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Reviews
Kamli (2022)
A woman tries to escape the traditions which bound her to pursue her desires
After Laal Kabootar, this is the first film from Pakistan which blew my mind. It is undoubtedly one of the best films I have ever watched. Magical, mysterious with the right amount of suspense-Kamli lives upto its name and will transport you to the magical world of wilderness that the director has created in Soon valley. Hina, a young woman who has been abandoned by her husband since eight years is rotting away in a corner, waiting for him to come back. She lives with her husband's sister, who is visually impaired and seems to be in denial of the fact that her brother will never return.
The remarkable thing about this movie is how this film is the story of three lonely women-all of them Kamli in their own way. The film is shot and directed from a female gaze, women are the center of the stories and are humanized in their portrayal without the ghastly use of raunchy item songs. Knowing his audience well, Sarmad probes and forces the audience to think through subtle pricks: the lion-deer ritual which heralds their relationship is a subtle reminder about how Hina's carnal desires have been erased by society and are waiting to be fulfilled. The film has two settings: the forest where Hina's lover dwells and where she escapes her controlled life. It is composed of air and water-elements associated with fluidity and freedom. Meanwhile, earth is associated with Hina's home, the place where reality is and where she buries her loved ones. In the climax of the film, Hina attempts to set fire to her home and escape from the trap society has created for her. Animals are used throughout the film to emphasize the magic and wilderness of the story as well as hint at the carnal nature of Hina's relationship. She is a coy deer, a lioness and an innocent rabbit at the same time who is ultimately hunted for the antagonists of the story. There is also a lot of clever foreshadowing through the use of animals. Hina's kitten dies in mysterious circumstances and a rabbit is hunted and force-fed to Malik Sahib.
The music is perfect-Reshma ji's ending song literally broke my heart, the choreography in the songs is brilliant. The cinematography is breathtaking-you feel part of the wildness of Soon valley and its characters kamliness. The only thing which I did not like was the choice of the male actor. While aesthetically pleasing, he could barely speak Urdu and was completely overshadowed by the brilliant performances of Saba and Sania.
Agui kkot (2020)
Sociopaths, detectives and serial killers
Its the best kdrama I have watched uptil now. No cringey, forced romances. No loose plots and no overdoses of sappy OSTs. And no helpless damsels in distresses. Yes, typical kdramas can be soothing to watch, but they are too tropey and stereotypical to be considered seriously. But this show: excellent cinematography and direction, brilliant music and most importantly the acting performances! Both Ji-Won and Dyeon su are outclass, they appear so naturally in sync with each other that you cant help but root for them (even when you arent sure about Dyeon su). However, there are some loopholes and inconsistencies here and there. Like the relationship between Do Hyeun Su and his father is never properly explored. How did someone as kind and quiet as Hae Su decide to kill the village head for Do Hyeun's sake? Why does De Hyeun Su have a workshop styled after his father if he is not a serial killer? Also, I found Ji Won's character a bit one dimensional. She almost becomes a Manic Pixie dream girl. She doesnt freak out even after discovering blood and signs of torture in her basement, believes in Do Hyeun Su from day one- I found this a bit unrealistic. Her reaction should have been a bit more extreme tbh. I also found the last episode unnecessarily long, it felt like they were trying to emulate Boys over flowers last episode......
Overall, the story is compelling because there are a lot of unexpected twists and turns and brilliant acting performances.
Big Little Lies (2017)
One of the most Beautiful and nuanced representations of women
I love love love this show. Where do I start. The beautiful cinematography of the California beaches coupled with the amazing soundtrack? The dynamic relationship and characters of the five women? The brilliant acting performances? The narrative device which allows suspense to develop+ a perspective from a community's eyes? The nuance and care with which they handle domestic violence and what it is like being in a toxic relationship? Everything about this show is brilliant. There's only one problem. I wish they had done to Bonnie's character
Hva vil folk si (2017)
A truthful betrayal of the cost women have to pay for honour in Pakistan
Some Pakistanis would vociferously scream that the portrayal of Pakistani culture and norms is blatantly exaggerated here. Well, let me tell you. It isnt. Pakistani parents, including those who live abroad are willing to sacrifice and kill their daughters if there need be for the sake of their honour. The typical middle class man's obsession with his daughters chastity is certainly not exaggerated. The film beautifully captures the diaspora, the claustrophobia and the contradictory nature of Nisha's life. The last scene in which her fathers reflection stares at us is brilliant.
But some things are sure exaggerated. I donot know if those stem out of ignorance or a desire to appease the "white audience" with their saviour complex. I do not know if they tried to portray Islamabad or Quetta in the movie-if it was Islamabad then it was obviously very wrongly portrayed. It is a fully developed urban city with internet connection. Same with Quetta. One does not need to run to far off stores in search of internet! Also who in their right minds would make out in a street in Pakistan unless you live in Defence or something? I mean maybe the police can react the way they did in the movie but thats rare and pertaining to the special circumstance that both the people are very young and from a familiar area. I can understand this because I am a Pakistani but one might make a lot of assumptions if they arent. Moreover, everything that Nisha went through was very very traumatic. Her grief and sanity still seems pretty intact for someone who went through a lifetime of trauma. Still very willing to please her parents. Or maybe thats my peronal opinion.
All that aside, donot sit without grabbing a tissue paper because this is a highly unsettling movie.
