Fri, March 8 2024

Even a giant talking dragon—voiced by the always wonderful Shohreh Aghdashloo—can’t save this feminist fantasy survival thriller.

Damsel—the new Netflix movie with Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown—is part of a fairly new strain of feminist films that wish to dismantle the stereotypes associated with fantasy films such as these. Its subversive claims—that this is not a story where a white knight rescues a damsel in distress—are made clear from the start. Yet, it has all the other time-honoured elements: an evil queen, a naïve younger sister, semi-unquestioning parents, and a prince under his mother’s thumb. (And oh, there’s also a talking dragon. We’ll get to that.) But alas, this 101-minute entirely self-serious tale—there isn’t a bone of humour in Damsel—has little to say and even less to show. I kept waiting for the film to kick in, to usher me into what it promised and wow me with its action, but that moment never arrived.

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Tue, March 5 2024

Dune: Part Two is being called one of the greatest sequels ever made. It isn’t. We discuss the problems that we’ve had with both Dune films, our issues with their cold tone, the seemingly rushed plot despite a nearly three-hour run-time, and the sheer number of characters to keep track of.

Sat, February 24 2024

All India Rank, the feature directorial debut of Varun Grover, is a refreshing change of pace for Bollywood, but still not as good as it could have been. We discuss all the ways in which the coming-of-age drama avoids making the same mistakes as 12th Fail or Kota Factory, its ability to evoke a particular time and place, and its reliance on tried-and-tested narrative tropes. We also talk about the toxicity in the Indian familial set-up that the movie calls out in its own understated way while making larger statements about aspiration and ambition.

Sun, February 18 2024

Dunki, the third and final Shah Rukh Khan film of 2023, wastes all the goodwill he had built with Pathaan and Jawan. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, Dunki ranks among the worst films we’ve covered on the podcast and is outdated to the point of being offensive. We talk about the film’s most insensitive scenes, Hirani’s disinterest in taking real-life geopolitical issues seriously, and ignoring the tragic love story at the film’s centre. We also talk about the film’s tonal imbalance, tendency to rely on cliches, and inability to make the best use of screen time.

Sat, February 17 2024

Rahul, a calm and composed musician, happens to meet the spunky and spontaneous Keerti by chance when the latter is visiting her grandmother in Pune. Their respective lives take a different path soon.

Often, it is the films made with passion that leave a lasting impression on the minds of the viewers. Nothing larger-than-life, no grand sets, nothing unbelievable – just a simple story told with sincerity and made relatable by its characters. If Amaltash was to be explained in brief, this would suffice. Amaltash is a simple, straightforward story of a gifted musician named Rahul (Rahul Deshpande) whose life has changed after an incident in his past. Rahul has learned the importance of soaking in the small pleasures of life and being composed in the most strenuous of situations. Enter Keerti (Pallavi Paranjape), the NRI from Canada who lands in Pune to meet her grandmother (Pratibha Padhye) and has a chance encounter with Rahul who is at her granny’s house to tune their piano. Taken by Rahul’s musical prowess, Keerti meets him again at Rahul’s friend’s music store. They talk and bond over music and soon strike a friendship. Love blossoms organically. But are they meant to spend their life together?

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Sun, February 11 2024

Bhakshak, starring Bhumi Pednekar, is the latest socially conscious call-to-action from Shah Rukh Khan’s production company, and even though it’s a more grounded film, its sensibilities aren’t too dissimilar from Jawan. We discuss what we liked and disliked about the film’s portrayal of hyperlocal journalism, its depiction of real-life atrocities, and its tendency to shed all nuance and scream at the audience. We also talk about the film’s odd pacing, the often confusing narrative, and overall inelegance despite director Pulkit’s noble intentions.

Fri, February 9 2024

Inspired by a true story, the Bhumi Pednekar-led Netflix film has little interest in the vitality of local journalism and frequently resorts to grandstanding dialogues.

In theory, Bhakshak—the new Netflix movie starring Bhumi Pednekar—knows what a story about a journalist fighting the world needs. You’ve got an uncaring and shackled system, a government keeping mum to save its brethren and getting everyone else to toe the line. There are people trying to intimidate you, either through surveillance, familial pressure, or hurting the ones closest to you. Add to that the obstacles faced by Indian women in the workforce, what with society wanting you always to put the kitchen and kids first. But none of this is done in a convincing fashion—it’s neither thrilling nor grounded. Spotlight, this is not. Instead, it’s much too interested in posturing because it is wrapped up in its own self-importance.

