The Wife

Powerful........Layered......Thought Provoking

It's one of those movies that you'll want to watch again as soon as you finish watching it, not for intensity and depth, but for a deeper look at the layers and nuances you've likely missed. 

That tag line is 'secrets lie between the lines';  the movie gives us a sideways view into those between the lines spaces....of a close and loving relationship, paradoxically one of great joy and deep pain..... the conflicts that ensue from that space...between the two, and more so within.

The 'within' as can be seen from title, is the wife's, who after four decades of marriage, seems to now be ready to look at the true nature of their relationship, and confront and deal with some decisions she's made, while continuing to being the loving wife she's always been........ almost wondering why.

Glenn Close is so brilliant in performance that you can almost see the complex series of thoughts running through her head. Amazing performance. 

Definitely watch !!

I Am

An anthology of four stories, each quite intense.....and as indicated by title, about recognizing and owning deep and difficult facets of oneself.

While Onir has picked difficult issues for each, his subtle and non judgmental style make it an intelligent and impactful film.

Considering each story plays out for a crisp thirty minutes, a lot is carried through the powerful portrayals.

I am Afia ; with Nandita Das, a woman who wants to have a child, only to find her husband is involved with someone else and wants a divorce..... and how she figures she can still go ahead and have that child.

I am Megha ; with Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala, a story based in Kashmir, during partition........exploring deep hurt and what leads to real forgiveness. 

I am Abhimanyu ; with Sanjay Suri, Nafisa Ali and Anurag Kashyap, on coming to terms with child sexual abuse, and again the ability to overcome and forgive.

I am Omar ; with Rahul Bose and Anurag Mathur, a story I personally found difficult to watch because of the police brutality and intolerance in the context of gay men, and how it being legal is yet only on paper.

Despite not being connected, each story grips you as it explores deep emotions of hurt and forgiveness.....and each story is left without closure.

Guess it is finally about 'freedom to be oneself', as the movie starts with the line from Tagore :

"where the mind is without fear and the head is held high....."

Strongly recommended

Photograph

A story that starts with a photograph.....and is almost as still life as a photograph is.

Excruciatingly slow moving.......yet captivating. It does what a still life does.....makes you pause ...makes you look beneath the surface, to touch underlying emotions that will flitter for a second, in the eyes, in that little gesture.....hardly reach the lips. 

One of those films that speaks more through it's silences.

An unusual love story between a street photographer and a star student. A man of routine, a girl who has not lived her own, opposing social realms. And through those differences grows that mysterious bond. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra were brilliant, and so were the support cast.

A third star is Mumbai, through some brilliant cinematography. It was that first shot of Mumbai, that caught my attention and then had me glued.

It's a film by Ritesh Batra of the lunch box fame. It's starts with a whisper, gives you loads of possibility and then leaves you to figure out how the story goes.....

I'd recommend...quite strongly in fact.

Pinky Memsaab

My first full length Pakistani feature film, and it didn't disappoint.

I've always loved Pakistani serials, right back since TV times. There's a certain subtlety, depth and elegance about them that it just so appeals.

Pinky Memsaab, is a  story that revolves around a naive woman from Pakistan, moving to Dubai as housemaid with an upmarket socialite, and how that relationship grows to alter the very texture and trajectory of both their lives.

Shazia Ali Khan explores the dynamics and complexities of human relationships in the context of the life of expats life in Dubai, the glitz and glamour of the upmarket life and how it intertwines with the deeper human emotions that have a will of their own.

Sensitive and incisive direction, coupled with brilliant acting by Hajra Yamin and Kiran Mallik, and the rest of the cast too, and the movie goes into my must watch bucket.

And thanks here to netflix. Not only did I love it, I even got my mom and dad to watch, and they both totally enjoyed it too :)

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

I binge watched yesterday. Had no intention of doing so....... was in fact looking for something to watch for a shortish gap, and picked this instead of a movie as it had come strongly recommended by Sagari.

