Pathaan (2023)

Pathaan

Directed by: Siddharth Anand

Starring: SRK, Deepika Padukone

I loved the teaser of this film and had a lot of expectations, because I enjoyed almost every film in the whole Spy Universe of YRF and this film seemed like a simple, focused, stylish, action flick. But I didn't enjoy the film as much, mostly because of the writing. To me, the image of SRK was outpowering the character a bit too much, to the point where I could feel no stakes or tension, which is key for an action film. The bits that I enjoyed was the cameo crossover (loved the painkiller bit), the backstory of Pathaan and Besharam Rang. My main problem with the film was that the action episodes seemed very convenient - for example in the heist scene - Deepika honeytraps the guy and Shahrukh does the Ka.. Ka.. Karen thing, and then when they actually go and steal it - they just go, show the man some cleavage and steal it. The only obstacle they face is physical force which they easily fight. Take the heist scenes in Dhoom 2, all of them are extremely clever. You don't see them coming. In this film, no matter how bad a situation people are in, they just fight their way out of it. 

I liked the Dimple Kapadia bit, because I didn't see it coming. Usually such parts are played by men, I liked how they flip the cliche this time. And this was the only part where I felt some real conflict in the film. Although inspite of the scale of the film, when John Abraham's character says, he needs Kashmir, it didn't seem as authentic and real. Perhaps because the film doesn't explore these settings in detail as much. Also the only clever bits in the film, Deepika and SRK's track felt a little similar to Hrithik and Aishwarya's track in Dhoom 2. Apart from all this, I enjoyed seeing SRK on screen after a long long time, but I wish the writing of the film had a little more depth. It would've taken the film to another level.

Grass (2018)

Grass (2018)

Written and Directed by: Hong Sang-soo

Grass is a film set in a cafe, where a writer tries to write and is eavesdropping on conversations around for material. The film is essentially an anthology of some conversations that happen around her. It's classic Hong Sang-soo - minimalist setting, film centred around conversations, long shots and a lot of smoking. This film, or even some of other Hong Sang-soo films, operate on this level where he doesn't make you emotionally invest in the characters. It's more on an observational level. And I feel like this story is a perfect premise for his kind of storytelling, where the character is observing people around. It's almost always like this to me. This doesn't mean that his films don't hit you, some bits stay with you and make you wonder - especially if you're an artist yourself. Almost all the flaws of his characters are that those obsessed artists are easily prone to. 

This reminded me of Coffee and Cigarettes, although the conversations in this film are tonally dark - characters accuse each other of being responsible of bad things. The only breather we get is when the characters take smoke breaks. One thing that I like about this film is how honest the characters are, in conversations. It makes you want to be that honest with yourself and reflect. I love the ending where she says that she prefers eavesdropping from a distance rather than being part of the conversation - it says a lot about who she is, and how artists can be.

The Fabelmans (2022)

The Fabelmans (2022)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner

This is easily one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Till now, I've been a fan of films which had a post-modern style - non linear editing, voice overs, snappy editing. I've never been a big fan of the classic style of filmmaking, with those films it's the stories that would stay with me. But with this film, I've discovered my love for the classic style of filmmaking. The film moved me so much, and the images are stuck in my head. There are two images that are still vivid in my head - one is the eyes of the 8-year-old boy, the curiosity and the excitement with which he looks at the movies, and two is the eyes of the 16-year-old boy, the moment when he realizes that his family is going to fall apart. I don't know if it's just me, but both the young actors who played Spielberg when he was 8 and 16 respectively, resembled Spielberg - especially his eyes. Apart from his love for filmmaking, I absolutely loved the story about his parents' marriage falling apart. It made me feel uncomfortable and scared, watching this as a third person. I can't imagine what they'd have gone through. And picking up the camera, getting the job done amidst witnessing all of this, is nothing but inspiring.

