Ammu (2022)

Ammu (2022)

Written and Directed by: Charukesh Sekar

Starring: Naveen Chandra, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Bobby Simha

Streaming on Prime Video. 

I loved the idea and the premise. The film is a little in the lines of Gone Girl, although here the woman is clean without any shades of gray. It's essentially about a woman who decides to get back at her abusive husband. The abuse is a tad bit triggering too. It affected me a lot, to an extent where I was expecting a terrific pay off. The abuse reminded me of Secret Superstar, which eventually has a really good pay off. Although in this film, whatever she does to get back at him, the last 45 mins of the film, feels just like one scene instead of a whole act. It's a small loophole she catches onto and acts on it, and it didn't feel like a good enough pay off. She helps an ex-convict, Bobby Simha by seeing some humane qualities in him, and makes life tough for the cop. I think why it doesn't work as much is because, the consequences the cop faces are not really in Ammu's control. She's just doing some damage hoping that there'll be bad consequences to him, which it works. But since the cause and effects are not very direct, it doesn't seem vengeful enough. In the ending, when she faces him and talks to him, it's a good moment, but I wished she faced him, confronted him and attacked him in some ways at least one or two times.

I like how the film explores multiple facets within domestic abuse, like how when the victim tries to seek for help, the perpetrator can emotionally manipulate the victim into not calling them out. The abuse is more than just the physical abuse, it's the mental manipulation too. How the film explored the abuse was terrific and triggering as I mentioned. And the film is technically beautiful too. I just had issues with the writing. With the same first half (setup) and a different second half (pay off), the film could've been completely different and a lot better too. The performances are good . Naveen Chandra is menacing and convincing as a guy who could be good and both be bad. Aishwarya Lekshmi also did a really good job, she has a lot of depth even when she's not doing anything on screen.

Flight (2012)

Flight (2012)

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Written by: John Gatins
Starring: Denzel Washington

The film opens with a terrific sequence of a flight accident. This scene reminded me of Sully, because I watched that film before, but this sequence had much more tension built in. I love the genre they cracked for this film, it seems like an action, legal drama, but it's also a character study of an alcoholic. The way he goes downhill is so interesting, because in the beginning they put us in a spot where we seem to be okay with his drinking and just like people around him, we too don't even realize when the jump happened, but we suddenly find his drinking to be problematic. He tells himself, 'it's just like flying', it beautifully shows how for him staying sober is harder than flying an aircraft.

While making bad/tough decisions, people are aware that there would be a lot of consequences. So is Whip in this film. He's aware of the consequences. But out of nowhere, a small thing hits him, and it's the most humane moment in the film, he has lied about everything, he has gotten everything under control, it's just one more lie, but at what cost? To put someone else at fault, who was trying to save a kid. Just this one small thing, helped him seek the truth and stop living a life of lies. I love it when small things turn around lives, when people move mountains for the smallest of things. It's beautiful. And the film has as much style and jazz as a Scorsese film when he's drinking, but it also manages to show us the dark side of it like a warning. The film does that for us.

Hell or High Water (2016)

Hell or High Water (2016)

Directed by: David Mackenzie

Written by: Taylor Sheridan

Streaming on Prime Video. 

It's a neo-Western crime drama, in the space of No Country for Old Men. The singular idea of the film is about two brothers who rob banks, but the film has a well rounded narrative constructed around this one piece of an idea. It explores why people commit crime, some for survival and some for fun. The headspace of the people when they're in it. It inevitably also explores the story of the cops, their headspace and their lives. I like the dynamics between the two brothers, and how they explore each of their character with respect to each other. The film never explores any character as an individual, it always explores each character with a frame of reference. The brothers are explored with respect to each other, and we understand more about a character by the contrast they have with the other than by their own self. Same goes with the cops. They too are explored like that. I like how the film though has a climactic episode, it doesn't close all loops. It still has a little hanging, because perhaps that's how crime is. It's never completely over. Once you get in, it keeps lingering till the time you die. 

I like the tone and the texture of the film. It's not as raw as No Country for Old Men, and it's not as refined as a Fincher film either. It has an interesting mid ground. The experience of the film is quite subliminal, it keeps everything on a very surface level. It doesn't aim to go real close to the characters, it is okay keeping us at a distance, which is why we can see the events of the film slightly objectively, as how crime should be looked at. If we empathize a lot with the brothers, then one of the brothers dying would make us feel rage towards the cops. But the film strikes a beautiful balance where we are slightly invested in the characters, and we feel too, but we don't get carried away by the feelings to a point where we cannot see things for what they are.

Kantara (2022)

Kantara (2022)

Written, Directed and Performed by: Rishabh Shetty

Produced by: Hombale Films

This was one hell of a ride. Loud. Pulsating. Chest thumping madness. It's set in a very distinct world with sprinkles of folklore and the supernatural. It tells the story of people fighting for land. It's also a character study of Shiva and it's beautifully performed by Rishabh Shetty and this is easily one of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Initially, the man seems like a normal guy. And in places, especially in the romance portions, I even found him and his antics tad bit ugly. Later, when the film progresses towards the interval, he seems like a beast when he's fighting the system. And by the ending of the film, he eventually becomes god. From an ugly man, to a beast to god, this was one hell of an arc. And he was absolutely convincing in all of them. 

The film meddles a little here and there, but then the climactic stretch makes everything worth it. I didn't see that coming, and I was thinking of a few possible climaxes and nothing in my imagination came even close to what the film had. In the end, when he dances with the folklore avatar, it didn't seem like an actor acting it out. It seemed like one of those images in textbooks we see, it was that authentic. The last act of the film shows how strong and impactful a film can get if you even take references from mythology and folklore and pull it off. It's sheer intensity and potency out there on our faces.

PS-1 (2022)

PS-1 (2022)

Directed by: Mani Ratnam

For someone who hasn't read the book, this film is definitely a little tight to follow because of the number of characters involved, and mainly the way they refer to each character with multiple names, their names, sometimes their accolades, etc. In India, there are primarily a few filmmakers who tell a lot of historic epics and fantasies. In today's day and age, it's mostly Rajamouli and Bhansali. Earlier, there'd be Ashutosh Gowariker too. Although this film didn't hook me all along, and a big chunk of the film felt like a set up to something coming forward, what I enjoyed the most in this film was the Maniratnam touch. I could clearly see his voice, and his touch to the storytelling. The way even the fight between Jayam Ravi and Karthi was choreographed, it's not very macho and raw. There's a sense of grace and style to it. And of course, the more direct touches of Mani Ratnam would be the women, the way they affect men and the story.

I really enjoyed the interval bit, perhaps my favorite bit of the film. I like how a man, no matter who he is, he could be a warrior, a king, but if his heart is broken, he can become a wreck. The interval scene slightly reminded me of the king in Chandramukhi, who beheads his wife and her lover. At the moment, the rage feels justified because of his love and longing towards the woman. And these are what create the most cinematic moments, which are wrong on paper but feel right in the moment. Like Baahubali beheading the man who tried to grope Devasena in court. Overall, I wish the storytelling was clearer and the ups and downs landed better. Although I didn't mind this much only because I could see Mani Ratnam's touch to a genre like this.