Ludo Analysis

Ludo (2020)

Direction, Cinematography, Production Design, Writing: Anurag Basu

Streaming on Netflix.

Hyperlink narratives are exciting irrespective of how good the individual narratives are, because of the sheer joy they elicit when they put pieces together. The last scene is high on drama, just because they bring pieces together - just like how they bring in the TV from the sky into Samantha's part. But this film has good depth in all the narratives, even in standalone. I felt that each story could've been a quirky feature film.

It's not only the black comedy, and the treatment that makes this film engaging - it's also the unpredictability of it. We can't guess what'll happen next, which subplot will come next - by the time we're thinking, a truck suddenly comes out of nowhere and kills one of the characters.

The color palettes are pretty evident and obvious from the concept of Ludo. They use those colors in props, costumes, the background and everywhere possible. The thematic statement - from their trivial way of dealing with death, heartbreak and the way they talk about the pointlessness of life - it reminded me of Super Deluxe. It goes towards optimistic nihilism. 

Unrequited love is explored very well in this film, it elicits such bittersweet emotions - bitter because it's unrequited and sweet because of the selflessness. It's also bitter because it mimics the harsh realities of life - we generally watch films and appreciate the rags to riches stories, where the rich guys are the villains - but what if the rich people are the nice guys and they win over the poor people? It felt bittersweet for me because the film finally ended on a happy note, betraying me.

Middle Class Melodies Analysis

Middle Class Melodies (2020)

Directed by: Vinod Anantoju

Starring: Anand Deverakonda, Varsha Bollamna

Streaming on Amazon Prime.

My initial impression of the film was not so good, mainly because of the presence of Anand Deverakonda - it's probably the voice resemblance with Vijay Deverakonda and his acting too felt all over the place initially. Even the editing felt like it was self aware of this, they weren't cutting much to Anand - there were either wide shots or suggestions of Anand's. But as the film progressed, things fell into place and he felt better. I've no idea why this happened to me, but this is my experience with the film.

The filmmaking is top notch, especially the cinematography - the camera movements always compliment the emotions of the scene, and they also use B-rolls to convey emotions - especially in the scene where a man jumps in the river, the following shots are of monsoons - and the sad music juxtaposed with those shots, it worked so well. The scenes in real locations were very well shot, I've no clue how they pulled them off. 

Usually when it's budding actors, we tend to appreciate them playing underdogs - this entire film being set in the middle class world, everyone plays underdogs here. This film does a great job of creating a world, and making a film about the entire world and not just about the protagonist - this also helps in covering the weaknesses of the actor. I fell in love with the world. Issues like people forgoing debts, the world of marriage alliances and the problems people face when starting a business - all were portrayed so well.

The tonality suddenly shifts in the last half an hour, and it became a hyperlink narrative suddenly - I enjoyed that entire episode, but it was a slight jerk in the tonality. Till then, it was a breezy slice-of-life film and with that episode - it was high on drama. This film is an example of how we can make films about an entire world (here, the middle class world of Guntur) instead of just focusing on the protagonists.

Soorarai Pottru: Analysis

Soorarai Pottru (2020)

Directed by: Sudha Kongara

Starring: Suriya, Aparna Balamurali, Paresh Rawal, Mohan Babu

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Initially I was a little hesitant towards this film, because this film is again about a man who changes the society and it's such an overly done thing - but I loved the writing and the execution of the film. This film reminds me of Mersal - both of these films inspired me to feel and think at least for a while, from a socialist perspective and coincidentally both the films have protagonists named 'Maaran'. Usually I'm resistant towards people who pity themselves, cry and play victims - but I realized how privileged a notion this is after watching films like this. A person like me, who's selfish and all for individualism - even I got slightly moved after watching some scenes in the film. The subplot of Maaran's father works even in solidarity, and it also directly adds to the main plot. The unresolved tiff between them, and the father thinking that his son thinks of him as a loser - acts like an inner void for Maaran. The scene where he cries and reads his father's writings, that inspires him to pursue and solve this problem. 

