Rojin Thomas‘s new Malayalam movie ‘Home‘ can be brushed off as saccharin sweet and too emotionally manipulative to be considered as one of those feel good movies that we will go back to again and again and discover new things. Personally if I have to watch movies on dysfunctional families, I would watch a ‘Kumbalangi Nights’ or a ‘Kapoor and Sons’ any day over a ‘Home’, because the former films have relationship dynamics playing at multiple levels of depth and intrigue, and have characters arcs that are fuzzy and complex which gradually get delayered over time. Home is not that film.

Noted Malayalam filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery‘s recent film Jallikattu got released on digital within a month of its theatrical release, and though the dazzling film is crafted in a way to be best consumed at the cinemas, this quick digital release will definitely help it to reach far and wide to many who have been wanting to experience the film, given the interest it has already generated with its critical acclaim and positive word of mouth. In fact there is much to learn from Malayalam and Tamil cinema how well integrated is their digital strategy in the overall distribution planning of their films, which has helped them to move ahead of the curve to gain much wider national/global following and appreciation. Jallikattu is no exception.

Continue reading “JALLIKATTU : Overwhelming Technical Brilliance, but…” →

So I finally watched Anjali Menon‘s Koode yesterday night, a film that I wanted to watch for long, and finally had the opportunity once it released on Hotstar Premium recently. Quickly scribbling what I thought..

Continue reading “KOODE : Lust for Life” →

Pahuna – The little visitors is a sweet little Nepalese language film directed by Paakhi A Tyrewala. The Sikkimese film is produced by Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures, and tells a heart warming story of two young kids and their little baby brother on what happens to them as they flee their homes in Nepal and reach a small village in Sikkim all alone estranged from their parents.

Continue reading “PAHUNA : Blissful Innocence” →