The character of both the parents is such beautifully explored, with utter honesty and empathy. I can understand why Spielberg would've waited all these years to tell this story, because it's supremely brave to be able to honestly tell an extremely nuanced story like this. Spielberg said that, after this havoc unfolded in the house is when he started looking at them as people more than as parents. Apart from this, the conversations at his house when he was a kid reminded of my conversations at home. I feel like those conversations are universal for any child who wants to become an artist. Although what I really enjoyed was the uncle's character - who's a broke, lonely artist - the way he scares Sam is funny. And I absolutely loved the cameo in the ending. This film tells me that you can tell deeply personal stories with classic style of filmmaking too. Before this film, if someone asked me 'Scorsese or Spielberg' I'd have said Scorsese without a second thought. Now, I'd say that too but I'd admit that I'm yet to watch a lot of films of Spielberg.

True Grit (2010)

True Grit (2010)

Written for the Screen, Edited and Directed by: The Coen Brothers
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards. 

It's a Western film, with a very interesting premise - after the death of her father, a 14 year old girl sets out to find her father's killer with a sheriff. The film reminds us of the title 'True Grit' in so many instances. Just the way, the 14 year old, Mattie even negotiates deals with Cogburn - she won't budge and she will stand on her word no matter what. Negotiation can be tough to sustain after a point of exhaustion - one of the main techniques of negotiation is to just exhaust the other party - but Mattie won't get exhausted. She would want things done exactly her way. This reminds me of how Rajamouli describes characters - he says when a character stands by their word no matter what, and when we see the extent to which they'd go for what they want - that's when we know the integrity of a character and that is what is a strong character. The film takes off with this premise - it's the story of an underdog and also a coming-of-age story for the girl. All of this set in a Western, it was a delight to watch. 

The series of events that the film presents us are very interesting - at times it feels like the Cogburn and Mattie are on the same page, at the same level of expertise. Although the heart of the film is in the ending 20 minutes - from the time where Mattie sees Chaney. Everyone is at gunpoint from there, and that's where the genre kicks in with full intensity. After the whole shoot out, and after the whole thing was resolved, I loved how the film cuts to 25 years later and explores this whole event from the point of view of past, and history. What's beautiful is that Mattie is still strong on her word. She'd do what she's meant to do, or even more. Mattie is easily one of the most inspiring characters I've seen in a long time, and the film was worth just for that, if not for watching a Western made by the Coen Brothers.

Love Failure (2012)

Love Failure (2012)

Written and Directed by: Balaji Mohan
Starring: Siddharth, Amala Paul

This was such a fun watch - I absolutely enjoyed the style of storytelling in this film. The fourth wall breaks, the cutaway to gags, the commentary on relationships narrated using swish pans, fast cuts, snappy editing. This is exactly the kind of style that I aspire to achieve, where you can't even pick where a scene begins and ends. The whole film flows, and I feel like that state of flow is what's going to keep the audience hooked, with the reducing attention span. I like how it's told from the perspective of the guy, where he takes digs against women, in a light-hearted tone. It almost feels like he's representing all men who are trying to figure out the mystery of the other gender by telling us some generalized recurring behaviours. And there's not an ounce of animosity - there's just love, confusion and at times exasperation. I like how they use different subplots to also make a general commentary about how relationships are work. And I like how the whole narrative is constructed. 

Although what I thought I slightly missed in the film was how every relationship in the film was dealt on a slightly superficial level. I wish they dug a little more deeper, without even much change in the tone of the film. I felt like they never actually worked out the problems they had, all the couples just went back to each other without actually sorting their issues. I get it, at the end of the day it is acceptance and adjustment to an extent - but before that, there's a phase where they try to sort it out and I felt like I missed that phase in this film. Although, it was an absolute delight to watch Siddharth - he was so good. The reason I watched it in Telugu is because he dubbed for himself. And I liked the cameo of Balaji Mohan too.

