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12th Fail (2023)
Good film. Personal regret
It's a good film, like the Indian chai with a lot of condensed milk masalas and whole lots of sugar, if that's your thing. Whilst the struggles displayed is realistic, during the screening I had a regret. Those who crack this exam are top brains without any further qualifications but the finished product is anything but. Having worked for 3 different state owned institutions in as many countries this much is clear. So, the Indian system takes the best brains & churns out at best a mediocre output. Yet the craze for this babugiri remains Himalayan.
What a waste of a country's talent!
Anyways, it was a fun and at times fascinating watch.
The Kashmir Files (2022)
Mediocre Film; A Disturbing Watch
The plotline is the 'deliberate victimisation' of Kashmir's minority Hindu Pandit community by various communities or agencies . The film refers to this repeatedly as "genocide" and complaint that the rest of India ignored their plight out of apathy or due to lack of sufficient concern.
Probably the only positive point about the film is without doubt strong acting by an ensemble cast although there is nothing understated or implied about this movie, including the acting.
Screenplay: As a work of art at best mediocre but if the goal is crude propaganda I would give it 9/10.
One cannot but empathise with the plight of the refugee Pandits but this is not a high quality film to portray human situations or their tragedies. One should perhaps talk of the film Cloud Capped Star by Writtwik Ghatak as a contrast where the emotional and social difficulties of Bengali refugees have been so tenderly, sensitively, artfully yet so realistically portrayed.
I shall desist from making political points but any smart neutral viewer will realise that there must have been a deliberate information gap. No community can suddenly turn against another so viciously as has been depicted in the film. So the events depicted, even if true, are from only one perspective, deliberately simplistic in other words.
My last major reservation is that the whole film is almost designed to ONLY shock the viewer and invites him not to think for himself. Shock is the one and only goal at the expense of any other complex emotions and to arouse the shock it uses violence at a level that I have rarely seen. Just to compare, even IS mass killing videos are less shocking than this film. And more disturbingly these horrific scenes are almost unceasing. I am sure using a tenth of violent acts than has been shown would not have compromised this film's impact. It is almost as if the director or the screenplay writer want the audience to get off on egregious violence, unnecessary violence.
It's like a tea which is so so sweet with extra sugar that one would puke after a sip!
No Escape (2015)
Avoid
One of the worst movies I have seen. Avoid. Period. I think writing any more would be an utter wastage of time for both you and me.
Thappad (2020)
Liked It But....
The most powerful statements in life are often unsaid. I am reminded of a quote by Gulzar who said, when pointing a gun on someones head ...'I shall kill you' is unnecessary. Sinha-Lagoo duo make that statement with words, metaphorically speaking and the film is poorer for it. An interesting central idea with possibilities far in excess of one that is actually realised.
The long monologue of Pannu with Azmi is unnecessary, for instance and is a minor specific point. However, the whole script could have been stronger with less obvious, subtler, less neat storytelling, overall. Sinha could have perhaps given his audience a little more freedom and a little more work. He should have trusted us more.
Having said that, this is definitely better than avarage Bollywood/Hindi fare with good acting by Pannu, better acting by Maya Sarao or Diya Mirza and truly superb performance by Gulati. Editing is sleek and fast paced. Camerawork is of high quality.
One leaves the hall with regret as to what it could have been but also with hope for better fares from Sinha in the future.
Galpa Holeo Satyi (1966)
Uplifting, clean fun at no one's expense
I was recently watching Nakache's "Intouchables" and that reminded me of this one, a story of how one man's appearance changes the dysfunctional dynamics of a large family. I was staggered that this movie has an IMDb weighted average of 4.4 (I see it's actually 8.4; must have made a mistake the day I wrote this review. Apologies). I regard it as one of the best comedy movies I have watched. The film is so successful in what it set out to achieve it appears effortless. Presenting a complex idea in a simple story that provides clean fun at no one's expense, it is an uplifting fantasy that should appeal to a wide range of audience. The actors are almost natural in their roles and do not have to resort to desperate frivolities to elicit a laugh. Similarly, there are no noticeably stylised camera shots that distract from the narrative.
It is not a crude comedy and no one should expect a Johnny Leveresque crassness and that is the strength of this film. This film is fun but it hurts no one in the process and that is a hard act to pull off indeed.
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
Exquisitely crafted, honest, minimalist and an almost perfect product
It is a film about relationships, dilemma, courage and more. What works in life and what does not. Honesty does and (crudely speaking) at a very basic level that is the message. At the very heart are the three protagonists who are stuck. The therapist is spectacularly wrong in his interpretation to the apparently frigid wife: 'If you think about it ...you are obsessed about things you have no control over'. But she demonstrates at the end that she did have the control. All she needed was a better, more 'intimate' therapist; a catalyst : Graham ; who ends up uncluttering the cheating sister in law's mind and forces the husband to confront his problems in the process. It is a remarkably optimistic film in its content and therefore perhaps slightly unrealistic.
It is a film about masterful use of contrasts; the two women and the two men could not have been more opposite in every possible respect. In a way Graham is also a perfect contrast to the imperfect Psychoanalyst. This helps the director bring out the message clearly.
The whole film is crafted in a minimalist way, flows smoothly and does not carry much 'garbage'! Music, camera and the narrative are almost perfect in that they are almost invisible. So are the actors, especially James Spader and to a large extent Andie MacDowell. Gallegher is probably less than perfect but very good nonetheless. Laura Giacomo portrays a rather difficult character really well. It treats the audience with respect as the message is subtle and very personal, as it should be. My only grievance is the last office scene involving Gallegher was probably unnecessary.
Sex and the videotapes are incidental to the storey and perhaps misnomers therefore.
It is like reading a rather well written short storey and I would recommend 'Days And Nights In The Forest' (perhaps slightly more realistic and understated than this film) by Satyajit Ray to those who have enjoyed this film.
My rating 8/10.