The Protector (2018)
A fantasy tale with intriguing characters set in an exotic city
So when I realised that Netflix is producing in Turkey. I was super excited. I have watched a lot of Turkish Serials and have never been disappointed and since Netflix has a means of maintaining quality-I couldn't wait. I watched the entire series in a day. I would not say that there was something particularly unpredictable or unique about the storyline. It was pretty cliche and predictable like all fantasy series. But it wasn't entirely bad. There was one particular thing about this show I liked; Hakan's character. I really dislike the typical, altruistic portrayal of a hero. Hakan is naive. He hates being dragged into this whole hero business and doesn't pretend to care about the fate of his city. He prefers his love over his sacred duty. He is not obsessed with his duty, he only wants to find the immortal for his own revenge agenda. And i love that. We don't need those holier-than-thou,200% altruistic heroes because they don't exist. Also, Turkish actors are amazing so no surprises here. Everybody was perfect in their roles.
However, there were things which felt rushed. When did Leila and Hakan's hookup / affair went to a heart wrenching love story? Mazhar just happened to kidnap Hakan out of jealousy and before we know hes dead?
There were a lot of things which felt ordinary but the last episode of season 1 was pretty good. There were some nice cliffhangers which will force me to watch Season 2. Overall, it was not a bad experience at all.
The Vampire Diaries (2009)
An epic brotherhood of two vampires
Ok, so I willl very honestly write this review and say that the show started out amazing. The story seemed a typical highschool drama in the first few episodes but then it improves with every episode and honestly speaking , I think season 2 and season 3 are perfection. The character development of all the characters, especially Damon and Stefan, the blend in of the originals and their plot twists, Katherine pierce and her badassery; all these things come together and make season 2 and season 3 perfect. I think the reason the show started going downhill from season 4 is because of two reasons, A) a vampire turned Elena honestly changed the story dynamics and the story became more revolved around Elena and her love life rather than the thriller vampire adventures the audience looked forward too, and secondly they honestly made this recipe of introducing a new supernatural villian backed up by an ancient historical tale who is attacking mystic falls every year and Elena and her friends end up fighting them. Season 5 was literally a ripoff of the earlier seasons, they conjured these stupid creatures called Travellers who needed the doppelganger blood to break the curse. Season 6 was much better though, I enjoyed the new relationship of Damon and Bonnie, Kai was an intriguing villain and the story took pretty unexpected turns. Season 7 and we are back to the same old shenanigans, again there is a revival of some deadly super natural creatures. Honestly speaking , the whole Julian affair and the huntress thing was boring and predictable. Season 8 was still good, although the ending broke my heart. I still gave this series a 8/10 because the first few seasons of this show are a pretty close to my teenage self,this show gave us amazing characters. Stefan , Damon , Katherine , Lexie. Liz Forbes. One of the best things about this show is that contrary to popular belief, its not all about romance, infact, for me it is more about the brotherhood of Stefan and Damon. Stefan and Damon were best friends who ended up as enemies because of their love for Katherine, then came back together after a century reunited by their love for Elena. And eventually, Stefan loved Damon so much that he decided to give up Elena for him because he could see his humanity returning thanks to her. I honestly love Stefan and Damons relationship. Anyways, the point being that I would recommend this show despite the fact that its quality fell over time, because it still encapsulates beautiful characters and story telling.
Narcos (2015)
The most satisfying biographical series I have ever seen
So there are a few things about this shows direction which just make it amazing. Firstly, its historically very accurate, secondly, they have tried very hard to maintain the realism by making sure Pablo doesnot look or speak like what he didnot in real life. He and all the other Columbian characters speak in Spanish which adds a really realistic charm to the show, he is rotund and deadly just like he looked in real life (hell one can compare this with Tudors where Henry V had abs -__-) moreover, the narration, the acting and the tiny snippets they add from actual historical footages makes the show seem pretty realistic. I absolutely love all the actors ranging from Gustav and Pablo to Agent Murphy and Carillo. God, I love the way they have presented all the characters; Carillo, Murphy, Gabrielle, Pablo. It was difficult to not fall in love with them. I know this is probably a very poorly written review but this show is amazing and one should watch it.
Dalui Yeonin - Bobogyungsim Ryeo (2016)
A girl travels time and attempts to change history as she falls in love with two princes of the Goryeo dynasty
I donot know how I really feel about this serial. It started off pretty well. The story line and the character development of Soo and So made sense. But I dont know if this is me but sometimes there are loopholes in Korean serials. Like characters show really exaggerated reactions to mere things which ends up changing the storyline very radically. Like Wang so's reaction to finding out that Soo had loved Wook at one point was far too exaggerated and so was Soo's unwillingless to mend their misunderstanding. I can understand why Soo wanted to leave the palace, the king was changing into the man she feared he would become, the Queen's relationship with him as well as her increasing loneliness, but still i felt that her reaction to her servants death felt a bit exaggerated.At times I also struggled with Soo's character, She was shown to be a hot headed girl who was outspoken and bold in the beginning but soon it transformed into a typical Mary sue who was everyone's savior and was flawless.I think the main fault of Soo was refusal to marry the King, In the goodness of her heart she made the first move to priortise the throne over their relationship and I think that is where the conflicts started.
I also felt that there were too many questions which were left unanswered, Why had Soo timetravelled? Who was the astronomer and how did he appear in the end? Why did Wang So's mother hate him- I mean his abuse at the hands of family was an important part of the story but the cause of his mom's resentment was never explained...? The last episode also felt poorly directed with chunks and bits and pieces from the past mixing into the present. I felt that the resolution was never reached and as an audience i didnot feel satisfied with the ambigous decalaration of the king that " He will find her again"
The one thing which does make this series worth watching is Joon Gi lee's acting. It is perfect. From his tranformation from a cruel warrior to that of a lover to that of a blood thirsty king, everything is perfect.
In the end I would say that with better direction and better script handling this could have been a much more amazing serial. I guess a season 2 could do a better job of satisfying the audience :/