Reviews

The most personal film from AK in a while. The ending made me begin to weep like a child. The classical music was so beautifully used. Just for that I'm going to see it again. Is it just me or does Rahul Bhatt sound like AK in the film in some way. Either I'm projecting or it's intentional. Wherever the politics or the personal came in, the film was in its best gear. Thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a poem in the third act that reminds me so much of Hamlet. Apathy is the devil. That's my take away. And that's a lot to take away if you think about it. Anurag sir had taught me dialogue writing at FTII in 2004. Also, as a Side note, one of my cinematic heroes and me are now connected in a very strange way. The endings of one my most personal films and this film are so ridiculously and strangely connected that my mind is blown. It's something that's going to stay with me till I'm alive.

The pace of the story, the way it intertwines various relationships, the way it takes you up in its warp and weft, all feel like you're actually in a river. Really enjoyed the way this film looks, sounds and feels. My favourite moment though was between Jitendra Joshi and Mohit Takalkar. Kudos to Prajakt, the writer. And Nikhil and Jitendra Joshi. I also loved Gauri Nalawade. She's a find! Probably Jitendra joshi's best work yet. Hope he produces many more. Now you've got to go see Pune 52 on Amazon!

Watched Sherni on Amazon.

Really liked how the film talks about the forest. But also about the feminine. And how Vidya Vincent is pretty much the same in soul to T-12.

How the world of men around plays it's games of power and self interest. Except of course for Noorani, who interestingly was probably the only person from another minority.

I really liked that unlike classical Bollywood and Hollywood dramas the hero doesn't haven't to drive everything. And can be someone to whom things are done. Reminiscent of Newton. I only hope this doesn't become the filmmakers pattern as we all tend to fall prey to our own.

I really liked the ending. Realistic. Not waiting to deliver anything to you. I liked the small touches about Vidya like taking her jewellery off right before leaving for the urgent issue, in front of the in law and mom kinda saying 'ok now I'm done with keeping y'all calm. Now it's time for work'.

I really liked how Vidya embraced her mom despite having come from danger herself to calm her down. I really liked Jyoti and Vidya's bond. Made me get a bit emotional. Jyoti was beautiful. But I loved that Vidya Balan took this film and allowed herself to be used as a metaphor for the tiger. And also for the feminine. No one is really interested in the feminine. Just what they can get from it. And only another woman may understand the feminine. And connect. The same goes for the Sherni. Only another sherni can understand. And connect. I hope this changes.

I do wish some of the male Characters were less charicaturish.

Specially the husband.

And I loved how Neeraj Kabi's chatacter played out right from his first scene with the casual innuendo yo the end.

I also loved how Vidya delivered the word 'Pathetic'.

June is about healing. And in times like these we need more films like this. We have seen so many films about young people who grew up in cities in film families or business families where money is never an issue. But we hardly get to see a film about friendships, about relationships that aren't necessarily romantic but still heal, still change, still push people to go higher in their minds. June is as much about Aurangabad as it is about the two protagonists. Nehha Pendse is the surprise factor of this film. There are scenes where she totally surprises you with her naturalness and earnestness towards the character. Sid menon is as usual lovely. I'd earlier seen him in the gay romance titled Love on Netflix. Jitu joshi again is always a welcome face. One wishes one saw more of him. But the subchatacters of June and their sub plots are just as important in the film. And the film deals with certain dark spaces also in a healing manner. The girl who cuts herself while shaving just melted my heart. And that conversation about a turtle in a well on a bench between a boy and girl was another favourite scene. I look forward to what this director duo do next either together or separately.

Many a times we wish we had the parents we wanted. And I'm sure they wish the same. But we all have to not just make do but find peace and find a resolution of sorts. If only, for our own peace and growth and to release ourselves. It almost seems like the parent child journey is the gateway to releasing our spirit. This film deals with that. A day or two spent after a daughter has attempted suicide, between a father and his daughter.

