, female spirit/being. Positives: 1. Great acting by Mammootty as Kodumon Patti and Arjun Ashokan as Thevan. good to pretty good from Siddharth as the cook (his could have been better if there was a little better character sketch I think). 2. Movie in black and white makes it intriguing. 3. It keeps you engaged for most part with an interesting tale. 4. The con

Article 370 Very good film (from the makers of Uri film). Engaging, well researched, well explained, well acted political thriller. I'd say must watch. 8.5/10. Details below. No spoilers. Positives: 1. Starts off with facts like Maharaja Hari Singh wanting to join India and the Nehru-Abdullah friendship resulting in making that conditional. Burns off previously instilled BS by the ecosystem. 2. Covers stuff from 1947-49 up and until abrogation of Article 370 (many things in between, won't elaborate so as to not spoil). Couple of scenes post Article 370 abrogation as well. 3. Pretty good acting by Yami, Priyamani. That film leads are 2 strong female characters - thumbs up! 4. Arun Govil (Ram of Ramayan) as Prime Minister and Kiran Karmakar (Om of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki fame) as Amit Shah character (name changed) did well. Other support cast also did well. 5. Crisp storyline. Keeps you engaged. 6. Pretty good research. 7. Simple breakdown and explanation of Article 370, and its abr

Gangubai Kathiawadi Only saw Gangubai Kathiawadi as I wanted to see Alia's performance in it. Overall: Alia's performance merely good. Definitely not national award winning worthy, not even close. Poor film, would not recommend to watch. 4/10. No spoilers in the details Note that I am sympathetic to the plight of sex workers and possible arguments for legalization, but I am not for glorification or moralization of it. Details:  Alia was good to very good in some aspects, misfit  in couple of aspects. Starts off well,but performance is a little inconsistent. Doesn't look street toughened. Looks too young. Overall nothing more than good. National Award winning? LOL, not even remotely close. The film glamourizes prostitution, subtly in some ways, overtly in others. Still somewhat bearable till the speech at the end. The speech glorifying prostitution is just beyond shameless and shit. With no one responding back and in fact people shown cheering, it becomes worse. The film glo

Manichitrathazhu  Manichitrathazhu (The ornate lock) released in 1993 is a Malayalam classic film. Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Apthamitra were remakes of this. I wanted to watch the original with subtitles. So I did. Very good psychological thriller film, must watch. 8.5/10, I'd say. Details (no spoilers) Positives: 1. A film well ahead of its times with respect to handling of psychology. 2. Great acting from Shobhana as Ganga. No wonder Shobhana won the National Award for this performance. The climax scene in particular is telling. Vidya Balan is a great actress, but her performance in climax scene of Bhool Bhulaiyaa doesn't hold a candle to Shobhana's in the original. Vidya was convincing enough, but you could see her trying hard. But Shobhana truly embodied the character in that climax scene. 3. Great acting from Mohanlal as Dr.Sunny and very good acting from others. 4. Interesting storyline 5. Good music and some nice comedy Negatives : 1. The line between tantra and psychology

Sapta Saagardaache Ello Side A Watched Sapta Saagardaache Ello Side A on OTT. Disappointed compared to the reviews I had heard. I'd say 6.25/10. Definitely not a top notch movie as made out to be.  Positives : some pretty good acting pretty good chemistry between the leads Manu(Rakshith Shetty) and Priya(Rukmini Vasanth) some hard hitting reality good support cast, though not remarkable Negatives : feels like a drag of misery way too many logical flaws or stupid stuff. feels like done to drag out the misery at times or not well thought out. either way, big big -ve. . Main male character Manu being such a fool and doesn't do anything significant to redeem himself. I simply couldn't or cannot root for him Other negatives including  with expansion of logical flaws or stupid stuff below with spoilers. 1. For such a big decision, without even asking the advice of any well-wisher, Manu accepts to take the blame of accident for money for fulfilling Priya's dream. He only tel

Chup   Watched the movie Chup on OTT. A movie based on an innovative concept - film about film critics. Someone is killing some film critics. But why? Film stars Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol and Shreya Dhanwanthary. Good to very good plot and very good acting. I'd say 8/10. With a better 2nd half or last 1/3rd could have been a masterpiece.  The positives: Innovative concept - film about film critics.  Great acting from Dulquer -- very convincing in various shades Very good acting from Shreya, Sunny Deol Support cast/villain is pretty good nice chemistry between Dulquer and Shreya BGM is very good Plot very good for like 2/3rd of the movie The negatives or meh parts: Plot very good in first half, but goes down to an extent in the 2nd half. Still decent to good in 2nd half, but if last 1/3rd was better, could have been an absolute masterpiece. Mongolian film copy? Who watches Mongolian films? Was that film famous? I mean could have used some other better known industry? Some help fro