The filmmaking is top notch, especially the way they shoot scenes with a lot of extras - they felt so real and I wondered what kind of efforts would've gone into making them seem so effortless - the scenes in the roads, near their house, and many more. The editing is so fluid, each scene cuts into one another and after a while I didn't even realize I had seen 30 mins of the film - and this is surprising because the film is a heavy drama for the most part. One screenwriting principle is to torture the hero as much as possible, so that the audience would root for them - and this film it is done beyond that, even I felt exhausted watching him suffer so much and this being a real story - it makes it heartbreaking, and when he finally does it - it's inspiring.

Although I've some issues with the blatant socialism in the film - in a scenario where people help him by giving him all their life savings - they've to realize that it's for a business and it doesn't make sense - because then they emotionally blackmail him to "win" and it isn't always in his hands - there's also luck factor which could either favor him or fuck him up. That would only put more pressure on him, the feeling that he's probably gambling with others' entire life savings. The villain, is one dimensional - the way he plots and goes against Maaran is interesting - especially the interval block, but his characterisation is too generic.

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story Analysis

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020)

Directed by: Hansal Mehta

Starring: Pratik Gandhi, Shreya Dhanwanthary

Streaming on Sony LIV.

This is one of most riveting series I've seen in a long time. The show is set in the 80-90s and it authentically portrays the world of trading, and the stock markets. Stock markets is a world of ambition, success, greed, failure and it's a place which tests your mental strength everyday, especially in day trading. It's a place to go to, for self exploration. You'll definitely understand your strengths, and weaknesses.

Harshad Mehta is inspiring - not because he went against the system - that even a person jumping a signal, does. He is inspiring because he did the unthinkable, unimaginable and the way he capitalised on every opportunity he got. Of course, he got carried away by the money, the adrenaline and the power and he risked everything at a lot of points - but I'm sure he'd be a great trader and probably one of the wealthiest people in the world, if he was alive today. 

Pratik Gandhi was so good as Harshad, the way he carries the angst, in a subtle way throughout the later part of the show - that depicts the character's mental strength. The lingo is so authentic (I can say that with my trading experience) - 'market paisa kha gaya' and phrases like that are very commonly used in the pit, of course along with a lot of creative profanity.

Sucheta Dalal - she tries to bring order in the system. My understanding of crime and punishment isn't so deep, but I was wondering if bringing order in this scenario did well or harm in the larger scheme of things. I think it's the same case as the vigilante hero, where in spite of breaking rules - their intentions aren't malicious. Although in this case, it's a little dicey because there is a lot of self interest involved - profit for himself (apart from the booming of the market). Also he's trading with people's money without their consent, and a trader like Harshad (with such insane risk taking abilities) could have lost a lot of money.

The way they balance perspectives of both Harshad and Sucheta is interesting - because at times we're rooting for Sucheta to find some information, because of the amount of work she puts and when she finds out some news - we feel good as well. With Harshad, empathy is created purely because of the underdog - rags to riches angle. The show never shies away from using trading jargon, and at times even when you don't exactly understand what they're referring to - we only get more curious (as opposed to feeling small and eventually losing interest).

We see a lot of tube lights in the frame, this contributes to the lighting as well as to get the vibe of the 90s. The show has the tonality of a docu-series and this is so tough to achieve when you're recreating everything and without using real footage, which is why the intercutting in the ending just blew my mind.

Sideways Analysis

Sideways (2004)

Directed and Co-Written by: Alexander Payne

Won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and nominated for 4 more.

It's about two 40-year-old friends who go on a road trip through a wine country, to celebrate one of their wedding - and they have different encounters on the way, which make them introspect their inner voids and flaws. 

