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Showing posts from 2017

Arjun Reddy

Director: Sandeep Reddy Vanga The first thing that struck me deeply about AR (Arjun Reddy) is how the love between AR and Preethi develops. She is a fresher with innocence written all over her face, carrying a pair of eyes filled with a mix of fear and sadness. As a result, her gaze towards AR is filled with helplessness. She is helpless because AR, bitten by love bug at the first sight, surrounds her teenage world in every manner possible. In essence, she is his princess-prisoner. This Stockholm Syndrome-ish relationship isn't punctuated with morality, ethics or etiquette that which one sees in star-crossed love stories that occupy Indian screens. The status-quo of the relationship changes only after she believes he is the one and willing surrenders herself to him. Not just that, her gaze too changes from fear/helplessness to unadulterated love.  In this character driven film, from the plot perspective, there isn't anything new Sandeep has done that one hasn'

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Director: SS Rajamouli Walking out of Baahubali 2, my mind was filled with concepts relating to the art of communication. Most of them were surrounding the view that a movie becomes complete only in the minds of the audience. Yes, from the most submissive to the most dismissive audience member, everyone, in some form or the other, prods the movie in his or her own way to understand what the director is trying to convey through the silver screen. While watching Baahubali 2, I had more than one thought propping up in my mind; but not all were positive. Take for example the last shot of the film. The golden statue head of Bhallaladeva is thrown into the river on Mahendra Baahubali's command to demonstrate the consequence of acting against dharma. The head drifts and falls from the waterfall, tracing the path of Shivudu’s ascend in the part 1. Rajamouli, the director, clearly wants to convey that Bhallaladeva is falling from the same heights that Shivudu climbed and event

Kaatru Veliyidai

Director: Mani Ratnam In the poem ‘Kaatru Veliyidai Kannama’, the poet describes the beauty of kannama, how it mesmerizes the lover, captivates him to his core and becomes the torch for the darkness within and around him. VC, the protagonist of the film, Kaatru Veliyidai, takes off from the poem in spirit. He is mesmerized by the mere presence of Leela. Such is the power of Leela that the moment she lights a torch into the eyes of VC, the player gets play ed by the ethereal aura of the rightfully named Leela. Mani Ratnam, here seems to be more interested in interpreting the poem in its various facades. He starts off this ambitious vision with self-indulgence.  Thus, VC, who gets mesmerized by the beauty of Leela, wants her to be his anchor, the human embodiment of his poetry, the breeze that comes along with the air that surrounds him and ultimately the light to the darkness within. No wonder Mani makes the protagonist apologize through a poem, reminisce her through the wind