And what was supposed to be a half hour, slowly stretched to over five....and still counting

A beautifully made series. It's set in New York of 1950's ....the period look, the attire, the culture, the hats, the black twirling telephones, the male chauvinism, class distinctions, the stuck upness............... with some super interesting characters to hold the story.

A story about a woman finding her voice (pun intended), no not music but stand up comedy. It's a riot....one filled with guts, gumption and sheer joy.

Diksha walks past me in the first ten minutes of watching, when I still had a 'should I...shouldn't I' look on my face and said "it grows on you ma, stick around some more".

Sagari had said "I think you'll really really like it...it's made by the same people who created Gilmore Girls, it gives you the same warmth and vibe"

Sagari and Diksha, thanks for egging me on....I'm loving it !

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Crazy enough title. The movie's pretty smart, not cynical at all........pretty charming...........goes around picking up some crazy things that happen to nice people...... and more, the crazy things nice people can also do. 

The movie starts with Cal and Emily, a middle aged couple, having a cozy dinner;  he asks her what she wants for dessert, and she says she wants a divorce. Cal, who has grown complacent in the marriage is stunned. There's other relationships, for him and for some other nice characters in the movie.

And it's a movie, so last twenty minutes you see a lot of unlikely things come together to make it an 'all's well that ends well' closing ........told you it's not cynical didn't I :)

Taramani

My first tamil movie, and that in itself was a nice experience. I so love the language.

I'd split the movie into two....the first half was nicely put together. An independent, free spirited and bold woman, Diya, who can so stand up for herself, in relationship with Prabhu, a nice but possessive guy ....each so different from the other....and the story of how they each discover themselves.

The second half seemed an effort to show up societal flaws ....just that it picked way too many, and in process scattered the plot thin. 

One that deserves mention was the handling of a gay relationship, which was done with sensitivity and care, and deserves a kudos.

A core character was also Chennai, with the urbanized culture, the hub dub of a busy metro and the ethereal beauty of it's beaches.... the characterization of the place was so well used.

The city and it's landscapes was beautifully brought out through some stunning cinematography, especially so as the story plays out from a pent house of a high rise, and from a little suburb station, Taramani.  Lovely music....haunting and melodious. 

Overall, very new age and must give credit to Ram, the director for the effort to show that mirror on society and it's very many anomalies, in the backdrop of a complex love story.

Waking Life

This is by far one of the most trippy movies I've seen.

It's a character walking around from one dream to another, the dream pulsating with more life and depth than real life is. In those dreams meeting people who throw out these  articulate, intelligent, probing ideas and theories on the meaning and purpose of existence.

It's the kind of questions and conversation that you might ask as you're growing up, and then adult life takes over and we are perforce moulded into norms and expectations. We move from 'what is the purpose' to 'what did you eat, or which mutual fund gives best returns'.

It's like literally trippy. When I asked a friend if she'd seen it, she said "is that the one where the thing is always in movement, in ripples, and nothing is static?" "That's how it feels when you're on LSD....it's a whole different dimension of experience" :)

It's so difficult to watch even visually, that I had to spread it over five days, else my head was beginning to spin for being unable to focus, plus to process those crazily intellectual and philosophical thoughts that are put there in abundance.

The movie has no real story, it's like listening in on someone else's fascinating conversations....as intriguing as crazy....i read the phrase 'deliriously verbal' somewhere which I think describes it best. 

It once again wakes you up to life, and ironically enough through dreams.

It's a Richard Linklater film, and he's so experimental...I've loved his films (the before sunrise, before sunset series), and I actually found this by searching for his movies. Will need another watch for sure.

Once Again

A beautiful portrayal of a mature romance...... with brilliant and soul stirring performances by Shefali Chaaya and Neeraj Kabi.  

It's extremely slow moving, almost at a meditative pace............ through deep joys and soulful moments...through challenges and issues...... be they their own quirks and traits set over the years, or through their children or through the larger society.

There's tremendous chemistry....her huge and expressive eyes....his brooding personality ....and a lovely backdrop of the sounds of cooking and the streets of Mumbai, which add a lot of character to the film.