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Wed, February 7 2024

Set in feudal 17th century Japan—as the book and the original series—the new Shōgun captures the era’s mood but has trouble scratching greatness.

In Shōgun—the new miniseries adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 bestselling novel, rooted in history and set in the year 1600—a shrewd lord who refuses to have kingly aspirations and claims he’s only interested in keeping the peace is told early on there’s no room for good men in this age. After all, everyone around him is busy plotting. Some more openly than others. His equal is turning the council of regents he serves on against him, his loyal chieftains are hiding valuable info from their master, hoping to benefit them later, and even the priests who claim to spread the word of the Lord have ulterior motives. Elsewhere, a man is boiled alive, breasts are bared, and a lord watches a woman jerk another man off. What is this, the Japanese Game of Thrones?

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Mon, February 5 2024

Joram, the fourth feature film from director Devashish Makhija, juggles multiple tones and narratives. But is it successful at it? We discuss Manoj Bajpayee’s mostly silent central performance as a displaced tribal man running for his life, and the film’s heavy handed socio-political commentary. We also wonder if the movie would’ve worked better as a tight 90-minute thriller, and point out a worryingly regressive trend in Makhija’s films.

Fri, February 2 2024

Despite some intriguing elements, Gippy Grewal starrer Warning 2 is a sequel that fails to do more than take forward a needlessly complicated circle of revenge.

Gippy Grewal’s latest Punjabi-language film Warning 2 (2024) picks up the threads from its predecessor Warning (2021), to take forward the revenge action drama. Directed by Amar Hundal, who directed Warning and Babbar (2022), Warning 2 plays to his strengths where he foregrounds slow-motion shots, stylised action choreography featuring tough looking goons, all held together by a threadbare screenplay. Warning left off at the point when Geja (Gippy Grewal) is imprisoned and comes to the same jail as Pamma (Prince Kanwaljit Singh). Geja is the top dog and the whole assortment of gangsters languishing in jail are itching for a chance to prove their worth. Pamma is fascinated by the tales of Geja’s gruesome killings wherein he learns about Geja’s past and how, predictably, he set out to take revenge for his family’s murder, which led him to a life of crime. When the prisoners are being transferred to another location, it presents a golden opportunity for the prisoners as well as the predators circling outside, to seize the opportunity and balance the scales.

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Thu, February 1 2024

Donald Glover’s new Prime Video series—inspired by the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie of the same name—is firing on all cylinders.

In early 2021, Emmy winners Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge—best known to TV audiences for creating and starring in the surreal and satirical Atlanta and the cringe comedy-drama Fleabag, respectively—announced that they were partnering up for their next series project. What would that collaboration result in? A reimagining of the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-led 2005 action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Naturally, television lovers had a lot to be excited about, but the project lost some of its charm when Waller-Bridge dropped out later that year. Glover termed it “classic creative differences”. Two years and a bit later, the Amazon series—sans Waller-Bridge—has rolled in with eight episodes (I’ve seen all). It’s no classic, but it sure is a lot of fun.

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Tue, January 30 2024

Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor, is hardly as offensive as director Sandeep Reddy Vanga probably intended it to be, but it’s aggravating on many levels nonetheless. We discuss the film’s infantile approach to its themes and Vanga’s dedication to being edgy at the expense of storytelling and character development. We also talk about the film’s unbearable length, inconsequential subplots, and the odd decision to not introduce Bobby Deol’s villain sooner. Along the way, we also talk about the numerous petulant attacks that Vanga has made on critics and how his neediness is reflected in the film.

Wed, January 24 2024

It’s unlike Band of Brothers and The Pacific in more ways than one—and possibly the last of its kind in the dusk of TV’s fading golden age.masters-ofthe

Ever since Apple unveiled its Netflix competitor roughly four years ago, it has shown an interest in big-budgeted prestige dramas in a bid to be a part of the conversation alongside the likes of HBO (House of the Dragon) and Amazon Prime Video (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power). But its attempts in the past have been a mixed bag. Save for the excellent trilingual Pachinko, Apple TV+ has failed to land a show that can establish it as a powerhouse. It hasn’t stopped trying, but its many attempts—For All Mankind, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Foundation, Invasion, or See—have been on a gradual scale of satisfying to utterly unwatchable. Enter its latest and most expensive gamble, made on a reported budget of $250 million: Masters of the Air.

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