C/O Kancharpalem  Watched C/O Kancharapalem after seeing the rave reviews and IMDB rankings. Summary :  Beyond disappointed. Movie is at best a one time watch for me and that on OTT.  I'd say 5.5 to 6 out of 10. 2 of the 4 stories are good enough, but the other 2 have serious problems. Just because something is unconventional doesn't mean its good or has to be praised. Its a mediocre film to say the least. And I give it the award of THE most over-rated movie among Telugu film critics/on IMDB. Details: The plus points: 1. The love story of Raju and Radha is good. A mature, if unconventional one. 2. The love story of the kids Sundaram and Sunitha is decent. 3. Showcases some aspect of village life accurately. 4. Acting is decent to good. The minus points  If we take this to be a drama film and not very realistic: 1. Music and songs are meh, bland except for at 1 or 2 places 2. None of the actors have good enough screen presence 3. Drama isn't good 4. Didn't particularly l

12th Fail  Summary:  Watched 12th Fail movie in the theater. Its based on the real life story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma who had failed 12th standard first time and passed on 2nd time. He came from an ordinary background and became an IPS officer facing several obstacles. Good film. Worth a watch. 7.5/10 IMO. Definitely not as good as made out to be in some places. Details: Not much of suspense. So no need to worry about spoiler per se. Details: 1. The real story is pretty inspiring. 2. The character/story of his then girlfriend, now wife, Shraddha Joshi is well sketched out. Especially the scene where works out things with her father ensuring she retains his trust. 3. Acting is good from all the characters, film shows stark moments of reality and there are some good moments of comedy. 4. The first half I found irritating to quite an extent as there are multiple logical flaws and smh moments. Like showing wasting 3 years by working 10+ hours a day and studying lesser while prepa

Merry Christmas Watched this in the theater. A thriller and some nice chemistry. Worth one watch, but definitely not as good as made out in some rare reviews or IMDB rating IMO. 6.5 to 7 out of 10. Vijay Sethupathi is good to very good. (what's with him and and his character nighttime walks with ladies !? See 96 movie for reference) Katrina Kaif is decent - good in some scenes, but still not that good in some others. Their chemistry works well in the film. Story is decent - a bit up and down. It is good at couple of places, but a little inconsistent/frustrating at others or leaves gaps. As far as pace is concerned, a little slow in first half, but picks as it nears intermission. The support cast of Sanjay Kapoor, Tinnu Anand, Vinay Pathak etc. have done a good job.

Salaar Watched Salaar (Kannada). Went purely for theatrical experience as I had missed KGF1/KGF2 in theater and only watched those on OTT. Same director for all 3 - Prashant Neel Overall: One time watch. Fans of action genre, fans of Prabhas will probably like it.  6.5/10 I'd say. No spoilers. Positives : 1. Prabhas screen presence and changes from shaant fellow to the action sequences. 2. Friendship between Deva (Prabhas) and Varadha (Prithviraj). 3. Some action sequences and elevations were pretty good. (more so in 2nd half). 4. Good attempt at Khansaar world building. Negatives : 1. Not much acting/emoting per se from Prabhas and even Prithviraj. 2. Too many characters in the world building. 3. Like KGF1 and KGF2, lacks the moral core. 4. BGM is mediocre. 5. Easwari Rao playing the mother was strange/irritating. Chracter of Shruti Hassan was badly written. Other points : 1. Takes inspiration from Mahabharata, Game of Thrones. (from what I heard, haven't watched GoT) 2. I'

The Man Who Knew Infinity - Srinivasa Ramanujan Well made movie that captures the essence of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the genius. Stays true to the essence of his life - his immense work, attributing it to God/Goddess (Goddess Namagiri), the help he got from Prof. G.H Hardy (&others including Littlewood), the conflict between working more via intuition/working for proof when he collaborated with Hardy, his health issues, issues with racism/superstitions etc. The acting in the movie is good overall. Dev Patel as Srinivasa Ramanujan, Jeremy Irons as Prof. Hardy, Devika Bhise as Janaki (his wife), Tobby Jones as Littlewood etc. all have done justice to their roles. Some of Ramanujan's work - work on infinite series, partitions, real analysis, number theory, Ramanujan number, Ramanujan Theta function etc. "An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God."

Movies review links and ratings  For what ratings mean, see below. Have made it a little less generous than previously to get proper separation between the movies. In chronological year order: Manichitrathazhu movie review  (1993) (8.5/10) The Man Who Knew Infinity movie review  (2015) (7.5/10) C/O Kancharpalem movie review  (2018) (5.5 to 6 out of 10)   KGF1 and KGF2 movies review  (2021) (6.5/10) Sita Ramam movie review  (2022) (10/10) Chup movie review  (2022) (8/10) Gangubai Kathiawadi movie review (2022) 4/10 Thiruchitrambalam movie review (2022) 7.75/10 Gadar 2 movie review  (2023) (6.5/10) The Vaccine War movie review  (2023) (8/10) 12th Fail movie review  (2023) (7.5/10) Hi Nanna movie review  (2023) (9.25/10) Salaar movie review  (2023) (6.25/10) Sapta Saagardaache Ello Side A movie review   (2023) (6.25/10) HanuMan movie review  (2024) (8.5 to 9 out of 10) Merry Christmas movie review  (2024) (6.25/10) Article 370 movie review (2024) (8.5/10) Bramayugam movie review (2024