He a well known actor, and she a restaurateur running her own kitchen. A relationship that stays on the phone for many years, until they just have to meet. 

Some nice symbolism where she says she is afraid of the sea, and he of the mountains....looked to me like her fear of taking the deep dive, and his of  scaling those heights...... the struggle in embracing those deeper desires and the guilt and fear of judgement.

Another thing that stands out is the way the daughters, both sides, are supportive of the relationship, but the son is not...he is more sensitive to image and opinion, and becomes a thorn in the space., a thorn that rips the very fabric. Stereotyping I guess, but largely true that daughters are by nature more empathetic.

Soulful and melancholic music nicely blends with the mood...

I loved the movie....and it's time to say that thanks to Netflix , as I doubt such cinema would see the light of day in theaters. 

Elizabeth Town

A warm and gentle movie, around difficult spaces like failure, death and love......and some nice lines in between.

The movie opens with "a failure is simply the nonpresence of success. Any fool can accomplish a failure. But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions.” 

And that's what we journey through alongwith Drew 

                                

The fiasco is of Drew's atheletic shoe design, one that he has worked on for eight years, crashing at the market and bringing down with it a company of 972 million dollars. He is on the verge of suicide, all planned and ready for execution, when he learns that his father has died and he needs to go arrange things in his home town in Kentucky.

On the way is the meet cute with Clare, his flight attendant. Through that relationship and his meeting with family in his home town, is where we see the play of death and the exuberance of life.....and it's juxtaposed quite beautifully. 

What one will see is the possibility of recovering from failure and dealing with the loss of a loved one.

There's cute scenes and life lessons....a few which stayed

While they're great at long conversations on the phone, and are trying to be just friends, there's a moment when Crew kisses Claire.... passionately enough for her to say “Most of the sex I’ve had in my life was not as personal as that kiss.”  Another one I found cute: "You are always trying to break up with me and then saying we are not even together"

A couple of realizations that empower Drew;  ' a royal blunder never occurred from a quest for mere adequacy' and  'Success, not greatness, was the only god the entire world served' 

Plus it had good music .....a worthwhile watch I'd say.

Mary Poppins Returns

Couple days back when Diksha said "Ma, I want to go see Mary Poppins, want to come?", I was just so excited. I didn't know there was a 'Mary Poppins Returns' in town.

I roped in Dhruva as well, and said for old times sake we should all go.  They remember their ammamma getting them the video cassette of the movie from the US, and the the three of us likely having watched Mary Poppins on the DVD player maybe thirty to forty times. 

We each had our own favourite song recall from the movie, it was that etched in memory. Every time the children had to take a medicine I had a 'spoonful of sugar' humming, and I sometimes do even now with Diksha :)

It didn't disappoint. It's a totally new movie, and not a remake. Yet they did pretty much the same story with Mary Poppins visiting the same house on 17, cherry tree lane, just with the next generation.   Michael Banks, back then around ten years of age, twenty years later is now a widower, in debt and at the risk of losing his home. His sister Jane yet the more practical one is  helping bring up his three kids, and hopefully save the house.

Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins was brilliant, and until I saw her, that first few seconds landing in the grass on a kite, I was a little skeptical at seeing anyone but Julie Andrews in that role. Old London was brought out as beautifully.... lamp lighters, chimney sweepers and all...the first film was set in 1910, this one is 1930.

Meryl Streep as Topsy, a cousin of Mary Poppins, was super cute....a very gypsyish person whose entire world turns upside down every second Wednesday. What a cute concept.

Every song was plugged into very similar sequence, each equally beautifully choreographed, though I wished they had some clips of the old songs.....enough to have me back home and onto you tube :)

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable experience, as full of nostalgia as presence !

Leap Year

A simple, straight from the heart, sweetly and neatly delivered romance. It's like you know exactly what's going to happen.....the cute meet, the differences, the conflicts, the hurt, the love.....and yet you enjoy the watching.

