Some research pieces, some opinions

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? Som...

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 particularl...

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 wh...

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....

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 missi...

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...