Paanch Phoron (Five spice blend) is the latest offering in the bangla web series world of the Hoi Choi platform. 5 different directors tell 5 different stories to explore 5 different aspects of love, in a compact Season 1 of 5 episodes, each episode running between 30 to 45 minutes.

It may be good to acknowledge it outright that the trailer of the series practically does no justice to the series, I had almost rejected it through the trailer itself, but a few interesting casting choices led me to explore a couple of episodes, and given that I quite liked one of them, I decided to watch it all. Overall, its a mixed bag, but is still much more watchable than the average wannabe content of the bangla web series that we see on some of these platforms.

Continue reading “PAANCH PHORON : Spices of Life” →

The new Netflix original series You is one of those extremely problematic shows that glorifies a psychotic monster all throughout and romanticizes extreme emotional abuse and deceit in the garb of going to any extent for love. By deciding to tell the story from a neurotic stalker’s perspective where he firmly believes in his intent and tries to legitimize his extreme darkness every single minute without any sense of guilt till the very end, the makers end up with a chillingly dehumanized message of the lowest form!

Continue reading “YOU : Who is the Monster?” →

“Comedy is often fueled by disappointment and humiliation. Now who the hell does that describe more than women?” – Says the truly marvelous Mrs Maisel in one of her stand up acts. This one statement, apparently funny, is just one of the many strong messages that this fantastic show subtly delivers through sharp satirical humor! The journey had started with the wonderful Season 1 itself, but The Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 2 ups its game even more this time, just like the acts of Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel have become wittier, bolder, and increasingly fierce this season. And its not just the sharpness of the satire or the pungent comedy that Amy Sherman-Palladino has improved this time around, Season 2 appears far more holistic because she invests in better writing for wholesome coverage of drama, and there are all-round moments of joy, pain, heartbreak, ecstasy, surprise and frustration all throughout the show.

Continue reading “THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Season 2) : Further adds to the Marvel!” →

Little Things Season 2 does not start speaking to you instantly like Season 1 does. It takes a lot of time to settle down, and the initial couple of episodes do test your patience. They start pushing you back to Season 1 because that format of well capsuled fifteen to eighteen minute episodes with just five episodes at play worked much better for this millennial feel good drama about Dhruv, Kavya and their impulsive but sparkling life full of little things. Their spunk, their whimsicality and their fresh baked love felt warm and mushy when served that way.

Continue reading “LITTLE THINGS S2 : Loses Charms of Life” →

Sharp Objects was an absolute stunner, and the season finale just matched up to all the eerie atmospherics that the show built up over all the episodes.
(Note – Discussion can have spoilers)

A brilliant slow burner, the show takes you over gradually with its dark and disturbing story about a bunch of psychotic characters, all trying to hide the darkest secrets even from themselves, and all trying to run away from themselves, their past, their present and everything around them.

Continue reading “SHARP OBJECTS : Eerie Brilliance!” →

GHOUL – the new Netflix miniseries disappoints on multiple accounts.

While it delivers on atmospherics purely due to good cinematography, it fails majorly on drama due to rather poor writing and messy direction, and hence fails to tell an important story that it wanted to. We get glimpses of all the subtext it wants to establish, but none of that is developed or given the desired depth, and hence the entire experience remains non engaging.

Continue reading “GHOUL : Fails to expose the demons within” →

The new Netflix Original Sacred Games is not an easy watch at all. You know it in the very first frame of the web series. You know it even more by the time you have completed the last episode of season 1. The later especially is bound to leave you deeply disturbed and in a state of shock for an extended period of time. Must confess that I am still traumatized to an extent, the content in many places is way too dark for me. And yet, it is still a terrific watch because of its fabulously smart direction, taut writing and screenplay, outstanding lead performances, extraordinary support cast, great production values, finely blended background score, sharp cinematography and seamless editing, all of which come together to narrate an extremely gripping tale.

Continue reading “SACRED GAMES : The Righteous. The Ruthless.” →