One of them is an unsuccessful writer, a wine aficionado - and he is divorced, depressed and probably is also going through mid-life crisis. It's very moving, what happens to him by the end of the film - his book gets passed on, by every publishing house and he loses hope on life, he thinks that he's not good enough. By the end of the film, when he recieves the voice note by Maya - that she enjoyed reading the book and she acknowledges what he went through in life. I felt so good for him in that moment - this is what he wanted to hear from somebody, someone acknowledging him putting out all his deep vulnerabilities. I thought he'd cry listening to that.

Some jokes land very well, my favorite one was the title of his book and Maya's reaction to it. Moments like these set up the mood for a large chunk of the film. The film is not only funny in the literal sense, but it's also the tonality which keeps a smile on our face even when there are no jokes - like Little Things does. The hopeful, laidback music too adds to the tone of the film. This is a film that I really enjoyed, in spite of not getting to think much about what the film wanted to say - of course it talks about a lot of things, but I was just in the moment while watching the film.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin Analysis

The 40-Year-Old-Virgin (2005)

Directed and Co-Written by: Judd Apatow

Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen

I've come across this title a lot of times in screenwriting books, because it is structurally solid - it has one protagonist, (arguably) with a flaw - who is trying to overcome it. This film was also often praised for how it doesn't beat around the bush and is written to the point, and also how the title of the film tells you all you need to know about the film before watching it. The film sets up the protagonist right from the opening scene - he's awake before the alarm rings and he's alone, telling us about him. The film is sweet, funny at times and though I can't recall laughing out loud - it felt like I had a nice time watching the film.But, I've some problems/questions about the film.

One is that, suddenly at times - Andy has game and he talks to women super confidently, like the way he talks to Beth - that felt out of character. It felt like he has game, but he didn't have sex purely because of the circumstances, like how it happens with Trish's kids walking on them. This is not convincing because he's 40, and if he had game, then it wouldn't be the circumstances all the time. But yeah, he says that he stopped trying after a point. I liked that the encounters he has, are always risky and they push him to let go off his inhibitions and fears - and they make the film not only about sex, but also about letting ourselves loose.

I liked that they show us at the end that there's nothing wrong with Andy, and that he should accept himself - and that him being a virgin was probably even good because he will have meaningful sex from now. They actually show him to have better sex because they're in love, through the song. It's all good. But, it's quite apparent that the filmmakers chose the other worldview throughout the film to incite humor, and the they pick this righteous worldview at the end to give the film a politically correct ending. The Hangover doesn't do that, it shows the same quirk and madness in the ending too. Shankar's 2.0 also did that, they make fun of the birds when the robot is fighting against Akshay Kumar and then they give us a "message" to save birds.

Mighty Aphrodite Analysis

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Written & Directed by: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen, Mira Sorvino (who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress - though I think that she's the actress in the leading role in this film).

It is rare that I crack up after reading the logline of a film. This film is about a man, Lenny, and his search for his genius adopted son's biological mother - although she turns out to be a dim-witted prostitute named Linda. The logline itself has the structure of a joke - the setup and the punchline. Although the film builds on this, it's not entirely about this aspect. The film deals with Lenny's relationship with Linda - where his intention is to get her married and "settled" so that when his son grows up and if he seeks to find his biological mother - he won't be "disappointed". As usual, all the characters are multifaceted and contradictory. The film talks about choice - should we let people be who they're or try to change them according to our understanding of what's good or bad? Lenny is always advicing her "for her good" - to quit prostitution, and to even quit her dreams of acting because it's tough and he essentially thinks that she won't be able to do it.

When Lenny finds out about his wife's (obvious) affair, he looks at Linda as an option - or he doesn't. They just have sex that day, for the first time and I thought that this is the classical Woody Allen pro-infidelity, counter culture worldview. But in the next scene, both Lenny and his wife go back to each other and realize that they love each other. It felt forced, but until they build on this and ultimately pay off. Now, Linda has Lenny's kid and Lenny has Linda's kid - and both of them don't know about it and it's all even now. This was a genius and probably the best possible pay off the film could have with that premise. This film doesn't deal with the existentialism, and the philosophy that he usually explores within the world of the story. This film is funny, right at the one-liner stage, and this doesn't rely on jokes in between the scenes (we also have these). 

