Meghdoot Reviews

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Wolrd isn't black & white

[11 October 2023]

This is one of those rare movies that covers a serious topic like race relations, without being preachy or taking issue lightly. It also manages to avoid painting characters in plain black and white. Even though as audience, it is impossible for you to side with anyone but the lead character, you may not hate the other characters, and see a possibility of change.

Movie grips you from the start and doesn't let you go till the end. Yet, it manages to let you see and experience the place without hurry, and has time to introduce many side characters that spice up the story and gives you a full perspective of the era and region where the story is set.

Highly recommend for acting, story, and great film-making. .

Lupin (2021– )

Plotholes the size of pacific oceans

[16 July 2021]

The only way you can enjoy this show, if you consume a bottle of wine by yourself, chase it with a six pack and half a litre of whiskey. By then your mind would be tired and slow enough to not see the plotholes and pathetic writing of this show.

Alien News Desk (2019)

Hit out of the park

[13 March 2019]

First episode is fantastic. Its a new perspective on humans and life on earth.

I think some of the low ratings by other reviewers is due to shows being predominately words driven. There aren't many fancy graphics, most of the show is two newsreader talking. But if you listen you will be laughing at the weird, unique and the hilarious take on things we take for granted.

Give it a try, and keep your attention on the word play.

Money Heist (2017–2021)

La casa de stupido

[14 January 2019]

How to enjoy this show? - Drink till you slur your words and you need 5 minutes of thought to recognize your favorite Actor/Sportsman.

Now you are at the IQ and attention level so that you won't be bothered by the plotholes, stupid characters and idiotic setups.

If you have consumed all worthwhile items on netflix/hulu/youtube, and watched millions of cat videos, and looking for something to pass your time while your write your noble prize acceptance speech. You want to focus 99% on the speech writing and use 1% of your brain to keep track of the story, then this show is for you.

The Break with Michelle Wolf (2018)

Review from someone who actually watched the show

[30 May 2018]

There are ample of comedy news shows now a days. And The Break sets itself apart due to the talent and personality of Michelle Wolf. She is hilarious, funny, mean yet not heartless. She can get to the nub of the issue and make you laugh at the same time.

As this is a weekly show, it has the luxury of focusing on bigger issues than individual news items. The shows main strength is Michelle's monologue, sketches are good, but not to the SNL quality.

There are couple of negatives as well, her voice, which isn't the most news friendly voice, and her guest (Amber, fellow comedian from Seth Meyer's show) was underwhelming.

Killing Eve (2018–2022)

Light-Lite

[17 May 2018]

This is lighthearted assassin story. It is slightly funny and certainly holds your attention, but lacks excitement, drama, tension and laughter.

This is lighthearted assassin story. Emphasis is on light. You might chuckle a few times but won't remember any jokes and won't lol. Although every episode has one murder of an important person, there is little anticipation or tension. Assassin just casually murders mafia leaders or CEOs, and everything goes to plan. One such murder would requires weeks/months of preparation and here we barely see 1 minute on planning, thinking, preparing for a murder, Assasin gets her order, fly in and boom, job done.

Assassin also behaves irrationally and exposes herself (and never gets caught), which would make her a liability, though her emplyers don't take any action against her.

If you have nothing else to do, then this show will fill in time. But if you are looking for a dark comedy, that is full of laughter, many tense moments, where you anticipate and wait for each episode, care about characters and are fully engaged in drama, watch Barry - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5348176/reviews?ref_=tt_urv.

Iron Fist (2017–2018)

Batman lite

[9 April 2017]

• Billionaire lead actor - Kid avenging the deaths of his parents - Mega industry with corporate backstabbing - Half-assed eastern philosophy - Mediocre action sequence - Unnecessary melodramatic

Chinese martial art monastery in the Himalayas is just one of the idiotic mistakes of this show.

Battle Creek (2015)

Average effort from famous producers

[15 March 2015]

This is an average effort from famous producers and director. Maybe they want to cash in their good names while they are still hot.

This is a dramedy, and fail at both. There are some funny moments in pilot episodes but they all bank on the odd-couple formula and it run out of steam midway through second episode. The drama part is treated with little care and limited thought. You might get few laughs here and there, but the story and drama will not hold your interest after pilot.

I like cop dramas and they are ample of opportunities for humor even in serious drama. But that requires good storyline and serious effort to build tense moments around characters we care.

The Flash (2014–2023)

Flash in the pan

[25 December 2014]

Spoilers - for those who have never seen/read/heard any super-hero story.

In a metropolis, that is not named but look identical to New York city.

A little boy "LB" suffers a great tragedy. Becomes an orphan. The cop investigating the case, is father of a cute girl, who happens to be "LB"'s best friend. And lo and behold "LB" find a home.

He grows up to be a smart but wimpy man. Naturally he finds a nerdy CSI job. He is in love with his best friend, but cannot express his affection to her. He quietly suffer as she dates and fall in love with other men.

In the same city, a genius scientist commences his dream project, that quickly goes bad. The project collapses with a temporary jolt of energy that transform a small group of regular people, into super-humans. All but one of these super-humans goes the evil way. Big reward for guessing the identity of the sole super-hero.

The genius scientist helps "LB" realize his true power. "LB" decides to help denizens of his city and catch or kill the bad super- villains.