Going back to family, long drives, breakdowns, and everting done at its own pace. Like real life. Not like a film. I loved the father and daughter. The fathers character is so unique cinematically for he is just quiet. Unbearably quiet. And then at one point he explodes. I love that moment. Do watch it. (MUBI)

The pace of this film is like a crime thriller. And it gets you emotionally engaged but also engaged in terms of thrill. You want the girls to do well. And time and again, the idea that women pay for the crimes and power trips of men comes to mind. Thoroughly enjoyed the film and went home thinking about a lot.

A film that doesn't try to be anything but itself. Three people interact at a farm house. And their lives are changed forever. In the footsteps of Eric Rohmer, the film stays grounded, as a part of life, everyday life and conversations and yet after that little time at that farmhouse a marriage is changed, people are changed and we as viewers are forced to introspect too. About man woman dynamics, about gender roles, about the changing face of the feminine and the masculine. And about how guilty we too are as people observing and engaging with this tale from the outside. Don't miss this gem. There is a scene between the couple on the bed which was one of the best moments in the film. Both actors Gaurav and Swati are superb. And the Maali!

A relief to see an emotional film about a woman's journies laced with a woman's voice and a woman's telling of it. Pratima joshi has done a lovely job in bringing out the emotions of this take of the relationship between a step mother and a step daughter. But more than that even it's a take of a woman breaking free really of the effect of a hard fatherhood and the inheritance that has left on her. We get to see the mind and heart of woman bereft of a mother's touch in her upbringing and also how she ends up becoming her father, a man she almost hated. And then escapes his fate by a hair's breadth thanks to her step mom. Priya Bapat shines. And so does Mukta Barve. Both women playing ages at times which are far removed from their own. Priya doesn't ever overdo the young part even though she's playing what seems like a 15 year old at times. And Mukta is so unassuming I kept wishing I'd see more of her.

The film was such a welcome surprise for me. I'd seen it during the year the film was taken out of MAMI, and I was so angry at MAMI for having taken the film out, because it represented everything that they were saying they stood for. So I was very happy to have seen it and felt so strongly for it. Shazia doesn't seem like a first time filmmaker at all. Assured debut with a firm resolve in the way its told. It helps to have an actor like Nawaz around and also the lead actor was fabulous. Beautiful performances, beautifully shot, art directed, written. Looking forward to SHazia's first feature eagerly. The indie scene needs more such voices.

She is powerless lonely. And this is the state that an assistant has to be in and still be courageous. And it's so tough. I felt for her. And everything in the film makes you feel that. Julia garner has done a fabulous job. And kitty green. Kudos.

The most improrsnt part of Fauda for me is that is exposes the irony of this war. That there is no victory. And that in every percieved victory there is actually further loss. Also that villainy us just aboit which side you stand on. I wish our Indian series based on the India Pakistan conflict could take a cue from this. Love Doron. Specially as his internal conflict and duality makes him human. In season three it's very difficult to like him. His flaws make the writing good. I wish the roles for women were a lot more though. Rather than them just fawning over the men. Shirin was a good example of a more powerful woman in this world. Let's have more women driving at least parts of the narrative forward in season 4

This is the kind of film, as a fellow Filmmaker, that makes you marvel. Each day of what must've been a mammoth shoot, would've been a challenging day. On most shoots you have a few days out of a month or two that are challenging. On this film the crew and cast would've been dreading and in the same breath being excited about each day. Monumental piece of cinema. Along with Apocalypse Now and Saving private ryan, and Hurt locker, it's one of my all time favourite films about war and the armed forces. Ridley Scott never ceases to amaze with the varied and variety ridden body of work he has. From a Thelma and Louise, to a Gladiator, to an Alien and a Black Hawk Down to name a few.

There is a tragedy to seeing teenagers with guns, seeing youth throwing away their lives, always makes you want to stop them. In some way. And yet you can relate to their near perpetual drunken stupour of a life even when they're not drunk. It's the callousness of feeling that youre indestructible. And only lasts for a few years. Unfortunately gang warfare catches them all in those years. And doesn't let go till they're dead. Be it at 18 or 65. And the film covers it all. Real. Raw. Dirty. Tragic yet like a tragic poem that enthralls with its beauty till you reach its spiralling end.