Waltair Veerayya (2022)

Waltair Veerayya (2022)

Directed by: Bobby Kolli
Starring: Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Shruti Hassan

In spite of the commercial cinema template, with cut-away dance numbers interrupting the story, I partly enjoyed the film. Mostly because it's been so long since we saw Chiru as a character who is not perfect. He's an alcoholic, loose character with vulnerabilities and the goofy scenes done in his own style were a delight to watch. I enjoyed the second half, mostly parts between Chiru and Raviteja - there was some beautiful bromance there. The film is filled with references, I enjoyed them too. And though it reminded me a little of Racegurram, the flashback was really nice which added some more depth into their relationship. There are some really heartfelt moments in the film, especially the scene where Chiru goes and rubs the mud off Ravi Teja's posters, and the scene in the car. In the ending, when the court finally gives a verdict, Chiru does a light bang on the court stand - that was brilliant.

Now what didn't work for me in the film was the entire Rajendra Prasad plot in the first half. It didn't seem enough of a conflict, where he's trying to find justice for his colleagues. If it was his family or so, it would've been more impactful. But since it's his colleagues, without having their relationship established too, it didn't land as much. Which is why, the interval scene too felt a little flat for me. Although, why Chiru is so easy going is beautifully paid off with the Ravi Teja's flashback. And I did not enjoy the placement of songs with Shruti Hassan, at all. Because there's no love story explored between them, and whenever they need a song, they place a random interaction and cut to a foreign location. But apart from these hiccups, I enjoyed the core plot of the film. If not for the commercial template, or at least if the template was a little bit of a midground, then I would've enjoyed the film a lot more than I did now.

Aftersun (2022)

Aftersun (2022)

Written and Directed by: Charlotte Wells
Streaming on MUBI India.

Just with the posters and the logline, the film struck a chord within. It chronicles the time a father and daughter spend over a vacation. It has the treatment of revisiting memories, and it's done so impactfully. Just like C'mon C'mon (2021), I found so much beauty in this relationship between a kid and an adult, where there is an unlikely friendship, an invisible mentorship, and a mutual exploration of life together. There's no arrogance within the adult of having seen enough. This is where the film takes off. It's very sweet and heartwarming. The film is from the point of view of the 11 year old girl, and it does it so beautifully that even you can't see things beyond it except for a speck of doubt in the back of your mind. Even the way the film is shot, there are a lot of static poetic shots capturing the most random things which you'd see only when you're lost in thought and mindlessly gazing (dikkulu chudatam).

Before we can notice, grief slowly creeps into the film. There's a heartbreaking scene of the father bursting out crying - it's done so honestly. Usually, crying it out all is a very personal and an embarrassing experience. Films tend to show it very beautifully, but in reality crying it all out is a tad bit ugly. That scene captured that. And even after that I just kept wondering, like the daughter. I'm not a big fan of vague, ambiguous endings and so did I feel with this film. What happened? Explain it to me. I was looking for answers just like the daughter was. And then when I got to know what happened after reading about it, I questioned my whole viewing of the film. How could I not see it? Why did I not see it coming? It was so clear. I was angry. But then, I could also see how he was trying so hard to be okay in front of her and let her have a good time. I could see that he gave it his all, out of whatever little that was left in him.

Nope (2022)

Nope (2022)

Written, Directed and Produced by: Jordan Peele
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

More than as a singular piece, Nope works better as a piece in Jordan Peele's filmography. His directorial debut, Get Out, is a contained horror with a focused social commentary. With Us, he explores a similar style of horror, but with some added flavor of surrealism. With Nope, it's barely horror. It's mostly a surrealist, science fiction film with the undercurrent of a horror. I like how Peele is smoothly taking the audience into different sub-genres within the horror genre. Usually genre films are not considered high art, I like how Jordan Peele tricks you into believing that it's a genre film and does whatever he wants to with it.

Coming to Nope, it's an absurd, weird experience because of the elements they use in the story and the style of storytelling too. I like this kind of storytelling when it's done partially. If the entire film is as absurd, even the good elements don't land as much because I'm not as emotionally invested in the story. I like any film that's not predictable, and Nope is anything but predictable. I enjoyed feeling confused, and ambiguous for a bit. That feeling added with horror would exponentially elevate the whole experience. But this film doesn't go into the horror territory as much. And I didn't get what the film was trying to say or do as well. I would've loved the film, either if it was a little more clear or if it zeroed in on the horror elements a little more. Going to read explanation articles on the film now.