Big reward for guessing which good person turns out to be a big villain within 3 episodes.

Big reward for guessing if "LB" can express his love.

TL:DR - Watch it only if you have never seen any super-hero movie or TV show.

* Big reward - an AOL dial-up internet CD.

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Wonderful crime movie. Focus on story and characters rather than car chases and shootouts

[10 May 2014]

This movie manages to avoid the oft repeated and hence boring crime movies scenes of long impractical car chases, perfect crime by ultra smart criminals and almost impossible shootouts that can only happen in movies.

Criminals are real humans, most of them are have issues that affect their personal lives and impede their chance to execute perfect crimes.

Movie starts with a wonderful shot and ends with red hot dialogues.

It is not die hard 9 or God father, but it is a crime movie that seems closer to reality but still interesting and entertaining.

Check this out.

Special 26 (2013)

High potential but failed to deliver

[30 April 2014]

This movie could have been a lot better. It supposedly based on a true story, and had potential to be a unique, gritty and thoroughly enjoyable thriller. However, the movie is bogged down in unnecessary romantic angle,silly cons and no character development. This con movie has songs, dances, silly jokes all it is missing is smart characters that are required to carry out such cons and their interesting lives. The movie spend very little time on 3 out of 4 con-men, so we have very little window in their lives or back story about their initiation into such high risk business. Most of the con seems too easy and exaggerated.

It is sad commentary on Hindi cinema where such mediocre movie is considered - unique, epic, grand and exciting.

Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)

Dramedy - that lack drama and quality jokes

[31 March 2014]

So you are thinking about watching this show. Here is the easiest way to find out if you should:

Q 1: Did you like drama and action in any of these shows: Sopranos, Breaking bad, The Wire, Mad Men

Q2: Did you like the humor in TV shows like Curb your enthusiasm, Archer, Simpsons, Legit or movies like Groundhog day, My cousin Vinny?

Q3: Do you like stories of self centered privileged middle class people who placed out of their comfort zone? Who exaggerate every little out of ordinary experience, as out of world experience.

Q4: Do you prefer slices of white bread over a 3 course Italian or Thai meal?

Watch this if you have got all answers correctly.

Answer: No, No, Yes, Yes!!!

Orphan Black (2013–2017)

Lacks depth

[25 March 2014]

Interesting and engaging but with limited substance. The show has an interesting premise and plot moves at good pace to keep audience engaged. However, after watching 10 hours of the show, you are left with nothing. There is neither any resolution of any of the story lines nor any surprises. But the biggest fault of the show is that with such an interesting topic there aren't any philosophical questions raised. The show is clearly made purely for entertainment. Furthermore, the storyline is being stretched for more seasons that dilutes the entertainment part.

I wished that producers would have gone for more substance in story and have added obvious ethical dilemmas and would have come up with some logical ending for the season. Lazy writing and greed for more seasons have reduced the value of this show.

Ray Donovan (2013–2020)

Hackneyed and tedious

[20 July 2013]

You have seen these characters hundreds of time. You have noticed theses subplots where hero solves problems by taking the most obvious and unoriginal and utterly risky approach. You have listened to these dialogues in every other mob movie and TV show. You like that the show is glossy and filled with good looking people, but you wish the show also had decent writers. But you carry on and watch 3 episodes, hoping for things to click. And things get worse. You feel the need to share this experience with other folks. You log in to IMDb, take a deep breath and hope that your experience will save some people precious time.

Avoid this show and please pay it forward.

Frozen Planet (2011–2012)

Wonderful, beautiful, informative, captivating

[10 April 2013]

This is a wonderful documentary covering the Arctic and Antarctica sections of our planet. You see these two regions through 4 seasons, through the eyes of it's inhabitants (mammals, birds, fish and humans). It captures the beauty, harsh weather and life in all of its glory and challenges. We get to see a thorough glimpse in life of all key animals. The 4 season covers, love, birth, growth, survival, death. We also get to see the life of human beings who live around Arctic circle. It is a tough and simple life.

The show is very informative and very entertaining. Highly recommended. If you love nature or want to know more about this planet, check this out. I am now sifting through IMDb to find more such shows.

Weeds (2005–2012)

Fluffy

[31 March 2013]

I think this is what happens network executives make a show about drug business, but don't want any ugliness associated with it. So here you have a suburban mom who runs a sizable drug business with minimal competition, cops issues, physical violence or even customers who don't pay. This is a fluffy show, that is interesting for 3 episodes. And then you realize that your niece's tea party has more character than this show. See "Breaking Bad' if you want to see a lead character in drug business. One has to be extremely smart, gifted, ambitious and morally corrupt to survive in drugs business. Even a teacher with nice family loses so much by getting in drugs business. Weeds is NOT funny, NOT real, and NOT interesting. Avoid, if you can.

Revenge (2011–2015)

average show

[23 December 2012]

Revenge is your typical run of the mill thriller show. If you have seen one you have seen them all.

This show could have been intense drama filled with interesting characters and exciting plot line. The main character could be hero/anti-hero, and audience would understand and sympathize with her illegal activities. But instead we have a sanitized comic version of that show.

The Hampton location and rich people's lifestyle plays a bigger role than the main story.

In this supposedly revenge story, almost no one gets their hands dirty. If you are looking to pass time without any excitement and entertainment then go for it. Otherwise, avoid it.