Insights about Singapore, insights about human nature, about loneliness, togetherness, love, heartache, us being connected via joy and sadness. The film takes its time, but for the patient, it delivers. Just like Ilo Ilo.

The lightness of the telling is beautiful. So many small cinematic touches including him practicing his french as he walks the streets. The guilt and fear felt by the people in the train. And anger felt by his friend Yaron. And what finally happens to him. The way stories are sold, without letting it feel like a sale and then given back, with generosity drying up without it feeling like it was ever a trade. That trenchcoat in the color of dijon mustard.

Lovely.

The film takes the whodunnit and spins it on its head, giving you that answer in the first fifteen minutes. So you think it's now a whydunnit And yet it remains a whodunnit. And a whydunnit. Lovely performances by the entire cast. But it's so cool that in a place like Hollywood, such a stellar cast can come together to play roles while a newcomer takes the lead role. Doesn't happen in India. Nice to see Daniel Craig out of the Bond franchise every now and then. Along with Captain America. Tight edit. Tight sound. Beautifully shot. Tight script. Well made film.

Between the music, the color, the art, the choice of magnifications, the choice of locations, the choice of clothes, the casting, the hair and make up, the background score, the animation, it all played out like a poem. That was the most lovely part of this film.

There a scene in the film where two men, completely high, perform what can only be called a poetic dance as they try to find places on each other to jab their needles into. It's one of the most beautiful, moving scenes I've seen in a long while. The film is full of the feebleness and vulnerability of users, the innocence and childlike state of mind and being of users, the users in this film are grown up men but also lost little boys, who you want to go give a hug to every once in a while. Even murder is accidental because they're not even really aware. Everything is an impulse untempered by a rational reigning in. Performances were stellar. Saurabh, with the way he uses language and his eyes, conveying so much, tanmay as the man in the lungi, so at ease with that lungi that it remains in your mind hours later, the way he deals with it. Ronny and his last ditch effort to save himself and his friend who lands up seeing a man die as a crow leaves his head, the religious ritual both mocked and completed at once. Shreya Dev Dube has done an absoluteky beautiful job with the camera. An artist. Ronnie Sen, looking forward to more! Loved the film.

There a moment in this film a baby which will probably make you feel more strongly than any other movie in the history of the films you've seen.

For fans of Scorsese's film, this'll be an even bigger treat. You feel strongly for the Ochoa family and their committment to goodness and a cause. They're all such real people. The teenager needs to talk and offload things onto his girlfriend, the uncle is full of fast food. The kid eats ruffles all the time and bunks school. Everything about is so real. And it's also thrilling because the subject is fast moving. Watched at the Mumbai Film Festival.

Around the world opinions about immigrants and illegal immigration are thrown around so casually by the common man. Those who have them coming into their countries despise them, mostly. This film gives you an inside view of the entire process. Such a beautiful film for more awareness about what it really takes sometimes, for immigrants to escape and what the leave behind. The kids and the life is beautiful esque relationship between the father daughters was the nicest part of the film for me.

Sometimes a good biopic attempts to hand you the human being behind the persona. In a really good biopic however, a filmmaker can take take you behind the persona, beyond the human being, deeper, into the enigma. Leaving you feeling that you know Pauline Kael but you now know her even less. Which is like someone feels about a loved one who's now dead. And gone. Lovely film.

Juliette binoche makes even a role like this brighter than it could have been. The mood and tone of the film take you into your own loneliness and make you wonder what all one could or be compelled to do, because one is lonely. There's a line in it 'i dont mind dying. I just don't want to be abandoned.'. Lovely line. Watch it for binoche.

For Loach, who is peaking yet again at this point in his career, this is another song about those unspoken for. This time it's delivery drivers. Be it an Amazon or a food delivery service. The most beautiful parts however are the the filmmaker also does say along with depicting the toughness of their lives, that the only way to breathe normally amidst this is to stick together as family.

In a microcosm you get to see what humans are doing wrong. The amount of time the filmmakers have spent with the subject of the film, shows in the level of intimacy that the camera has acquired in their lives. As if it's a pair of eyes. And not a camera. Making this a thoroughly engaging film.