What also definitely adds is the breathtaking locales of Ireland, the little villages, the cliffs and shorelines, a little bit of Dublin, the Irish pubs....would have made a lovely big screen watch. 

Couldn't help but see the similarities in the movie to DDLJ....and considering Leap Year was made way after, was wondering if it was a reverse rip off :)

Also brought back a memory........my only tryst with Dublin, a stopover at the airport; an Irish Coffee.......a cocktail of hot coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar and whipped cream, and that too at 6 in the morn ! 

Overall, I'd say cute movie....albeit made nicer by locales and memory :)

Bucket List

My first Marathi movie without subtitles, so an additional interesting experience.

As surface level, a journey of finding identity and self.....and at a deeper level, exploring the invisible and subtle connection and bond between the living and the dead, an organ recipient and a donor. 

Madhura (Madhuri Dixit) a middle aged housewife, whose life revolves around taking care of her family, is the recipient of a heart transplant, and while her family is joyous....she finds herself ruminating on what the emotions in the donors family might be. 

Her thoughts take her not just to the doorstep of the family, but to completing the bucket list of her twenty year old heart donor. Through learning to ride an Enfield, kissing a boyfriend in public, learning to wolf whistle and more.......... and how through the process she goes from being wife, daughter, mother, daughter in law, to becoming Madhura. 

And in process endears herself into her donors circle, and enables closure for the girl's twin brother, parents (Renuka Sahane and Phatak) and friends. 

While there are several facets of the film you feel could have been better, Madhuri Dixit carries  the film pretty much on her own, and enables a simple and heart warming watch.

@Surekha, thanks for getting me to watch, especially for saying "chuck the subtitles, you'll follow the Marathi" 

Bohemian Rhapsody

The poster reads 'The only thing more extraordinary than their music is his story'.

A movie about the extraordinary life of Freddie Mercury.  One that scintillates ....through it's music, and a life that's been lived on over drive.

It's so quick, crisp and packed, that you just have to keep pace. We begin with seeing Freddie Mercury, born as Farrokh Bulsara to a conservative Parsi Indian family, working as a baggage handler at Heathrow airport..... so seemingly nonchalantly handling the racism and a father who wants him to get a regular job.

He self auditions to a band at a local pub, gets taken in, (all it takes is one listening to his voice at full sing), reforms the band, calls it Queen...... meets a girl, falls in love, gets married.....hits the popularity charts, tours Europe, tours America, discovers he's gay.......gets to their first big hit 'Bohemian Rhapsody', all in under 30 minutes. 

A couple of lines that caught my attention....

Freddie tells his girl friend: "being human is a condition that needs a little anesthesia" ( a line that Swaroop quickly wrote down in the theatre itself)

and another which Diksha drew my attention to (she's a fan....poster on wall kind of fan...and it was her third time watching within the week )

When a friend warns him that he's burning the candle at both ends, Freddie says "but the glow is divine". 

The movie has several goose bumpy moments, especially so when we see the process of some really well known numbers getting created. Like with Bohemian Rhapsody itself, which has the most vague lyrics. There's a moment of frustration when Roger, the drummer breaks off to say "wait, how many times are we going to say Galileo, and anyways, who the hell is Galileo". 

While Freddie has a meteoric rise to fame and stardom, the path is anything but smooth. There's the rift with the band when he decides to go solo, his getting manipulated by his manager and the blatantly maligning interview. His discovering his gay preference, his marriage falling apart, but a beautiful friendship with her that continues till he dies.  Then his getting the dreaded AIDS. 

As his life falls apart, lost to alcohol, drugs and men.....so does the band.

Yet, through his life, you know he has lived by choice, through arrogance and rebellion and humility. The scene where he's trying to get the band back together was neat, such an honest unconditional apology. Redemption seems so possible and real.

Nice was also seeing him in a happy and sensitive relationship with Jim Hutton.... so beautifully brought out in a scene before his parents, when he reaches out and holds Jim's hand. My teary eyed moment. 