Children of Men Analysis

Children of Men (2006)

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Cinematography: Emanuel Lubezki

Streaming on Netflix.

It's a science fiction dystopian thriller - it's a world where fertility has stopped and it's a warzone everywhere. Miraculously, when a woman gets pregnant - Theo must ensure her safety.

At the core, this film is a survival thriller - it works on primitive levels. People trying to save a pregnant woman amidst war zones - it's an accessible story. But what Cuaron does masterfully is, he convincingly builds up the world - it feels so real and immersive. A simple story masterfully executed is always better than a complex, layered story executed in a substandard way. 

Cuaron uses every filmmaking tool to tell the story, to convince us of the world - most of the camera movements have a realistic, handheld vibe - it gives an unsettling effect. The long takes are unbelievably beautiful, and if long takes aren't executed or utilized to their best - then is when people find them gimmicky. There is a scene in the car, where they are attacked by people - that scene was breathtaking, because of the spontaneity of the events on screen. The camera finds multiple subjects within the scene and moves towards them, and every camera move is motivated and not random in this long take. 

The imagery of the world is so strong, we see navy blue and brown a lot and the look has an unsaturated vibe to it. The production design and costumes plays a key role in bringing in this kind of a look to the film, because the costumes, the entire roads and the walls are in a certain color a lot of times. 

One technique Cuaron uses in a lot of his films is, he never calls attention to the "scale" or the "budget" of the film. For example- the way they use extras in this film is so clever, they never show us the 100 extras walking beside - the extras just pass by behind the wall and we can only see them when the handheld camera moves a little away from the subject. This makes us believe that they're not extras and that people are all around, they're behind the walls and they're behind the camera and they're everywhere. It's not a film anymore. It's real. That's Alfonso Cuaron for you.

Aha Na Pellanta Analysis

Aha Na Pellanta (1987)

Adapted and Directed by: Jandhyala

Starring: Rajendra Prasad, Rajani, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Brahmanandam's debut role.

This is a super fun film, and I think this film has the structure which Srinu Vaitla has loosely adapted throughout his films - in the first half, the hero meets the girl and in the second half, he goes to a completely different world and plays a con man to convince the girl's family to get them married. Usually the first half and the second half are set in completely different worlds in this genre, including Baadshah, Ready, etc - I think part of this comes from the filmmakers wanting to show the same star actor in different settings.

This kind of storytelling is close to our Indian epics - where there are a lot of subplots which don't directly add to the core plot, and the story keeps moving from one point to another - and the whole universe is thematically connected. The risk of doing these kinds of stories is that, the thematic connection can get lost and the film might end up like a compilation of random subplots and jokes.

This film doesn't end up like that, Satyanarayana - the father wants his son to get married into a traditional family, with values and they show us the reason for this as well, him and his wife suffering when they were young and his promise to his wife. Hence, Lakshmipathy comes into play. There's no other choice here, they've to get along with him and in that process Krishnamurthy plays a con man. The subplot of Sita and Lakshmipathy's son is used to explore Lakshmipathy's character arc - after this is when everyone start rebelling against him, including the servant Govindu. The climax is like the cherry on the cake, where all grooms come together to marry Padma - that's when he realises his mistake.

Govindu aka Aragundu's track is hilarious - I think the scenes of his inner voice is the origin for the art form of memes, with the freeze frame and us reading the lines in their voice. Lakshmipathy fantasizing chicken by looking at a dead chicken hung - I thought this was a famous proverb, for the kind of a cultural phenomenon it is, this being written by a screenwriter is just mind blowing! I absolutely enjoyed this film, and the complexity of the screenplay never comes in the way of the comedy - it actually adds to it.