Gadar2 Watched Gadar2 in theatre. Summary:  Entertaining mass masala film to watch in theatre once. But not a patch on the original Gadar movie . Gadar 2 is max 7 out of 10 IMO. No spoilers. Details: Plus points : Sunny Deol, Sunny Deol and Sunny Deol (heh). Guy's dialogue delivery & conviction of voice kills it even at 60+. He carries the film single handedly. Some dialogues and hitting the patriotic sweetspot. Flashbacks to Gadar1 Some action sequences including the pump scene. Middling : Decent, but nothing great acting by all except Sunny(excellent) and Utkarsh(mediocre)  Storyline and flow - hits the mark at times, misses at others. Negatives : The guy who plays the son Jitthe - Utkarsh Sharma - didn't act or deliver dialogues properly. Only good in some action sequences. Producer Anil Sharma just wanted to get his son the launch. The chittde chittde dialogue could've been seriously impactful. But Utkarsh ruins it so badly that it should a lesson in acting classes

The Vaccine War Watched the movie The Vaccine War. To sum it up, a pretty good movie that you should watch. To honour the achievements of our (medical) scientists and how India came together to fight COVID-19. Pretty accurate (though not fully) and exposes many things that main stream media may not have covered, but social media (especially Twitter) did. More details below. Overall: 8.5 Research - 9 Perspective - 8.5 Acting - 8.5 Character sketch - 7.5 Story telling - 8.5 Picture quality - excellent This isn't a suspense film. So going into the details in the next couple of stories. Skip if you want to watch with a fresh mind though. Research : The strongest part of the film. Shows a pretty accurate timeline of things that happened not just in India, but around the world as far as COVID-19 goes. The origin of the virus - Nov 2019, not end of Dec 2019, the theories around origin - lab leak far more plausible than the wet market one, spread beyond China. Italy being affected, Iran be

 KGF and KGF2 I'd say is Overall 7/10. Worth one watch, but not more. Positives : good action sequences engaging enough story line Yash's acting Negatives : no moral conviction or direction some stuff that makes no sense - like Adheera (Sanjay Dutt) leaving Rocky (Yash) alive and even worse Rocky leaving Adheera alive when he gets his chance after recovering. meh female lead

HanuMan Summary : Movie in the superhero genre. Respectful and wonderful references to Shri Ram, Sita mate, Shri Hanuman and entire Ramayana. Decent first half followed by a pretty good 2nd half ending with an absolute goosebumps climax. Must watch. 8.5 to 9 out of 10. Details : (no spoilers) Plus points : 1. Respectful and wonderful references to Shri Ram, Sita mate, Shri Hanuman and entire Ramayana. 2. That climax scene. Pure goosebumps - What a theatrical experience!! 3. Pretty good acting - especially by the 4 main actors - Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyar, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Vinay Rai. 4. The VFX and photography is excellent, brilliant for a low budget film actually.  5. The comedy is very good (including the voiceover of the koti or monkey) 6. The BGM is pretty good. 7. Depiction of some village stuff is accurate. Minus points : 1. Contains elements of just routine Telugu film masala - some silly, some boring stuff (more so in the 1st half) 2. Some logical fallacies and missing t

Hi Nanna Summary : Overall: 9.25/10 No spoilers. Definitely the best movie of the year 2023 I've seen. A must watch (unless you specifically don't like emotional films). Beautiful, emotional film with stellar performances from the trio of Mrunal, Nani and kid Kiara, backed up by excellent music/songs headed by Hesham Abdul Wahab. While the father daughter bond between Viraj/Mahi and the love story is so visible, what might get understated is the tremendous bond that develops between Yashna and Mahi. Love in various forms finds its way through adversity. Main thing that pulls the movie down a bit is that the story while good, isn't great per se - reuses quite a few old seen stuff, is predictable in many places and character sketches could've been tighter. Story is a little on the slower side, but perfectly fine for me. Details : Yashna(Mrunal) saves the kid Mahi (Kiara) from an accident. They both force the father Viraj (Nani) to fulfill his promise to Mahi about telling

Sita Ramam: (Yudh se likhi Prem Kahaani) Summary: An epic love story movie with off the charts chemistry, beautiful music and songs, brilliant photography. Mrunal Thakur as Sita Mahalakshmi and Dulquer Salmaan as Liutenant Ram absolutely ace their roles. The chemistry between them is just off the charts. Their acting is absolutely top notch. The movie also ties in multiple other things well - patriotism, humanity, emotions, comedy, terrorism/war etc. Importantly it has twists and turns that keep you very interested in the movie (little patience is required for the buildup in the first few minutes). Rashmika as connecting character Afreen is very good. Support cast is very good. Overall, movie is an absolute masterpiece. Definite 10/10. Do not search about the movie if you haven't watched it yet as you may end up spoiling atleast part of it. Spoiler free details : I have of course watched the movie in both Hindi and Telugu (with subtitles). Its great in both. Using Hindi dialogues h