The finale is when the band comes together again for the Live Aid concert, which some people will remember from 1985, the largest ever getting together of the best of singers and bands in aid of the famine in Ethiopia ( I recall watching it on TV). It was brilliantly re-orchestrated...including the foot tapping into which they drew in a 1.5 billion audience.....just for that concert the movie is worth watching on large screen. 

Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury was unbelievable, and so were many others but my post is already too long.

And there's so many of their songs, that even for me, who wasn't a big queen listener, there were so many that make you want to sing along..... and what's more, that's what they wanted I guess , with the lyrics at the base of the film, like in karaoke.

The songs in the film......Somebody to love, Crazy little thing called love, Fat bottomed girls, Radio Ga ga, Love of my Life, Another one bites the dust, I want to break free, We will rock you, We are the champions, Don't stop me now, and of course Bohemian Rhapsody.

I also couldn't get over the likeness they created to the original Queen:

If then I wasn't a big fan of Queen, I think I am now .....have been listening to them on you tube since  !!

Tumbbad

A film that I'd say reinvents horror in Indian Cinema.

A visually stunning film about folklore and metaphor and greed. Greed not just of man, but even God....demons not just out there, but as much within the mind.

Visually rich doesn't say enough of the brilliant cinematography, in terms of atmosphere, open landscapes juxtaposed with gripping claustrophobia. The incessant rain, which also the village is cursed with. create some stunning landscapes. Beautiful and eerie. Even to pick a picture to put in here, I got lost in looking as each is like a stunning painting.

A beautifully structured film, that gets told in three chapters between 1913 and 1947, with components of folklore, horror, drama and beauty.

It's a story set in Tumbbad, a cursed village that has created a temple to a god who was shunned for his greed. Ancestors of the god, continue to manifest the greed.  There's horror so yes, there are demons too. 

Rural Maharashtra of the pre-independence era......Brahmin patriarchy, the caste and gender oppression, the demons of greed....are all enmeshed into one weave of evil. It can't but haunt and overwhelm. 

It's rigorously and gloriously detailed, and I read later that it was seven years in the making, and you get why. And what's fascinating was to learn that Tumbbad really exists, close to Pune, and the film was shot in the Wada (fort) there. And what's more, the village does have a legend of a hidden treasure too.

I'm not going into storyline as it's yet in theatres, and I'd strongly recommend, especially the opportunity to catch it in large screen, so don't want to be a spoiler.

I'm not one to watch horror, but with Dhruva's strong recommendation, and willingness to come with me a second time,  I guess that one part of me caved. With reluctance I booked. And in the car when he said "amma, if there are scenes in the film you can't handle, don't get up and leave ok, just close your eyes and ears", I was all set for a real trip. 

It delivered that and way more. So so glad I went. 

Mahanati

Watching Mahanati was an experience, a three hours of stepping out of ones own life into that of Savitri's, what only a really good biopic can do.

And what a life....and what a woman.

When end of movie you feel it was so intense and dramatic, you get grounded in your knowing it to be a real story. Of a woman who could inspire a biopic. I watched fascinated as the story unfolded. Savitri, right from when she was a little girl, the spark clearly visible.....turning into a woman with spunk, a mind of her own......one who lived life on her own terms; be it her dance, her love, her money, her alcoholism,  fame, ego, generosity, kindness....all larger than life.

I was wowed.

Keerthy Suresh has a remarkable likeness to Savitri, and breathed life into the role. Dulquar as Gemini Ganeshan was charming, and while playing a crucial role in her life, at some point kind of fades away, fades away from the movie too.....and that catalyzes her spiral.

The several clips of all the old Savitri songs was beautiful..... and nostalgic too as I've grown up hearing those songs on daily basis ( plus my dads a big fan of Savitri's).

I loved the cinematography of old time rural life.....plus the old time tinsel town exposure, that was brought in with all real life characters of yesteryears.

It's a long movie, but then her life has so much, so much of everything that I could have watched a couple hours longer. A story that inspires, of a woman who inspires.

A lot of folks said it was sad and depressing, but I didn't think so......to me what stood out is a woman who chose her own life.

Nag Ashwin, for having delved so deep into the life of Savitri, and given us Mahanati, kudos and thanks !!

Karwaan

A road trip..... funny, quirky, dark and soulful at one time.

What I told mom as we walked out "that's the kind of funny I like.......a movie that made me laugh so much".....laugh at the quirks of life in the most serious and profound spaces.....spaces of  introspection, lost dreams, generation gaps, attitudes........ even mortality itself. 

Three most disparate souls, Avinash, (Dalquer Salmaan) , Shaukat (Irrfan Khan) and Tanya (Mithila Palkar),  in one van, with one dead body, going from Bangalore to Cochin via Ooty. 

The characters are sketched out beautifully, especially the highly opinionated Shaukat and the dejected and serious Avinash, with Tanya being the quintessential millenial, each with their own issues, and like Tanya says "hum sab ka father department mein tragedy hai na". A perfect cast, with brilliant performances.

The narrative, as intended on a road trip I guess, is curved and bumpy as the road, a trip with several unplanned detours..... also as beautiful .........metaphorically as also one of the most picturesque drives that South India has to offer.

A journey that shifts perspectives.......and so shifts self and relationships.

@Vijji aunty, thanks so much for the strong recommendation ....I hadn't even heard of the movie up until then....and more, for saying it like you did. "You should absolutely go watch it" she said, and so I did , and I'd watch it again too :)

28 Days

I picked the movie because it was a Sandra Bullock, pretty much expecting her usual high energy rom coms. Was I surprised. 

It's a movie in a rehab, overcoming alcoholism and addiction. No easy space.

She's a columnist for a New York magazine, drunk and wild at any time of day. There's some major drama and an accident, and she has to chose jail or rehab. She's a reluctant admit.... there to complete the 28 day term, and get back to her life and boyfriend.

Through the rehab she dumps both....and a lot more.

Comes through in a complex relationship she has with her sister, where it starts with her sister saying "you make it so difficult for me to love you"....change happens, and it changes to "it's impossible not to love you".

Watchable. And for Sandra Bullock, definitely watchable.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

There's a Walter on the outside, and a Walter on the inside. In between is his secret life, a fantastic level of fantasizing. 

The movie starts with him balancing his cheque book on his ball point pen, and the message is clear.

You'd see him as this meek, stuck in office routine, afraid to express himself kind of guy, you also see his wild imagination of what goes on within....and only later realize there's a reason why duty and responsibility took over, and his own passions and spirit of adventure went into cold storage.

Then comes the turning point.... when he's about to lose his job at the Life Magazine, and he needs to find that one mysterious photographer who can save his job (and him). The shift between imagination and  reality is so beautifully done that you're pretty much left guessing for when.

The cinematography is to die for. 

Each of those places he visits, Iceland, Greenland, Afghanisthan, Himalayas....is like pictures from the National Geographic. Would have been wonderful on large screen.

And in process he goes 'inside out'..... embraces life ....finds himself, finds it in him to not just feel but express and live his dreams.....with all his goodness and kindness intact.

It's funny in parts, quirky kinds, more from those curved balls life throws you at times, than outright comedy. 

The poster line - "To see the world. Things dangerous to come to. To see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life."

Sagari, thanks a ton for so strongly recommending :)

Secret Superstar

A simple and sweet film, about a small town girl who dares to dream big.

As story, that's what it is, a fourteen year old girl from a conservative family, uneducated mother in a troubled and abusive marriage, controlling father.....the dream to become a famous singer.....finding an unlikely mentor....predictable end. 

It's yet been down wonderfully. The story, the characterizations, the deep conditioning, the relationships, the breakthroughs........they have an emotional tenor that connects into you.

It's all new faces, except for Aamir Khan who plays a small but pivotal role, and they each did so good, Insiya (Zaira Wasim), her mom (Meher Vij), and the easy to hate dad (Raj Arjun). One of my favourites was Chintan (Tirth Sharma) who was just adorable, as was that first crush with all it's innocence and charm. Songs were nice, again simple nice.

A worthwhile watch.